


Rune Breaker

by Ysavvryl



Category: Rune Factory 4
Genre: Alternate Universe, Depression, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Multi, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-04-28 02:47:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 142
Words: 812,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5074438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysavvryl/pseuds/Ysavvryl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The dying town of Selphia hopes that a new prince talented in politics and finances can turn their fortunes around.  Instead, the new prince is a cross-dressing love freak who is there to save magic.  Maybe things can still work out?  This is the Anti-Amnesia remix of RF4.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ALN

**Author's Note:**

> As the summary states, this story is how the game could have worked out if the main character did not lose his/her memory. In fact, nobody gets amnesia here. Ordinary forgetfulness happens still, but that happens to anybody. There have been other alterations, such as changing ages (don't want underage marriages here) and extending the seasons to 90 days, but most changes come about due to the lack of amnesia.

**Chapter 1: A.L.N.**

Winter 89, year 1610

A momentary glance at his sleeve cuff showed that he’d neglected to actually button it this morning. With a soft sight, Volkanon corrected that mistake and turned back to the task at hand. There was a lot on his mind, he realized: the investigation into the disappearance of the last prince, the preparations to receive the new prince today, the second disappearance this season being one of his students, the reports of a Sechs warship flying around in Selphia skies, the current mood of the divine wind dragon, plus all the usual tasks of keeping the castle running every day. These were troubling times.

He looked over the telegraph he’d received recently about when the prince would arrive. Due to the shorthand script, the prince was only referred to by the initials ALN. Volkanon went ahead and put ‘Prince Arthur’ from his knowledge of the royal family of Norad. He was the youngest son of the high king, but with two older brothers, he was unlikely to inherit that throne. Still, he had an excellent reputation with the skills that Selphia desperately needed in a leader.

And there was a lot that needed to be done here. The town’s population was worryingly low for its size. While there was a good percentage of young people, there weren’t any children at the moment. Most of the young adults were unmarried and too busy trying to keep the town alive. The general store that everyone went to for basic goods was already on a government grant from Norad to stay in business because it was the center of a frail economy. They had some attractions to visitors like an excellent inn, famous restaurant, and a master florist, but all three of those businesses had been slow to any but residents for over a year. Then there was the whole reason for Selphia’s existence, the presence of the divine wind dragon Ventuswill. She’d been almost completely silent for this whole winter and often struggled just to stay awake. If any of those parts were lost, the whole town could collapse into a ghost town.

It was incredibly lucky that they’d gotten the attention of a person so high in the ranks of nobility. In the past ten years, Volkanon had seen a number of rulers come and go, mostly from lower nobles who found it to be an obstacle to trying to climb the ranks. They usually left for a less ‘dead end position’, as the last (and probably most terrible of the lot) prince had put it. He hoped this true member of royalty could get the town back on its feet and growing again.

And he’d likely be the first to know if it was working, as Volkanon was the butler and personal servant to Lady Ventuswill. By extension, he was the same to her partner in the prince or princess of Selphia. But as much as he hoped for success, he worried about the futures of his two students and if he should pass them on to masters in more active communities. That would give them better opportunities. Whether he did or not, he’d stay behind. His loyalty was to Ventuswill and he’d be here as long as he lasted.

The floating armband around his upper arm vibrated, catching his attention. The gems on it flickered to life and glowed brightly, the main one being red. Immediately abandoning the paperwork, Volkanon got out of his seat and ran out into the hall. He nearly left, but there were footsteps on the stairs as Vishnal came running down as well. “Sir?” he asked, caught breathless in sudden worry.

“Get over to the clinic and warn them there might be an emergency visit,” Volkanon ordered. “Then come back here and keep things running smoothly. I’ll go after her.”

“Yes sir,” he said, and the two of them took off across the town plaza in their separate directions.

Following the signals from his armband, Volkanon headed south down the dirt roads in Selphia’s countryside. The snowy winter land here was full of hills, cliffs, and valleys, crisscrossed with various crevasses that had to be navigated by series of wooden bridges. The roads were starting to thaw at the shift in seasons, but still dangerous to travel. At one point, he came across a large fallen tree in the road. He didn’t have time to be clearing it fully, so he hammered it to the side of the road on his way past. He might need the road clear on his way back.

He found his other student Clorica in a snowbank by the bridge that led to Rouge Spring and eventually to the mountainous Maya Road. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen her like that, as she had a curious talent to fall asleep anywhere she happened to be. However, the armband wouldn’t have alerted him if she was simply asleep. There was a handmade bandage wrapped around her right arm that looked swollen. Checking on her, she had a fever in spite of the cold and was unconscious. Volkanon got her bag off her to sling over his shoulder, then picked her up and cast a teleport magic to hurry back to town. This was too much to try carrying her back to town the whole way.

He thought about kicking down the clinic door, but as worried as he was, he respected the doctor too much to damage his door that way. Fortunately, an old woman opened the door almost as soon as he got there. “Come in, we just finished getting ready,” she said.

“Thank you, m’am,” he said, nodding to her. She was currently visiting as a midwife. The town nurse and trained midwife Nancy was almost ready to have her own child, so they’d invited this colleague from another town to help them out. Since she couldn't help, the other two had Volkanon place Clorica on a working bed so she could be examined.

With a cold clinical look in his eyes, Jones undid the bandage and studied the wound. “This is from a gunshot, probably two days ago,” he said after a few seconds. “Marjorie, could you work on countering the infection while I extract the bullet? Volkanon, you’ll need to leave since I have to set up a surgical sphere to do this.”

‘I’m not familiar with gun wounds, so is there any poison I need to counter too?” the midwife asked, taking Clorica’s pulse at her left arm.

“No, but they’re typically made of iron so be careful of the metal runes,” the doctor said.

“I trust you folks to take care of her,” Volkanon said, then left the clinic area.

Nancy was sitting on a couch in the living and dining space. She seemed tired, taking it easy in the last days of her pregnancy. “This is terrible,” she said. “Clorica wouldn’t have done anything to deserve getting shot at. But, she had to be near the border with the empire to come across anyone with a gun.”

“I knew she was in that area, but she wasn’t supposed to cross over the border,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and hear from her what happened.”

“We’ll take good care of her until then,” Nancy said.

This was truly a bad time. Hopefully their new prince got here safely.

* * *

 

“Prince, you need to be heading out shortly,” the family butler said.

Was it that late already? Signing the paper quickly with ‘Arthur L N’, he placed it in an envelope to be mailed out later, then checked the clock. The airship he was leaving on was due to depart the castle town in two hours. “There’s plenty of time,” he said, although he’d want to put off any other business until tomorrow. Or later, depending on how much he had to do in preparing to take the role as the Prince of Selphia.

“No, the knights have determined that we should move you to the airship quickly,” the butler said. “There’s been some ruffians in the town, thus they want to get you out to a better defensive position in case of trouble.”

That worried him. How would the people in town fare? “Is it those rioters from yesterday? What do they want?”

The butler shrugged. “The reports say that they’re all from outside of town, so there’s suspicions that they’re sent from another country to distract and disturb us. And with you heading out near a potential hot zone for conflict, we don’t want to take risks with your safety.”

“A preview of what’s to come, I suppose,” Arthur said. But he’d been preparing for that possibility. Selphia was right at the border of the Norad lands and the Sechs empire, the closest town to the empire’s capitol. But if that region fell, Sechs would have an excellent foothold deep into Norad territory, near several vital resources and with a good shot at the Norad capitol. When war broke out (and it seemed every day to be more of a ‘when’ rather than an ‘if’), he’d be right in the middle of it.

And the butler knew of that danger too. “I think you should really request a company of knights to bolster Selphia’s defenses immediately, before you go. It concerns many of us that you’re going right into this.”

“I’d rather not until I’m sure it won’t be taken as an act of war right off,” Arthur said. “But I shouldn’t delay going out there now that father’s accepted my proposal. Selphia needs a good leader right now; leaving them hanging any longer is a greater security risk to all of Norad.”

He came over and put his hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “You misheard me, we’re worried about you. The way Sechs is acting now, they wouldn’t hesitate to take someone like you hostage to put pressure on our kingdom.”

“Thank you, but I’ve made up my mind already,” he said. Then he hugged the butler. “I’m sorry. I’ll be careful in this, as much as I can be for all the risks.”

“Your brothers could learn a lot from your bravery,” he said, patting his back before letting him go. “At least I can be sure you’ll be in good hands with the servants there. The master of the household is one of the best of us, Volkanon. You can trust him as much as you do me.”

“That’s good to know,” Arthur said, smiling. There was some fear in him because this was a risky move, but the need was far greater than any personal hesitations could stop him. He’d seen it himself in a visit to Selphia this past spring. “If they’re going to move me out soon, I should go visit with father briefly. Have my things been moved to the ship already?”

The butler nodded. “I’ve just gotten notice that they’ve been secured there. Remember to take care of yourself and don’t work yourself too hard.”

“I’ll try not to,” he said, although they both knew that he would work as long and hard as necessary with little thoughts to breaks. He wondered if his caretakers had sent word ahead to keep him from doing so. “I’ll miss all of you here. Good bye.”

“Good bye, Arthur,” he said, a sad smile slipping through his usual façade.

Meeting up with his family was a whole different matter. Arthur had to take advantage of one of the maids stopping to say goodbye to him to send word into the court that he was coming for a quick visit. Otherwise he might end up delayed. With her assistance, he was able to get past the ministers and nobles waiting on their time to speak with the king. That made him feel a little bad for delaying official business with the kingdom, but otherwise he might not get in to speak with his father until evening. It had happened many times before.

Unfortunately, it seemed his father was already in a meeting with Arthur’s two older brothers. It was hard enough some days for him to speak to his father, but with his brothers around? The two of them didn’t like him at all, taking each other along on training sessions and visits to other regions but never asking Arthur along if they could help it. To make it worse, Arthur always felt self-conscious of his golden blond hair when among the darker blue and violet hairs of the rest of royal family. It wasn’t the only way he stuck out like a sore thumb, just the most visible.

“I will be heading out to the airfield early to try avoiding the trouble in town,” Arthur told them, speaking formally as that usually didn’t cause problems. “I hope it ends quickly and peacefully here.”

“Right, it should be over once we capture the instigators,” the king said, getting up to come shake his hand. “Thank you for taking on this vital work, although I wish you could do so under safer conditions.”

“I will try to make things safer through my work,” he said. “Thank you for letting me do this.”

And that was pretty much the extent of that goodbye, since he didn’t want to trigger an argument with his brothers. It was just how things were and he’d accepted it long ago. Even so, he felt a lightness in his spirit as he left the castle and headed out towards his new life. These burdens wouldn’t be troubling him daily any more.

* * *

 

“I’ll be heading out once I’m ready,” he said, signing ‘A Lest N’ on the payment slip that the inn’s maid had given him. “And thanks for your courteous service; this place is like an oasis of calm in this busy town.”

The maid brightened at the compliment, her previously dull mood disappearing. “You’re welcome, sir,” she said. “We’re glad to provide a respite to travelers.”

“If I have reason to come by, I’ll try to stay here again,” he said with a smile. “Have a good day.”

“You too.”

Once the door was shut, Lest went back to the mirror in the room and considered his appearance. Yesterday had come with plenty of problems. All that should have happened was he arrived at this midway point by airship then spent the night waiting for the next leg of the trip. He had hoped to have a few hours to look around the capitol of Norad, maybe even pick up a few items he could use that he couldn’t buy out in his tiny hometown of Grelin. But then some thugs, apparently a group of bandits, had tried to capture him. Or more precisely, the rune spheres that he was supposed to deliver.

“They knew about them and that I would be handling them,” he said quietly to himself, brushing his hands through his silver blond hair. But there wasn’t much to think about before another smile crossed his face. “Well then I just need to not look like me. Good thing I packed for…” he laughed lightly and opened up his bag, shifting through the enchanted tabs in order to get the clothes and items he wanted.

He could not use illusions to change his appearance, at least not magical ones. He had a talent as a rune breaker, ruining spells and enchantments unless they followed certain forms. Although, being called a rune breaker was a bit of a misnomer. It was more about breaking artificial bonds formed between runes in the process of casting magic. Natural bonds were just fine around him, which actually made him the perfect person to deliver the rune spheres. They were a set of powerful magical artifacts, ones that played by natural bonds and had a tendency to cause odd side effects in most people who handled them. Somehow Lest being a rune breaker meant they did nothing to him.

While he couldn’t use magical illusions, those weren’t the only illusions possible. Lest dressed in black leggings and a white slip, both of which slightly altered the appearance of the shape of his body. He then put on a white blouse, a dark gray jacket with a houndstooth pattern, and a black and gray plaid skirt. Adding on black sneakers, a necklace made from a light crystal, some casting gloves, and a gray beret, he looked much like a young woman in a school’s uniform. The bandits would be looking for a young man from a farming village, so they might look past a ‘her’ trying to find him.

Lest closed his main bag, then made sure that the bag with the rune sphere was secured to the inside of his jacket. Back when he’d been packing for this move, he and his family had found that the rune spheres messed with the enchantment on the bag even though they had made it with his talent in mind. Then there was how important they were, not just to him but to the bigger picture. He wanted to know right where they were with no chance at misplacing them. Now that he was prepared, he took his things and slipped out of the inn, trying not to be seen and questioned by the staff. He’d already paid in full, no need to get word spreading that he might be disguised like this.

He spent a few moments thinking over the events of yesterday again. It had all started with something unexpected: his sister and father taking him to the town square where nearly everyone in town had gathered to say goodbye to him, wish him luck on his mission, and most surprising of all, apologize to him. “We realized that you have been working hard to help everyone in spite of how our superstitions led us to treat you,” one woman had said. “The fact that you’d do that when some of us believed the worst of you, we feel awful about it now. We’re sorry for everything.’

“You don’t have to explain it,” he said to them. “I feel it; I forgive you. Just remember how important love is. We are loved by the world and we love it back, meaning we need to show love for all that is in it.”

Yes, they were loved by the world… more precisely, most who lived in Grelin were those so loved by the world that it had given them great blessings to become earthmates. While the blessings were freely given, all earthmates were then required by the laws of magic to return the blessings given to them. Usually it was through a price that represented a service the earthmate could offer the world. Lest subtly cast a few spells over potted plants and sidewalk trees as he walked along the capitol’s streets, as that was part of his price. But more important than that was the idea of love. They were given a deep love no matter who they were, no matter what mistakes they made. Thus, it was only right to give back a love that would freely forgive to the world, and forgive all who lived in the world. Even the bandits, although it was still his mission to keep hold of the rune spheres until he got them to where they needed to be.

His father had spoken to him about that as they were saying goodbye outside of the airship. “You’re off to complete your mother’s dreams. It’s going to be dangerous around Selphia in coming days, so be careful.”

“I know, but it’s too important to ignore,” Lest said. “And it’s more than just mother’s dream, it’s our whole family along that line for over a thousand years.”

“Right, absolving more guilt and countering more hate than any one person could solve,” his twin sister Frey had said. “I wish I could go too, but there’s other things I need to do in fixing this whole mess. But we’ll fulfill our family’s quest, I’m sure of it. You’re perfect for the job.”

“Not as much as you are,” he’d told her.

But that was all in the past. It put a personal weight on this for him, even more so than the time he’d realized how long his mother’s family had been trying to solve this issue. It was all about the flow of runes, the ether sea that was the source for magic to earthmates and all others in the world. It was about the gods and dragons and hate and love and sacrifice… his role now was delivering the rune spheres, but even something so simple needed to be taken as important as any other part. Although anyone else walking on the streets might just think he was lighthearted in singing words they didn’t understand as he headed for the airfield.

Runes of aggression caught his attention, making him look ahead. There was a group of three knights in full armor walking along with a young nobleman not far from him; they were facing a group of rough characters that Lest recognized as the bandits that had known about the rune spheres yesterday. In the latter group, there was a new man who stood out among them like a lurking nightmare. While the bandits wore leather armor and rough headbands, this one was dressed in full armor so complete that not a hint of the person in it could be seen. The effect was only sharpened by the glossy black metal the armor was made out of, the sunlight reflecting in a dark red gleam. A battle scythe of a piercing white was attached to his side and even Lest couldn’t read any emotional runes in him.

Pausing with a shiver at the armored thug, he wondered again about these bandits. The rune spheres were not spoken of to anyone outside of Grelin and he’d assumed for a long time that they’d been a secret for generations. Then again, people made mistakes and perhaps word had slipped out a few times. But why now, at this crucial time?

“We’re after your spheres, you dumb ****,” one of the bandits said, causing some confusion in the nobleman.

“Wait, is this the same guy?” another asked, causing more confusion. But there was also a streak of pride in the bandits (save the cold armored one). They weren’t going to back down now that they had picked a fight with royal knights.

“There seems to have been a misunderstanding,” the nobleman said, keeping a remarkable surface calm in spite of the threat. “Still, you will not be allowed to get away with causing such chaos in the streets of the capitol.”

“Don’t be so cocky, we’re after something much bigger,” a bandit said.

To the shock of everyone, the armored bandit suddenly grabbed hold of his scythe. Lest could feel his gaze more sharply than an arrow. “The earthmate must die,” he said in an inhuman tone and dashed with some mechanical device right past the nobleman and his knights, knocking one of the latter over. He was headed right for Lest.

With a slight golden glow, Lest quickly cast a shield with his gloves. While it wouldn’t last, it lasted long enough for him to hurl it into the armored bandit to stun him briefly. He then ran past the group and hurried on the way that he knew would take him to the air field. A fight between the regular bandits and the knights broke out as he did, but once the armored bandit recovered, he ignored the nobleman in favor of pursuing Lest. Chaos broke out in the streets on the way, mostly at the rushing man in armor rather than the running girl ahead of him. While the armored bandit didn’t seem to be using his dashing power all the while, he did so occasionally to close the distance. Lest was going to need something more to buy enough time to get to the airship. If it was in already. He hoped so.

He approached an open square in front of the gate that led down to the airfield, seeing an opportunity in how people were already clearing the area due to alarms sounding in the city. But the casting gloves wouldn’t be enough. Using them to summon a staff, he skidded into a stop in the center of the square. Metal runes were gathering powerfully around his opponent, indicating that he could use rune abilities and was charging up for a big one. But that was the chance Lest needed.

“I am the Executioner,” the armored bandit bellowed, shifting his hold on the scythe in preparation for the ability. “All earthmates will fall to my blade.” A shine came to the deadly blade. His momentum and mass in that armor was going to make this even more dangerous.

Lest clasped the staff in both hands, trying to ignore the dread in his heart from knowing that a mistake here could be his last. Focusing his rune energy and making those lines appear on his skin, he used his talent to break runes right as the Executioner started his rune ability. The attack fell apart as it was trying to form, with the bandit able to perform the physical movements but suddenly finding himself at the center of the released energy. The Executioner dropped to the ground with a tremendous din. And in that, Lest finally found some emotional runes in him, not what he had been expecting.

Even so, he couldn’t let go of this chance. Lest turned and hurried through the gate, the guards on duty letting him pass in favor of trying to capture the Executioner as the apparent instigator. Out in the airfield, he spotted a familiar airship to his relief. He headed right for it as he was no longer being followed.

A woman with her brown hair in a bun was on the ground by the ship. “Morning Lest, what’s the rush?” she asked.

“We’ve got to get out of here soon, Nem,” he replied. “Bandits know about the rune spheres and they were accompanied by some guy calling himself the Executioner who’s out to get earthmates. He identified me just on sight.”

“Mercy, yes, let’s get out of town,” she said, changing her work to getting the airship off the ground as soon as possible. “Let Lena know and we’ll hurry.”

“Thanks,” he said, heading up the boarding ramp into the ship. Hopefully that armor couldn’t get the Executioner into the sky. But he wondered about what he’d felt from the man. Fear and hopelessness? That didn’t match up with his actions, but the heart usually spoke the truth.

* * *

 

Arthur wasn’t accustomed to fighting going on just a few feet from him. For once, he found himself wishing he had gone out with his brothers on battle training exercises. One of the knights pulled him aside to better protect him while the other two kept the bandits busy until the city guards could come by to take over. He also worried about the girl who had run on ahead only to be chased by that man in monstrous armor. Even if he was moving out of the capitol, it was a concern to him that people were being harassed here where they should be safe.

An earthmate… was she one? They were a rare group he'd never met in person, mostly sticking to a few small villages with incredible farms. Although, there were reports in the last few decades of various wandering earthmates who settled into regular communities on some directive from their elders. There wasn’t a lot that could be researched on them as they kept many of their secrets close in their tribe. As far as Arthur could tell, they did more good than harm with no reason to come into conflict with others. But the armored bandit had seemed intent on killing her.

“Let’s fall back to the castle,” one of the knights suggested as he was able to get out of the street fight.

“I’m going to need to come back out here to get to Selphia,” Arthur argued. “Let’s get to the ship as planned and hunker down there. We can use the side streets if need be.”

“That’s probably better overall,” another knight said, so they entered an alley to reach a quieter street and head for the gate to the airfield.

They did get held up once again as the armored bandit was apparently captured in the square outside of the airfield’s gate. The guards there seemed unsure about if they could hold the man, even though they had him under what seemed to be several restraining spells. Once again, Arthur wanted to go ask questions and figure out what was really going on. But for his safety, the knights with him wouldn’t allow it and barely agreed to try sneaking out the gate through the guard’s gatehouse with him. This got him to the royal airship where he was promptly put in the safest room below the deck and told to stay there.

Arthur didn’t like being treated like this. Sure, he was better at talking his way out of a problem than fighting, but he didn’t like being considered weak and helpless. He amused himself for a moment in thinking of how his brothers would be much more vocal about their independence. But since he’d be waiting for some time before they even left the capitol, he found his books and brought out one on farming. That was one thing about this position as Prince of Selphia: he’d be expected to do some farming in order to fully fulfill the role. It was odd, but a strong tradition in that region. However, that was something he had no experience with. He hoped they would be tolerant of low skill as he learned.

But he'd also have to balance the threat from the Sechs as well as addressing problems within Selphia itself, like their stagnating economy. Still, Arthur was looking forward to this. It was a great opportunity to prove himself.


	2. Dangerous Skies

**Chapter 2: Dangerous Skies**

Winter 89, Year 1610

“To all airships flying within Selphia's air space and the surrounding area, we advise you to turn back and avoid coming into the area this afternoon. A warship from the Sechs Empire has been spotted flying there and has not responded to Norad Air Control Center with answers to their intent. They may have only been targeting a royal vessel scheduled to fly today, but we cannot be certain how aggressive they may be. Again, please retreat from Selphia air space. Continuing to travel is at your own risk.”

“I wonder if they know about us too,” Lest thought aloud. Turning his attention from watching the land below, he headed over to the pilot's loft at the front of the ship.

Up the short flight of stairs, the navigator and pilot were also wondering about the radio warning. “What a day to have the same flight time as a royal ship with the Sechs watching like a hawk,” the navigator said, nervous but determined not to let that feeling interfere with the task.

“NACC would know about that, but they wouldn't know about our cargo,” the pilot said, even more determined. She had long black hair streaked with icy blue, wearing a headband with an insignia of Terrable readily visible. While it often seemed odd to others that an earth focused earthmate was an airship pilot, Helena would laugh and say it was all in the machinery.

That, and her loyal navigator Nem was wind focused; the pair were getting famous for their skills with an airship, even outside of the great kingdom of Norad. “Maybe,” Nem said, glancing aside and nodding at their passenger. “What do you think, Lest? Should we press on? We're only a few minutes from Sephia's air field.”

“You two would know better than me,” Lest said. “Although if we're that close, we might as well rush for it. The mission is going to take a while and I'd rather there not be too many delays.”

Helena grinned as soon as Lest mentioned rushing. “Right. Besides, it'll take us longer to get out of the danger zone than to just get there first. I'm pushing the speed up a notch, so you better not have anything loose on ya.”

Below them, the wooden deck of the airship throbbed between the surrounding air turbulence and the increased rumble of the engines below them. There was an air shield around the ship to keep things from blowing away, but at the speeds Helena was bringing them to, some cool wind slipped past and blew through their hair and clothes. Lest looked ahead at the banks of white puffy clouds in the sky. Since it was mostly clear blue sky, they should be able to spot a warship before it got too close. He clutched the leather bag with the rune spheres close to his side; a sparkling blue mist leaked out from the top no matter how tightly he knotted it.

He saw something just above the nearby rail that disrupted his thoughts. A tall tower? Going over to the front, he saw that it was a tower, a few miles from the castle at Selphia's center. It looked ancient even from this distance, monumental stones and statues rising far above the earth like a fox watching the land. Yet there was something strange about the way runes were moving around it. It surrounded the tower in a dark mist and at points, there seemed to be a forest past the thickly clustered runes instead of a tower.

Nem came up beside him, her brown hair tied up into a bun as she always did while working. “Isn't that an unexpected sight? I nearly slipped off the ship trying to get a good look at it the first time I flew by here.”

“What's with that place?” Lest asked, shifting the bangs of his hair aside trying to keep them from blowing into his eyes. “The flow of the runes is all knotted up, like some kind of critical mistake was made in setting up a large enchantment. It’s Leon Karnak Tower, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It's even worse than your disasters, huh?” she asked, smiling to let him know it was in jest (although he’d know even without).

He laughed in embarrassment. “That's true. I've certainly not caused anything that tremendous.”

Nem put a hand to her cheek. “I asked around and apparently it's something that's been building up slowly. The initial descriptions were that it was simple illusions while passing through Karnak Tower. Over time, the illusions became more dangerous, manifesting as actual monsters. These days, people are forbidden from going anywhere near the tower because there've been many deaths from people trying to explore the place and fix whatever went wrong.” She shook her head. “Really stinks for the guy it was named for, you know? Because people revere him as a saint and martyr, but then that place has such a powerful curse on it.”

“Is it a minor flaw that built up into something major?” Lest asked. Enchantments that went wrong, especially spectacularly so like Karnak Tower, always did so for a reason. Of course, there was always the possibility of, “Or because of Ventuswill?”

“Never found anything definite, but neither answer would surprise me,” Nem said, then waved a hand at the sky. “You can tell that the flow of runes here is stagnant.”

He nodded. “Right, and it's spreading all over. I heard they finally got the Sharance Tree to bloom, but it was just barely and took a lot of persistent effort. Even the elder isn't sure how long that can last unless...”

After he failed to finish that, Nem put a hand on his shoulder. “I'm really sorry that you had to end up with this mission. If it ended up in my hands, I'd be all kinds of nervous about it failing. Such dangerous places to go, even there.”

“Even if you are better aligned for it?” Lest asked, looking down at the railing. “I want to fulfill my family's dream, but I practically just learned about it this season. It's an awful lot of weight passed down through the years.”

“Hey, you can at least look on the bright side of things,” Helena called from the pilot's wheel. “You get out of that stuffy old town to a place where nobody knows what to expect out of you, a fresh restart in life. Sure you've got this big thing hanging over you, but you're out of those critical eyes and where you're freer to be yourself. I'm sure you can get things done that way; you always seem to get things done best once you get out of Grelin.”

“I guess so,” Lest said, feeling better.

Nem brightened at some thought. “You do! And don't worry too much about that marriage deadline. Love will find you when it's ready, not caring how much time you have or if you're even ready to realize it yourself.”

“Father says he won't let me inherit anything if I don't get married in five years. Although if I'm getting a fresh start, maybe that won't matter as much.” Then he laughed. “And sure, you tell me that after you made most of the tribe mad at you for what you realized.”

The two women laughed with him, Nem blushing a little. “Well that's what I found to be true.”

“Bah, who cares what those stuffy folks think?” Helena asked. With fewer connections there, she had an easier time not caring. “They made up that ruling trying to get everyone born into the tribe married by twenty-five, but I think they've lost sight of what really makes an earthmate. That majority hardly has any power left to them while I came in without an earthmate to be seen in the family tree. Sure, our numbers are dwindling, but it's more their beliefs and misunderstanding than anything else.”

“That's what Frey would say,” Nem said, nodding. “And she's the one they called a sage before she was an adult.”

“Right,” Lest said. Funny how he'd been anxious about this mission ever since he was assigned it, but these two were making him feel more confident about it in a few hours. It didn't change the solemn nature of it, finding a way to strengthen the runes of the world from something that seemed like a sickness of the earth itself. But it had to be done. “They at least seem to be realizing it, even apologizing to me before I left town.”

“That's wonderful,” Nem said warmly.

He looked back out at the landscape, including the tower of twisted runes. Maybe this could fix even that. Wanting to talk of lighter things before they had to part again, he said, “Besides, if they really want me to follow their marriage ruling, I had to leave Grelin at some point. The only marriageable girls in town were my sister and you, and you've always been more like another sister to me. And Gwynn, I suppose, but by the time she gets old enough to be married, I'd be right up by the deadline. Might as well be somewhere without much of an earthmate presence like Selphia.”

“Just don't be mentioning that law to anybody you meet in Selphia, brother,” Nem said, half teasing him. But she was serious as she added, “Because really, if you're going to marry someone, the law should only be a small portion of why.”

“I'd even say try to put it out of mind entirely,” Helena added. “You don't want that kind of pressure pushing you into a choice you'll regret later on.”

“Thanks, I'll try to do that,” Lest said. “I'll just use white paint over any lines in letters I get from my father asking me about that.”

Helena laughed with him. “Good idea! But do you want to be changing out of that skirt before you get into town?”

“I probably should,” he said with a played up resistance. “It's just so comfortable.”

The pilot winked. “You know Lest, if you want to make that change in your life, we're one hundred percent behind you. And this would be the perfect time to start, telling all these folks you've never met your true gender identity. Got a girl's name picked out for yourself yet?”

However, Nem was distracted and that distracted him from the joke. She looked out towards a cloud they were approaching, increasingly concerned. Seeing that in her runes, Lest felt worried before she hurried back over to Helena's side. “Lena, they're cloaking the warship in that cloud!”

“How're they cloaking with a cloud?” Helena said, narrowing her eyes and shifting out of her loose hold on the steering wheel. Her nerves were like steel and it showed in times like this. “They don't have magic.”

“The air currents flow around something too heavy for a normal airship,” Nem said. “If they're going to approach us, they'll do so in a couple of minutes.”

“We look like a normal private airship, don't we?” Lest asked.

“Might recognize the colors from recent races, but we don't have anything like the royal flags,” Helena said. “Shift into the landing angle early to get some better distance?”

“Give it a try,” Nem said, looking back to the cloud. “If we do get into trouble, I can always cast a featherfall spell on Lest and have him jump.”

“Are you sure about that?” Lest asked, moving closer to them.

“We really need to get you and the rune spheres into Selphia to start your mission as soon as possible,” Nem said, her face calm but her fingers twiddling and betraying some anxiety.

“Come on, don'tcha trust your sisters?” Helena asked, a dangerous smile on her face. She liked this danger on some level, but her concern was real as well.

“I trust you two not to mess up,” Lest said. “But I'm a rune breaker.”

“If it's for your safety, I'll make it as strong as I can,” Nem said, bringing a hand to her chest. “Just trust me; that may hold the spell together long enough.”

It was unsettling that even she couldn't say that for certain. All of his life, Lest had been far better at breaking spells than making them, with years of training going into trying to cast a few simple coherent spells. But with his survival on the line, he might just be able to hold back long enough to keep her spell together. “All right, if we must.”

At that point, it became obvious even to the two of them not as attuned to wind that something was fishy with that cloud. It was not moving with the air currents as it should be. Instead, it was headed directly for them, picking up speed. Helena made some quick decisions, twisting a few dials that pulled more heat into their balloon and shifted the propellers so they made a quick rise. This move saved them when the Sechs warship burst out of its cover in an attempt to ram them. Still, that wouldn't buy them much time. Nem's airship Graceful Schooner was unarmed, while the metal-plated warship was bristling with spikes and cannon ports.

Nem picked up the radio handset and, after taking a deep breath, transmitted in a flustered tone. “Ah, we-we're sorry if we've disrupted something! Pl-please, let us through to the air field, we're just a civilian vessel.”

Unlike with NACC's announcement, the warship responded to their transmission. “We know you're not,” a deep raspy voice said over the radio. “You will hand over the rune spheres that you're transporting. There is no other option.”

The three of them looked to each other, Lest being sure they had the same questions as him. How did the Sechs know about the rune spheres? Their creation had been a guarded secret within Grelin as the answer to a long standing problem. While Helena and Nem were partial outcasts, they only knew because Lest had told them. He'd even insisted on them flying him to Selphia rather than hiring a pilot outside the tribe. They wouldn't have had time to let the information slip and he was certain they would not as they knew the importance of his mission. But those bandits had known too.

“Right, we're gunning for over Selphia Castle itself,” Helena said, determined to finish her part in this. Her hands flowed over the controls rapidly, with only a slight delay in the airship following along. “You better get ready because we're gonna get there fast.”

“There's going to be an increase in turbulence, Karnak at 85 degrees starboard,” Nem said in warning. Then she took Lest by the arm and went with him to the lower central part of the deck. “Sorry we have to literally drop you in this time, but Grace is going to have a rough time outmaneuvering a Sechs warship and its fire.”

“It's fine,” Lest said as his heart began racing. Jumping off an airship, even with a successful featherfall spell on him, was something he'd never even imagined doing. He smiled to shake off that fear. “I don't know any other crew that would have gotten this close with the danger of a warship being about.”

“Are you calling us brave or stupid?” Nem asked happily. “This is for a brighter future, I'm sure of it.”

There was a bone rumbling boom in the air as the warship fired its first shot at them, although it must have missed as the ship Grace didn't tremble at all. “That's the reason I'm willing to go this far before I've even started,” Lest said, putting a hand on the rail. “And I know your spell should work.”

“You take care of yourself,” Nem said, lines of green chi starting to appear on her arms as she began her spellwork. “Lena and I will try to check up on you as soon as we can safely get back here. Whenever we drop in, the people of Selphia are really nice, so I'm sure you'll be fine for a few days.”

“I'll do my best,” he said, shifting his hold on his two bags so he could feel one of the rune spheres. 'Help me hold this together and survive,' he thought as the green lines left Nem's skin to weave a pattern around his body. 'I need to get you where you belong.'

When the pattern was complete, runes flashed within it and made him feel like someone was clasping him tenderly. “This should slow as you approach the ground,” Nem said. “But if you end up at a roof top, you can kick yourself away as long as you only make contact with one foot. Both will make the spell assume you landed safely, so try to do that when you're on a secure surface.”

“Okay,” Lest said, although more cannon fire disrupted him. Pulling himself up on the railing, he looked down to see where he was over. The castle and the small town around it was rapidly approaching. It would be a beautiful sight to admire while landing. With the warship firing on them, there was no time to sightsee, only to sight for a possible safe landing spot. “I'll see you two later! Get out of here safely!”

“You too!” Helena called, although most of her attention was on keeping the ship away from the warship's fire.

“Time to prove the doubters wrong,” Nem said in encouragement. “You can do this, Lest.”

“Thanks for everything, Nem,” he replied, smiling and hoping that what fear he had wasn't visible. Then he jumped off the ship.

It was a lot like falling in a dream, in a slow manner where the wind itself seemed to be guiding him down. This would work, it would work. As long as he kept thinking positively and trusting his friends, this would work. Lest brought the bag with the rune spheres to his chest to secure it, only to notice that the knot had begun unwinding. That would not do. He went to grab for it with his other hand and make sure it stayed closed until he could get back on solid ground and tighten it. However, the powerful air moving all around him slowed his movements and quickened the knot's unraveling.

Then the tremendous boom of the warship's largest cannon sounded again, the shockwaves of its energy hindering him more. Lest looked up and saw the last of the bright trail of energy from the cannon pass by the Graceful Schooner. Next, he saw the gaping hole it had left in the lower decks of the airship. Had it taken out the lower engines? Could they still fly? The answer to the latter question shifted quickly towards no as flames erupted around the edges of the hole.

“You two better jump too,” Lest said, trying not to become frantic. But they wouldn't be in this danger if he hadn't asked them to come, or even to continue not that long ago. He just wanted to get things started quickly; was all that a mistake?

Then a flash of blue nearly hit him in the chin as the knot completely unraveled and sent the rune spheres flying in all directions. This was turning into a real disaster, like anything he tried to do as an earthmate. Like how Nem's runes were beginning to unravel the longer they spent around his rune breaker power. The wind clenched its grip tighter, but he was slipping through and falling faster now. No, stay together! He tried to will it to do so, will his own runes to not interfere with the featherfall enchantment.

Two tall spires appeared at either side around him, shimmering in the sunlight with long flags waving in the turbulent wind. Spires? Those were at the sides of Selphia Castle, weren't they? Remembering Nem's advice, he tried to turn himself back upright and find a decently flat space to land even if he was going to end up on the roof. And right as he noticed he was directly above a peculiar huge gap in the roof with a mound of mostly green in the center, the featherfall spell failed completely and he wasn't given a moment to think before crashing onto some large creature and bouncing off to hit the hard marble flooring.

Lest barely hear the creature's yelp and screams of surprise as intense pain filled him. But he was alive. That much had worked. As large feathers brushed against him, he tried to move out of the way. His body didn't want to work as battered as it was, taking a great deal of effort just to shift himself onto his back. Cold snow started soaking through his clothes, but it was only a discomfort and therefore minor. The colorful feathered wing by him was attached to a large body with grassy green scales, but held a comparatively strong flow of runes through its native wind power. Wind? Was this Ventuswill?

“I'll go get Jones,” a man said quickly as what seemed to be his footsteps started running off.

“Be careful out there!” another man called in a booming voice. After a dazed moment, Lest found an older man with bushy hair and eyebrows leaning over him. He wore a formal black suit coat with a blue tie, as well as a floating armband that momentarily fascinated Lest. “Are you alive?” Another boom from the warship's cannon caused him to look overhead in worry.

“Ye-yeah, mostly,” Lest said, not feeling well in trying to speak. He ran his thumb under his fingers on both hands, going through a ritual he used to get around his rune breaking power to cast spells. Normally he didn't need it these days, but he had a better chance of living past this if he could get a healing spell on himself. It was uncertain in any unknown place how many people could use magic.

“G-good heavens, was that a person who fell on me?” the dragon said, shifting her body away from Lest. Even her natural runes radiated her flustered state.

“Did you get hurt too, Lady Ventuswill?” the man asked, looking up at her. A girl with short gray hair was briefly in Lest's vision, along with possibly other people. Taking shelter from the warship?

“It might ache a little while, but, er, I mean,” Lest didn't feel like moving, but he could just about see Ventuswill rubbing a wing against her snout. “I will be fine,” she said, in a deeper more regal tone. “He could be in trouble, though.”

Lest finally managed to cast the healing spell he knew; his sister Frey could have cast it in a snap, even under similar circumstances. While it turned down the intensity of the pain, the fact that it was still there told him that this was a more serious injury than he could handle. Definitely at least one broken bone, probably more. It might hurt to talk, but he was worried enough not to care. “M-maybe, but... my friends...”

“You probably shouldn't talk,” the man suggested.

“Lena and Nem were still on the ship when it caught on fire,” he forced himself to say. “They got me off... might have jumped with featherfall too, hopefully.”

“But that's earthmate magic,” Ventuswill mumbled, seeming to not realize it was audible. But then Lest's vision blurred further and his mind went blank.

When he felt alert again, there were two men carefully shifting him onto a rolling bed. The one who seemed to be the doctor from the equipment bags at his side looked over how he was set. “Good, but we'll need to keep him under a roof here in the castle for the moment. The streets are too rough to take him over in this condition. I'll have to bring over some equipment; do you have a spare room with the space?”

“We can shift the furniture around in the bedroom to make space,” the other man said in a hearty voice. He seemed to be the one from earlier.

“It'll have to do,” the doctor said, then made eye contact with him. He seemed to have pale skin, as well as an underlying anxiety he was trying to restrain. But maybe Lest was imagining that as he was. “Oh, you're awake again. Try to relax and get to sleep for now. You need the time to heal.”

“All right,” Lest said, starting to feel drowsy now that the doctor had mentioned it. “But...”

“I sent some folks out to search for the crew of the downed airship,” the larger man said. “Still, if you made the descent, I'm sure they made it somehow as well. Focus on getting yourself back together. What's your name, if you don't mind?”

Maybe it was the man's formal dress or maybe it was his shaken state of mind. Either way, he started to say his full name even as he felt his voice and energy taper off. “Arthur Lest Nolan.”

And maybe the doctor had given him some medicine already, as he couldn't resist falling asleep any longer.

* * *

 

Her room was buzzing with activity and gossip, something that Ventuswill hadn't seen for a while. In the past, she might have enjoyed the scene even if it was caused by serious trouble. An alarm had sounded through town when a flying warship, bristling with spikes and loaded with strange weaponry, had been spotted overhead waiting in a suspicious fashion. Most of the people in town had come into the castle for safety, although others were still in the clinic due to Clorica being wounded. But it turned out that the warship wasn't interested in what happened on the ground. When it finally attacked, its attention was on another airship trying to slip by onto the town's airfield.

However, Ventuswill felt as if she'd just woken up from a really long sleep, not able to invest herself in the scene enough to have any opinions on it. Not even someone dropping right on top of her could keep her mind stirred for long. She was tempted to just put the whole thing out of mind and go back to sleep. It was a lot easier than letting her thoughts go on for very long.

But there were too many strange things about this to make it easy to let go. First of all that he'd fallen right on top of her. Very few people came in the entrance up in the roof and those who did (like birds) usually were capable of landing without hurting themselves. Then there were the gold chi lines on his skin when he tried to heal himself. That was an earthmate trait. She shouldn't have any problems this time, as there was no one she could think of that would be endangered with an earthmate around. Still, they had a knack for getting into and causing trouble. Ventuswill was going to have to be cautious... if she could keep awake long enough to be cautious.

There was also the oddity that the townsfolk were most interested, the fact that this fellow had dropped in wearing a schoolgirl's uniform, skirt and all. “Um, Lady Ventuswill?” the girl named Xiao asked nervously. She wasn't sure if she should bother her with the question. “Are you sure that was a certain man that fell over here?”

“Very sure,” she replied. “His runes showed him male in body, mind, and soul.” Occasionally you got a human who had mixed genders in those three aspects, but most were the same in all three.

“But then what was he doing dressed as a girl?” Xiao asked, profoundly puzzled by this.

“I wouldn't be able to speak for him on that query,” Ventuswill said.

“I’ve met a few guys like that,” Xiao's mother Lin Fa said, smiling at some memory. “It’s either they lost a bet or are completely confident in themselves and feel unrestrained by normal expectations.”

“It could also be a disguise,” the elf Illuminata said, with a spark of eagerness triggered in her. “It’s an ideal distraction if your enemy knows who you are. If they expect a man, appear as a woman. If they expect a woman, appear as a man. If they expect an elf, appear as a dwarf.”

There just happened to be two dwarves in the room. One merely gave her a strange look while the blacksmith Bado laughed. “That last one would work up until you started talking,” he said.

“An expert would be able to pass that test even,” Illuminata said in glee. But not very well in tones that mimicked a dwarf.

“Maybe he knows that he's so beautiful that he has to show it off properly,” the portly Porcoline suggested as a joke. “Although it's hard to say that when we've only seen him injured.”

“What’s wrong with a guy striving to look beautiful as a guy?” the other elf in the room, Margaret, said. “Though you have to give him some respect to be brave enough to flaunt normal dress codes.”

“Or to jump off of a flying airship in the middle of battle,” Xiao said. “If it comes to be that he did jump. It may just be that he got knocked off in the big blast.”

“Oh no, I’m certain he jumped,” Illuminata said, tapping her monocle. “I identified the runes about him and there were fragments of a featherfall enchantment on him. But some nefarious scheme on part of his enemies must have ruined him on the way down.” She paused, starting to pace. “An excellent but difficult scheme because in order to undo a spell while he was falling, his enemy must have incredible range and precision in not just spell casting, but rune breaking.”

“It’s hard enough to break runes when your target is an unmoving object,” a young man Kiel said, having followed the conversation with strong interest. “The bonds between them don't like being broken once they've been made. It must take a master to disenchant someone who's falling, even slowed down with something like featherfall.”

“I’ve got it!” Illuminata said, pounding one fist into the other. “That has to be our new prince!”

“What?!” most of the people in the room asked, amazed at her intuition or floored by her insane jump of logic to that conclusion.

She chuckled, pleased with herself. “Well that's just how the pieces line up. That warship was waiting up there, waiting for someone to arrive. The only person we were expecting to arrive today was the prince, so perhaps the empire decided to interfere as an act of war. They did blast that airship to pieces without giving them a chance to explain themselves.”

“The prince wasn't going to arrive today,” Kiel said. “My sister said that the royal airship headed back to the capitol once reports of the warship arrived by telegram from us. They decided it was too dangerous to fly with such an important person on board.”

“Well that's just what they wanted the Sechs Empire to hear,” Illuminata said, pacing again. “They even prepared two airships to come out, the obvious royal airship and this second unmarked airship which would actually carry the prince, a classic switcheroo. However, the empire seems to be cleverer than NACC expected as they managed to guess which ship the prince was actually on and fired on it as soon as it showed. But the prince is apparently so dedicated to his duty that he literally jumped ship to make sure that he could arrive, only for an enemy mage to undo the spell that was to bring him here safely.”

“Then why was he dressed as a girl?” Xiao asked, still stumped by that point.

“Further confusion on where the prince was,” Illuminata replied as if it was an obvious answer. “Doesn’t work so well when you're trying to hide the identity of someone on one airship and your enemy is on a whole different airship cloaked in a cloud.”

“That would be an amazing story,” Kiel said, intrigued.

“Except that the Sechs Empire is known for being strongly against magic,” the other dwarf Doug said, the first time he'd spoken up the whole afternoon. “They couldn't produce a mage capable of the feat you suggest.”

“Well how much do we really know about them?” Illuminata insisted. “For all we know, their guns could be based in magic too.”

Well the conversation and fabrications were interesting, Ventuswill mused. They had yet to bring up the fact that the young man was an earthmate, and a rune breaker at that. However, it was unlikely that any in the room aside from herself could tell that already. That gave the simpler explanation that he'd used the featherfall enchantment in desperation even knowing that his own runes would start undoing it as soon as he set it. Still, she liked Illuminata's version of events for how dramatic it was.

Jones and Volkanon then came back into the room, the former waving to Bado to act as extra security as he headed back to his clinic. The town knight Forte had apparently stayed over there to guard the patient, nurse, and white witch who were staying over there. “How is our fallen guest?” Ventuswill asked her butler.

He had a serious look on his face; the fact that they were dealing with a man dressed as a woman didn't sit well with him although most of the others didn't seem all that bothered. “We’ve got him stable, but he's going to be in a dangerous state for a little while yet,” Volkanon said. “He did come back around and give us his name.”

“Is it Prince Arthur?” Illuminata asked, jumping at the statement.

After a sigh, Volkanon nodded. “Yes... it's Arthur.”

Even Ventuswill widened her eyes on hearing this. So that was the prince that the royal court had sent them to rule over Selphia and try to save the weakened community? It was strange as none of the talk about this in front of her had mentioned that the prince was an earthmate. For that matter, none of the talk she heard on the wind mentioned that fact either. All the talk had said was that he had a very good reputation as an educated and intelligent young man. And dressing as a schoolgirl usually didn't make for a man's reputation rated at very good.

“Wow, I think things are about to get quite interesting in the future indeed,” Xiao said.

“No kidding,” Volkanon said.


	3. Lest's Mission

**Chapter 3: Lest's Mission**

Winter 81, Year 1610

On their twentieth birthday late in the winter season, Lest and Frey went through a rune review as a long-standing custom in the earthmate tribe. They were adults and, having been born into the tribe, they were expected to have completed their training. A meeting with the village elder would include a discussion of what paths they would follow, what kind of work they would do in the tribe, what talents they would focus on mastering, and anything else the elder believed needed to be settled to accept the young earthmate as a full member of the tribe. Since Frey had completed her training many years ago, her review was mostly an official confirmation of being a sage and a blessing for whatever she wished to do.

Lest knew his review was going to be completely different. Of his teachers, only his late mother had accepted his progress in training. The rest believed him to be insufficient for any rank higher than student (and some only accepted that grudgingly). Or they believed him too troublesome as a rune breaker to keep in a town inhabited mostly by members of the tribe. However, he was determined to prove that he was different from the angry boy of six years ago who had lashed out at the villagers of Grelin. As he knelt in front of the seated elder, he recalled the indifference, fear, and hostility in other members of the tribe. But there was also the love and confidence that his father, sister, and friends always felt for him. Letting the rest of the emotions go by, Lest kept calm and collected, clasping his hands on his legs.

The elder was stern; her emotions were kept close, unreadable even to him. “Your spell ability is far below what a young man your age should be. You may never be capable of what people expect out of us.”

“Spell ability is not the only measure of an earthmate,” Lest replied. It was one of many criticisms they had. While he did have a long way to go, it would stop his progress if he only listened to the flaws. One step at a time, always trying to move ahead.

“What makes an earthmate?”

“Love,” he answered. “The earth's blessings are given out of love; those given such blessings must give back that love tenfold into the world to maintain their power. To do this, take care of the earth and the plants that grow from it. Respect all beings that live upon it. Give help to neighbors and strangers alike with no heed to rewards. Most of all, always remember that love is central to the powers of the earthmate tribe.”

“That is an old phrase.”

“It is truth.” And what too many of them seemed to have forgotten.

“What job do you seek to hold?” was a question asked late in the review.

It was getting to be a long time and Lest was tiring from kneeling in the same position. Trying to keep any fidgeting in check, he answered, “I would be satisfied focusing on my price in farm work, growing basic crops to keep others who focus on other work fed. I might grow specialty crops in order to build a nest fund in case of poor growing seasons, but my priority would be towards supporting the town I live in.”

“That would be fine work for someone who is in tune with the natural flow of runes,” she said, to his surprise. The elder had seemed indifferent to him whenever they encountered each other. “However, you may have noticed that the rune flow is slow. It has been a significant problem that we're trying to find a solution for.”

“I notice it moves quicker around certain events, such as marriages and festivals,” Lest said, going with his first thoughts as he hadn't expected that topic to come up. “But when I'm out in the countryside, yes it does seem sluggish and I wasn't sure if that was how it was supposed to be.”

“Do you think it should be that way?”

He shook his head. “No. It doesn't feel right.”

She had a long explanation for him. “The flow of runes through the world is one whole system like all water belongs to one whole system, yet both are broken up into several seas where runes continually flow through their currents. Norad is ruled by a single ether sea of runes, with the heart of the system being in the land of Selphia under the reign of the divine dragon Ventuswill. Unfortunately, the heart and the dragon have been weakening. It's not a new problem, but past solutions have only proven temporary. We have a new solution that we hope will help support the system.

“You know the rune spheres that Frey and your mother have been working on? They're made to be boosters placed at the springs where the flow of the runes is pumped. Frey in particular discovered that since the artifacts mimic the natural state of rune energy, your power does not affect them adversely like other runic artifacts. After some consideration of you and other candidates, I've decided to ask you to take the spheres to Selphia and place them at the rune springs. You'll need to stay in Selphia for a time of five years to make sure they function as planned and address any conflicting problems that may arise in the area.

“You will also serve Ventuswill and carry out any requests she gives you during those years. It is a long tale, but she has had some bad encounters with earthmates before and may have trouble trusting you at first. However, you have a strong heart and in spite of past troubles, you have grown into a man that I believe can break past that hesitation and gain her acceptance. If you can accomplish this mission, we will accept you as a full member of the tribe, perhaps even a master of your own power.”

The request stunned him and for a moment, he wasn't sure what to say. When he did find the words, Lest asked, “You really want me to carry out this vital mission?”

“It is partly the wishes of your mother that I’m respecting, but I now believe what she said about you.”

When word got out, there were those who fully expected him to fail. The elder remained convinced that he was the best choice. Once he got over the shock of being asked, he quickly agreed to do it. It was a great honor, one he never thought would happen. It would also get him out of Grelin, which was something he was hoping to do. While he would be leaving his sister behind, he had far more opportunities anywhere else in the world and Selphia seemed like a good place to start.

* * *

 

Spring 2, Year 1611

Along with being in disbelief over the assignment going to him, his neighbors had not liked that such an important mission would be getting help from a pair of young earthmates who had defied the new tribal laws about marriage. But it wasn't the village’s choice. It was Lest's mission and he'd go with who he trusted.

Nem and Helena... had they be found? Lest came out of his half-asleep state at that thought. Maybe someone in town had news of them. He wasn't in as much pain, although he had groggy memories of spending at least a few days in bed. A comfortable bed, but he'd feel better after some activity. Lest sat up and looked around the room he was in.

It appeared to be a clinic, albeit a small one. It had a warm cozy feel, with some dried autumn grass sitting in a vase to add color to the wooden room. Close by, there were a few rolling screens for privacy, including one blocking his sight of someone in the other bed nearby. His bags were on a chair nearby, thankfully in reach. A pair of windows were covered by white dotted curtains. When he got up to pull the nearest one open, the orange sunbeams of dawn spilled across the walls.

Dawn, as he knew it would be. Lest smiled a little as he remembered one of his mother's sayings, that you would never find an earthmate who could sleep once the sun awoke. And if one of them did, they were probably ill. Still, there were a few bouts of childhood illness where both he and Frey had trouble staying in bed like they were supposed to. The sunlight warmed and awakened the earth, and the earth would awaken the earthmates.

Still, he felt weak in the chest and his left leg, having to lean on a supply cabinet in order to let the sunlight in. Both areas on his body were bound in white bandages, the latter being solidified into a cast around his knee and below. He'd been dressed in a pale green gown for resting. Annoyingly, the buttons for the gown seemed to be at his back so he couldn't get dressed on his own. That meant he didn't dare go out on his own, even if he could get the hang of walking around in a cast and bandages. Some careful steps got him to a bookshelf where he picked out a traveler's guide to Selphia to read in bed until someone came to check on him.

Curious, he glanced around the screen while he was there. He could barely see the feet of someone in the other bed. But her runes spoke clearly enough for him to tell it was a woman a year older than him there. The runes were weak in recovering from an illness, but she would be able to get up herself once she woke up. Lest tried to keep quiet as he made his way back to the bed with his book.

He was reading through the legend of the dragon priest Leon Karnak when he first heard footsteps overhead. Three people, he guessed. After a few minutes, they came downstairs talking in hushed voices. A woman's laughter broke through, soon followed by the man hissing for quiet only to break out in soft laughs himself. There was a powerful love in that, the ripples in rune energy pulling his attention away from the book. Without even seeing them, he could tell this was a couple that had no doubts in each other. If he was right about the quality of the ripples, they might even be looking forward to a new addition to their family soon. The third didn't seem to be related by blood, but was on friendly terms with them.

The man came right to the clinic area to check on them, first the girl and then Lest; it was the doctor he remembered seeing right after his fall. His light brown hair had a touch of bedhead to it and he was dressed casually without his doctor's coat. Seeing him up, the doctor smiled warmly. “I see you're up bright and early today.”

“Oh is he?” the woman (probably his wife) asked, following after him. And as Lest thought, she was expecting very soon. This week, perhaps even today depending on various factors. The third person, an older woman, looked in on them briefly before going to check on the other patient.

“This is more normal for me,” Lest said quietly, setting the book on the bedside table. “Although usually I'd be out in the fields at this point.”

“Well if you're energetic enough to get over to the bookcase, that's a wonderful improvement,” the woman said cheerfully. “You've been out for three days, even missing the passing of the old year and coming of the new.”

“You should be more careful in getting around,” the doctor said, searching for a pocket on the coat he wasn't wearing. His wife handed it to him without a word so he could get his gloves.

“Probably, but I have work I need to get started on here in Selphia,” he said. And he needed to get his strength back so he could get to searching for the rune spheres. “If I could at least get around town today, that'd be fine.”

The doctor nodded. “We'll see about that Arthur.”

“Er, call me Lest,” he said. “I haven't gone by my first name in years.”

“Sure thing, Lest,” the woman said. “I'm Nancy, the nurse around here, and this is the doctor and my husband, Jones.”

Lest nodded. “All right. Good to meet you both, even if it should have been under better circumstances.”

The two of them agreed, then helped him get out of the patient gown and bandages to get a better look at his chest injuries. The bruising had apparently gone down, but Nancy mentioned there were still healing scrapes on his back and left side from how he had hit the floor. While it might make him uncomfortable, they had to wrap his chest back up once the area was cleaned so that the weakened skin and bones had protection. His ribcage hadn't fully cracked, but his left knee and lower leg had broken. He wouldn't be allowed to bend that knee for quite some time.

“And no strenuous activity, although you can see how walking around on crutches affects you,” Jones said as he was securing the chest wrapping. “I have to say, you are healing faster than I'm used to. That is a trait of earthmates, isn't it? I haven't treated one although I have studied up on the tribe.”

“Regeneration is with some of us,” Lest said. “But that cuts out farming then? That'll slow me down for a while.”

“Are you one dependent on farming?” Jones asked. “About the strength of your body's rune energy in direct correlation to plants you take care of.”

He nodded. “Right, it's the price we pay for our blessings.”

Jones closed his eyes to think, while Nancy joked, “I guess you can't take out a loan on that, huh?”

“No, not really,” Lest said, smiling.

“I'll send a note to Volkanon that you should be allowed some simple flower seeds in a pot while you recover,” Jones said. “That shouldn't be much work for keeping your energy stable.”

“Sounds fine,” he said. “Sorry for switching subjects, but is there any news on the crew of the airship I came in on?”

“Oh yes, they were found safe and sound not too far from town,” Jones said. “It seems whatever trick you all used to escape worked better on them. Their ship was completely wrecked, unfortunately.”

“They seemed really sad about it,” Nancy said. “Still, they came to visit you every day. They might be at the inn. If they're up, we should invite them over for breakfast.”

“Yes, that's a good plan,” Jones said. “Especially since it seems like it'll be hard to keep you in bed now.”

“That'd be great if they could come over,” Lest said with a nod.

“They're such a lovely couple,” Nancy said happily, heading out to get Helena and Nem. That made Lest feel better about moving here to Selphia. If they'd accept his two friends, he shouldn't have much trouble finding his place too.

“Let's get you into some clothes and try out some crutches,” Jones said, heading across the room to pull out some things from a dresser. “We could clean up the outfit you were wearing, but we couldn't get your bag to open and weren't sure if you still wanted to be dressed like that.”

“I can get my other clothes from my bag,” Lest said, reaching over to undo the lock. It was set so that it had to be his runic signature to unlock, making it quite secure. If only they could have resolved the conflict between the bag and the rune spheres... then it clicked about the last thing Jones had said. “Oh wait, I was still in the school uniform when I got here, wasn't I?”

“Well, yes,” Jones said, a little embarrassed and not sure if he should mention it more specifically. He came back over with a package of clothes that he seemed to have gotten. “I did borrow some clothes from Kiel just in case, since he's about the same size as you are.”

“All right, I'll have to thank him later,” Lest said, taking out a dark brown shirt with a blue diamond on the front. The shirt had a removable sleeve jacket in white, useful since he could wear the main part while farming and put on the longer jacket when he wouldn't be dirtying them. Some matching pants and his usual boots, well boot, should be fine. Deciding to be lighthearted, he added, “I was trying to fool some bandits that were tailing me and it almost worked, except that one of them still identified me as an earthmate. Somehow in the hurry to leave and get here, I forgot entirely what I was wearing until a few minutes before the warship showed up. I swear, I’m not such a ditz every day, but sometimes...”

Jones chuckled, accepting that explanation. “I can understand. Sometimes you get so busy that what you're wearing at the moment is completely out of mind. Or what your hair looks like.” After helping Lest get dressed, the doctor handed him the crutches and led him into another part of the building to see how he handled it.

The older woman gave them a sign to remain hushed as they walked past the other patient, a young woman with long lavender hair. Once they were in the living room area, she said, “She should wake up soon; seems like she's going to be just fine after all.”

“That’s good,” Jones said. He then introduced Majorie as a visiting midwife, but declined to speak of the other patient right away.

A few minutes later, the three women returned to the clinic. “I knew you'd be up on your feet once you woke up,” Nem said, giving him a brief hug in greeting.

“And I'm really relieved to know you two got away,” Lest said, trying to hang onto his crutches while being hugged. “Sorry about making you lose Grace.”

“It's fine, we all got out with our lives,” Helena said. “We can replace the airship, but can't replace a friend like you.”

While Nancy and Jones went to prepare breakfast and Marjorie went to see about waking the girl, Lest and his friends sat at the dining table and talked about what happened. “When the capitol heard that they attacked an unarmed civilian vessel, they sent a company of knights to increase security on the ground along with increasing patrols in these skies,” Nem said. “We went back out to the crash site the other day to see if we could salvage anything, but there was a skirmish between the imperial soldiers and the knights so we couldn't get close.”

Helena glanced into the kitchen to see their hosts talking merrily with each other. Then she leaned forward and asked in a hushed tone, “So what about the stones?”

“The knot came undone when I jumped and they went flying before I could secure them,” Lest replied in equal quiet. “And right after we found that the empire somehow knows about them; I figured something would go wrong, but not that soon.”

“It's not your fault,” Nem said, clasping his hand.

“We didn't mention them to the NACC officials or the knights who questioned us,” Helena said. “We wanted to see what you would say once we noticed you didn't have them. As long as they didn't find any before that skirmish, you might have some time with Norad's forces being alert to the Sechs' presence here.”

Nem nodded. “And with all the raw rune energy those things output, they're going to attract monsters. Nature could be your saving grace this time.”

“I hope that'll happen,” Lest said. “Better the monsters than the Sechs. Anyhow, I'll have to get my strength up to go searching for them. Since I can't do that right off, setting my roots first seems like the way to go.”

“That's pretty much what Granny said when I wrote her,” Nem said. “You should write her this evening and send it off with the next post ship. We've already arranged a trip out of here in a couple of hours to get back to the capitol, since it'll be easier to get a new ship of our own there.”

“Yeah, we'll be sure to check on you here in Selphia once we do,” Helena said.

“I could write the letter this morning if they'll let me borrow some things,” Lest suggested. He certainly didn't want to leave his family waiting to hear of his recovery and it'd be quicker to get a letter delivered through the capitol's post office.

However, Helena grinned with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes while Nem smiled as if thinking of something amusing. “Oh no, you should wait a few hours and see what today brings,” Nem said.

“Am I in trouble already?” he asked, looking back and forth between them.

“I kind of wish we could see how this plays out in person,” Helena said. There was definitely something going on here that he didn't know about. “But Selphia's not a busy port and we have just enough time to share some breakfast before we've got to run for the airfield. Otherwise we could be waiting nearly a week to get to the capitol.”

“I'll send you a note with the c/o address where we'll be, so we can hear about it too,” Nem said, delighted in whatever this was.

“Are you even going to hint at what you're talking about?” Lest asked, although he suspected the answer was no.

“That's no fun, so of course not!” Helena said, raising the volume of her voice. “You never get such a perfect storm of coincidences every day, but it's not my place to trip it off.”

He laughed it off; better than letting himself get worked up into a state near dread. “Fine, but this secret better be worth it.”

“It totally is,” Nem said with a girlish glee, then promptly blushed for doing so. “I mean... you really won't regret coming here, I'm sure of it.”

“What's this perfect storm you mention?” Jones asked, coming over with a plate of sausage patties and a pitcher of orange juice. Nancy wasn't far behind with a bowl of scrambled eggs for everyone to take what they wanted.

“It won't be perfect if we said anything more now,” Helena replied, waving her hand in a joking manner. “But it will be clear once it happens; I'm sure you'll hear of it.”

“Then this will be a fun day?” Nancy asked, delighted at the thought. “Great! There are times when I think Selphia could use a good shaking up. Lest falling out of the sky helps, but if it's going to be bigger than that, I can't wait!”

“I'm not sure how things could get more shaken or stirred up than now,” Jones said. “It's already an interesting time.”

“You're tempting fate,” Lest said, right before there was a knock at the door.

“That could be true,” Nancy said as Jones got up to answer it.

“What’s the trouble now?” the other patient asked sleepily, coming in with Marjorie. She was wearing a short sleeve white blouse and black pants, simple attire but it was partly because she had a bandage wrapped tightly around her right arm. She got introduced as Clorica, apparently a butler at the castle.

“We don't really know, but it should be fun,” Nancy said with a smile.

“Some fun trouble would be a nice change of pace,” Clorica said, getting some breakfast for herself once she sat at the table.

At that point, the doctor came back. “Well, it seems that Ventuswill already knows you're alert. That was one of the castle butlers with a message that she's asked you to meet with her once you were finished with breakfast.”

“Told you so,” Lest said, making the others laugh.

Even with that request there, they continued talking after the meal was finished. The only thing that stopped them was a check of the time when Helena and Nem had to catch their flight. “I really wish we could stay around,” Nem said as they all left the table. “This is always such a nice place to stay. And don't worry about paying us back, Lest, it's no trouble at all.”

“For the flight?” he asked. “We already discussed that.”

She smiled. “No silly, for the doctor's bill. We paid Jones for taking care of you.”

That surprised him. He figured there would be a bill with the injuries he had, but they had taken care of it? “Really? You sure that's all right? I figured you'd be pulling funds together to buy a new airship.”

“Meh, we've done enough favors for NACC that we can probably earn one if we agree to work with them for a spell,” Helena said. “On the other hand, you've got to get settled in here with nothing but what you brought. Couldn't leave a friend hanging like that. Just pay the generosity forward, as always.”

“Of course, thank you,” Lest said. He'd have to get a lot of generous things done to do so. Then again, it was what he was intending to do in Selphia. “And thank you to you as well, Jones. Especially for agreeing on the flowers for me.”

“We're glad to help,” Jones said, his words holding true sincerity. It could be seen with his runes that he loved taking care of others. “If you could, would you ask your elder about sending me a reference on health specifically for earthmates? It'd be a big help since you're moving in.”

He nodded. “Sure, that should be fine.”

After saying goodbye to the doctor and nurse, then an unfortunately short goodbye to his old friends, Lest and Clorica made their way along the cobblestone streets towards the castle. This was a beautiful town, he thought, like an antique work of art. No two buildings were quite the same, although they all had a rustic warmth that made any one of them seem like a welcoming home. Close by the street he hobbled on, a stream gurgled along in peaceful coexistence; a finny splash showed that the waters were inhabited too. Other people walked and chatted as well. Not just humans, as he spotted a dwarf with curly blue hair adjusting a sign outside one of the businesses. The town hadn't seemed large from the air, yet the rune flow seemed relatively robust now that he was here. Some of it was the presence of a divine dragon. Still, he could tell that there was a good sense of community.

At the end of the street, they came upon some stairs leading up to the town plaza. “Can you manage these?” Clorica asked. “It’s the same amount either way we go, but we can head to the next street in order to take them in two sets rather than one.”

It would've been no obstacle, except that he needed the crutches to keep weight off his broken leg. They were shallow and wide at least. “I'll try here,” he said. Deciding to take them one at a time, he shifted the crutches up to the first step and pulled himself up to stand on it. The next step had a loose pebble on it, so he brushed it aside with the right crutch just in case. Clorica went up slowly just behind him. Although with how her runes seemed weakened right now, she might not be much help if he slipped.

“Do you need help with that, Arthur?” a woman asked, coming across the plaza towards him. She wore the blue and silver armor of a knight. While she had long blond hair, she kept it in a practical ponytail out the back of her helmet so it wouldn't be in the way.

It puzzled him for a second that she seemed to be talking to him, but then he remembered that Jones and Nancy had called him that too at first. “No, I think he's got this,” Clorica said as he was halfway up already.

“And please, call me Lest,” he added.

“If that's what you like,” she said, stopping at the top to keep an eye on them. “We're glad you've gotten better, although we wish your arrival had been in a safer manner. I'm the dragon knight of Ventuswill, Forte Greenwind.” Forte put a fist to her chest and bowed her head in a respectful manner.

They were expecting him? That seemed odd since the elder hadn't mentioned contacting Ventuswill about the rune spheres. “Good to meet you, Lady Greenwind. Yeah, I didn't mean to drop in literally, but by the time we got warning of the warship, we were almost at the airfield.”

“I see.” She gave a sheepish smile. “Well not much a warrior of the ground like me can do about a flying warship. And if you're going to be informal with us, feel free to call me Forte. Most people in town do.” While waiting on him, she smiled at Clorica. “And great to see you up too. I was really worried when I heard you'd been shot.”

She'd been shot? That was strange to Lest. While he'd heard about guns, he thought they were supposed to be so impractical that few were actually used. “I almost made it back to town on my own,” Clorica said, slightly embarrassed in that she hadn't. “It didn’t seem so bad other than hurting, but I guess it was.”

“You shouldn't ignore an injury like that,” Forte insisted. “Although, you were a long ways from town.” Now that they were both up on the plaza, the knight decided to walk with them to the castle just in case.

It was a beautiful castle, made of vibrantly colored stones in a graceful nearly weightless look that reflected the divine dragon herself. Even from the outside, it was apparent that the building was split into three portions. The middle section held a partial roof, open to the sky in case the dragon wished to fly over her territory. With its high ceilings and lack of walls, it was a grand airy space to meet with her; it was a major honor to meet with any of the divine dragons. On either side of Ventuswill's sanctuary were mirrored sections of castle three stories high, with the spires he'd seen on towers reaching even higher. The town plaza was right at the castle's walls, making it quite a setting for festivals and other gatherings.

Inside of the dragon's sanctuary, Ventuswill waited patiently. Her long neck and spread wings reminded Lest of a swan, but her body was more like that of a lizard. She had a warm and gentle air around her, but her emotions seemed both constricted and muddled. Although, there was no telling if he could really use the cues he got from runes to decipher the emotions of a goddess. He could tell that there was a strong source of stress around her, an age-weakened body trying to maintain the work she did in her prime.

Forte made the same salute as before, but bowed at the same time. “Lady Ventuswill, our Prince Ar... I mean, Prince Lest has come to meet with you.”

“Wait, what?” Lest asked, stumped at the introduction. Was this what they were talking about? But how? “Since when am I a prince?”

Ventuswill tilted her head curiously, while Forte looked just as stumped. “Um, that is what you came here for, right? To help out Lady Ventuswill and Selphia.”

“That is the purpose behind my mission,” he replied. “But I wasn't told that I'd be expected like this, or that I was supposed to act as a prince.”

“That's odd,” Forte said, rubbing her forehead and looking at Ventuswill as if she wanted to say, 'What do we do now?'

Ventuswill was looking right at him, as if contemplating the same thing. It made Lest feel uncomfortable, so he said, “I think there's been a mix-up, since...”

“Wait!” The man with the booming voice ran in from the west wing of the castle, bowing apologetically. “I'm sorry for being late, but I had just got word that the royal vessel had landed and...” he paused, looking at Forte, Clorica, and Lest as if realizing the conundrum here. “Wait, what's going on here?”

“We're trying to figure that out,” Lest said. “I don't think I properly introduced myself due to my condition, but my name is Arthur Lest Nolan, from Grelin. I go by Lest, though.”

At this point, another pair entered the room from the main entrance. There was a man with loose blue hair wearing a black suit with floating gold armband much like that of the older man; he was leading the other guest into the room. This young man, about Lest's age, was dressed in a mixed fashion between nobility and travelers. Most notable was the colorful patterned cloak, but everything from his pants to his half-frame glasses were obviously of high quality and expense. Still, it was tasteful compared to some other noblemen that Lest had seen when they visited Grelin on business from the capitol.

“Pardon us,” the blue-haired man (were all three of them butlers?) said. “But I've brought our guest,” he noticed Lest there and hesitated.

Fortunately for him, the nobleman took over, coming forward to bow to Ventuswill. “I'm sorry to arrive so late, but we got delayed due to the incursion of the Sechs warship. I'm Prince Arthur Lest Norad, sent from the capitol to help run Selphia's government.”

There was a twinkle to Ventuswill's eyes, but she kept her amusement guarded beyond that small sign. Speaking in her regal tone, she said, “Well then, we seem to be in quite a pickle as we have two Prince Arthurs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> His name is actually Arthur D. Lawrence in canon, but this kind of situation is too fun to pass up!


	4. The Riddle of Two Princes

**Chapter 4: The Riddle of Two Princes**

Spring 2, year 1611

The actual prince was caught speechless, but by that point Lest was seeing what was going on. And just like they'd said, this was a perfect storm of coincidences. “Huh, never thought I'd meet someone who had a name near identical to mind save for two letters,” he said.

“Oh really?” Arthur asked, looking at him in strong curiosity. “Especially for an uncommon name, this would be highly improbable.”

“What's highly improbable is that you both seem to have come for the same reason and should have come on the same day,” Forte said in a thoughtful manner. Most likely she was trying to decide if one of them was lying.

“Perhaps,” Ventuswill said. “How about you both explain your missions in depth, as if speaking to someone who doesn't know about it? Because there's a good chance someone doesn't. Norad, you first.”

Arthur smiled at that, pleased enough in the riddle to go along with it. “As you wish. After the last prince of Selphia abandoned the position for unknown reasons, there were several discussions in the royal court of who to appoint here. It's been a troubling matter that the region's economy has been slowing towards a dangerous point over the past decade. There have also been many complaints from travelers on issues in Selphia, such as road outages and lack of accessible locales for sightseeing. The court believes that if an effort to make Selphia more interesting for tourists was carried out, the economic issues may be corrected in a few years. Plus you share a border with the Sechs Empire, which is a nation we've been keeping a wary eye on recently. That undermines the whole effort anyone puts into this plan. These issues are of personal interest to me, so I volunteered to come and do what I can to keep the community thriving.”

“And what about your delayed arrival?” Ventuswill asked.

“Ah yes, that,” he said, a brief moment of annoyance showing before what seemed to be his normal professionalism held strong. “When the Sechs warship was spotted, the captain immediately turned our ship around and wouldn't bring me here until they were certain the threat was gone due to my status as one of the high king’s sons. I had to do some convincing to get them to bring me today instead of next week.”

“That's what we were expecting, which is a help we could use greatly,” the divine dragon said. “Now then, your turn Nolan.”

He couldn't be sure what would start building trust with Ventuswill, but the truth should be the best starting point. “I'm an earthmate student from the tribal village of Grelin, where we have been researching the gradually weakening flow in the Norad ether sea. It's sluggish in many parts of the country, affecting crop production and the aggressiveness of monsters. As we are greatly affected by the natural flow of runes, it's an important issue for us.

“The heart of the Norad ether sea is here in Selphia, with you as its core Lady Ventuswill. Others are still researching what this reoccurring problem is, but we have come up with support artifacts called rune spheres. According to our theory, when placed at the four springs in Selphia, the spheres will greatly stimulate the flow of runes, stabilizing the whole nation's flow until the deeper issues can be properly identified and corrected. I've been sent to set the spheres here and remain in the area for at least five years to make sure they function, take care of any related issues, help out Lady Ventuswill however I can, and act as a local contact for the tribe. On the trip here, we heard about the warship as well as the royal vessel being pulled back, but our ship was so close that we decided to land anyhow.”

“Were you on the vessel that got attacked then?” Arthur asked. “I'm very sorry about that.”

He nodded. “I was, but it wasn't what you were thinking. When the warship came at us, they contacted us over the radio and demanded that we handed over the rune spheres. It was a total mystery to us since their creation has been a close secret within Grelin for a few decades now; no one outside of the tribe should have known, but they weren't the first to try getting the spheres from me. While we couldn't fight back, we decided that it was more important that I get into Selphia and place the rune spheres as soon as possible. So I ended up jumping out of the airship, only for the support spell to give out too soon. Hence why I'm like this right now.” He patted the crutch under his right arm.

Arthur seemed thoughtful and it was at that moment that Lest knew he'd seen Arthur before. He was the nobleman he'd come across when he'd met the Executioner. “I see. Then it seems this may not be the first time we've been confused. I've been stopped by brigands twice in the past week trying to get rune spheres from me, but I had no idea what they were talking about.”

“Then where are your rune spheres now?” Ventuswill asked.

“I got hit by the shockwave of one of their big cannons and lost hold of them,” Lest admitted. “They should have fallen around the area. Even if they're not in place, they hold a great deal of runes and so will be obvious and attractive to monsters. I'm hoping for that, since it'll be easier for me to get them from the monsters than if the Sechs soldiers managed to find them.”

She closed her eyes. “There has been four unexpectedly strong points in the land. They move around in ways to suggest that your hopes are granted and they're in the possession of monsters rather than humans.”

“That's good,” Lest said. “But all I really need for my work is a place to stay and some farmland near town, once I'm free to get around again.”

Arthur had his hand on his chin, then nodded. “I see. In that case, I believe it would be best if you took the position as Selphia's prince, Nolan.”

“What makes you say that if you were the one who volunteered for it?” Lest asked. It was a generous offer, but something had to be behind it.

He was amused as he asked, “How much research on Selphia did you do before arriving?”

“Apparently not enough,” he said, making Forte nearby chuckle.

“It's fine,” Arthur said. “The prince of Selphia is not a position of full political power beyond its borders, being more of a community leader. I can instruct you on the specifics later on, but one of the primary responsibilities of the ruling prince is taking care of the castle's farmland.” He turned a little embarrassed as he said, “I have to admit that I've been uncertain how well I could handle that part of the job, as I've never farmed before. But I know how important it is to earthmates and honestly, I think I can fulfill my assignment better as a trade manager and adviser. And your assignment would be better fulfilled when you live close to Lady Ventuswill here in the castle, right?”

Hearing that, Lest wondered if Selphia had originally been an earthmate community. Making the town leader in charge of the most central farmland was expected in such places. “Right, so it wouldn't take me long to arrive if I was needed. What do you think, Ventuswill?”

“It would make me feel more comfortable to have the fields in good hands,” she said, looking over both of them. “You two will need to assist each other to work at your best, Arthur with his political and financial expertise and Lest with his farming and runic expertise. Will you do so whichever way things are decided?”

“Yes,” they both replied.

She nodded. “Good. Then because the farmland is an important aspect of the job, Lest will be the Prince of Selphia and Arthur his adviser. Forte, go ahead and spread word of this through the town so people are aware of it.”

“Yes, my lady,” she said, saluting and heading out on her task.

“I'm a touch weary so we'll have to discuss more about this later on,” Ventuswill said, trying to keep a dignified pose even though she sounded tired. “Arthur, you'll be need to find a place to stay, but I'm sure that won't be hard.”

“Certainly, although I'd have to find which buildings are available,” he said.

“Pardon me for interrupting,” the older man there said, “but you could check with the inn to see about a place to stay temporarily, or with the restaurant as I believe the owner has unused rooms and an office there. Both are on the northern street; I could send one of my students with you to show you the way.”

He smiled. “No, I'd like to look around town myself first. Thanks for the tip; I'll see what's available there.” Then he bowed to Ventuswill. “And thank you for understanding. I hope we can make Selphia a better place.”

“I'm glad you feel that way,” she said. Once Arthur was on his way out, she yawned briefly. “Sorry. It seems you still need some time to heal, Lest, so today it may be best simply to make yourself acquainted with the town and those who live here as well. Volkanon and the others will show you around the castle… whichever parts you can get around at this point.”

“Okay, we'll speak more later,” Lest said. Hopefully just him and Ventuswill; it might help to speak to her alone.

The older man waved to the three of them to go through the doorway on the right. Ventuswill was already nodding off. “Good thing we got this sorted out peacefully,” he said once they were in the doorway. “As she said, I'm Volkanon, butler to our Lady Ventuswill and with you being the prince, to you as well. These two are my students and assistants, Vishnal and Clorica. Feel free to ask us for help on anything; we're here to serve you.”

This was going to take adjusting he hadn't planned for, he thought. “Thanks, though I'm not all that used to being served.”

“It’s all in the job,” Volkanon said. Then he turned his attention form Lest for a moment to smile warmly and hug Cloirca. “And it's great to see you back home; I can't imagine what you must have been through.”

“Yes, it's great to have you back,” Vishnal added happily.

“Aw, thanks,” Clorica said, glad and not at all embarrassed at the attention even if Lest was pretty much a stranger. “I knew I had to get back; I found out some important things, but I can tell you later.”

“Excuse me?” A voice came from the doorway, stopping them from continuing. It was Jones with an envelope. Smiling at them, he added, “Good, I got you just in time. I heard a bit of what happened; you'll have to tell us sometime when you're free.”

“Sure, that'll be fun to tell,” Volkanon said boisterously.

“Is this about my treatment?” Lest asked.

He nodded. “Yes, I figured I'd better come over now. Volkanon, Lest needs to have some flower seeds to take care of while he can't do regular farm work. That's what'll help him best through this injury.”

Volkanon took the note as Lest had his hands full with the crutches. “Unusual, but if it's the doctor's orders, we'll see about getting some.”

Jones headed out with his message delivered, leaving Vishnal to ask, “You really need the flowers to get better?”

Lest nodded. “Yes, it's the blessing price. The earth gives her blessings freely, but then we need to give blessings back to the earth to maintain our gifts. And I go stir crazy if I don't have some farm work to do for a few days, probably why I ended up sleeping the whole while.”

“Hah, I know the troubling feeling of having too much idle time,” Volkanon said. “There's a flower shop in town, so it's no problem. Now, this wing is meant for the royal family, so it is large for a single fellow. But you've got your room down there with a door directly into the royal farms, along with the one here down the hall if you want. Your room is a private area, but this hall and the parlor over here are public places, in that people often pass through here either as a shortcut across town, taking shelter from the elements, or socializing in the parlor. Once you can get around better, there's more private rooms upstairs and downstairs you can use for whatever you wish, as well as an office across from your bedroom. Our offices and apartments are in the other wing and you're free to drop in whenever you like.”

Lest followed them around to check out the first floor rooms. The office would be nice for writing letters or whatever business Arthur would be instructing him on later. While the parlor was open to the public, Lest felt happy about that. That would make it easy and natural to invite someone there to speak with them, maybe even moving into the office if it needed to be private. Since he was being pulled in as a community leader, that would be important. His bedroom seemed sparse with just a few necessary pieces of furniture, although that wouldn't be an issue for long.

He insisted on going out to look at the farms, so they headed out through the bedroom door to get there. Just like the plaza, the farm was right next to the castle. There was a shed for tools nearby, holding a few that seemed old but usable. Clusters of large trees divided what Volkanon said were five fields, four of which had been unused by the last prince. From a few dead vines and a withering bush, it seemed only a small portion of this field had been used to farm, something that struck Lest as wasteful the instant he noticed it. Across the field, there was a shipping bin, a fertilizer box, a shallow-walled well, a mostly empty lumber and stone bin, and a small barn in need of serious attention.

“Excuse me for saying so, but if this is a big part, the last prince wasn't very good at his job,” Lest said, looking over the ground to read the runes there.

“I must admit that he was unsuited for the job,” Volkanon agreed. “Kept complaining it was a job meant to make him easier to ignore and eventually took off without a word. He lasted a few years, longer than I expected.”

“He was good to help train a proper attitude,” Vishnal said, making his master laugh.

“I suppose that's the best one could say,” Clorica said, then covered her mouth and yawned.

Meanwhile, Lest closed his eyes and started to sing softly in a different language. He couldn't kneel at the moment to feel the earth itself. Gold lines briefly appeared on his skin in response to his call; the runes of the ground responded as well, although he would be the only one there to hear them. This way took more energy, but it gave him a lot of information he wanted for when he started to farm. “Not quite awake yet,” he said normally, opening his eyes back up. “This field needs to rest for another season as anything grown this spring will be weaker than normal. Probably two seasons of fallow rest so as not to wear it out too fast. But it has a lot of promise.”

“Wow, you can tell that much from just a short melody?” Vishnal asked, completely impressed. Clorica had her eyes wide. In contrast, Volkanon was quietly in approval. That was enough proof for him that Lest was a true earthmate.

Lest laughed a little in embarrassment. “Yeah, it's a really basic skill for us, not much different from talking with others. But I think this land will make whatever else I need to do worth it.”

Volkanon clapped him lightly on the shoulder; probably would have been harder if he hadn't been in bandages. “Good, I like your attitude already. I have some daily tasks I still need to complete for Lady Ventuswill, so we'll stop the tour here. Vishnal, you go with the prince around town to make sure he can get around and meet folks.”

“Certainly,” Vishnal said.

“Am I taking his duties for today then?” Clorica asked, starting to slip back into drowsiness again.

“Not quite, I want you on light duty until we're sure you're completely healed,” Volkanon said in a stern concern. “Oh yes, and when you stop by the flower shop, tell Illuminata that I'll handle the bill for your flowers this time.”

“I've got some money,” Lest said.

“Save it for when you can get serious with your farming,” Volkanon said. “See you later.”

“Thanks for all your help,” Lest said, waving to him before Volkanon and Clorica headed off to their part of the castle.

“We'd better head back through the hall so we don't disturb Lady Ventuswill,” Vishnal said, securing the door to Lest's bedroom before going to open the other. “The town's not big, so we should be able to get around it by the evening hours. Anywhere besides the flower shop you definitely want to stop in at?”

Lest nodded in thanks to having the door help while he went into the hall. There were a few small tables to navigate around, nothing difficult. “I'd like to meet Kiel if I could, since he lent me some clothes. Also the grocery store, or wherever would sell vegetable seeds and plant nutrients.”

“That'd be the general store, with the nutrients in the flower shop,” Vishnal said. “Since we will be picking up things from the latter, we can loop around so it's the last stop. If he's at home or his workshop, Kiel won't be far from here, so we'll head there first. And I hope you don't mind, but I think you should check out the inn, restaurant, and marketplace as well. They're places people who live here visit frequently.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Lest said.

They headed towards the west side of town, where the clinic was. Vishnal pointed out the street there. “You just came from there, but if you continue on down that road, you'll find Dragon Lake, which is good for fishing and swimming.”

“Hopefully not both at once,” he joked.

Vishnal smiled at that. “Right, that'd hurt.” He glanced into the window of the store where Lest had seen the dwarf earlier, then gestured to the building. “This is the blacksmith's store and home, but it looks like Bado isn't in right now. He makes weapons and armor to sell, as well as sharpening blades when needed. And up ahead here, we have an alchemist shop; that's Kiel's business, along with looking after the town library.”

“Keeping those two together sounds dangerous too,” Lest commented. Fumes from a potion gone wrong (or even some gone right) might damage the books.

“He went with his passions, so he does take care to keep both sides safe,” Vishnal said, pulling a rope on a bell once they got there. “There’s a bigger library, but no one lives there now; Kiel rotates the books he keeps in here from the collections in there and the castle.”

“Come on in!” a voice called from inside. Once they got in, a young man (Lest figured he had to be eighteen or close to it) came into entrance area of a small shop. Kiel was taller than Lest, but had a more delicate frame of someone who didn't do a lot of physical work like farming. Chemical gloves covered his hands and a pair of safety goggles currently rested on his head. “Morning, Vishnal. Who's this?”

“This is our new prince, Lest,” he said. “We're visiting people around town today. Lest, this would be Kiel, our alchemist and librarian.”

“Well I haven’t been either for very long, but I'm working to make it better all the time,” Kiel said cheerfully. “Good to meet you, Lest. I heard about what happened from my sister. That's just about the craziest coincidence I ever heard of!”

Lest smiled and shifted a crutch so he could shake Kiel's hand. “No kidding. And thank you for lending me some of your clothes, although I’m going to have to give them back. It would’ve helped if I’d lost my bag too.”

“That's fine,” he said. “Since the airship went up in flames, any of the cargo must have been lost and I wanted to help out however I could. Hah, but now you've gone and become a prince! I can't tell if that makes you the luckiest guy around or the unluckiest.”

“Luck can be good or bad, so it has to be both,” Vishnal said as a joke.

“I just lost a few of my things, so I can get all that back in time,” Lest said. “I still have my family back in my old town and my friends got out alive from the crash too, which is what mattered to me.” The rune spheres were lost too, but he could get those back.

“That's true,” Kiel said. “Oh, you know what? I've been working on a new potion recipe, one that helps injuries heal better but tastes more soothing than a straight medicinal herb potion. Want to give one a try?”

“He's very good at it, so there shouldn't be any trouble from just trying,” Vishnal said.

“Maybe, I'd need to see it first,” Lest said.

“Allergies? I can get the ingredient list too. Wait a minute.” Kiel headed into the lab area. As Lest had begun to think this was a mostly mundane town in terms of magic wielders, he was a bit surprised to notice that there was an enchanted screen on the doorway between the two rooms. Small devices on the frame made a barrier that would help protect the rest of the shop and keep the lab area clean, but allowed Kiel to walk through unimpeded due to an armlet he wore. He came back with a small bottle of red-violet liquid and a recipe card. “Okay, so this potion has spring water, green grass, medicinal herb, numbing spores, beets, and carrots.”

“Why numbing spores?” Vishnal asked.

While he'd been handed the bottle, he realized it was a mistake when Kiel mentioned that particular ingredient. “The effect of the spores can be muted so that it dulls pain rather than causes partial paralysis,” Lest said. And that muting could be done either through certain ingredients he had not mentioned or through enchantments.

“Right, I use some rune shift enchantments as part of the brewing process to change the passive effect,” Kiel explained, but then the potion in the bottle started hissing and shimmering. “Whoa, sorry! It didn't seem unstable.”

The alchemist started to take it back, but Lest tightened his grasp on it. There was a shine on his hand from the chi lines. “Hang on, this shouldn't do anything dangerous,” he said. “Sorry about messing it up, I should've warned you that a major part of my power as an earthmate is unraveling enchantments.” The hissing slowed, so Lest examined it again. “And that wasn't the only enchantment in this particular brew; seems like other shifts were made to balance the vegetables, herbs, and spores so that it comes out smooth with the taste in favor of the veggies. I can only take potions without enchantments in the process. This is now just some odd-flavored juice that might numb your whole body rather than just pain.”

“That sounds like a lot of trouble,” Vishnal said, to which Lest nodded.

On the other hand, Kiel was impressed. “Wow, so you're really an earthmate? That's incredible; I never thought I'd get to meet one of you since most live in a distant part of Norad. Do you understand earthmate script?”

“Somewhat,” Lest said. “I recognize some words and structures from hymns I've learned, but not much outside that.”

“Ah, well I had some books written in that in my collection,” Kiel said, glancing at a doorway that led downstairs. “That and a few ruins around Selphia have that kind of writing around, but nobody in town knows how to read it. It's like there was a community of earthmates here at some point.”

Lest nodded. “I'd agree, since this position as prince seems very much like what we'd do.” Even just going around talking to neighbors and helping them out was evidence of this. They spoke for a few minutes longer, but Kiel wanted to get back to his potion studies (including seeing what happened to the one Lest undid). On leaving, Vishnal brought Lest to a street heading north to visit the inn.

“This is called the residential area, although businesses and residences are spread out evenly in truth,” the butler said, indicating the handful of buildings along the road to their left. The architectural styles seemed to be pulled from many ages, but every home had a small garden space. On their right, there was the little canal and the trees that bordered the royal farms.

“A lot of them seem unused,” Lest said about the houses.

Vishnal briefly looked sad about that. “They are, unfortunately. Our last prince was not popular with anyone, leading our population to dwindle in the past few years as people left. Those of us who remain have strong ties to this place, so I'm sure they'll be happy to help build up the community again however we can.”

“Who handles the matter of buying and selling these places, in case we do get new residents?”

He had to think about that a moment. “I believe it's supposed to be part of your work, although Volkanon handles estate titles, licenses, and similar issues right now. Or maybe it'll fall to Arthur since he is your political and financial adviser.”

“We'll just see how things work out,” Lest said.

By the time they got to the northmost street, Lest was getting tired. That didn't seem right even if he knew it was because he'd been asleep for three days straight. Vishnal said they could rest inside the Bell Inn, which was right by some stairs that led to the bottom of the cliff. As a building of Oriental influence, it was yet another style added to Selphia's eclectic mix. Twin lion statues guarded the main entrance while wind chimes had charms for good luck and health. A sign on the wall advertised public baths for 100 gold, rooms ranging from 250 to 2900 gold per night, and a service to order meals from the restaurant. Although he hadn't been in many towns, it seemed like reasonable pricing.

A lovely woman with long silver-blond hair greeted them as Vishnal was holding the door open for Lest. “Hello, thanks for coming by!” Then she took another look at him and put a hand to her cheek. “Oh, you were... wait, were you the real prince or the fake one?”

“Doesn't matter now, since Ventuswill named me Selphia's prince officially,” he said. “Hello, I'm Lest. Do you mind if we sit in here for a few minutes?”

“Not at all, need some help?” She came from behind the counter and made sure he could sit down comfortably on a couch nearby. “I'm Lin Fa, the owner of the inn. Would you both care to have some lunch while you're here? On the house this time to welcome you to your new home.”

“Thanks, that'd be great,” he said.

“Porco sent some vegetable stew today,” Lin Fa said happily, heading to a door behind the counter. “I'll bring along some tea to go with it.”

“This should be good,” Vishnal said. “Porcoline owns the restaurant and he’s an amazing chef.”

For being an inn, there didn't seem to be much business today. It was quiet and a nearby shoe cubby for guests and bathers only held one pair of house shoes. Someone did come downstairs from the staircase by the baths, in a hesitant cautious rhythm. When she appeared, the young woman was carrying two buckets, one stuffed with rags and the other sloshing with soapy water. She had hair of the same color as Lin Fa, but cut in boyish spikes. “Done with the floors up here, Momma,” she called, setting the buckets down near the shoe cubby. She grabbed the shoes and quickly put them on, noticing the two of them as she did. “Oh, he-o Vishnah. Where's my mom, please?”

“She went to get us some stew for lunch,” he said.

“Good good, I thought it might be time for foo-” and then she yelped because she fumbled the last of the steps coming to greet them. Lest winced as her face hit the floor.

Vishnal was up in an instant to go help her. “Are you okay, Xiao?”

“Hah, I've found worse tumbles,” she said, sitting up on her own and putting a hand to her face. “Ow, but I might need a clean hankie for this.”

“If it's not too bad, I could clear it up with a spell,” Lest offered.

“Can you, please?” she asked, so Lest waved them to come over because he did better at casting on others if he could touch them.

There was some blood dripping from her nose, but no signs of being broken. Lest put his fingertips on her cheek near the injury to activate the healing spell. Since it wasn't bad, all the spell needed to do was speed up her natural healing process so that the break wasn't open long and neutralize any possible infections. “There you go. Try not to bump it again and it should be just as normal tomorrow.”

She smiled. “Good, thank you. It will be nice if we have new guests come in. Oh, and I’m Xiao Pai; I work here with my mom.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Lest said, nodding. “I'm Lest.”

“Oh, then you're the new prince?” she asked. “We had the other one, Arthur I mean, come in a while ago asking about rooms, yes? But we didn't have much of an office to help him with. Did you both really have the nearly same name?”

“Right, we're both Arthur Lest, with our family names differing slightly.”

“At least you both use different ones, yes?” Xiao said, intrigued by this. And more, as evidenced when she added, “It was real amazing what Forte told us! Because we thought that you were the prince, only the airship control bluffed about them turning back so the warship would ignore you. It sounds like great book, but then it got even more complicated when you weren't the prince but he was and then you were the one actually named prince, and, um,” she faltered in puzzlement. “Real complicated.”

“I could tell you more about it when your mother gets back,” Lest offered.

That delighted her. “Oh, yes, yes! We'd love that. Oh but first, um, why were you dressed like a girl when you showed up? It’s been bothersome question.”

How many people had seen him? They’d probably all want to ask him that at some time. Human curiosity, although Kiel’s curiosity had been more about the potion and earthmates. “I was trying to fool some bandits and got so busy with talking to my friends that I forgot about it,” he said without hesitation. It wasn’t something he was ashamed of, even if he knew people who thought he should be.

“Is everything all right out here?” Lin Fa asked as she brought a serving cart through the door. “I thought I heard a yelp.”

“Just me falling down the stairs again, Momma,” Xiao said, slightly embarrassed but it seemed like something that happened on a regular basis. “At least I got the mop buckets down before I went down.”

“She's fine now,” Vishnal said.

“Good, then we can be cheerful company all around,” Lin Fa said. And it was true through their whole lunchtime conversation.


	5. Selphia Town

Spring 2, year 1611

The mother and daughter innkeepers already seemed like good friends, but they had to get back to their cleaning while Lest and Vishnal wanted to get back to the castle at a reasonable time. Off to the west outside the inn, there was a viewing platform to look at the landscape below. It seemed precarious with the drop on over two sides of town, but Vishnal assured him that they kept watch on the cliff's stability and there hadn't been much trouble with it for decades. Back at the intersection, there was a decorative gate standing high over the path that led down to the airfield to the east and the hilly lowlands to the north. There were some small windmills on the gate, but even from the ground they could see peeling paint on them.

Not far down the northern street, they came upon another plaza right across from the path to the royal farms. This place was built on a large wooden platform with carved rails, but it too could use some loving attention. Lines of wooden booths with cloth shelters were placed neatly here. While it could have been a bustling marketplace, no booths were in use today. A pity, since it would have a nice view over the land below as well.

“As you can see, this is our marketplace for traders and other temporary businesses,” Vishnal said. “Any resident of Selphia can apply for a booth on any day, as well as traders registered with the Norad market. Thursdays are currently our only regular market day, as that's when most traders will stop by outside of festivals.”

“It's plain,” Lest said.

“It's been this way as long as I've known it.”

He smiled. “We should have a market cleaning day soon. Get people to come out here and take care of the place, maybe add some more color to the booths. And paint those windmills over that entrance gate and add some flags around; this place seems like it could use some. Does Selphia have its own flag?”

Pleased with that idea, Vishnal nodded. “Yes, it's primarily Ventuswill's symbol, but she's the reason behind our town. That seems like a great plan, we should do that.”

“When I can do some work because I'd like to help out with it,” Lest said. “It'd give people some time to make new covers and flags here too.”

Past the marketplace, there was a mansion nearly as grand as the castle. It had the air of an old noble family, with the decorative iron rails around dainty balconies, the elaborately trimmed windows, the intricate designs on over-sized doors, and more. The entrance plate declared it to be Porcoline's Kitchen rather than a ritzy residence. Further to the east stood the tallest structure in town, a windmill rising above the mansion. It'd be nice to go up there once he was out of the cast.

Inside the restaurant, the building continued to be grand, even including chandelier lighting. It mixed a classy look with a comfort like home to be somewhere one could have a special dinner or an everyday gathering without changing anything. A hall to the east led to several doors, with a sign saying that they included a few private dining rooms available for reservation. The large tables had clean white tablecloths and a mixed array of silverware. In a bin by the service counter, there were patterned plates from many sets for customers to take and hand over to the chef for service. A beautiful black grand piano sat near the service counter, being played by a woman with long cream brown hair. The chef sang along boisterously with mangled lyrics, causing the pianist and Forte nearby to try hard not to laugh.

The chef was quite a match to the restaurant, a large man who wore diamond rings and a gold feathered hat pin along with his bright apron and puffy chef's hat. His fashion sense was ostentatious yet he seemed like he could be one's oddball and friendly uncle. After a flourish of a flipping pocket pie into a small basket, he turned to offer the dish to Forte. “Here you are, my charming knight. And if your brother keeps getting this distracted in his studies, you send him my way for a little chat. Knowledge is good but this borders on obsession.”

“I'll give him another two weeks in how long this course should last,” Forte said, taking the basket. “Thanks again.” On her way out, she nodded to them. “Hello Lest. How are you getting around?'

“It's a bit tough in spots, but I'm managing,” he said. “Thanks for asking.”

“Oo, is this our new prince?” the pianist said, getting up from the bench and coming over. Her elongated ears and particular outfit made it obvious that she was an elf. “Has to be with Vishnal following along. This should be a good deal better than your last boss because anyone would be better than that loud mouth.”

“It's just the first day, but I think things will go well,” Vishnal said.

“The last prince doesn't seem popular with anyone,” Lest said.

“No kidding,” she said as Forte waved and headed out. “All talk and no action. But that's in the past and we've got to be looking forward. Hey Lest, I'm Margaret, and I manage the restaurant for Porcoline over there.”

“I don't know what I'd do without you, gorgeous,” Porcoline said, turning back to whatever dish he was working on. “But you really should make your introductions sexier. Like,” he turned his voice deeper in a way that was almost but not exactly sexy, “I am Porcoline Tulle de Sainte Coquille, and this is my magnificent manager and musician Margaret.”

After a laugh, Margaret put a hand to her mouth and said a bit quieter, “He might seem annoying, but he's a great guy. Just don't tell him I said it.”

“All right,” Lest said quietly. “Then is this the only restaurant in town? Seems like it.”

She nodded. “Right. See, this is a historical town with all the ancient buildings around, so even cooking is accounted for in trying to preserve it. Simple recipes are fine, but anything that would use an oven, stovetop, or specialized equipment requires a license. Most people don't bother, but we've got the town covered. Porco will cook some things on request, but mostly the daily menu is up to him and what's in the pantry. If you ever get busy and want a hot meal without disrupting your work, just send a note and we'll get it delivered.”

“Or one of us will bring it back for you,” Vishnal added.

“Sounds like a good deal,” Lest said. “I usually like to cook for myself, with what I can grow.”

That got Porcoline distracted from his cooking. “Ooo, we've actually got a farmer and chef in the prince this time around? Marvelous! You'll have to share some of your cooking with me once you get a license. And if we could get fine fresh produce and herbs right down the street, I'd be happy to cook for you free anytime.”

Margaret looked briefly annoyed, but then reconsidered it. “Well... in that case, I think that's a fine deal. You mind?”

“Not at all, I'd be happy to share,” Lest said. “I usually end up growing way more than I can eat myself, so it's no trouble.'

“Woohoo, I'll be looking forward to it!” Porcoline cheered, twirling a pair of tongs in his hand. “Have you had lunch yet?”

“Yes actually, we ate with Lin Fa and Xiao,” he said.

“Oh, well then I'll see about sending you some dinner at the castle. I'll whip up something good and hearty, since you could use the energy to heal up faster.”

All these people wanting to cook for him was surprising, but he understood wanting to gift food to a newcomer. It was a good welcome, a promise of a friendly town. “Thank you, I'm hoping to get better quick myself.”

“Think positive,” Margaret suggested.

“Oh, did Arthur come by here?” Lest asked, curious if he'd found a place yet.

“The other prince? Yeah, he's moving in upstairs.” She gestured to a door heading east. “Porco has a big business office over there that he never uses, and it's too big for my work.”

“And too far from the piano,” Porcoline piped in.

She smiled happily. “Yeah, that too. So we're letting him stay in an extra suite upstairs and use the office for his work. Good to know that everything worked out in spite of the crazy mix-up, huh?”

Lest nodded. “Yes, this seems to be working out better than either of us expected.”

Not long after, they said goodbye to Margaret and Porcoline to head on south. Due to the shape of the cliff, there weren't as many buildings over here. A few were built out on platforms that had trees growing under them. Another flagless gate stood to the east at a path to the airfield down below so travelers had options of where to arrive. On more solid ground, they found the general store right next to the main plaza. Rosebushes sat near the building, filled with many new leaves. A chalkboard outside listed some daily specials, today being a sale on fresh orange bread, spices, tins, and ink.

The inside gave Lest a nostalgic feeling for the general store in Grelin. It was much like this: barrels of basic ingredients like flour, oats, and rice, a table up front for local baked goods (including the orange bread), rows of shelves filled with various goods, a large icebox in back, and even the lace doilies and bowls of dried potpourri for atmosphere. An elderly woman in a simple old-fashioned dress sat in a rocking chair by the register, sewing a baby's gown by hand. In the back of the store, a red-haired dwarf paused in his work to see them coming in.

Elves were easy to identify once their ears were visible. On the other hand, dwarves could be tricky to tell apart from humans. Traditional dwarves were easy, since they would only come aboveground if they had no other option and had coarse thick beards. But in a town like this, one was more likely to run across a non-traditional dwarf who might not have a problem shaving or adapting to new communities. Then one had to pick out less obvious traits, such as a short stocky stature (not always true as mixed marriages were common), unusually large hands often with hair (but some would shave that too), certain vocal traits, and a penchant for crafting and forging (but not always). This dwarf had the right body shape, but it was more his runes that told Lest that he was a dwarf instead of a short human. He was unusually unscarred for a dwarf, not a callous or old wound to be seen even as he wore a short-sleeved shirt.

“Hello, you must be one of the two Arthurs we've been hearing about,” the old woman said pleasantly, placing her needle securely in a piece of felt before setting her project aside. “Don't feel the need to carry purchases while you're on crutches. I don't mind getting up to help you out.”

“Thanks,” he said with a nod, although he knew the butlers would help him when he went out like this. “I'm Lest, the new prince.”

“Well it's a delight for you to drop in on my humble store,” she said, coming over to meet with them. “I'm Blossom, but feel free to call me Granny if you'd like. I'm not ashamed of my age.”

“That's a good attitude to take, Granny,” Lest said, agreeing with it and figured she'd like it.

Her eyes twinkled as she smiled. “Yes, I think you'll do nicely around here. Oh, and my assistant back there is Doug. He's a shy boy, but he's very kind.”

“Aw, knock it off Granny,” Doug said, turning back to his work. But there was some affection to his words, so Lest was pretty sure he cared about Blossom.

She laughed at it. “He's new to the area too. It's nice to see more people coming into Selphia. While I may not have much to offer, I'll help out however I can to make this place strong again.”

“I hope I can do that for all of you,” Lest said. “I'm fine for things at the moment, but I'll definitely be back to buy some seeds.”

“I can show you a sample of what I have right now, although there's not much for variety with the lack of traders,” she offered.

“As much as I'd like to see them, I'd better not,” he said, reluctant. A piece of himself was fretting about the denial. “I'm already feeling antsy from not having farmed in a week and yet I can't take care of anything that requires a lot of work.”

Blossom's eyes widened in recognition. “Oh? Are you an earthmate then?”

“Yes, I am.”

That sparked a strong hope in her. “Wonderful! I'm so grateful that you came at the right time then. I've been telling the Norad politicians that we need to get an earthmate in here for years. Even if there hasn't been one here in Selphia since I was a child, one of your tribe makes the best sense as our leader with the traditions we have.”

“I've been thinking that myself the more I learn of what I fell into,” Lest said with a smile. “Also, I've been wondering is if any town traditions like that which have been neglected, ones that you remember and would like to see come back.”

“I'd have to think over that, but I know there's some,” she said, closing her eyes to recall things. “Maybe later when I've considered it, we can talk. The last prince did cancel festivals often, such a shame. Like the firefly festival in summer; I have many fond memories of that one with my husband, bless his soul.” Then she looked back at him. “Oh, and it was before that, but there hasn't been a wassail since I was a young woman, not far from where you must be at. I remember it being fun even if you had to endure the cold for it.”

That bothered him. “No wassail? Wow, canceling one would be considered heresy where I came from. We even held one right as an ice storm hit because there wouldn't be a decent day for it otherwise. Well even if we can't convince the others to celebrate it, I'll definitely be honoring it come next winter.”

“What's a wassail?” Vishnal asked.

“In the last weeks of winter, the whole community comes out into the fields for what's basically a loud party at night,” Lest said. “The earth and most plants upon it rest during winter and the wassail is to reawaken its spirit to prepare for spring, as well as disturb any bad spirits that may have settled in during the harsh season. During this last one, my father was telling me how it can seem overly superstitious to those who don't farm. But for a people like us, it's seen as vital to making the next year's harvests successful.”

“A loud party out in the cold winter night does sound crazy,” Doug said. “But hey, a party's a party, so it could be fun.”

“There'll be a big bonfire so it's not that bad,” Blossom said. “It's something to look forward to, even if my age might not keep me at it long.”

“Yes, and do let me know if you remember anything else I should look into,” Lest said. “I saw your sign outside had orange bread on it. Is it the kind with the zest and juice in the dough?”

Glad that he noticed, she went over to the baked goods table to find one. “Certainly, and in the glaze on top. I had some extra oranges that needed using, so I baked plenty of them just yesterday and this morning. It's normally fifteen gold, but is only ten today.”

In part because it seemed rude to drop by for the first time without buying something, and because it sounded good, Lest asked, “May I get a loaf of it then? It sounds like a good snack.”

“Yes, thank you,” she said. Lest had to let Vishnal hang onto one of his crutches while he got his coin purse out of his pocket to pay for it.

Just across the street from the general store, they found the flower shop. It had one of the larger gardens in town, along with a greenhouse to grow flowers out of season. Walking by the field to get to the store entrance, Lest could sense that these flowers were well taken care of. Feeling the runes of healthy plants of any sort on a sunny day was like hearing them sing, and these ones were singing with great delight. Some violets and clovers grew in a pot on the door too, happy as can be.

The shop was filled with dozens of baskets full of flowers. Many of the baskets held sealing spells on them; this was used with both flowers and foods to give them a much longer and safer shelf life. With the sealing, the shop was able to stock flowers of all seasons all year round. Only one person was there, an elf with long braids of deep red hair. She wore an outfit that was peculiar for elves, or anybody, to wear. It looked like illustrations for a famed detective series: a brown patterned beret, a monocle, a long brown overcoat, even tall boots to fit the part. While one might see something like it during a costumed event, it wasn't every day wear in most places as far as Lest knew.

“Welcome to my shop,” she said, grinning at them. “And it's one of the butlers and our first Arthur.”

“Call me Lest, please,” he said. Hopefully he wouldn't have to give that correction much longer.

She nodded. “All right. Hang on a bit, I’ve been thinking about this whole ordeal and my conclusion is... you're a spy from the Sechs Empire meant to prepare our region for invasion!”

While it was quite an accusation, she didn't seem angry for it. She was instead pleased as if solving a particularly hard puzzle in a book before the answer was revealed. With that in mind, Lest brushed it out of his mind. “Not likely, since I came in from the northeast.”

She put her hand to her chin. “Hmm, but you could have circled around to avoid coming from Sechs border.”

“And their warship wrecked the airship of some good friends of mine,” he added.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, genuine this time. “Okay, then it must be something else. Hang on, I can figure this out.” She walked over to the large table that seemed to make up her sales counter.

Since she didn't seem inclined to introduce herself, Vishnal did so for her. “Well, this is our florist, Illuminata.”

“And great detective!” Illuminata added, pounding the table.

“That too,” Vishnal said politely. “And Lest is going to be our prince, so I would hope he's not a spy.”

“Can you cast magic?” Illuminata asked, ignoring the last statement and pointing at him.

“Yes,” Lest said. To demonstrate, he picked out a rose on the table that hadn't been sealed yet and cast the preservation seal over it. Between airship deliveries and preservation spells, cooking ready-made meals for others was a solid way to make some income on the side when farming. Constant use made this spell one he had an easier time casting.

She picked it up to examine the spellwork. “Nice,” she said. “You’d make a good shop assistant if you weren't the prince now. But I can figure out what you're really here for.”

“Besides introducing myself to people?” he asked. “There is a reason, as Jones ordered me to...”

“I can figure it out!” Illuminata insisted. “But nice clue you dropped there. It's the doctor's orders, so it shouldn't be hard. You got a broken leg and your ribs need healing too, then your runes visibly manifest on your skin in gold linear patterns... got it! You're a univir who's lost his alicorn in a terrible accident and you're here to pick up some flowers and leaves for a medicinal tea to help stimulate the grown of a new alicorn!”

“What’s a univir?” Lest asked, puzzled how she came up with that.

Vishnal happened to know. “They're a rare race of elves who live even longer than most and are identified by a horn similar to a unicorn's growing from their foreheads. Although, if he was a univir, wouldn't there be a more visible scar from a missing alicorn?”

“They’re like really distant cousins rather than full elves,” Illuminata said, darting next to Lest. She pulled his long bangs aside just in case his hair was hiding scars. “Ah drat, there goes that theory. I was pretty sure with the chi lines... no, no, wait... you're an earthmate with your blessing price tied to flowers and since you've been out asleep for days, you really need to get back to growing them or else you'll lose power and get really depressed.”

“Almost there,” Lest said. “My price is tied to farming and while I can't handle regular work, growing some flowers is the next best thing.”

“Farming still counts flowers, so that's another successful case solved,” she declared, pleased with herself. She headed over to a large seed cabinet, so Lest followed her. “I end up selling more flowers than seeds, so I've got quite a stock left from years of collecting. They're all still plenty viable, as I check on them weekly. As for a pot and soil, we can get you some from the greenhouse unless you've got some hanging around the castle...” she paused, then brightened. “Oh, oh, farming does count flowers for you, right?”

“Right,” Lest said, wondering where this was going.

Wherever it was, Illuminata was excited, bounding over to the work table and skimming through a book. She didn't find whatever she wanted immediately and slammed it shut. “I’ve got something that's been a real mystery even for me. You've got to come... oh, no wait, in that cast you're not gonna be able to follow me into the basements. But you have to see it! Go ahead and look through the cabinet, they're in seasonal order followed by alphabetical. I'll be back in a few!” She then raced to a door below the stairs going up and headed into the shop basement.

Or basements, apparently. “She’s quite a character,” he said, looking over the panels to find the spring seeds.

Vishnal nodded. “Yes, she has these passing obsessions where she really gets into character. This is a recent one; last time it was a doctor.” He made a sheepish laugh. “That wasn't too good. One time she tried to help me and ended up making things worse.”

“She seems all right, though,” Lest said, opening a slot where 'c' should be.

“Yes, as long as you tolerate whatever she loves at the moment,” Vishnal agreed.

As he'd hoped, there were clover seeds in there. It was a really useful plant that could be grown in resting fields and then tilled into the soil to make it stronger. Plus there were many other uses, from feeding farm monsters to crafting items. Kiel would even make use of clovers in his alchemy. Still, that would be more helpful when he could fully farm, not so much in a pot. Moving back towards the front, he considered some cherry grass as it would be a cheery plant to keep inside.

Illuminata came rushing back upstairs, her pounding feet making the return obvious. She carried an old wicker basket, its lid coated in a fine gray dust and several parts of its weave fraying in spite of many repairs. Flipping the lid over caused the dust to fly, making her sneeze. “I'm fine, just this has been in this building for a long time, well before I moved in to take over the shop. But it has something that could be absolutely priceless, take a look.”

Gingerly taking the item out, she placed a dried bundle of roots and branches on the work table. Was it in deep slumber or dead? Lest came over and, when she didn't stop him, leaned on the table so he could pick the old plant up. “This is... a rosebush. Its runes are really quiet, but they're there.”

“There’s some documents in here that claim it's a Rose of Ventuswill,” Illuminata said. “It’s a breed I’ve never even heard of before I came to Selphia, but apparently there were a number of specimens in the area around four hundred years ago. According to illustrations I found, it's got a really pretty pale green tone and feathered edges on the petals. And there's two more baskets just like this with the same bushes, a few in each.”

“That’d be nice,” Lest said. “Have you tried growing one?”

“On a few occasions.” She shook her head. “A few I could tell were dead right off, but I tried growing the stronger specimens. All of them failed, even when I used special elven techniques for growing our rare roses. I keep thinking of trying again, but every time, I decided to see if I can make contact with a flower-bound earthmate to see what they think. As I hear it, they can grow lots of difficult varieties. But I never could find one, even when I left Selphia for a couple of weeks on the singular purpose of getting opinions on this rose.”

“I've taken care of a few roses, but nothing considered a difficult one,” he admitted. “I suppose if its runes could be stimulated, it could stand a chance. There's one flower-bound earthmate in my old town of Grelin I could see about getting advice from.” Although it was someone he didn't get along with well. Frey might be able to ask for him, or his farming mentor if she'd already gone.

“Then get to it!” Illuminata insisted. “Get that person here, if you can. I really want to see what this looks like in full bloom, right here in town. Heck, if it turns out to be what it claims to be, I'd be more than happy to grow them somewhere public in her honor.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Are your bulbs in the cabinet too? I'd like some of this cherry grass and I think it'd be nice if I placed a daffodil or tulip bulb in the center.”

“Sounds like a nice cluster,” she said, going to cabinet to help him find them.

“It’ll be placed on Volkanon's business account since it's to help the prince get better,” Vishnal added in before they could get too far in the deal.

“Roger! Oh, and I’ve got the nutrient spray he's requested, so would you take that over too?” At the end of it, Vishnal had a large bag to carry with the flowerpot, soil, seed packet, bulb, various nutrients, and the bread from Blossom's store. But only the first two items had much weight to them, so Lest didn't feel too bad about leaving someone else to pack his things around.

That was all the places they wanted to visit, so the pair headed back to the castle into the royal quarters. The hallway seemed the best place to work. Taking a flower vase to another table, they set the flowerpot down to fill with soil. Lest was able to run this through his hands, getting a feel for its runes and making sure it was well-balanced for the two kinds of flowers. He wanted to set the bulb and seeds in himself, but Vishnal was hanging over him watching for a moment to help.

“Would you get a water can from outside?” Lest finally asked.

“Sure thing,” he said, heading out.

“This is so weird,” he said to himself now that he was on his own. He served the earth and knew he'd be serving Ventuswill while here. To have a butler waiting to serve him as a new boss, it didn't seem right. But that was the job of Vishnal and the others. That made him think that perhaps accepting their assistance was more respectful than trying to do everything on his own. It'd just be a hard thing to get used to doing.

Lest set the daffodil bulb into the soil, observing the runes of the former to see how to arrange the latter around it. The cherry grass had tiny orange seeds that he spread evenly in a ring around the bulb. While he did so, he sang to connect his runes to the plants and stir their runes into awakening with the promise of a warm sunny spot and good care. They murmured like sleepers until Vishnal got back with the water in an old tin waterpot. It was a simple looking tool, built for its function and nothing else. Yet aesthetics had their place too in such things. A nice looking tool would make the farmer feel a little better when using it, making the plants feel better when taken care of. Once he watered them and sang the rest of the song for them, they felt more awake and ready to sprout.

Due to the south-facing windows, he had Vishnal place it in the office for him. He wasn't sure when Arthur wanted to hold their lesson, but it seemed like a good idea to study in the office until he came by. The bookshelves happened to have the same book he'd been reading in the clinic, so he took that to the desk to read. “Don’t think there'll be a bread knife in here,” he said. “Would you please take the bread to the kitchen or wherever you'd store it and bring back a slice to me?”

“Certainly, I’ll go handle that right away,” Vishnal said. “Do you want something to drink with it? We have several varieties of coffee, tea, and juice, with some milk and water too.'

“Coffee would be good, thank you,” Lest said. Not sure of how food was shared around here, he added, “Oh, and I doubt I’ll be able to finish the whole loaf myself, so you and the others are free to snack on it too.”

“Thanks, I’m sure the others will be happy too,” he said. But instead of heading directly out, he took a seemingly dull set of books on a bookshelf and pulled them out to reveal a hidden locked box inside. “While I’m thinking of it, we usually wouldn't give this until after the official ceremony, but you might need this while you can't get around quickly. It's a bracelet that has a servant call enchantment so you can call us over when you need it.”

“Good, since I’m not sure I could call all the way over to your side,” he said.

Vishnal nodded, locking the fake book back up and setting it in place. Then he brought over a gold bracelet with symbolic carvings and a few hidden functions. The servant call was under a coiled vine, holding twenty buttons. “Much of this isn't used right now with only three of us, but first you press the black button here, then one of the numbered buttons to reach us. One is for Volkanon, two is for Clorica, and three will be bring me over. The green button will send out the summons, so if you don’t care who shows up, press it right after the black one to reach whichever of us is on active duty. There's some other functions and you could even call Forte over as the dragon knight, but we'll go over that after the ceremony.”

“All right, and this has other things I would be using officially?” Lest asked, closing the vine panel and opening up one under a rose. It held a dark green ink pad.

“Yes, like this is for use with the seal ring that you'll receive to stamp documents as the prince of Selphia. It just got replaced but you'll need to ask Volkanon to do so when it wears out as it needs a particular kind of ink. Anything else for now?”

“No, I'll just be waiting on Arthur unless Ventuswill wishes to speak with me,” he said. “Thanks again for your help today. I think I’d like it here even if I didn't end up in this position.”

“You’re welcome,” Vishnal said, taking the orange bread loaf as he left. He came back a few minutes later with a slice on a piece of bread, the coffee, a very small dish for butter with a small butter knife, a sugar and cream bowl since he hadn't asked about how to make the coffee, a spoon, and a cloth napkin.

Lest had already finished the section about Leon Karnak and the tower named for him when his snack arrived, so he paused to eat and consider when Vishnal left him alone. He had read about this priest in a few books before coming. Knowing the divine dragon since she was relatively young, Leon was said to have been close to Ventuswill for most of his life. The town of Selphia hadn't existed then, only a shrine on this very cliff where the two of them and his parents resided. He had traveled with her to help people all over Norad. Of course, Norad hadn't existed like it did now either. There were several stories about them out there, things they had done told through many generations.

But for the end of Leon’s life, there wasn't a lot even though various sources noted that he hadn't lived long. Ventuswill had grown ill and after a long month of trying to heal her, Leon sacrificed his own life at the foot of the tower named for him in hopes of healing her. It had worked at the time, but she was stricken with grief that he'd gone so far for her. However, this book and one back in Grelin gave some more details. An earthmate sage named Darryl had invented a spell that fused Leon with the earth rune spring in the area. This allowed Leon to take on a portion of Ventuswill's duty in maintaining the rune flow of the ether sea. In this sacrifice using etherlink, he became a guardian spirit to the divine dragon and Darryl was given more time to find a better solution to Ventuswill's illness.

The stories usually ended with the end of Leon's life and the books moved on to other stories, such as tales of Ventuswill's three other guardian spirits. Yet the other guardians were also humans who had etherlink cast on them to fulfill the same purpose, long after Darryl would have died. On turning a page after Leon's part, there was a full page photograph before the stories of the second guardian. He could place this picture after his walk around town, as it was on the side of the tall windmill by the Sainte Coquille Manor. It was an inscription about the guardians.

'For the blessed saints of our town. In deep gratitude, we remember you.'

'Leon Karnak, Dragon Priest to Ventuswill, 362-386'

'Amber Yokmir, child of the forest, 574-592'

'Dolce Amaretto, Dragon Priestess to Ventuswill, 876-895'

'Dylas Leland, a beloved son, 1211-1230'

Lest's mission was to use the rune spheres to replace the guardian spirits as humans were not really meant to do a goddess' job like this. But what would happen to those guardians when he did? And how human would they remain after performing their divine tasks for centuries? Also, was the problem with Ventuswill really being solved here? If he followed the pattern of around 200 to 300 years between them, another guardian should have come around since Dylas, sometime in the past century. Was there a fifth guardian around? There were only four rune springs in Selphia that he'd been told of. What did Ventuswill really need when four etherlink guardians were not enough to keep her from weakening over time?

He quickly knew that he wasn't going to find those answers or even a hint in this book, just the same stories he'd read elsewhere. It might be best to go to the rune springs himself even if he couldn't track down the rune spheres immediately. Although, he couldn't even do that yet. Sighing about how his entrance was delaying things rather than speeding them up, Lest continued on through the book for information other than the guardians.


	6. The Coronation

Spring 2, Year 1611

After delivering Lest's snack, Vishnal headed back through Ventuswill's room. His shoes could make an audible footfall or not depending on if he put weight on the heel. It was actually a clever trick, allowing him to walk quietly around his master or to let himself be heard approaching without a word depending on what was needed. Normally he kept off the heel in here as Ventuswill slept in short bursts. But as he entered quietly, she stirred and opened her eyes.

There might be a prince now, but ultimately Ventuswill was their master more than any prince. Vishnal stopped in his tracks and bowed to her. “Good afternoon,” he said softly. “Do you need anything? The prince is in his office if you want me to get him.”

“Not right now,” she said. “I still need to think over things. How are preparations for the coronation coming?'

“I've just come in from guiding him around town, so I haven't been involved in that yet,” he said. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She closed her eyes for half a minute, but hadn't yet dismissed him. While he did want to check in with Volkanon on that and see if he needed to help them, it was more important to make sure Ventuswill didn't have a task for him. Vishnal stayed still while she thought. “There’s been something troubling you lately. What is it?”

He tensed at her question. She'd noticed that? “I-it's nothing big, you don't need to worry about it,” he said. Although he was very worried about it himself, it really wouldn't be a big deal to others.

“The amount of worry it causes you is big,” she said. “And if I don't know what it is, it'll worry me too. What is it? I won't make fun of you.”

Her making fun of him was the least of his worries (he wouldn't even consider it if she hadn't said so). Swallowing nervously, Vishnal said, “Well, I really need to get my cooking license in order to continue my training. Thing is, I’m not good at it and I’ve already failed this test five times. I keep getting told to calm down and practice, but I can only practice so much without a license. It's not something I can really skip either, since I’ll need to cook and serve a meal for certification later. Service is not a problem, but the cooking is. Not only that, but my brothers keep asking me to come back home to help the family and I’m afraid that if I fail this again, Volkanon will ask me to do that instead of continuing. I want to be doing this, but I fail so much in the kitchen that it sometimes seems like I’m bound to fail my training in the end.”

“You’re not normally this pessimistic,” Ventuswill said.

More like he usually didn't show people his pessimistic side. Too much negativity generally made others dislike someone and he'd long acted positive so that others would like him better. “I try not to be,” he said. “But cooking is a lot harder than it looks. It doesn't help that Clorica can cook perfectly in her sleep. Actually, I think she can cook better asleep than awake.”

“It must have been hard for her at some point too,” Ventuswill said, leaning her head down closer. “Your heart's in the right place; just keep trying and you'll get better.”

Now Ventuswill was expecting him to get better too? Trying not to break out in a sweat with anxiety, Vishnal bowed his head. “Thank you, I hope I will. And I apologize for complaining like this; I shouldn't really be troubling you with something that only matters to me.”

“It’s no trouble,” she said. “Go on with your duties. I still need to think.”

“Call us when you need us,” he said, then bowed and headed out. Once he was out of sight of the room, he let himself shudder briefly. That cooking license exam... it shouldn't be hard. If it was just the information, he was sure he could pass it. Information was easy. But the license required a demonstration under the eyes of the examiner and that's always where he messed up. One little thing would go wrong and then everything else would turn bad while he was trying to fix the first mistake. He should stay calm and follow the recipe, but that was always easier said than done.

In the main hall of the servants' half, he noticed Clorica in Volkanon's office due to the door being open. They'd shut it if it was a private talk, so Vishnal went to the doorway and lightly rapped on the door. “We got back in a few minutes ago. Lest's in his office; I went ahead and gave him the bracelet because of his injury. I hope that's okay.”

“That’s fine, I’d rather he have an easy way to reach us while he's in that cast,” Volkanon said. “Come on in, we were about to have a discussion over a tea break.”

That sounded good. While he kept the coffee around, Volkanon's preference and knack was for tea. “Actually, Lest bought some orange bread from Granny Blossom and said we could share it. Would you like me to get a few slices of that?”

“Splendid! Yes, bring that.”

He had to pick up a tray to bring in the snack plates, the three slices arranged around a butter dish, and the spreading knife put in the right spot. Even if the discussion seemed casual, he knew better now to treat it as part of the job. It might be his teacher springing a test on him, although he had passed the plating and silverware drills weeks ago. Anything could become a test, even how he made his own bed and arranged his own room.

The snack service didn't get an obvious acknowledgment as Vishnal sat down with the other two around Volkanon's desk. That was fine, since there was nothing to criticize this time. “You were saying that he bought this on his own?” the master butler asked as he buttered his slice of orange bread.

Nodding, he said, “Yes, we visited various places like the general store and the inn to speak to people for the most part. It was on special, so he asked about it.”

“Good, glad to hear that he's already trying to make good bonds with people,” Volkanon said, passing the spreading knife to him. “Although knowing that he is a true earthmate, that's not much of a surprise.”

“You were saying earlier that you needed to check about them?” Clorica asked. “What was that about?”

“Ah yes, it was something I had to learn quickly myself once,” he said, his eyes drifting in reminiscence. “While I was still a student, we had an earthmate arrive as a guest of our master and my teacher pulled me aside the night before to instruct me on some particulars to keep in mind. But I haven't run into another earthmate as a guest again since, much less as a new master alongside Lady Ventuswill.”

“Is there anything in particular we need to keep in mind for him then?” Vishnal asked.

He nodded. “A few things. First and foremost, they have a deep spiritual relationship to the world and as such, they have a number of beliefs unique to their tribe. One of which is that they see themselves as owing service to the world for their gifts. Thus, they generally don't like to be served by others and can be uncomfortable with it at first. The guest I helped nearly always said, 'In honor of thy work,' to me before asking me to do something, even simple things such as take care of his laundry. When I finally asked him about it, he said that it didn't feel right to have someone else handle his daily chores. But in honor of my choice to be a butler, he was agreeing to be helped. I believe that Lest may be only accepting our help now because he's limited in what he can do. We'll have to see how he is; it may take performing our tasks discretely until he fully accepts our support.”

That made sense to Vishnal, having helped Lest for a few hours. “I could see that in him with how the day went,” he said. Between his brief moments of embarrassment at needing doors opened for him and insisting on handling money on his own in the grocery store, Lest didn't like being in a state where he needed help. Still, Vishnal had to be careful in what to say even to his coworkers. It was part of their honor to respect the privacy and feelings of their master. A former master was an entirely different matter, especially one as poorly mannered as the last prince.

Volkanon sat back in his chair. “Another thing to keep in mind is that they are completely serious and passionate when it comes to their blessing price. It's good that he told us freely that he's bound to farming. That's going to be an unmentioned rule around here for dealing with Lest: he might reluctantly accept our help elsewhere, but do not interfere or try to help on his farming unless he specifically asks for it. As they pour their hearts into their work, they can take great offense to someone else altering it.”

“But he's only supposed to be working with that potted plant,” Clorica said, rubbing one of her eyes and clearly trying not to yawn here. “If they get so passionate about it, is that going to be enough?”

“We’ll just have to see,” Volkanon said. “Perhaps adjusting to his new position as prince will take enough of his attention to pass this time.”

Hearing that reminded Vishnal of something. “Oh, Lady Ventuswill asked about progress on the coronation preparations when I passed by her. She seemed rather preoccupied with her thoughts too.”

“I’ve got most of what we need together,” Volkanon said. “We’ll need to see about making sure the ceremonial coat fits and won't interfere with the crutches before the afternoon ends, then set up everything after an early dinner. And somebody needs to spread the message around town that the ceremony will be this evening.”

“I can handle dinner,” Clorica said, rubbing her right arm.

“Are you sure you have full use of your hand like that?” Volkanon asked.

“I... well I can't be sure,” she admitted.

“I’ll take care of it, you go pass word about the time of the ceremony,” he said. “Also, we were going to talk about what happened with you last week, if you're okay with Vishnal being here.”

“Sure, that's fine,” Clorica said, making Vishnal smile. He had been wondering all the while what had happened to her, so it was good to hear directly from her. “Well, I checked on the bridge to Maya Road as you asked. It was fine, but other things in the area weren't right. Like, I found out where the last prince vanished. We knew he abandoned the job as he left the royal artifacts behind, but he was dead out on Maya Road.”

“Was he killed?” Vishnal asked, shocked to hear this. Even if nobody liked the guy, it made him feel uneasy to hear that someone he'd known was dead not long after he'd last seen them.

To make matters worse, Clorica nodded seriously. “He was shot too, but whoever it was meant to kill him. And it had been some time ago from when I saw him, as scavengers had already gotten to him. I recognized him mostly on a piece of that jacket he always wore with his family crest on it. Actually, I brought that piece back with me as proof; it's back in my bag still.”

“This is serious, but it's not going to be easy to get answers about,” Volkanon said, his own mood turning grave. “And how did you end up injured?”

She took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Well I was going to head straight back once I found the body, but there was something I had noticed before: a new concrete wall with a spiked top just south of that path from the bridge to Maya Road. That's how I ended up finding him, as I was trying to get a good look around the structure; it's enormous, like the size of the town walls. There were some voices and other noises past the wall but no way to see past it. Then as I was headed back to the bridge, someone finally appeared on top of the wall past the spikes. He yelled at me to stay away from the property of the Sechs Empire, which made me wonder since I know most of Maya Road is on our lands. I was going to ask him what he meant, but then he fired at me and I had to run away. And he hit me once. I thought I’d taken good care of it, although a lot of my trip back is a confused fog to me right now.”

“Well your wound did get infected, so you were probably delirious for a while,” Vishnal said. She did describe it differently than the times when she ended up asleep most of the day.

“Maybe, but I just knew I had to get back here as otherwise you two would be worried about me for too long,” Clorica said.

“Perhaps some angel watched out for you on the way until your armband could get a signal to us,” Volkanon said, getting teary eyed. He blew his nose on a handkerchief, then said, “It is really great that you've gotten back home. Although, very troubling to hear that Sechs seems to be building on our lands. We should inform Lest and Arthur of this later today.'”

* * *

 

Watching the coronation in the main plaza from the large ground entrance, Ventuswill felt some sadness looking over the small crowd. Princes and princesses alike weren't staying long in Selphia anymore while the coronations got less and less crowded. There were hardly enough people out there to make the plaza feel alive in spite of what should be a big and memorable event. If this kept going, things might end up as they had centuries ago when she'd been young, with just her and one or two humans who felt inclined to serve her.

That would be safe, she thought. She'd be more like the other divine dragons then, distant from mortals in manner and location. At the same time, the thought made her heart ache. Mortals were entertaining and endearing. Having a thriving town of them around her was like being wrapped in a security blanket, watching an endless drama of life play out before her eyes. It was all small struggles that could be solved easily with some rational thought and action. Yet, it was a source of fascination to watch them try to distinguish the rational from the irrational, often going with irrational ideas rather than not. When things still worked out, maybe even better than she thought with her rational ideas, it was a true joy sharing their joy.

But even these strings of joy and drama would eventually end and that person would be gone from the world. Perhaps reborn, but not the exact same person. And she would continue on, watching new generations while feeling the pangs of losing the old. Like these coronations she watched, knowing that the new prince might quit or die or something else after a while. Then she'd end up watching another one. As much as she knew the rational thing was to simply not care about it anymore, Ventuswill had irrational thoughts from time to time too. She watched out of interest, seeing this new story start and searching out hints of what went on in others that were on-going.

A good portion of the witnesses standing around the plaza had some thoughts like herself, that this event had happened unnervingly often in the past few years. But there was something quite different from the last coronation here. There was a strong stirring of hope that things might work out this time. After all, this was the first day Lest had been able to get around Selphia and he spent much of it getting to know the people here. He'd already asked for their thoughts and concerns, shown his interest in learning more about them and this place, and offered his assistance in what ways he could. That was enough to make him seem promising to others even though he had to remain seated for the ceremony so his hands could be free to go along with it. Then again, the injuries he had were evidence of how far he might be willing to go for the town. He'd already jumped off an airship being pursued by hostile forces all for the sake of getting in quickly to help Ventuswill. Perhaps nothing as dramatic would come up again, but someone who did that would surely work hard to rebuild their community.

He had done that for her without even meeting her. But she couldn't go thinking it was because of her personally. As had happened plenty of times in the past, it was because of her as the divine wind dragon. Mortals could do lots of crazy things in the name of gods they believed in, even without meeting or speaking to the god in person. When she ran across someone with such zeal for herself, Ventuswill would try to guide the person to use their energy and passion to help other mortals. They needed the help more than her. The better princes and princesses were like that, so it may end up she used Lest in the same fashion too.

Yet there was a nagging doubt in the soundness of this idea, something that she might end up regretting greatly in the future. Lest was an earthmate and quite a powerful one at that. She had hoped to never run into one of them again, not after certain events that always happened around them. They certainly meant well, but they had a way of sticking their noses into business that probably shouldn't involve them. But, she should be safe this time. Right? She was acting in the proper manner and taking caution in how she related to those near her.

Taking caution, and yet that hurt too. Like Vishnal just today. She could have simply sent him on his way after asking about the preparations. That would be the safe thing to do. But it felt so wrong to leave him be and even though she'd tried, she worried that her words might have made things worse. Looking at him now, anyone would see him as calmly helping out with the coronation, if they saw his movements rather than watching Prince Lest being officially given the bracelet and ring that were signs and tools of his new royal status. Or they might hear the optimistic hope that he shared with many of them that they had found a worthy prince this tiime. What they wouldn't see was a hidden turmoil simmering in his heart, threatening to tear apart his hopes and dreams. And the cooking exam was merely the next obstacle.

But this wasn't new. She'd seen many other humans go through similar fights and facades, the greater world not of concern when their inner world was troubled. There were even others in Selphia who felt the same kind of tension, even with the decreased population. If she let herself be worried over all of them, she would end up hurt again when their troubles boiled over the surface. Even if things improved, she would end up hurt as eventually their bodies would die and their souls would pass through the Forest of Beginnings. It was better, safer, and more rational for her to focus on her work maintaining the rune flow and leave them to work out their own lives.

Better, safer... yet she still wanted to help. She wanted to find some way to calm their secret doubts and let them see the truth that was right in their reach. But each of them were a little different and what helped one might not help another. How did she give Vishnal what nudges he needed to stop undermining himself yet keep him from becoming dependent on her? A quick fix would only cause new problems down the road. Not only that, but it was just one person when many more of them needed help with other small problems that meant the world to them. Was it really enough to only change one life at a time or was it unfair?

Ventuswill got so preoccupied with these thoughts that she just barely realized when the ceremony was at its close, the point when she would be actively needed. As a respected elder in town, Volkanon was presenting, “To you our beloved lady Ventuswill, the new Prince of Selphia, Arthur Lest Nolan.”

That would have been too embarrassing to have been caught barely paying attention. Where was her mind going? Ventuswill made sure her poise stayed dignified and responded, “We are thankful that you have accepted this great responsibility, Nolan. Let the bells call out that a new reign has begun!” She then called into the warm twilight sky, stirring the wind to blow and set off the bells in the castle's twin spires. Those who were there clapped and cheered, unspoken prayers carrying wishes for a good future in the air.

As that marked the end of the ceremony, Ventuswill moved back to the center of her room. A good future... maybe for them, but her body felt weary in spite of various naps through the day. She hadn't really been hurt by Lest falling on her a few days ago, just shocked and a bit achy now. But her joints tended to get achy at anything these days, from changes in the seasons to oncoming storms. A few weeks ago, she had been thinking and realized that... followed by the realization that maybe her future wouldn't be that long. The earthmate might have been too late this time, fine by her. But then she wouldn't see if the town she loved would survive its current trials, or if this new prince could fulfill the hopes he was inspiring. She might not even get to see if those she watched like Vishnal would find the truth and strength they needed. Or Xiao Pai, or Blossom, or Jones and Nancy, or any of them.

Yet that wasn't the worst she feared would come of her death. There were four wounded souls out there who had been lost for a very long time. If she were to pass on herself, they might remain lost forever. On thoughts of them, Ventuswill struggled to keep herself awake and here. Something had to be done. But what? She had enough troubles just trying to keep herself alive for them and continuing her lifelong work of monitoring the ether sea (which had always been just out of her full control).

“Lady Ventuswill?”

Shaking her wings to get alertness, she looked to see that night had fallen. A light near the entrance to the royal quarters was turned on. It was Lest who was calling her, still wearing the green and blue feathered coat from the ceremony. Not sure how to accept him, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you know better than to disturb a dragon, much less a divine one? I could eat you for being a pest.”

He shrugged that off entirely. “You could, but I don't think you will.”

So annoying. “Hmph. Well what is it? It's getting late.”

“Not that late,” Lest said. “I thought we were going to get to talk together today, just the two of us. One of the reasons I was sent here was to help you. While I can't do much at the moment, I can at least get to know you personally.”

Was he trying to manipulate her? Normally she could read such things in mortals, but Lest was unusual even for an earthmate. His runes were hard to distinguish from the runes around him as his rune breaking talent set all runes around him to their natural state of being. In fact, the currents seemed to quicken by a small amount as they came near him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve thinking you can just get to know a being like me,” she said, hoping to deter him.

“I don't think so,” he said. “Is something wrong? You feel like you're troubled by fear and loneliness, maybe even doubt. I came here to help, that's the whole and honest truth of it.”

“Didn’t your elder tell you what was wrong?” Ventuswill countered with. Perhaps harshly so, but he was trying to get close and she did not want that.

“When I left, I thought so,” he said, his runes clear for a moment in honesty. If Lest had turmoil in his heart, he kept it well in check. His soul had an impression like a tree, swaying under any storms that passed but standing strong through a sound core. It was a strange thing for a human his age. “But I’ve had lots of questions come up as I reviewed and considered what I was told. Then I meet you and there's more questions. Like, why do you speak so formally when it makes you uncomfortable with stiffness?”

“That seems more of a quibble than an important matter,” she said. But how did he pick up on that so fast?

He flinched, then calmed himself to where his runes blurred with the surroundings again. It wasn't a conscious defense, but a defense none the less. Why? To her words, he replied, “I’d rather speak to you however you'd feel comfortable doing so.” Lest hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Do you... not like me for some reason?”

“You should know and if you don't, it's a long story,” Ventuswill said.

“I guess I don’t know all of it,” Lest said. “But I really do want to help you. We can talk again tomorrow if you want to go to sleep soon.”

“That’s probably for the best,” she said as he headed back to his room.

Why would they not tell him about their history with her? And for that matter, he had introduced himself as an earthmate student, yet some other statements indicated that he'd not been outside of a tribal village very much in his life. As he was twenty years old, he should have been accepted as a full member of the tribe and not kept with such a lowly title as student. Why would they send one like that when this was a problem they'd been trying to solve for centuries? Unless they recognized the potential he held and sent him in hopes that he'd awaken to it fully with this responsibility on his hands. And then there was his unusual resilience; what was his story?

No, she shouldn't care. Caring about someone was risky, caring about someone with an earthmate around was really risky, so caring about one of them had to be riskiest of all. If he cared enough to...

“He’s love aligned,” Ventuswill murmured, coming to that realization as she did. Every user of magic was aligned with a particular element, some only to a minor degree but earthmates always had a major alignment. Love magic was difficult to learn past some simple healing spells with other elements in them; mastering the love element was something that often took a long life to accomplish. Other elements could be mastered in a decade or two. Because of that, he might not have reached their expectations of what a twenty-year-old earthmate born into the tribe should be capable of.

And that explained a number of things. Why he winced and asked if she didn't like him when he said earlier that she felt troubled, why he had a resilient emotional strength... an earthmate aligned with love would be empathic to such a degree that hostility, fear, doubt, and loneliness in others could cause pain to them. He was constantly under assault from the emotions of others along with his own feelings. If he didn't learn to deal with it at a young age, such empathy could drive him insane. And his runes were so potent that he could warp the runes around him without even thinking about it. Lest could be a very dangerous individual.

Yet... he could also be an incredible blessing to his community. His empathy would be similar to hers, noticing turmoil in others and wishing to help lessen it. But did he do so because he truly cared or because that turmoil irritated his empathic feelings?

She could find out. Even... start with Vishnal, he needed the help of an empath soon because of his upcoming license exam. The apprentice butler had his own emotional defenses that could make his troubles hard to sense, so she might need to wait for a moment when those defenses were softer to send Lest by and see what happened. Was it too much of a risk though, using an empath she didn't know and a heart that was hiding its current fragility? And how did she start this without making the test obvious?

But she had to start somewhere and would hate to see a person's dream die.

* * *

 

'I know this is unorthodox, but I must report that I have passed on the position of Selphia's prince to another young man: Arthur Lest Nolan of the Earthmate Tribe. By a series of unforeseen circumstances, the tribe's elders have sent him here on a mission similar to my own in developing Selphia and addressing problems here. He appears to have little political training yet other factors, such as farming experience, put him in a better position to act as the prince in this unusual government. He was also sent to help Lady Ventuswill directly while it was only a minor part of the role I agreed to. As such, he has taken on the title and I plan to remain here as his adviser and political contact.'

Arthur paused a moment in inking the faint pencil marks on his letter. The sunlight from the window had fully faded and he had to watch the lettering by the nearby desk lamp. When drafting the letter, he tried to make it as succinct as possible, restraining it to two sheets while making what occurred today clear. Yet no matter how much he tried to explain it, he had a feeling that others in the royal court might not understand why he was passing up making his hereditary title into an official position even though Selphia's ruler was low in the Norad hierarchy. But it really was simple. Arthur's mission was easier to fulfill in the position he chose and Lest's mission was easier to fulfill in the position he had accepted.

The lines of this paragraph reminded him of instructing Lest before the coronation. One of the first things Arthur asked was what kind of education he had. Without hesitation, Lest answered that he had no formal schooling, only his training within the tribe and studying on his own. Such a thing would be disastrous in most Norad government positions. But not Selphia's prince. On the contrary, being educated in a tight-knit farming community that passed on secret arts in magic made Lest a far better candidate than Arthur with his childhood in a city palace given the top formal education possible in Norad. A peculiar thought, but a very real truth.

In fact, Lest knew more about some things than Arthur did, even unexpected things like an order tablet that was used throughout Norad but not well understood by most who did. “Everyone has to comply with a royal order, but it's rarely viewed as tyrannical if used appropriately,” Arthur had said to one of Lest's worries about making people do as he said. They then found the tablet in one of the desk drawers so that Arthur could show it to him. “There is a set list of orders given to you as well as a balance of prince points for you to fulfill them with. You can't activate an order unless you have the points required. Like here, this has some suggestions on town festivals to plan. Once you activate it, the tablet sends the message to the public notice boards in town, or publishes an order message to be delivered to the persons it affects. I'm not sure how it decides on orders to suggest or points, but the better the community likes you, the quicker you seem to earn points.”

“It seems to be based on community interest and satisfaction,” Lest said, even though he'd only taken a small look over the suggested festival orders.

“Pardon?” He had seemed completely confident in that, like how Arthur felt about giving price averages and ranges on commonly traded goods.

Lest ran his hand along the side, a glimmer of gold briefly showing on his fingers. “There's a love crystal in here which measures several emotional factors through town, such as trust, gratitude, annoyance, fear, hostility, and the bonds between people. Runes don't translate well into numbers, but the crystal interprets it as best as possible and sends it to an analyzer unit. The analyzer must then make orders and assign points based on how well people think of their leader, how much they trust them, and what they'd be willing to do if ordered to do so. Also, it probably decides on what orders to suggest based on things that people in the community see as problems or possibilities. It might even be capable of pulling out an order matching what the leader wants to do if it notices and decides that it would be possible. There's a lot of information in runes that go unseen by many people.”

“That actually makes more sense than what I’ve been told before,” Arthur said, impressed that he came up with it on his own. “I never thought one could analyze emotions logically so that an enchanted device like this could work that way.”

“It’s not so much the emotions as the runes produced and affected by emotions that can be analyzed. Wait, I want to try something.” Lest then got the tablet securely in both hands and closed his eyes. After a couple seconds, there was a slight increase in the device's faint hum and a shift in the display page. When he looked at it again, Lest switched back to the menu to get back into the festival potentials. A new one had popped up. “Ah, it worked and now I can order that market clean-up if I want.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows at that. “Market clean-up?”

Lest nodded. “Right, as I was walking around town, Vishnal showed me the trader's marketplace and I thought it could use some help. Then I figured, it could make for a good community event too and show that I’m willing to help them improve our hometown when I work for it too.”

“That sounds like a good place to start,” Arthur said. “Selphia's marketplace is decent, but looks old and plain. Plus there never seems to be enough good power outlets to run the devices modern traders use frequently.”

“I thought the wood could use a sanding and refinishing if we get some dry days to do it,” Lest said. “Also adding some flags, more colorful covers, and some additional aesthetic touches. But that is going to take more than just the day I was thinking of, and this seems to assume that it's going to take a full week. I don't have the points for it yet.”

“Likely because that will be a lot of physical work and the townsfolk just met you today,” he said, checking the point requirement on it himself. For being his first day, Lest had a rather high amount of prince points, just over a thousand already. The market clean-up was currently set at twenty-five hundred. “Based on my experience, this could easily work by the time you're out of the cast. Get to know the people more and show them in little ways your willingness to help in order to build up the points to make it official. I'd even suggest that we start planning for it and talking to people, as the tablet might lower the point price if the town anticipates it.”

“Good, then let me grab a notebook and ask you what you think the marketplace needs done to it to make it more attractive to traders,” Lest said, taking a pencil to make notes.

He was adapting to the role well so far, although Arthur knew a better judgment couldn't come until later. Maybe when the market clean-up became real and Lest showed how willing he was to get involved. There were several ideas Arthur had for it that he would help get done, such as the power supply and getting a free drinking fountain in place to deter unscrupulous merchants who took advantage of thirst spots to sell overpriced drinks. Lest had some practical ideas, such as redoing the wooden platform, as well as some more aesthetic ideas like flags. However, appearance was a good factor in this. A marketplace that was more visually interesting would help to bring in traveling merchants and tourists who might not come by otherwise. Fixing up that location hadn't been in Arthur's mind but it made such sense that he would've wanted it done eventually.

While the clean-up was not yet official, Arthur didn't want to place it in this official letter. This was simply to explain his new stance, convince his family that he believed it would work, and give advance notice that the Sechs Empire seemed to have built something already on Norad soil. Also to convince them not to pull him out of Selphia since Ventuswill hadn't accepted him as the prince. His father had tried to convince Arthur not to take the Selphia princedom as it was a low-ranking position with little chance to advance. At least, that was how most of the royal court viewed it. Arthur had to convince him that the position did deserve someone of his education and competence. Thus, it was certain to come as a shock to them when he gave up the position in minutes after spending days trying to get approved.

It wasn't only a prince who could make a difference in a region, though. Arthur shifted his glasses while thinking on that. On one hand, Lest had the order tablet and could make highly visible changes quickly through it if he gained the people's trust. But Arthur could also make changes by being a permanent trader in town. He could allow the general store to know changing factors in basic goods so they could adjust prices and inventory, like warning them of poor wheat crops elsewhere so they knew to stock up on flour for coming weeks. Or he could find a local crafter whose goods might be desired in other regions of Norad, helping them to price and ship out to where the need was. Like Illuminata's flower shop had an inventory too large for a population this small; she could do better if he arranged for some of her excess to be shipped to other flower shops with a limited inventory. Giving the locals more options and income was sure to help stimulate the economy here too.

He went back to inking the letter, weighing his thoughts again as he did. At the end of it, he added a postscript without drafted letters, taking extra care so the form was clear and fit the lines. 'Father, please give me some time here to prove that this arrangement will work out for the best. I've only known Lest for a brief few hours, but his insight and views have impressed me. He even has a thousand points on the order tablet already. But he needs someone like me here to handle court decorum and Norad political tradition as such things are foreign to him. I feel confident that he can be turned into a prince as worthy as any in our family.'

Or even more worthy than some members of the Norad family. This wasn't the time for such divisions, rather being the time to gain some acceptance in the capitol for Lest. While Ventuswill's word was law around here, Selphia needed Norad's support and protection; Arthur was now their best connection to keep it. Getting his father to accept Lest as prince would secure that. And getting his whole family to accept his decisions, as tough as that might be, would give Arthur some peace of mind.

“Besides, I like the idea of not being treated as a prince anymore,” he mumbled to himself. It was part of the reason he had been willing to try farming: it made this princedom seem more like a normal person rather than someone who was kept safe and clean in a castle. Now that he didn't need to worry about learning an entirely new trade, he could focus on what he did well to make his new hometown succeed.


	7. A Request for Pancakes

Spring 6, year 1611

While Ventuswill kept trying to give him the cold shoulder, Lest noticed that she enjoyed his company if he simply sat down in the room and started talking. It wasn't much, just reporting in about what was going on in town. She was interested in anything, from the mundane like a mix-up on bath salts at the inn to the exciting like the birth of Nancy’s child earlier today.

“They even got a midwife from another town to help them,” Lest said about the latter. “I thought it was a little odd since Jones is a doctor and you'd think he know how to handle things. But no, I found out just yesterday that he's really neurotic when it comes to blood and has been known to faint at the sight of it. He even avoids tomatoes because the color's too close. When I heard that, I asked him how he handled treating me since I had to have been bleeding after that impact. Apparently in that scenario, he can tune it out long enough to save the patient but then very often has a panic attack once he stops working. Jones says that he thinks he can handle a delivery, but Nancy is the one better trained for it and they both felt more secure with someone who's not going to get terrified of cleaning up afterwards.”

“I've seen nervous new fathers before but that's on an entirely new level,” Ventuswill said, her words far more relaxed than normal. She didn't even seem to notice it herself.

And Lest didn't want to point it out just yet. “It’s amazing in its own way, since anyone else wouldn't pick a career that involved such an irrational fear. But no, he likes helping people enough that he faces his fear every day to do so.”

Some chatter came from the hall to the servant's area, so they put their conversation on hold to see who it was. Clorica came in, along with Nem holding onto a large box. “Excuse me, Lest,” Clorica said, awake for now. “You’ve got a delivery and visitor.”

“Nem, good to see you again so soon!” he said, waving from his chair.

“Yeah, you too!” she said, grinning as she came to place the box at his side. “How's being a prince going for you?”

“I don't think it's entirely sunk into my mind yet,” Lest said. The fact surprised him when he got up this morning. “But I’m more anxious to get back full use of my legs to really think about it. What're you doing with the mail?”

Happy that he noticed, she said, “Lena and I are working a postal ship now. That Sechs warship still has folks spooked and the previous crew on this route didn't want to come into Selphia or the neighboring regions. Once Lena snapped at them and said that the mail should be flying anyhow, the NACC officers were more than happy to give us the job. Here, I need you to sign for this and then I gotta run so we can make the next town on time. We still need to keep sharp eyes when flying around here.”

Lest took her clipboard and signed for the delivery. “I hope you two stay safe doing this. And it's good to know you'll be dropping by regularly, even for short times of work.”

“Better that then nothing,” she agreed. “Later.” She offered a salute of respect to Ventuswill, then headed out to get to the airfield.

“Do you need help with the box?” Clorica asked, bringing out a pocketknife.

“Depends on what's in it,” he said, leaning over and testing the string tied around it. Clorica handed over her knife, so Lest cut the envelope off to check the letter then let her handle opening the box itself.

“Who’s it from?” Ventuswill asked curiously, causing Clorica to pause a moment before clipping off the string.

“It’s from my father,” Lest said, surprised that a package had come so soon. Had he missed anything in packing? He lost some things on the airship, but didn't think his family would try to replace it this fast. He opened the letter but read it silently.

'Lest, this is something that your mother was working on for you in her last year. Frey and I had to finish them from her designs, but some of the materials and charms took time to find and we couldn't get it together until just now. I don't know what the elder told you, but sending you on this mission was Joyce's idea; she insisted on it to the end and then Frey took over for her. Making this set of equipment was part of that. One thing she made clear in the design is that she wants you to wear the jasper charm when in the area around the rune springs. She carved it with a particular pattern to protect you from something specific to those place. When I asked Frey about it, she said you'd know it when you saw it even if you've never seen it before.

'This whole incident with you ending up as Selphia's prince definitely wasn't in the plans, but it sounds like it's going to help more than hinder. I certainly wasn't expecting to get a letter saying that my son was now royalty. But i'm really happy that it's happened to you; you've been through many rough seasons yet have stuck by your beliefs, especially on the importance of love. You should be able to make everyone proud of you; I hope it works out well for you.

'As for Frey, she's planning a trek of her own. She'll be here in Grelin for a few days longer finishing up some research before she heads off too. Just don't expect a letter from her yet. When I said I was going to write you back, she said to make sure that you knew that she really misses your pancakes and will tell you something important if you send some to her. I want to say that she's joking, but you know how she is. It wouldn't hurt to humor her request.

'I remembered a short while ago about when you two were born; I was so happy, like the future could hold anything for us. But you becoming a prince is beyond any dream we had for you two. It's made me recall some of my own dreams from my youth and I’m seriously considering leaving Grelin as well to see if I can still fulfill them. Like, I’ve always wanted to make a pilgrimage to meet with all four of Norad's divine dragons. This seems like as good of a time as any to set out on that trek. After all, with both of you flying from the nest, a non-earthmate like me is quite out of place here in Grelin. And if I follow this dream, I’m sure to come around to see you sometime in the future.

'While it is important to finish up your mother's family quest, don't neglect to chase your own dreams. With pride and love, Corrin Nolan'

Lest smiled and almost felt like he could tear up a little at reading his father's affection. Corrin didn't speak about feelings much, often worried about being misunderstood. Not here, it was perfectly clear just in the words. He knew he'd have to write up a letter tonight to send back tomorrow and encourage that pilgrimage to follow those dreams.

“Is this armor or clothes?” Clorica asked, pulling out a dark green cloak. It had been folded up, but once she got it undone, it was clearly armor for a magic-wielder. A vest of gold scales was hidden under the thick fabric while lines of magic amplifying silver thread hid in the cloak. Normally, that meant the armor had enchantments which the silver thread would maintain in a consistent manner around him. But this one had no enchantments; his family would know that he'd undo nearly anything put on it. Then why the amplifiers?

“It’s armor that my parents made for me,” Lest said, looking in the box. There was a smaller wooden box under the cloak, along with a charm hairpin without the charm, protective casting gloves that might be more handy than a staff, and boots. “Looks like a full set of gear too... I had no idea they were doing this.”

“That seems like it should be enchanted, but it's not,” Ventuswill said, looking at the cloak too.

“I was wondering about that myself,” he said, taking the small box to look inside. That explained why the gear had been made as it was: a number of charms set in square bases was inside. “Oh, this... it must work by setting these charms to use the natural flow of runes in activating a material's innate powers.”

“Wow, your parents must be amazing to make an altering cloak like this,” Clorica said with a smile.

“My mother and sister are both crafting earthmates, making me the odd one out as a farmer,” Lest said, picking out the jasper charm mentioned. It was a violet-red stone with one of the ancient holy words written on it, meaning pure or clean. Was it meant to protect from some kind of impurity? But since she specified at the rune springs, he felt there must be something else it was protection from. “I'll have to thank them for finishing it. And of course my sister is demanding pancakes. Probably since I didn't make any the morning I left.”

Ventuswill seemed oddly interested in this, asking, “You make pancakes?”

Pancakes weren't hard to make, Lest thought. But the divine dragon had a look to her eye that reminded him of the eager expression Frey had whenever she asked him if he was going to make pancakes the next morning. Ventuswill was leaning her head down hopefully. “Oh yeah, and my sister loves them,” he said. “She says I make the best pancakes in the world, although she tends to exaggerate when it comes to things she likes. Any time she seems down, I know I can cheer her up by making them.”

“Aw, how sweet,” Clorica said, folding up the cloak to put back in the box.

Then Ventuswill surprised both of them by asking timidly, “Would you make me pancakes? Please?”

“Sure, I’d be happy to,” Lest said. “I need to make some for Freya, so...”

“Yay, pancakes! Pancakes!” Ventuswill was so pleased that she grinned and seemed to dance in place a moment.

Clorica looked stunned, but Lest had to laugh. “Wow, you sound just like she does. All right, if that will make you happy, I'll get to it. Although, since I'd have to use a stovetop, I'd need a cooking license, right?”

“Oh, yes, you would,” Clorica said.

“Aw, so it won't be for a few days?” Ventuswill asked sadly.

The butler put a hand to her cheek. “Well, Vishnal is retaking his cooking license exam tomorrow and Porcoline is always glad to see more people that can cook fully. If I hurry over there, I might be able to convince him to let Lest take one too.”

Right then, there were some footsteps as Vishnal came in; that was some impeccable timing, Lest thought. Meanwhile, Ventuswill nodded. “Yes, you should do that. Then we can have his pancakes sooner!”

“Okay,” Clorica said cheerfully before turning to Vishnal. “Oh good, here you are. Lest might be taking the exam too, so would you help him get his box to his room and tell him about it? I have to go ask about it.”

“All right,” he said. Although he agreed with it, Lest picked up on a strong anxiety from Vishnal at mention of this exam. She did say he was retaking it; maybe it was a tough one. Vishnal got the box while Lest got out of the chair and excused himself from Ventuswill's company.

Back in his room, Lest had Vishnal hang the cloak up in his wardrobe while he sat on a couch to examine the other pieces. They too had been built to amplify and direct magic spells, but held no innate ones. This all had been designed with his rune break ability in mind, including his naturally low casting range that was a result of it. He likely wouldn't come across anything better unless he custom ordered gear from another master craftsman. “I might need to get some crafting tools to place the charm, if they don't just click into place,” he said, mostly to himself.

“There should be a few around,” Vishnal said.

“Later,” Lest said, opening the charm box again to see what he had available. There were even some blank charms so that he could use materials he found. “What’s this cooking exam like?”

Vishnal took a deep breath, then said, “Well since Porcoline has been recognized many times as the best chef in Selphia, it's always taken in his kitchen. He'll have us prepare a certain dish, then ask questions about cooking while he watches over our work. He provides the equipment and ingredients, and lets people come in to watch and try the food. Usually, I had no one show up last time I tried.”

That was hitting on a serious weak point, Lest noticed, the kind of thing he needed to be careful around. Sometimes it helped to aim through a person's defenses, but other times poking too close to a sensitive subject would cause the person to shut him out. When he had been trying to figure out how to use his talents on his neighbors in Grelin, he'd had the latter happen many times. “Bad day for people to be around?”

“Not really,” Vishnal said. “I’m not that good at cooking. I'm trying to get better, but I can only practice so much without a license that I need to get the license to get better. Only, then I also need to get better just to get the license.”

“Sounds like a tough spot to be in,” Lest said. “But you get enough practice in and you'll get good at it.”

“That’s what I'm hoping for,” he said. It didn't entirely undo his anxiety, but getting him to think positive should be a good start.

A few minutes later, Clorica came back. “He said it's fine for both of you to take the test tomorrow,” she said. Then she smiled. “Although, it was really more of a 'Woohoo! Double the chef for double the delight.' Or something close to that.”

Vishnal chuckled. “He can never give a simple no or yes.”

“Well it's nice since I’ve never seen Lady Ventuswill sound so happy,” Clorica said. “If I’d known she liked pancakes, I would've made her some before.”

* * *

 

Spring 7

While on their way to the restaurant, Lest considered that his main obstacle would be explaining how he cooked if asked. He was so used to sensing the runes in everything that he learned new skills through paying attention to the runes. For instance, he couldn't explain how he knew when oil would be hot enough to start cooking, at least not in a way most others could understand. It was when the oil runes had a certain amount of heat offense to match the defenses of whatever he wished to cook. But it had no numbers or anything to it. He would know similar to how others knew when they found two colors that were the same. The properties would match.

He didn't know what exactly Vishnal's skill level was, but his anxiety over failure was perhaps a larger obstacle. While he seemed mostly calm and quiet on the way over, his runes betrayed a rush of doubts and thoughts circling through his mind. A worry about making a mistake could end up causing the mistake to happen, making the person think they just weren't capable and stunting their development right there. At times, it was best to step away from repeated failure. Lest wasn't sure if this was at that point, though. Or if this really was all that important to being a butler since people who could afford butlers could afford a chef as well. Still, there might be things Lest could do to help in this test without making it obvious.

It was a quiet morning; the few others they saw were busy at their jobs. Some tulips and daffodils were starting to grow above ground as it was warming enough for them. Seeing those and the budding trees, he couldn't help but think that spring farming was going to be half gone by the time he could start. It would avoid potential late frosts that could happen now, but he might end up getting some potions to quicken the sprouts to be where he should be once he could start. Although, where to get the money for that was a problem. Maybe he would find some small jobs to do between now and then. At least his cherry grass and daffodil arrangement was coming along nicely. He had to sing a delay to the bulb and an encouragement to the grass so that they would come into bloom around the same time.

When they got into Porcoline's Kitchen, Margaret was there cleaning tables but she was the only one there aside from the chef. Porcoline was dressed in bright yellow and pink today, reminding Lest of a frilly rose. He waved them to join him in the kitchen area. “Welcome to your destiny, boys!” he said excitedly. “I hope we can make a delightful lunch together. Now, I’ve asked before, but I’ll ask again... Vishnal, do you have any dishes as your specialty?”

“No, not yet,” he said.

“Well I hope you can find something to excite your passion,” Porcoline said, giving him a warm smile. He definitely wanted to see Vishnal succeed, but a measure of honesty kept him from simply giving the license away. “So then, Lest, nice to see that you'd come in for cooking even on crutches!”

“Yeah, it might make this tough,” he said. “But I need to keep my word to two wonderful ladies.”

That delighted him. “Oo, playing a dangerous game of love, are we?”

Keeping a deadpan expression, Lest said, “Oh yes, my sister isn't going to forgive me for moving until I cook for her again, and the other lady might very well eat me if she gets mad as she's a dragon.”

“Of course, but you still need to prove your worth here in the kitchen,” Porcoline said. “So, do you have any specialty dishes?”

Lest nodded. “It might sound silly, but yes, pancakes.”

“No, that sounds positively delightful!” Porcoline looked around the kitchen, then clapped his hands. “All right then, we're going to have a pancake lunch! Lest, you handle the pancakes. Vishnal, you're going to cook up some sausages, then use that to make a gravy. I'll put together a fruit salad and cook up some bacon, then gather other toppings. Any questions?”

“How many people do we need to plan for?” Lest asked. Meanwhile, he considered that Vishnal's task didn't sound too bad. The butler was still nervous about it.

“It’s not a market day, so twenty-five should do it,” Porcoline said. “But do make plenty of pancakes in case some people want to take a few home for later.”

“Right, and I'd need some extras to ship,” he said. Mail here was expected in the early afternoon, so he should be able to get some together along with the letter he'd written this morning to send right away.

Once the meal plans were agreed on and discussed, the three of them started to work. As Lest looked around for his ingredients and utensils, he started in on his plan to help Vishnal out subtly. Fully manipulating the emotions of another was something distasteful to him, but Lest had discovered a way to soothe another's nerves as long as they were nearby. He'd spent several seasons practicing his own calmness to avoid his emotions influencing the weather (something he didn't fully understand or control, but knew he was capable of under powerful emotions). If he made a focused effort on calmness, bringing the quiet strength of a tree to his soul, he could extend that calmness to another person. It didn't always work; someone in a full panic or similarly strong emotion couldn't be reached like this. But starting now when Vishnal was merely anticipating problems, Lest was able to cover the voices of those doubts and let him start working in gathering ingredients and checking Porcoline's recipe cards.

Lest got a pencil and paper once he had the tools he wanted. He usually just made small batches of pancakes for himself and his family. Making pancakes for an expected group of twenty-five... he wrote down his usual measurements and resulting pancake numbers, then what he wanted to make... after drawing a blank, he asked, “Hey Vishnal, you good with numbers?”

“Yes, what do you need?” he asked, coming over to his side.

“The right proportions on my ingredients since I usually don't make this much at once,” he said, passing over the paper and pencil.

“Okay...” he looked at it for a second, then filled in the numbers for weight of flour, number of eggs, volume of milk, and so on. “That should work.”

“Let me check,” Porcoline said, stopping by with a bundle of sealed strawberries and bananas. Seeing the modifications, he nodded. “Yes, that ought to do it! Good work, I think I could count that for three of your exam questions, Vishnal.”

Between Lest's calming tactics and the praise for something he found simple, Vishnal started feeling happy in spite of doing something he normally was anxious about. “It was no trouble,” he said, but smiled and went back to his work with a newfound enthusiasm.

Lest felt happy too, as he always did when he could help someone out. But he had his own tasks and exam. Taking the list, he measured out the ingredients. Porcoline worked nearby in cutting up the fruits, sending their sweet aromas into the air. “Then Lest, we'll start with you. Say you want to mix things up with a familiar recipe. What would be a good thing to add?”

“New spices or herbs can give a dish a different taste,” he said. “As long as you pay attention to the qualities of the spice and what would work well with the normal ingredients, it should work out. And vegetables are usually a good addition to a basic dish, making it more of a meal.”

“Good answers! I like blending up vegetables and slipping them into sauces or ground meat dishes in order to really boost up the goodness.”

The questions weren't that hard for the most part, like asking for techniques on cutting onions or potatoes, safety precautions to keep in mind for frying or baking, and what ingredients were expected to be in certain dishes. Porcoline also watched how they worked, especially when Lest was cracking the eggs and blending the batter. When most of Lest's trouble seemed to come from trying to work around the crutches, Margaret brought in a tall chair so he could set them aside. Meanwhile, Vishnal had no problem with the sausage patties, but did spend a few long minutes looking over Porcoline's reference on making a cream gravy with the bits left over from the sausage cooking.

When he was making it, Porcoline was briefly at the other end of the kitchen gathering pancake topping supplies while the two of them worked side by side. The heat and sauce didn't quite match on Vishnal's side, with the runes bugging Lest. Since their examiner wasn't right there, he quietly suggested, “Turn your heat down a notch; you don't want to scorch the milk.”

“Oh, right,” he said, fixing that issue. “Thanks. Seems like there's not much range between too hot for the milk and too cool and taking really long to get done.”

“Usually you're okay as long as you keep stirring it,” Lest said. “But you're working with an already hot skillet and shallow depth, so that takes extra care. You seem to be doing well, though.”

Vishnal smiled. “Yeah. It's weird because I was so nervous coming up here, but then once I started working, all that just melted away and it's not so bad.”

“Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the doing,” he said, even though he was still keeping up on his calming trick. Get him past this and he might be fine on his own.

While Lest was flipping his many pancakes for this lunch exam, people started to come in. Arthur for one came in from the other ground level room with a bundle of files in his hand. “I didn't hear that we'd have guest chefs today,” he said as he came by the customer counter.

“These wonderful fellows are taking their cooking exams today,” Porcoline explained. “It’s so exciting! There will be breakfast for lunch!”

“That’s odd, but I smell bacon and I wouldn't turn that down,” Arthur said with a smile.

Vishnal finished up pouring his sausage gravy into the last of the gravy boats, meticulously not getting a drop outside or on the vessels. “There, I’m done!” he said, pleased with his efforts.

“Excellent, let me see how it came out,” Porocline said, waiting on Vishnal to bring a pair of the gravy boats to where the rest of the supplies were waiting. The chef took a spoon to try a sample, smacking his lips at it. Lest glanced over in time to see Porcoline just about crush Vishnal in an enthusiastic hug. “Marvelously done! Oh my, I’m so proud to have seen such improvement out of you! It makes my heart glad.”

“Th-thank you,” Vishnal said, trying not to gasp too much.

“You’ve still got a long road ahead of you, but I’m sure you'll do just fine,” Porcoline said, letting him go and not taking heed of any discomfort he was causing. It might be something to watch for, although hopefully the fact that Lest's chest was in bandages would ward off any hugs. “Since you're done, please set the tables as I’ve decided there should be some scrambled eggs too. This is going to be just delightful; I hope more people show up!”

Arthur was now off in the dining area, with his files stacked on a table so he could keep working on them. Margaret helped Vishnal with the table setting while Porcoline set up by Lest and started singing. Others came in, including Clorica and Volkanon who also brought some work to complete while waiting. Lest was sealing off a set to reserve for Ventuswill when Kiel and Forte arrived. “Hey Vishnal, doing some extra work today?” Kiel asked.

“No, I’ve been taking my cooking license exam with Prince Lest,” he replied.

“What kind of disaster we going to have today?” Forte said jokingly. “Can’t be any worse than mine.”

“We are having not-a-disaster breakfast lunch!” Porcoline said, cutting off his song. “But it's too late to be a brunch. And this is all in spite of the guy in a cast being the one on the griddle.”

“It's weird working from a chair, but I’m just about done,” Lest said.

“He has the most angelic pancakes waiting for you all,” Porcoline added, although Lest hadn't seen him try one. “Seriously, you can start drooling in anticipation now.”

“Sure smells good,” Kiel said, taking a seat near Blossom and Doug to talk with them (Blossom mostly).

“Now how did your specialty end up as pancakes?” Porcoline asked, nudging him in the arm.

“It’s one of the things my mother did well and she taught me to cook,” he said. The others could probably hear him due to the openness of the room, but he didn't mind. “They’re my sister's favorite food; she really loved it when mom would cook them for breakfast or a treat. But our mother died a few years back, leaving me to take up all the cooking in the house. After a while, I started making pancakes again to try cheering my sister up. It worked and now I know that if Freya does something nice for me without asking, she probably expects pancakes in return. I'm fine with that, it's more than worth it.”

“So touching,” Porocline said, with a bit more drama than needed. “But that explains all the love found in your pancakes. They cheer me up too.”

“Any cooking cheers you up,” Margaret said teasingly. “Just make sure to save plenty for everyone else.”

“Of course I am,” Porcoline said, indignant now (although barely feeling it compared to the degree in his words). “What do you think I am, a pig?”

'You’ve crossed over into hog a long time ago,” she replied, still teasing. It made Porcoline want to laugh, but he restrained himself to banter with her a little longer.

Although Vishnal said that his last exam hadn't been attended by anyone, nearly everyone in town had come in today. It was a thought with some sadness, since Porcoline's estimate was high on attendance in spite of that. But everyone enjoyed themselves and the food, praising Vishnal for his efforts and often joking that they never expected him to do so well. Most of them enjoyed the pancakes a lot too, with only Doug giving nothing but a shrug when asked by Blossom if he liked them.

Porcoline spent the lunch walking around the room with a plate in his hand, constantly chatting with everyone. He slipped off through a back door for a moment, then came back out with two certificate papers. “Everyone, I pleased to say that today, I can name two new chefs in town: Lest and Vishnal! Congratulations you two, and I’ll be happy to help you keep improving your skills any time.”

“Great, I’m going to work hard on getting better,” Vishnal said as he accepted the certificate. His happiness was beaming even as he tried to keep to his usual composure.

“Thanks, this is going to help out a lot,” Lest said as he took his. Seeing as this would be a good moment, he raised his voice to say, “Everyone? Could I have a few moments to speak while we're all gathered?”

“What would you do if someone said no?” Blossom asked in an innocent tone, getting others to laugh. “Go ahead.”

It’d be nice if I could stand easily for this, he thought. “Had to ask. Some of you may have heard this, but Arthur and I have been planning to have a heavy cleaning for the marketplace this spring, whenever I can get around easier to help with it. We'd like everyone's help with this, whatever you can do to make the market a brighter and better place to be. Things aren't set yet, but so far we plan on spending a day moving the stalls off the platform in order to rework the plumbing for a drinking fountain and fix up the electrical system and lighting. Then we'll be sanding and refinishing all of the wood surfaces, including the stalls, which will take a day or two. Once these practical aspects are covered, we're going to move the stalls back and work on the look of the place: replace the plain canvas covers with more colorful ones, add in some flags, maybe add some permanent decorations to the stalls, redo the paint on the town gates, whatever we can do to make it all look better for visitors and merchants. If you have any ideas for this or want to go ahead and volunteer some work done, just talk with me anytime. Sound good?”

“Sounds great!” Margaret said, and the others agreed with her. Lest felt glad; that should reduce the cost of the event's order so that he could set it up when he knew he'd be ready.

As the meal came to a close and people were either chatting or heading out, Lest got back to the kitchen area to claim the two sealed pancake groups he'd set aside. Clorica showed up near him without warning. “Do you need help getting those back to the castle?”

“No, I think I can handle the one,” he said, sliding one towards her. “But would you please get that boxed up to mail out today? I've got the letter here,” he found it in his belt bag, so passed it over. “That address should work.”

Clorica looked at it, then nodded. “Mmhmm. I'll get that to the mail ship. Oh, and thanks for helping out Vishnal and Lady Ventuswill.”

“I didn't do much,” Lest said. At least not much he was willing to admit yet.

“But they're both so happy it's wonderful,” she said. “He did say that you talked with him some, so it must have been enough. I feel like things are going to turn out all right with you here now.”

“Sounds like I’m gonna have to work hard to keep up with these expectations,” he said with a smile.

It was good to have those living under the same roof as him (more or less) having confidence in him now. Even Volkanon's opinion of him had improved even if he didn't say anything. The head butler helped him set up a small table in Ventuswill's room, then left them alone for Lest to give her her portion of the pancakes. Since he'd already eaten, Lest sat nearby and told her about how the exam and lunch went.

Even about his quickly given tip in the middle of cooking. “He was doing everything else right, so I didn't want to let that slip-up go on too long.”

Ventuswill leaned her head down and said quietly, “That wasn't all you did for him.”

“What’re you talking about?” he asked with a grin, although he expected she knew.

The dragon chuckled. “Well it seems you can decipher runes nearly as well as I can. Even influence them. I may have been here in body, but I could be there in spirit and observe what went on. The whole exam, you were acting as a calming presence for him by intentionally getting his runes to synchronize with yours. It's not something easy for humans to do without the other's knowledge.”

“Okay fine, I’ll admit to that if it stays between us,” Lest said. “I want him to think he passed the test on his own efforts even if I was keeping his nerves in check. And it was his efforts, since I was busy cooking for my own test.”

She nodded. “That’s good. You know, I’ve been worried about him for a while. Vishnal has big dreams and I’ve seen his dedication in attaining what he wants. He's not someone who is just waiting for his dreams to come for him, he's actively going out after them. However, he started without many strong talents, unlike Clorica. She had a knack for a few things when she came, while he had a long road ahead of him. He sees how far he's got to go and is starting to get weary of it, but forgets to notice just how far he's come already. At this point, it might seem easier to give up and settle for where he is. But I wanted to encourage him and see him get to the point he wants to be at.”

Now that she was talking, her true feelings were coming through more clearly. “You really care about the people here, don't you?”

“W-well I shouldn't,” she said, shuffling her wings nervously. “But then, even at small victories like today, it's a real joy to see my neighbors happy. I'd like to see them all find their dreams, not just Vishnal.” Ventuswill bumped his forehead with her snout, a friendly little gesture that made him unable to resist reaching up to pat her nose. “Lest, would you keep helping me like this? To help those in Selphia find their happiness, whatever it may be?”

“Of course,” he said. “I came here to help you after all, and that sounds even better than just helping you.”

“Wonderful!” She smiled in a surprisingly sweet way on a dragon. “Although, any time you feel like making pancakes, I’d love to share them. They're heavenly.”

“I wouldn't call them that good, but thank you,” he said. Since she still had her head near him, he gave her a little hug as best he could.

Ventuswill giggled. “Yeah, that's great! Oh, and here, I want you to have this.” There was a shimmer of the air by him, a moment before a pretty feather charm appeared. It even had a back that perfectly matched those on his new armor set. “It’s a special charm, made of my own feathers! I, well, I only give this to my friends, so treasure it please.”

“Of course, thank you Ventuswill,” Lest said. He worried for a moment about taking it, but then noticed that it had similar qualities to the charms his parents had made for his cloak. Its power was based on the runes of the materials rather than added enchantments. Thus, it should be safe from his rune breaking power. “I’m honored to be your friend.”

“More than being a prince?” she asked playfully. “And you can call me Venti if it's just the two of us. It's cuter than my full name, isn't it?”

“Definitely honored more than being a prince, Venti,” he told her honestly. Because how many people could claim to be a friend of one of the divine dragons?


	8. Butterfly Dreams

Spring 12

“Hey, it all right if I come in?” Doug asked, standing in the doorway to Lest's office.

“Sure thing, sit down if you like,” Lest said with a smile. It was unexpected, given that Doug hardly said anything to him. Or anyone, from what Lest had seen of him in the store. But Doug did seem uneasy and defensive today. It'd be best to stay cautious and not prod him with questions about his uneasiness even if he was in a mood to talk. “What's on your mind?”

“It’s about that market cleaning and fixing you want to do,” he said, coming over and taking a folded paper out of his side bag. He handed it over while taking the offer of a seat. “I need to pick up some tools I don't have at the moment, but I’m qualified to handle electrical work. Since it's for the town's benefit, I won't charge much for it this time.”

Lest nodded as he unfolded the paper, an electrician's degree from a school in a town he'd never heard of, Medritarc. But from the spelling and letter forms, not just the name ‘Doug Geisel’, the town must have had dwarven origins. “Great, that'll help a lot. We've been looking at hiring contractors from the capitol, but local workers would be better. Okay, let me get the plans I have.” He pulled open a drawer to the desk to bring out a blueprint Arthur had found of the marketplace's current design. “Can you redo the lights as well?”

“Sure, I’ve worked on them before,” Doug said, rubbing his head. “At least the street lights near the store; Granny complained about how the one flickered, so I got that working steadily again when I had a couple hours and a ladder.”

“They don’t look different, but I wouldn't know if they are,” Lest said. “Interesting to see that a dwarven town would teach electrical work.”

That made him nervous, but he said, “Well if it had been Telliarc nearby, you're right, they're traditionalists who don't fully trust electric power and modern machines. Medritarc is more liberal and works as a trading post between Telliarc and most of Norad, so we don't mind it as much.”

“I can understand that,” he said, trying to smooth over that mistake. “My birth town of Grelin doesn't have many visitors from outside the earthmate tribe, with several others my age or older moving to the trader's town of North Oaken for similar reasons.” He found the electrical diagrams in the blueprints to show Doug. “Arthur thinks the generator under the deck should be thoroughly checked in case it needs to be replaced. Especially since we'd like to put in more outlets so that they're in convenient reach of every stall. And the lights may need to be shifted and added to in order to cut down on dark areas at night.”

“This town's pretty safe, but couldn't hurt to be careful,” Doug agreed, looking at the schematics himself. “Does seem to be an old generator by this. Is there a maintenance trolley down there? Might be locked.”

“I'm not sure myself, but we can ask,” Lest said, flipping open his bracelet to call on Volkanon. The butler showed up a few minutes later while they were talking about how the lights might be redone. “Hey, Doug's agreed to check into the electrical system for the market and needs to see the generator.”

While unnerved to be silently asked to add his own input, Doug nodded. “Yeah, do you guys have trolleys under the overhang for maintenance? What kind of permission do I need to get under there?”

“There's a couple of trolley carts to check on the structures down there,” Volkanon said. “They're locked and I need to go with you the first time to make sure you know how to be safe down there. But I’ve got some free time later today when I could take you for a look.”

“Cool, then it shouldn't be a hard job,” Doug said. “I’ve been meaning to order the extra tools anyhow. When's this cleaning gonna be?”

“Jones wants to keep me in the cast another seven weeks, so it'll be a while,” Lest said. It really bugged him, since it meant he wouldn’t get anything done with the rune spheres until late spring. That made it risky knowing that people were willing to steal them. “No date has been set yet, but that's the current time frame. That fine with you?”

“Sure, once I see what needs to be done, I'll put in the tool order,” he said.

Then there was another knock at his office door with another visitor. “Excuse me,” Forte said, coming into the room. “We have a problem and I need you to send out a restriction order.”

“Sure, where is that?” Lest asked, taking his order tablet in hand.

“Over here,” Volkanon said, pointing out a 'mandate' option.

Nothing on the list actually cost points, he noticed. But they were all orders to send out warnings to citizens and visitors, like if the Sechs warship showed up again or if a big storm was approaching. Most were grayed out, unable to be used right now. “All right, and what's the trouble?”

“We need to forbid travel into Yokmir Forest and the roads close to it due to the appearance of Ambrosia,” Forte said.

The order became highlighted and altered as the knight said it. “Is that a monster?” he asked, activating the restriction order.

Forte nodded. “Yes, and not one we can easily handle. It's unusual because it doesn't return to the Forest of Beginnings when defeated, instead returning to the wind rune spring in Yokmir Forest. The worst thing about it is that those attacked might be poisoned by butterfly dreams.”

“Poison by butterfly dreams?” Doug asked in disbelief.

“It’s serious,” Forte said, a touch of anger in her runes showing that this was personal. “Those afflicted either see butterflies that aren't there and try to follow them off cliffs, or believe that they are butterflies and try to fly off. We've got a cure for it, but it doesn't always work and takes a while when it does. In the meantime, the victims have to be watched closely and can't take care of themselves.”

“Are there any victims now or was it just a sighting?” Lest asked in concern.

“Actually, there's two victims in the clinic right now,” she admitted, ashamed at not being able to help them in time. “Xiao and Margaret were in the area together when Ambrosia appeared. I got lucky to run across them. Even though I dispatched it, it's likely to return to the same area in a day or so. We mostly have to wait until it heads deeper into the forest before lifting the restriction.”

“It’s been a while since we've had more than one victim show up,” Volkanon said, worried about the girls.

Lest was too, but the situation was giving him an idea. “Do you happen to know if it's a curse or literal poison?” he asked.

“I think it's a curse,” Forte said, not sure about it. “Ambrosia's not a monster to take lightly even if you can avoid the butterflies.”

“Don't worry, I can tell that,” Lest said. “I was just thinking of something. Anything else going on I should know of?”

Forte said she would give her usual patrol report later on and Doug seemed satisfied with what they had discussed on the marketplace system. Once they had all left, Lest left the office as well to get to his bedroom. He was keeping his letters on top of the bedside chest, although he'd like to keep them in one of the chest's drawers once he could kneel better. One of them included the letter from Frey after he'd sent her the pancakes; he took to glance over again.

'Dear Lest,

'Whoopee, I have pancakes again! At least for a few days, you know. Which means you're fine for having left so quickly. I suppose you do have a point that it would've been best if you could get the rune spheres in place as soon as possible. Just now your possible is longer than you thought. Get better soon!

'Taking a serious note for a while, there was something I wanted to tell you before you took off. It's a long story, like way long. And I still think you should hear about it eventually. But given what questions you asked and what ideas you seem to have, I think I’m gonna hold onto it for a time longer. I don’t want to impede you, yet you seem to be right on track to do what we hope without knowing everything yet. So I want to see what you do. I will answer exactly what you ask, promise, so those answers are, in no particular order:

  1. You are exactly the right person we were hoping for without knowing it. And by we, I mean long story lots of we.

  2. Our family has worked with Ventuswill before, but be careful in telling her that. I wouldn't just yet.

  3. Okay, this could get long. The guardians created by etherlink should still be alive in spirit. They were put to sleep with this powerful enchantment so that their bodies could be fused with the rune springs and their spirits sent into the ether sea. The connection they have between body and spirit, as well as between themselves and the divine wind, helps to stimulate the ether flow and lessen the burden on Ventuswill. There has been debate in very small circles about if the guardians retained their memory, personality, and humanity. By the evidence I’ve seen in references, I believe that they kept their selves together and, at a spiritual level, are exactly like a person in a deep sleep, dreams and all. Just not with a physical body right now.

  4. Theoretically speaking, if the etherlink enchantment were to fail, their spirits may wake up. But you have to remember that the guardians all took on this grave duty willingly. They may be capable of refusing to give up and rebuilding the enchantment. Even if they are willing to step down and wake up, they will need something of their body in order to come back as a full person rather than a spirit or monster. Since they were fused with the rune springs, there is likely something in that area that actually is their body even if it doesn't look to be.

  5. It'd work best to call their spirits back through their body. The rune springs and spheres in combination should be capable of remaking them whole.

  6. I don't know how all this would work out in practical manners, only theoretical. There might be complications our theories can't predict. But that's your job to deal with being there in person.

  7. The elder asked you because that was the last thing mother asked of her.




'Figure it out yet? If you don't, I’m gonna fly on over there and smack the answer into your head. But I don't think I’ll have to. I know you can do what is really being asked of you. In fact, I know that I couldn't do this. It's something that I don’t have the talents for. I totally believe in you, though. Mom does too.

'I am working on something related to your work. Or rather, continuing the work that's been going on. As I said, it's a really long story. And I have to go all over creation to get the materials. Don’t worry about me; I’m taking Doomgale and Flareson and we'll be just peachy together. I am worried about where dad's going, but I’m gonna trust him too. Someday, we'll all be back together as a happy family and there will be many pancakes. There will be many pancakes, right?

'Love ya bro,

Frey(a)'

“I know what you're asking me to do,” he said quietly. “Awaken the guardians.”

It was something he wanted to do himself. Even after Venti started opening up to him, Lest still saw a deep loneliness and sadness in her. He was almost certain that it was because of the guardians. After all, etherlink cast on a human would not be powerful enough to revive a rune spring unless the human had a powerful bond to the one who maintained it. To have the desire to make such a sacrifice, these four guardians had to be among Ventuswill's closest friends. The rune spheres should work far better than the guardians in part because they didn't need such bonds and would not cause grief. As such, it only made sense to awaken them and bring them back to Venti when he fulfilled his stated mission of putting the spheres in the springs.

But etherlink was a rare, powerful, and complex enchantment, with the guardians being created centuries ago. While his rune breaker talent was enough to reduce a newly brewed potion to its separate parts in seconds, he was sure that he'd need to consciously use it in order to break something on the level of etherlink. Most of his studying had gone into learning to hold the breaking power back so he didn't undo the spell casting of others nearby. He'd only actively used it to make his magic counter spell. He needed to practice breaking enchantments now, the more complex and potent the better. But few enchanters would be willing to create magical artifacts meant to be broken. Maybe battling another magic user? That still wouldn't be the same as undoing etherlink.

If Ambrosia's butterfly dream was a curse rather than a true poison, then this misfortune with Xiao and Margaret might be an unmatched chance to break a strong enchantment on a person.

Lest put the letter back and headed off to the clinic. Nancy was outside holding her baby daughter Alice and speaking with Bado. “Good afternoon, Lest,” Nancy said with a smile. “Come in for a check-up? It’s busy in there, so you might want to wait a few hours.”

“Actually, I heard about Xiao and Margaret,” he said. “Do you happen to know if what they’re afflicted by is a curse or a poison?”

“Well,” she swayed back and forth while thinking. “It’s called a poison, but Jones says it’s a curse. We’ve got Kiel seeing if he can mix up the antidote, otherwise it’s a wait and see if it comes apart deal.” She frowned. “Awful thing to happen to such sweet girls, but nobody can figure out what to do about Ambrosia.”

While he had an idea of what might be done, it was yet another thing waiting on him getting the cast off. “I see. Actually, I came over once I heard because if this is a curse, I might be able to break it. It’s just something I don’t do often.”

Nancy smiled. “It’d be wonderful if you could break it. All right, I’ll let you in to try.” She turned to get the door.

“Oh, hey Lest,” Bado said, snapping his fingers. “I wanted to ask you a few things about that market clean up. But if you’re gonna try healing the girls, just drop by my shop when you get some time.”

He nodded. “All right, I’ll see about it.” Then he headed in with Nancy.

“Jones dear?” Nancy called into the patient area. “Lest’s here; he thinks he can do something more about this curse.”

“Really? Come on back here.” Jones came over to meet them before they fully got into the back room. Lest could just about see that Lin Fa had come to see Xiao. “What is it?”

“I have a talent for breaking rune bonds apart,” he told them. “It usually happens without me thinking about it and I have to concentrate to not undo simple enchantments if I’m in contact with them. But if this butterfly curse is purely rune based, then I can undo it. I just haven’t tried it on another person with anything but weak enchantments or currently casting spells.”

The doctor considered that. “Well… I don’t entirely like experimenting on patients. This is a natural talent you have?”

“Yes, it reverts the organization of runes to their natural state.”

“Sounds like it would be worth a shot, especially since we can’t be sure about having the ingredients for the cure we know.” Jones glanced over the girls, then waved Lest in. “Try Xiao first because the curse reads weaker in her.”

“All right.” He went over to the beds and, with Lin Fa’s silent approval, took the chair between them. “This works best on physical contact, so I just have to figure which point would work…”

Lest took Xiao’s closer hand as that seemed fit for modesty and contact. Both girls were asleep due to other enchantments, likely to keep them from running off and getting hurt. The sleep enchantment instantly unraveled, although Xiao remained asleep for a minute longer. While he could feel the butterfly curse in her mind, it was stronger than the sleep one and more organic in form. It was still foreign to her body, so once his power got hold of it, he should be able to break it. Keeping hold of her hand, he placed his other hand on her forehead.

At that, the butterfly dream curse became as clear as crystal in his mind. It did not belong there. In his thoughts, he took hold of the curse and unraveled it into base runes. It took a few tries, but he managed to feel some loose ends to tug apart like undoing a rope. Once the curse lost its structure, it was easy enough to flush out of Xiao’s mind. He checked over her before letting go, but it seemed that was the only foreign rune power in her.

He smiled as he took his hands from her. “All right, that worked well.”

“Let me see,” Jones said, sitting on the other side of the bed. He started checking over her in his own ways.

Meanwhile, Xiao woke up groggily. “Huh? What’m I…?”

“Xiao, what about the butterflies?” Lin Fa asked, hopeful but worried.

“What about ‘em?” she asked, glancing around. “Where’d they go? Oh?” She looked right at Lest.

He was hit by a sensation like a powerful perfume that was so dense it made him want to gag. While he knew on some level that it wasn’t there, he covered his mouth and coughed. “Excuse me.”

“She seems clear so far,” Jones said, pausing as Xiao sat up. “How do you feel?”

“Sleepy but happy,” she said, still looking at Lest. Then she reached over and grabbed him in a tight hug. “Yay, Lest is here!”

“It’s not butterflies, but are you sure?” Lin Fa asked, torn between finding this funny and finding it worrisome.

“Okay, apparently a side-effect of this is a temporary infatuation,” Lest said, then found his chest constricted in her hug. “Ugh, could you… be careful there?”

“Oh my goodness, so sorry,” Xiao said, loosening up but not entirely letting him go. She was at the edge of the bed just about in his lap.

As Jones came around the bed to finish his checks, Lest added, “I, uh, my magic aligns with the element of love, so I probably should have guessed this would happen.” And this curse, troublesome as it was, was probably simple compared to etherlink. What was going to happen when he did this with the guardians?

“Could you let him go so I can make sure you’re okay?” Jones asked, after failing to get a good hold on her arm.

“I don’t want to,” Xiao said, her mind clouded by the infatuation.

Lin Fa finally chuckled. “Little Xiao, you have to let the doctor check on you. You can’t go off with Lest until Jones lets you out of the clinic.”

“Really?” she asked, looking at Lest from a foot away.

“Really,” Lest said. “We all want to know that you’re fine after you ran into Ambrosia.”

“Okay,” she said, finally letting him go and sitting still for Dr. Jones to finish his observations.

And now he had to work on Margaret. Since he knew what to expect, he took her closest hand and put his other hand on her forehead. The curse had taken root in the same location, but Margaret had a larger amount of runes in her curse. Not only that, but the curse had some affinities that matched runes often found in elves, making some portions of it harder to distinguish from her natural runes. But if he paid attention to how the runes were bonded, the flow of the curse was different from the normal flow of her life. He had to undo it in three portions to make sure he could remove all of the foreign runes. Then he tried to be more careful in flushing them out, so as not to overwhelm Margaret with an infatuation.

That didn’t stop her from hugging him too shortly after she came alert. “Hee hee, you’re mine now, Lest,” she said.

“No fair, I had him first,” Xiao said indignantly, making Nancy and Lin Fa giggle.

Margaret and Xiao stared at each other for a minute, then the former smiled airily. “We can share!”

“Okay!” Xiao said cheerfully.

“Ho ho, I bet any young fellow would be jealous of you now,” Nancy said in amusement.

“I, well,” he wanted to say that he wasn’t comfortable with this. He could tell this was temporary and abnormal, hence why it was near suffocating even when they weren’t hugging his healing chest. But saying so wouldn’t go over with the girls too well now.

“Well Xiao is clear of the butterfly dream,” Jones said. “And this side-effect I would guess will only last a few minutes.”

“No, I’ll love him forever,” Xiao claimed.

“Me too!” Margaret said.

Jones smiled. “I suppose the trade-off might not seem different, but as this is temporary rather than possibly permanent, it’s much better. Margaret, you’ll need to let him go for a little bit.”

“Do I have to?” she asked, shifting herself to sit closer to him.

“It’s my turn, yes?” Xiao said.

“Let Jones make sure you’re fine,” Lest said. “And I’d rather not have my ribs cracked again, so be careful.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to hurt you,” Xiao said sadly.

“If that’s what you want, Lest,” Margaret said, reluctantly letting him go and sitting on the edge of the bed further away so there was space.

“If it’s going to be a few minutes, I’m going to step outside,” Lin Fa said, smiling mischievously. “Don’t be too rough on him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nancy said, as Alice in her arms started to murmur in waking up. She hushed the baby as she went outside as well.

“What were you two doing near Yokmir Forest?” Lest asked, before Xiao could get too close to him.

“Picking flowers,” Margaret said.

Xiao nodded. “Right, I wanted to get some flowers to display in the rooms but all the ones just outside the gate were the same ones I got a few days ago. But Yokmir has many unique flowers that should be coming into bloom around now. It’s a troublesome place to go alone, but Margaret agreed to go with me.”

“It’s a really lovely place to take a walk,” Margaret said. “Oo, maybe we can go on a date there!”

“Yes, sounds romantic!”

“You should have known that Ambrosia tends to get active on the edges of the forest around this time of year,” Jones said.

“I thought it was early for her,” Xiao said. “And that you usually saw odd butterflies in time to get out before she arrived. But we got to some nice flowers when the butterflies went whoosh all around us.”

“Yeah it was like the most colorful cloud swirling all around,” Margaret agreed. “And I got turned into a huge butterfly and started dancing with the most amazing rainbow butterfly I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s not what I remember,” Xiao said. “The butterflies were going to pick me up and fly me away to see a really amazing place, but then I couldn't fly with them. I tried chasing after them to let them pick me up, but they kept swirling around me in a game and then it turned weird and scary.”

“That’s classic Ambrosia dreams for you,” Jones said.

Hearing that, Lest felt a new measure of respect for Forte in not only fighting off this monster, but then managing to guide both Xiao and Margaret back safely when the other two girls were believing such wild dreams. “It wasn't a dream,” Xiao said. “Although I’m not sure how I got in here away from the butterflies, and, um...” she looked at Lest, then turned pink. “W-wait what've I been doing? Momma was just here, wasn't she? Oh, now I’m never going to hear the end of this.”

Well that was the end of one infatuation. “Sorry, but we wanted to see you uncursed quickly,” Lest said. “I didn't know it would do that to you.”

“You both got lucky that Forte found you in time,” Jones said. “And that Lest could unravel a curse quickly.”

“I guess so,” Xiao said, looking down and still blushing. “I still feel weird.”

“That should clear up with some rest,” Jones said. “Be sure to drink plenty of water . You're free to go now; Margaret, you should stay a bit longer.”

“As long as Lest stays, that's fine by me,” Margaret said, pleased.

“Okay, thank you,” Xiao said, then got off the bed and hurried outside. Now wasn't a good time to talk to her about this, but hopefully later he could explain better that it was a magically induced infatuation and he didn't mean to embarrass her with it.

“Guess I’m sticking around to make sure she stays out of trouble,” Lest said, making Margaret laugh.

Jones nodded. “Good, thank you. I don't know if I’d want to call on you for regular curses, but if we run into Ambrosia's victims or other difficult curses, I might ask for your help in the future. The sooner these enchantments get broken, the less time the victim needs to recover.”

“Sure thing,” he agreed. “I might even be able to lessen this effect in time.”

“Hopefully.”

“Then you are mine alone now,” Margaret said, apparently just realizing that Xiao had given up.

“The doctor's still here with us, so don't get too close,” Lest said. Jones chuckled, but he thankfully stuck around as a slight deterrent.

“What’re we doing at the clinic together?” Margaret asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling strangely.

“You were a big butterfly and needed to turn back,” Jones said, in a serious tone he used for an actual diagnosis.

“Oh right,” she said. “And you saved me, right Lest?”

“Technically that was Forte. I just helped heal you.” Having an idea of what might occupy her until the infatuation faded, Lest asked, “Hey, would you play a song for me? Just to make sure that you're really okay after this butterfly incident.”

Margaret squealed at the question. “You want me to play for you? Of course, it’d love to!” Snapping her fingers to summon her harp by magic, she played what sounded like a cutesy love song. But it took two more songs for her to get her wits back, at which point, she looked at the two of them puzzled. “Hey... since when have I been in love with Lest?”

“It’s not love, it's a shallow attraction due to my uncursing technique,” Lest said. She wasn't as embarrassed as Xiao had been, so it seemed okay to say it.

“I was starting to feel something was funny with my head.” She smiled. “Sorry, don't mean to break your heart, but I should be careful and think on it a few days.”

“That’s fine by me,” Lest said, retrieving his crutches so he could stand. “Sorry I had to mess with your head in order to fix the mess in your head from Ambrosia. We wanted to see both you and Xiao better soon.”

“I guess you were doing whatever you could,” Margaret said. “We'll just have to grin and bear any gossip for a bit.”

“I’d like to check on you again since you still sound a little off,” Jones said. “Be sure to take things easy for a few days and don't get into anything stressful if you can.”

Since he didn't need to be there anymore, Lest said goodbye to them and headed out. He was in the right part of town, so went by Bado's blacksmith shop to see if he was in. In talking to others, Lest found mixed opinions on this dwarf. He was said to be good at sharpening knives for a reasonable price, yet also said to be selling blunt or overpriced weapons. Some said he was a man of great ideas, others said he was a conman who wasn't all that good at being a con. When Lest looked at his runes, he saw that Bado had the talent and skill to forge excellent items. But instead of a spark of creativity, he had a lump of laziness and money love. If this man was going to be an asset to Selphia instead of a load, something had to bring out the creativity spark in him.

“What did you have in mind about the marketplace, Bado?” Lest asked once he was let inside.

Bado was standing by a set of shelves and bins full of materials. Mostly common iron, but there were runes hinting at better metals hidden around. “Well I’ve been thinking over the plumbing work you want done,” he said. “I’ve done work on the pipes around Selphia years ago. Rough job, you know, hanging over a hundred feet in the air by just a wooden trolley and working to get it right the first time so you don't have to go under there again in a couple days.”

“That’d be an obstacle under a third of the town, wouldn't it?” Lest asked.

He nodded. “Right, because of whatever crazy idea made people build over the cliff's edge in the first place. I was thinking, what if you set the fountain to be coin operated? To help cover the work in placing new pipes?” There seemed to be another idea bubbling up in him, but it was conflicting with this coin-operated fountain idea.

While he couldn't tell what that other idea might be, it might be better than the one he was suggesting. Lest replied, “That's what I want to avoid, having people pay for drinks when it's a simple sip of water they want. It'd be a small deterrent to them coming again, when having free drinking water available is a small gesture to bring them back. The little things add up to where people might go out of their way to come here and buy things from the market merchants.” Maybe that last idea would help convince Bado.

It certainly made him think. “I guess it might. But if you've got just a simple fountain when you're redecorating everything else, it'll stand out like a sore thumb for simplicity.”

“As long as it's available, I think we can deal with that for a little while,” Lest said. “Maybe when my budget as prince isn't restrained by what the last prince did, I can request a better looking fountain. Although it would be nice if there was some kind of simple decoration we could put on a simple fountain right now. I'm not a business expert like Arthur, but I know as a customer, I’d prefer being in a place that looked nicer.” And not quite as junky or crowded as Bado's shop, but Lest declined to say that for now.

'You’re right, people would pay more in a nicer looking place,” Bado said. He didn't seem insulted by it might being a statement on his own shop. Thankfully, whatever other idea he had was building up strength. “And you get more tourists in for the main market, they could come by permanent shops like mine more often.”

“That’s what we're hoping for,” he said. “Did you want to work on the fountain plumbing?”

He ran his fingers through his thick beard, his attention starting to drift towards his forge. “I was considering it,” he said. “Maybe the fountain itself too. It'd be a lot of work, what with the trolley and building the fountain just right...” the idea of the work made him wobble back towards not doing whatever he had in mind.

As his gut was telling him that he ought to encourage this, Lest tried to make him wobble towards doing it. “Well you put in a lot of work once and the rewards for it will keeping coming back to you. I find it works that way in farming, when you put in a full day of clearing, tilling, and seeding in once and reap the benefits for an entire season or more.” There was daily care too, but that didn't need to be mentioned right now.

“I need to figure out my resources on this,” Bado said, only half paying attention to Lest now. “But maybe that's right, do this and it'll pay off for a long time. I can't say for sure now, but I might do this.”

“Give it some thought and let me know,” he said. “And I don't mean to interrupt, but if you're going to start looking into this, could you let me out the door please?”

He smiled. “All right, sorry, that flew out of my mind for a moment. I'll see what can happen.”

Then that could be the electrical and plumbing work done by local craftsmen. Meanwhile, he'd gotten notice that several people were starting work on the new canvas covers or other little projects to help on the cleanup. This was going well so far.


	9. Manic Inspiration

Spring 16

For the first time in years, Bado put a particular sign up on his door: 'Shop Closed: At Work On Large Project'. He'd taken several days to hurry across the Selphia region to mine and gather various resources. Some things he had to dig out old journals of his to figure out where they had come from in the first place. As it had been so long since he'd gone to such lengths, the effort wore him out. But his soul was demanding this work, making him press on.

Smoke billowed out his chimney in a powerful stream, rather than the lazy trickles it usually put out. The forge glowed vibrantly in being pushed out of a long slumber to work with minerals it hadn't seen for so long. One hour, he might be pounding out a piece of metal into the right shape. The next hour, he might be doing some small careful work on a heated tiny piece. He'd dug out his best tools, put away because his usual simple projects didn't need them. This wasn't simple stuff made for a quick sale that anybody who could hold a hammer and tongs could do. This was the kind of crafting dwarves were famous for.

Why was he doing this? If the question popped into his mind, he quickly dismissed it. The 'why' of it didn't matter now. What mattered was the work. It had been too long since he felt this way, so he wasn't going to disrupt it by trying to analyze it.

This work mattered and he was going to put everything he had into it.

* * *

 

Spring 18

It was not his habit to be inactive; Lest went around town on his crutches every day, but even that didn't feel like enough. He had to watch where he was going and avoid flights of stairs. He had to keep a slow pace and avoid kneeling or bending over. While the people here were considerate of his condition, waiting on him and clearing obstacles like doors, it was making him feel helpless to depend on such help. But he had another five weeks of this at least. Sometimes he regretted coming in as he had. The other choices he had at the time weren't much better: waiting until NACC cleared travel in Selphia to private unarmed vessels (they were just now considering it), staying with the airship in a fiery crash, maybe hitting his head and getting amnesia so that he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. Actually, that last one didn't sound that bad as his sister would surely have rushed over here if she got word of it (or heard no word at all from him). She could've handled things, or at least re-instruct him on what to do.

The flowers he had in a pot helped a little, not enough. He kept thinking about how nice a whole field of cherry grass and daffodils would look around now. Besides, it didn't take long to care for them. Lest would check their water and nutrient needs, then give them a short song of life while addressing any lacks. Without the need to check for weeds and bugs, this took at most ten minutes if he really stretched it. He occasionally looked over the vines and leafy plants that decorated the castle halls, but Volkanon and the others took good care of those.

“This really is going to drive me crazy,” Lest muttered as he stood be one of the planters in the royal hall. He had some work waiting for him back in his office, but didn't feel ready to sit back down again. Instead, he headed out to the farms to check out the outer fields.

The western fields were a mess of weeds and stones, along with a huge tree that had fallen over in the southwest field. These two would be tough to clear as he'd need to be back at full strength in order to handle chopping the tree up and breaking the rocks down. Especially with those old tools in the shed. Thinking of how much effort that would waste just in the poor gear, Lest decided it might be best not to mess with these two fields until he got the money to buy better tools. The northeastern field was not as bad. In fact, it was full of native herbs and grasses, all of which would be harvested for many uses. If the right ones were here in sufficient quantities, he could easily dry them and sell as teas or herb blends, giving him the money for better crops to invest into better tools.

The southeast field was different in that it was currently an orchard. While one tree was dead and needed to be taken down, the rest were still alive and possibly capable of producing this year. Maybe even this season. They were given plenty of space in neat rows, twenty-four living trees in all. In singing to them, he noticed there were apples, grapes, oranges, peaches, a cherry, a pear, a walnut, a chestnut, an almond, and one that wasn't a fruit or nut tree. Lest wasn't sure what it was exactly, as he'd never heard from one before. But its runes had a definite magical tone, far more than the rest.

In the runes around him, he noticed that some people were coming into the field. He left off his song to turn around, finding that Clorica had come looking for him. Xiao and Kiel were there too, curious and worried. “Prince Lest, you're not supposed to be doing work out here yet,” Clorica complained.

He couldn't help a moment of irritation at being stopped, but quickly countered it with the thought that she was concerned about his health. “I know,” he said. “It's just like torture to be unable to do anything that I want to do, or what should be simple things.”

“Not pleasant at all,” Xiao said knowingly. “I know, from several times of getting hurt badly and waiting long days to get better. Momma has to take care of all the hard work then and I feel bad for not helping. But you have to kept rest and wait to get better.”

“Guess I just need to find something else that will keep my mind occupied for that long,” Lest said, although the call of the runes was tugging at his heart.

“There’s always those books Arthur wants you to study,” Clorica suggested.

He made a reluctant face at that. “Right, those. Those writers all expect their readers to have Arthur's kind of education; I can hardly follow what they're saying because they keep making references and using words I don't know.”

“I might be able to help you find sources for references if that helps,” Kiel said. “There's a literary canon that nobility considers essential reading. We could pick out some easier ones first.”

“That could help,” he said, shifting a crutch so he could rub his head. “Sorry, there's just something that bugs me in this field, a tree I can't identify. Those runes are different.”

“Which tree is it?” Clorica asked. “Although, it'd be better to ask Vishnal or Volkanon. They should know what's growing around here.”

“There’s a dead one and a sapling here,” Lest said, heading for the tree before she could think to protest his going further into the field. Finding them near the center of the field, the dead one had long lost its leaves and was rotting. There was a rusting dagger stuck in it about three feet off the ground. Just a foot away from the dead one, there was a thin sapling that was trying to put out leaf buds.

“Did someone kill the tree with this?” Xiao asked, taking the dagger and pulling on it.

“Careful,” Clorica said.

“I don’t think so,” Lest said, checking the runes. “No... if the presence of the dagger and rust had killed it, there'd be an infection. I can tell the tree is magical in nature. More likely, the lack of care of the rest made them send out stressed runes. This tree absorbed the stress and died from it. But that would be why the other trees still live; they should be dead too.”

“That’s sad,” Xiao said. She succeeded in pulling the dagger out, albeit stumbling backwards when she did. Although rusted from where it had been exposed, the rest of the dagger seemed oddly shiny, with a black glimmer.

That got Kiel's notice as he helped her up. “Oh wait, let me see that,” he said, reaching for the dagger. She nodded and passed the handle to him. After looking over the dagger and making a simple spark spell against it (the dagger let off really strange runes in response), Kiel then checked the tree and used the good part of the dagger to pry off some rotted wood.

“I can lend you a better knife, one that won't break on the blade,” Clorica said, taking out her pocketknife.

“No, this is rotted enough that it shouldn’t matter,” Kiel said, then brightened as he spotted a black sparkle. “Ah-ha, that's it.” He pulled out a length of black amber, shaped like a stretched out drop of syrup. When the sunlight hit it, the material sparkled like glitter.

“That’s pretty, but what is it?” Xiao asked.

“Glitter augite,” Kiel explained, making sure they could all see it. “It’s a really special mineral that can influence chi, the flow of ether and runes. Depending on how it's developed, you can focus chi to give a weapon an extra invisible reach or extend protection runes over a larger area. You could also use this to make accessories that let a regular person can see runes and chi, since that's two separate skills that can be difficult to learn. It can only be produced as a soft amber from one specific kind of tree, meaning that this is a twinkle tree.”

“I haven't heard of that kind of tree before,” Lest said. “Then it's specific to the Selphia area?”

“I believe so,” Kiel said. “There's all kinds of local folklore about the magical powers of old twinkle trees. According to them, a young twinkle tree that's full grown can produce glitter augite amber and twinkling leaves useful in alchemy. But it also is made up of a high quality magical wood that makes powerful staffs and magical artifacts. It may be tempting to cut one down once it is full grown, but the magical power only increases as it grows old. And when it's really old and tall, it's rumored to be able to leave gifts to those who care for and respect it, like rare seeds, the augite, and other magical materials.”

“That sounds interesting,” Lest said, looking down at the sapling. Its runes were begging for a chance to get that old. Not a hope as humans felt it, but a hope that non-thinking plants felt as the natural desire of life to thrive. He wanted to help it, but it would have to wait too. Unless there was something he could do right now. The dead tree's runes seemed to be suggesting something to him.

“How old do you mean?” Xiao asked.

“I don't remember right off,” Kiel said, checking the dagger again. “I'd have to look up a few books to figure that out. Maybe I'll ask Bado about this too, because the good part of the blade seems part enchanted from being stuck in the tree.”

“You really think he can handle enchanted weapons?” Xiao asked, frowning at the thought.

He nodded. “I know he can. It's just, you have to convince him that it's interesting or profitable enough to work on. And it looks unusual, to me anyhow, so he might know more about it.”

“You want to go see what Bado has to say?” Clorica asked, noticing that Lest was still looking at the sapling and only part hearing what they were saying. She would want to distract him.

“I don't know if that's a good idea right now,” Kiel said. “Bado's in a peculiar mood.”

Lest couldn't help his inattention, as these runes were being so persistent. “I want to see if I can work a miracle,” he replied.

“That sounds like something that would take an awful lot of power,” Clorica said. “You probably shouldn't.”

“Are the runes speaking about it?” Kiel asked, interested and likely easy to convince.

“Yeah, and the conditions seem good,” Lest said. “I just haven't been able to pull off one successfully.”

“I thought miracles were things gods did,” Xiao said.

Fortunately, Kiel knew enough to explain with Lest was still trying to read everything as see if he could do this. “Yes, but certain people can call on a powerful arrangement of runes to create a miracle, including earthmates and dwarves. The things that happen can't be predicted or replicated, but they also are dependent on the moment and just the right circumstances, maybe even influence of gods or other higher spirits. Even those who have the right kind of powers to create a miracle might never get a chance at another if they deny the first calling of the runes.”

“Then it's that time or no other,” Xiao said. “But it would be hard, yes?”

“Yes.” Kiel shrugged. “I've read that earthmates create miracles through song, also that you become an earthmate either through being born as one or creating a miracle. Mostly likely he'll just sing something and not get an effect, but if it is a calling of inspiration, then the runes and whatever spirit guides him can do something about the energy needed. That's why I said it might not be a good idea to talk to Bado right now. He got hit by this kind of thing; I couldn't even get his attention today.”

Then another voice called in from behind them, as Doug had made his way into the field over the stream and past the trees. “Are you talking about a thalnar?”

“With Bado, yes,” Kiel said. “Lest's an earthmate, so they have a different word for it.”

“ _Manic inspiration,”_ Lest said, using what were considered holy words.

“But he's still recovering from his fall so we're not sure if this should be stopped,” Clorica said.

Doug came over and looked at the dead tree. There was some kind of connection there Lest barely saw, but the only thing that mattered to him was that it might help the miracle happen to have Doug there, for some reason. After a look at Lest, he stepped back. “Well, he's got that look in his eyes. We'd have a difficult time stopping this from happening. Don't know about earthmates, but dwarves can end up really depressed if denied a chance to try. Just help him get what he needs and see what crazy stuff happens.”

“I guess,” Clorica said, reluctant but she'd rather not see him get depressed.

“Give me the dagger and take a few steps away,” Lest said, things clicking improbably in his mind but there was a certainty that he was right. The dagger rightfully belonged to Doug. Since it had been in the old tree for nine weeks, this was going to work out because he was here. Just to convince Clorica not to stop him? Or maybe other reasons. It was just important to use that connection now.

Once he knew the others were at a safe range away, mostly by his sense for runes as it was overpowering his other senses, Lest began to sing the song of miracles. It was properly known as The Earthmate's Pledge, a sung oath to the earth promising one's gratitude, loyalty, and love to the world in exchange for the blessings received. It was one of the first songs he'd learned by heart, one his instructors had used many times to pass on basic lessons. Yet, if they kept the song close to their hearts too, they shouldn't have strayed from their own oaths.

The dagger had taken on what little power the dead Twinkle Tree had. Lest did not know why or how, but he began manipulating the runes and bonds of the trees in this field. As he'd thought, the stress from the other trees lacking care had killed this one. More needed to be done, but with the right enchantments, he could bring the living trees back to a healthy strength using the dagger's spirit to cut away sickly portions before replacing them with good runes. He could also dissolve the dead twinkle tree into sawdust and fragments of glitter augite, setting them into the ground to enrich the spot for the young tree. Once that was done, he was able to channel a lot of power into the twinkle tree sapling.

A lot of power. Now that he was connected like this, he felt what seemed to be a well of runes below the castle. They were stuck there, stagnating like water with no outlet to run to. Ventuswill was doing what she could to keep the ether flowing here, but she didn't seem to be strong enough to pull out the stagnant runes. Or, was there something keeping her from reaching them? There was something there, a kind of spirit but one that had an amorphous form.

Lest's rune breaking power soon hit the stagnant runes, breaking them up and turning them active. Returning to the ether sea through the young twinkle tree, it grew with incredible speed. Once he got it to a certain stage, he could guide the freed runes up through the other trees too, restoring their health. But the lurking spirit reacted, following the newly freed runes out to face him. It had the feeling of hate, causing cold prickles on Lest's skin. Thankfully it was a very old hate, weakened by the lack of a mind and body. He threw the dagger out and broke apart the first manifestation of the hate spirit. At that, Ventuswill noticed and came out to help. She must know more, but Lest's mind was still caught up in the miracle's power.

Two more hate spirits appeared. After he took care of one with the returned dagger, Ventuswill tore apart the other with a small cyclone. She also clamped down on any other parts of the hate spirit trying to emerge, not destroying them but restraining them with all her might. Lest started to think it might be safe to let go of the miracle energy, but then a sharper hate pierced through his mind and heart. Unlike the other, this one was fresh and connected to an unhealed emotional pain. Someone there in the field hated Ventuswill in a powerful way.

Crying out at the pain, Lest hit the ground and his concentration from the miracle broke. Clorica was soon by his side checking on him. And then Ventuswill collapsed. Lest was getting afraid about this incident, but the one holding onto hatred was still nearby, still attacking him unwittingly. He blacked out.

* * *

 

Clorica didn't like emergency situations. She was pretty sure no one did, but when things went bad fast, she found it hard to keep up. When something went wrong with her masters, she should act and think quickly to bring them out of danger. Acting and thinking quickly were not things she did easily. Everything should have a plan was her belief. If it was a danger she'd prepared for, like choking or drowning, she did have a plan for those and could react. But dangers she hadn't even thought of, like a hate spirit causing Lest to fall unconscious from floating in the air, she found herself uncertain of what to do aside from send Xiao after the doctor.

Kiel was trying to assess Lest's condition, but he wasn't fully trained. “It doesn't look like it's because he ran out of energy. But since it was a ghost here, it might be something on a mental or spiritual level.”

“Was that really a ghost?” Doug asked, pacing around in some anxiety.

Kiel shrugged. “Not one I recognize, but it seemed like one.”

Nearby, Ventuswill lifted her head up from where she had fallen on the path beside the farm. Volkanon and Vishnal were trying to help her. “Sorry, I was trying to do too much from outside the castle,” she said to them. “But I had to do something when I felt Storgane's curse stirring.”

“Can’t argue with that, but what was the prince doing messing with that old magic?” Volkanon asked, suspicious but concerned. It was a tone Clorica knew well. If this wasn't an accident, then the instigator was going to get a harsh lecture.

“I don't think he meant to cause trouble,” Clorica said in his defense. “He said he wanted to make a miracle. I was trying to talk him out of it, but then Kiel and Doug said that it was better to let him try.”

“Right, all the factors have to be right and there's no controlling its thoughts once the person is in its grip,” Kiel said.

“What did he do?” Ventuswill asked, although the results were obvious.

“Well first he turned the old dead tree right back to dirt,” Clorica said, pointing to the central tree. “Then he raised up a sapling into this large twinkle tree in a couple of minutes. And the whole while, he started floating off the ground and his rune lines were glowing bright gold. Then the crutches got thrown away along with his cast. That's about when the hate spirits showed up. Lest killed the first two, but then he screamed and fainted.”

“Those spirits you saw were fragments of an old decaying curse in the area,” Ventuswill said. “The fragments are tough to beat, but since Lest was under …, the miracle's influence, he would have no trouble with them. That's not the case for the main portion of the curse. I've been trying to slowly undo it for many lifetimes; the hate it contains would do more than just knock him out.”

“What should we do for him now?” Volkanon asked.

She paused to catch her breath, then said, “Wait until the doctor comes; his old wounds seem to be gone, but he should be checked. After that, take him to his bedroom and leave him be in quiet. The defensive wards in the walls will keep him safe and help him recover. When you do check on him, make sure to keep positive but calm so the spiritual wound isn't irritated.”

“If he needs quiet, I might as well head on out,” Kiel said, taking the dagger from Lest's hand. “I’ll take this by Bado later on and see what he thinks of it.”

“Right, you guys make sure he's okay,” Doug said, then headed back the way he'd come.

“These trees all look a lot healthier than they were,” Vishnal said.

“That would have to be part of the miracle to bring this new twinkle tree up,” Ventuswill said. “The poor health of the others killed the old one.”

“That’s what Lest thought,” Clorica said.

After some rest, Ventuswill was able to walk back to her usual place for a more solid sleep. Clorica and Volkanon waited out with Lest until Jones came. The doctor was initially disappointed to hear that Lest had been working with powerful magic in spite of his condition. But once they explained the nature of it, he agreed that there wasn't much they could have done to stop him. Ventuswill had been right too: Lest's previously weak and broken bones were now all healed back up, to a strength that should have taken him another ten weeks to get back to. He would still need to take it easy for a few days to make sure there were no hidden problems, but it seemed some rest to recover from the attack of hate would be enough to return Lest to how he should be.

It had been a troubling worry, but Clorica started to feel an awe that she'd managed to witness an earthmate's miracle.

* * *

 

Spring 19

The restaurant was running low on honey, oats, chocolate, and other things. Most were normal, although the honey supply was suspiciously low after seeming just fine when she'd last checked. Margaret usually felt annoyed when sudden drops in the pantry showed up like that. Porcoline tended to go through ingredients fast, in part because he seemed to eat nearly as much as he served. On some days, he got hooked on a particular food and anything related to it would drop in the inventory fast. This kind of behavior made it tough to keep the restaurant’s budget making a profit.

But today, she was in a good mood. Not even having to send out a rush order to restock the honey was going to break it. And it was mostly because of Lest.

It had taken some time for the infatuation to wear off completely even if she had gotten through a good portion of it in asking to think on things for a few days. But once she got to see him with a clear mind again, she had to admit that she still liked him. He was calm but smiled easily. While short for a human man, he had a strong build from being a farmer. He wasn't good with numbers or information outside his interests, but he did have a way with people and was good as a cook.

And his voice! Even she hadn't picked up anything special at first, but then she heard him singing in the royal farm early this morning, at a time when normally she'd be the only person out and about. It had a rustic quality of someone who sang mostly folk songs and simple hymns, unpolished but with a brilliance. He hadn't been singing in a language she understood, but the music itself hinted at its meaning. The song was not for the singer or any mortal listeners, but for the earth and the ground he was preparing. Since she didn't go past the trees in trying to find the song, he had no idea he had another audience.

While humming the song he'd been singing, Margaret wondered if her feelings weren't still influenced by the love runes he used. He likely meant nothing more than to heal her, perhaps even as his duty in being the prince. Xiao had accepted that and now was mostly concerned about not being embarrassed when her mother brought it up. But on Margaret's end, she still saw a bit of the glow around him that she'd seen on waking up in the clinic. He was cute and if his love magic could make her feel like this when it was meant in a strictly platonic fashion, what would it be like to actually have him in love?

“Oh, let's not think on silly things,” she said to herself, grinning like a fool. She didn't know him that well, which was bound to lead into disappointment if she tried to pursue those thoughts. Plus, he was human and she'd already lived longer than he might. It was a sad fact she'd encountered before, although not really in love.

“Meg!” Porcoline's voice filled the kitchen and pantry room trying to find her.

“He couldn't have heard,” she said quietly, then called back, “Coming!” On entering the kitchen, she held her clipboard up. “I was getting ready to send out the stocking orders.”

“Oh good, I think we need to check on the honey and curry powder,” Porco said, working on something that had a heavy hand on the latter. “But first, would you take that udon over to Bado? He sent over an incomplete request note and apparently he's shut himself in to work in the forge for the past week.”

“Really?” Margaret asked, after a blink of disbelief. “Lazy bones Bado is crazy at work?”

Porcoline nodded. “Shocking, isn't it? The note didn't say anything, just that he wanted lunch, so I made a triple helping of the udon and a small cheesecake that he likes. Such hard work out of him ought to be rewarded like that.”

For even more shock, Margaret noticed that his lunch offerings for Bado were exactly what he said instead of Porcoline taking a serving for his own cut. Or since he seemed to be making more of the udon, he simply was going to take bites from the rest. “Right, good thinking,” she said, picking up the lunch delivery box. “Now if only he keeps this up so we can brush away the reputation of having a bad blacksmith.”

“We can hope,” Porcoline said, then went back to singing during his work.

It was early for lunch deliveries, but Margaret went ahead and headed over to the blacksmith's shop. Normally the building looked like any other inhabited place, with evidence of the inhabitant seen through windows and some smoke from a chimney in cooler weather like this. Not so much today, as dark gray smoke curled heavily while leaving Bado's furnace chimney. Now that she was thinking of it, that had been there for a few days, hadn't it? A sign he was actually working, but what was he working on and why?

She had to knock four times to get his attention, even pound on the door the last time to make herself heard. When he came out, there was grease, sweat, and smoke particles coating his hands and face. “Can’t talk long, what is it?” he asked quickly.

“Lunch delivery!” she said, holding the basket towards him. “You didn't put what you want, so Porco made you udon.”

Bado seemed confused. “When did I order this?”

“Just now,” she said.

His eyebrows furrowed, then he nodded. “Oh, that must have been Lest. He visited a little while ago. I think, about the fountain. Now that you mention it, I am hungry, thanks.” He took the basket and handed her a group of coins. “Don’t care about the change, keep it for the delivery. I've got to get back to work.”

“Working on what?” Margaret asked, wrinkling her nose. “Something smells odd.”

“Glass-blowing. Try not to interrupt this again.” He then shut the door.

This was like a completely different Bado, she thought. What did glass-blowing have to do with a fountain? She also wasn't sure how much better this was. After all, the usual Bado might be a lazy cheat, but he always had time for a chat or joke (or a sales pitch). He wouldn't forget to eat, or brush potential customers away without a good explanation. Now if only he could find some medium place there to stick to, he could be better.

Well, he also wouldn't overpay for a lunch delivery, Margaret thought. Although since Porco had tripled the main dish size, it evened out. She walked back slowly while thinking of if she could get a sneak peek at whatever Bado was doing at another time. Before she got to the restaurant, she spotted Lest walking around town too. He was no longer on crutches, although his stride was uneven as he was getting used to being without a cast again.

Margaret grinned and waved to him. “Lest! I can't decide if you're a miracle worker or a slave driver!”

“Why would I be a slave driver?” he asked, waving back.

“Because you got Bado to work so hard he forgot to get lunch,” she replied, hurrying the last few feet so they were at a good distance to talk. “He never does that.”

He chuckled. “Well I didn't make him do that. He had the idea and wanted to do it, but wasn't sure because of the work involved. I just nudged him into going for it.”

“That’s still pretty amazing,” Margaret said with a smile. “Although I’m still thinking over what my answer is for you.”

“And I'm wondering what my question was,” he replied, raising his eyebrows.

She laughed at him. “In that case, I might decide to decide on it later.”

“Okay, as long as a decision is made,” Lest said, smiling at the joke.

“But anyhow, you seem cheerful at being back on your feet,” she said.

That made him grin. “Yeah, but it's more the thought that I’m headed off to buy some seeds to get started today. Volkanon wants me to take it easy, but I feel like a kid anticipating a present right now. I've got a great field to work with and can't wait to see plants growing there.”

“Well you should probably take a break too,” Margaret teased him. “I know you've been up since the crack of dawn working today. You don’t want to wreck your knee for good by overworking it so soon.”

“I just took a break and I am keeping a slower pace than normal,” Lest said, defensive but not getting angry about it. “I would've already had the seeds in the ground and watered otherwise.”

“I’m just worried if you got too enthusiastic about starting that you made yourself incapable of farming again,” she said. His passion for it was all too obvious, even though he'd only grown a few flowers since he'd come here. But those flowers were clearly loved, vibrant in color and scent.

“Right, that would be awful,” he said. “You feeling good now?”

“Yup!” she said, feeling a little buzz of happiness that he'd ask. “Though I’m worried about Xiao Pai. I talked with her this morning and she said that she's been seeing some nightmares with the butterflies. Sometimes I still dream of flying on my own wings, but I don't remember much and I don’t think they were nightmares. But that might keep happening for weeks; I’ve seen it in other victims.”

He got worried on hearing that. “I see. Maybe I’ll ask her about the dreams she's been having, if she's comfortable telling me. I'm interested in this Ambrosia monster, especially since I’m pretty sure one of the stones fell in Yokmir Forest.”

That wasn't good either. “Don’t mess with it! A lot of people have died because of the dreams they can't tell from reality. Even Forte has trouble fending it off and she's been fighting monsters since she was a little girl.”

“I’ll be careful, but I’m no slouch when it comes to dealing with monsters either,” Lest said. “Though I’ll probably ask her or someone else to come along when I go looking for that rune sphere.”


	10. Betrayal's Brink

Spring 20

Doug checked over his equipment one last time. It wouldn't do to get on the work trolley and find that he'd forgotten something. Since everything seemed to be in place, he shut the tool box and picked it up, along with a supply box for all the materials he needed. The marketplace clean-up was about to begun and no one would think twice of him being around vital supports to the town on the cliff's edge.

With the tools clattering around in their metal container, Doug didn't bother trying to walk down the old stairs of the general store quietly. Blossom was already downstairs, sitting at her usual rocking chair by the register and piecing together one of the canvas booth covers. “Granny, I'm off to hang for the day.”

She gave a delighted smile at his joke. “All right, but don't be coming back as a shambling undead creature.”

“How about if I was shuffling instead?” he added, laughing a little once she did. “Don’t be working too hard here on your own.”

“I probably should be saying that to you instead,” Blossom said. “Oh, and I put together some lunch for you over here, in case you want to keep working.”

He set his boxes down to come get the lunch pail she'd made. And to give her a hug. “Thanks, I’ll be looking forward to it.” Unless she'd packed a roll in there. She was always making bread of some kind and while she sold most of the loaves, there were always pieces around their home upstairs. As much as he didn't like bread, he didn't have the heart to tell her so when she kept giving these kind gestures.

“Don’t be under there too late, and be careful,” she said, patting his back.

After putting the pail in the material box, he took both boxes and headed out to the nearest maintenance trolley. The first time he'd come into this part of town, it had been unnerving to walk along the wooden panels lining the streets. A glance down would show just how high they were from the airfield nearby. It didn't bother him now, but he'd already found that the trolley wasn't a great place to work due to hanging over the drop. At least they had winches that would let him pull the trolley closer to the ceiling where he needed to do his work.

But when he got to the trolley station, Bado was already there, packing his own tool box and a huge bag that seemed to be filled with pipes. Doug and Volkanon had managed to comfortably move around to examine the old generator, but with Doug, Bado, and all their equipment? That was going to be too much. “Hey man, you working on this too?”

“Shut the water off to L-10 after redirecting the supply to Saint Coquille Manor so as not to disrupt them,” Bado muttered, hardly noticing Doug there. He had an intense focus in his eyes although he didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular.

“Okay, I’ll just find the other trolley,” Doug said, stepping away to head for the other trolley station. Bado was still under the grip of thelnar, something that often happened to dwarves. Some idea would drive them to work ceaselessly until they created whatever inspiration had gripped them. And no matter what beliefs the particular dwarf followed, it was never a good idea to bother one under such mania. Doug had never been hit by one himself, but he was instantly curious about what Bado was being driven to create. Such items were nearly always considered priceless treasures immediately.

In a way, he was jealous of him, and Lest. Coming under that mania of inspiration was often the highlight of a dwarf's life, an event that had as much prestige as marriage or being granted a title of honor. Some would claim that one could never truly be a great dwarf unless they knew the feeling of thelnar. However, that inspiration was always tied to the crafting trades. Something was always produced. But Doug had never been any good at crafting with the closest being his electrical work. He'd probably never be struck by thelnar and he sometimes wondered if it made him even less of a dwarf because of it.

The other trolley was parked at the stairway near the inn, meaning he had to trek all the way across town to get there. Then again, he didn't have to steer the trolley as far to get to under the marketplace. The generator he was working on was a wind-based model, gathering energy from turbines here underneath the cliff and small windmills along the town walls. As the winds were always blowing, it was a reliable system. Even so, someone had gone ahead and built a geothermal plant at the Delirium Lava Caves. Selphia shouldn't ever have a problem with electrical power with that powerful combo.

In spite of what he'd told Lest, he'd known on seeing the diagram that they didn't need to replace this generator fully. It was built to last and all he had to do was make some common adjustments and update a few parts. Most of Doug's work today was going to be drilling holes, then laying and replacing wires so he could hook up new outlets and lights overhead. His stated job was simple.

But for the job that he was keeping silent on, that wasn't so simple. Once he had the wiring done, he looked around to find that Bado was busily hooking up water pipes to the location of the new drinking fountain. He wouldn't notice. Doug sat down in his trolley and opened his material box to pull out parts to put together a bomb. Even with both power plants on lower output due to spring weather, it could go unnoticed for a few days that an extra machine was drawing energy from this generator. He could install this to the main support beam holding up the generator and the marketplace, and then a second hidden above ground within the tree and moat fence around the royal farms. Either blast would destroy a good chunk of the town of Selphia; both together might nearly wipe it out.

There was the question of if it would be enough to take out Ventuswill. She was a divine dragon, as much as she didn't deserve the honor of being so. Even if it didn't, it would weaken her greatly to the point where it would not be tough to finish her off. And that might be the best way to get his revenge, rip her town away too before killing her. All he had to do was set this up, then wait for a day when nearly everyone in town would be in the marketplace.

Then again, everyone in town meant Blossom too. She couldn't do much in her old age, but she already planned on being there when everyone was working on the market together. If she happened to be on this deck when the bomb went off, it'd be certain that she'd fall to her death if the explosion didn't kill her first. The thought of it made his stomach churn.

But he shouldn't care. She was one of Ventuswill's supporters and thus he should hate her too. Doug only started calling her Granny to get her trust, as well as a job to blend in with and a place to stay. He had tolerated her love of bread because people would trust someone kind to their elders. At some point though, he began to feel some affection for her like a grandson would. She really was sweet and her bits of mischief were amusing enough to be endearing. She was also sickly, probably in her last years at this point. While that was another reason not to care, Doug found himself caring more after he'd helped nursed her back to normal in a fight with a cold last summer. Blossom didn't seem to have family in Selphia anymore. He didn't have family either, but not because they had forgotten about him in their lives.

A gust of wind sent a chill up his spine. The trolley swayed but he'd seen enough of its structure to know it was unlikely to fail. Looking down at the bomb that only needed to be hooked up to a power source to be detonated, he found himself wondering if he should do it. Could he live with himself if this killed Blossom? Or even if she survived but it killed off all the neighbors and friends she loved? If something like that happened, she might lose heart and die in sadness, never knowing that the one who caused it was someone she trusted. Even loved, like a grandson?

But he needed to kill Ventuswill.

It just wasn't worth paying for with Blossom's life.

With a sigh, Doug made sure that the bomb was less likely to go off, then put it back in his material box so he could head to the top of the platform to install the new outlets. He had a brief thought to just chuck it over the trolley's side, but that might cause a blast and an investigation would show that only he and Bado had been down here. And Bado had the excuse of mania to avoid questions about bomb parts. Doug had nothing to excuse that.

All the electrical work took up Doug's entire day, so he was able to check light coverage on the market deck at the end of it. The booths had already been pulled out onto North Street in preparation of the refinishing tasks in the coming days, but there did not seem to be any dark corners or spots now. Bado had some pipework showing above the deck's floor; neither he nor his fountain was anywhere to be seen at the moment. As Doug was shutting off most of the lights so as not to interfere with anyone's sleep, the prince came over to him. “Good work on the lights,” Lest said. “Anything else you need to do left?”

He was just being polite, Doug thought. Lest didn't know enough about lighting and electricity to actually know if it was a good job or not at this point. “Nope, we're good for another five years. And then it'll just be checking some wires and a few replacements. I set up the premium spots with six outlet slots, while regular spots have four slots. It's a bit high, but I think electrical devices are going to keep picking up steam.”

“And the power network can handle that?” he asked.

“Yup, shouldn't be a big burden,” Doug said. “We should be good for power unless there's a huge boom in residents and devices.”

“That’s good.” Then Lest looked at him, some worry on his face. “Are you doing all right?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” he said, wondering why the prince was suddenly interested. Did he suspect him? Doug didn't know much about earthmates, but he knew many people revered them. Lest didn't seem that special, although sometimes he was uncannily keen on things in spite of a rural education.

“If you say so,” he said, but he suspected something. What? “Don’t be reluctant to speak up if you need any help. I'd be happy to give anybody here assistance, or I’m sure Granny Blossom would be glad to listen. She adores you like her own grandchild.”

“You don't need to tell me that,” Doug said. She'd packed him a delicious lunch today with onigiri, so maybe she was picking up on his tastes finally.

After shaking off Lest (why was he so nosy?), Doug headed back to the general store. Blossom greeted him warmly and had supper hot and ready for him. It was meatloaf and mashed potatoes with some early spring greens for a salad, a meal he was happy to share with her. And yet... also a meal that his mother had favored. It had been one she made for him for lunch before a trek to the traditional dwarven town in order to exchange goods with them. He'd made the trek many times before, every time tolerating the traditionalists' tunnel vision on what dwarves should be for the sake of his town's traders; they depended on him and others willing to act as contacts. But that one time, he returned home to find the trader's fort smashed apart, as if the wind itself had gained weight and crushed it in an instant. It was all Ventuswill's doing.

He got startled when Blossom gripped his arm. “Is something wrong, Doug? You have such a sad look on your face.”

“It’s...” nothing? It was nothing that he'd nearly destroyed her life today, except he'd chickened out? It was nothing that his life had been crushed to pieces while he'd been away? That he'd hurt this sweet but frail lady for any reason, even as a bystander to destroying the one he hated most? Doug shivered and looked down at his lap.

“You can tell me anything, dear,” she said. “I won't tell a soul if you don't want to.”

She sounded like she couldn't imagine him doing her any harm. “I...” he rubbed a tear from his eye, but it seemed that wouldn't be enough. “I should... visit home for a bit and, um, take care of my family's graves.”

“Of course, they'd appreciate that,” she said. Which set him off into crying, but at least this time, he wasn't alone.

* * *

 

“That was a close call,” Ventuswill said softly to her quiet room. “Doug... where does your hate and pain spring from?”

“Lady Ventuswill?”

Startled, she opened her eyes wider and noticed Vishnal was standing there puzzled. “It's nothing!” she insisted. “Just listening to things on the wind. Although,” she looked down at him wondering. This would be a difficult thing to ask of him. But then, he might be the only one she could ask.

“What is it?” he asked when she hesitated on saying it.

She leaned down to speak quieter. “It's mostly a hunch, but I've been concerned about Doug lately.”

“What about him?” he asked, quickly becoming concerned himself.

“I can't really tell you,” Ventuswill said. “Sorry, but it's something that would be best if Doug would tell you himself. You're one of his rare friends, you and Kiel. I can tell you this: everyone has their secrets and many people will go to great lengths to avoid them being found. Even so, a painful secret might never heal and in time, the person may become so lost and hurt that they no longer know what to do. They need someone else to know, be it a friend, family member, or lover. It is a hard thing and I'm not certain if he's even near that point. You'll need to be discrete about it, but if you continue being his friend and keep his trust, there might come a time soon when you'll need to be there for him and help him find his way.”

Fortunately, he took the advice seriously. “I see... I'll do my best, although it sounds like a difficult thing.”

She smiled. “At least you can tell it's so. Thank you Vishnal. You're the best one I could trust to this.”

“I don't know, Lest seems like he'd be really good at dealing with people in trouble,” Vishnal said.

“It might not hurt to ask him for advice, but I'm afraid we can't involve him in trying to help Doug yet,” she said. “I don't want to say why entirely. If Lest could get as much trust from him as you have, then maybe.”

That should do it, a few nudges to get people to help each other. Hopefully it would end up helping all the people involved. It could be good for them all. It could also go terribly wrong... no, she had to have faith in them. Mortals were entirely capable of solving most of their problems on their own. While she cared greatly for them, this was for the best. She'd step in if she absolutely had to.

* * *

 

Spring 21

Hate. It was a crushing oppressive emotion, narrowing the mind and blinding one's judgment. At one time, Lest had felt hate. It had lasted several long weeks, a poisonous fire in his chest that warped his reason. But it was a poison, causing him to feel sick and paranoid. When he finally let it go, he swore to himself that he'd never hate again. Love opened up the mind and healed the heart, bringing others closer and healing them too. That was his element and he'd realized that if he had continued to hold that hate, it would have truly killed him in tearing his runes apart.

However, hate still hurt him even if it was not his own. When someone else near him was filled with hate, he felt that venom as sharp spikes in his skin, clamping on and not wanting to let go. Hate came in various forms just like love, but he knew its venom all the same. Sometimes it was just an unnerving itch, when someone had a good reason to feel hate but was open to letting it go. Other times it cut right into his heart and left him unable to remain conscious. The first time he'd felt that kind of hate was when he'd only been five years old; the memory remained almost fresh in his mind in spite of the fifteen years since then.

The hate he felt now was frail. It was an ancient hate that was beyond reasoning with, but its spikes lacked the potent venom and sharpness that a living hate attacked him with. Lest recognized it from the one he'd felt in the orchard. What had Ventuswill said? It belonged to Storgane. Storgane was an old name of a long passed away being, but it was one he was familiar with.

What Lest felt now... he was dreaming, but it was a special kind of dream caught up in the ether sea, aware beyond his body's reach. What happened here was real, just not physical. But that meant he could run into anything in a human's imagination and beyond. Even a being as long dead as Storgane.

Storgane's hate whipped around Lest like a sharp biting wind straight out of winter. “Still not as bad as a living hate,” he said, bringing his hand up to try keeping his bangs out of his eyes. His chi was visible as plainly as when he cast magic, the golden lines giving him a glowing halo of light in the darkness of this hateful gale.

“It won't be so for long,” a deep voice said around him. “I only need one heart in total despair to revive my curse and fulfill it at last. I hold six hearts in powerful despair.”

“You won't succeed,” Lest said. “My family has the key we've been looking for all along.”

Storgane laughed at him. “It will fail. You have already failed and ruined your plans. You also don't know enough to stop me. You will fail. You should just run away now. Get out of Selphia, abandon your magic, destroy the rune spheres. What can you do against a god?”

“You’re no longer a god,” he said, clenching his other fist at his side. “Yes you were once the divine wind dragon, but you're dead! You should have entered the Forest of Beginnings and put your hate to rest. But now that your hate has consumed you, you are no longer a god or even the ghost of a god. You're just a corrupted devil. I serve the living divine wind and I will help her triumph over you at last.”

That rankled Storgane and he sneered in hate. “That husk? She never stood a chance against me and only survived so long because I don't have a physical form at this time. But the despair she gives me is exquisite, something you wouldn't find in a strong god.”

“I’ll stop you from hurting Venti!” Lest declared, not thinking for a second of taking it back.

At his words, as binding as any oath, he suddenly became of four points of light around them. They were also caught in Storgane's hate, separate but aware of each other. And now aware of him arguing with their tormentor. The spiteful ghost growled and tried to dim their lights.

He couldn't do that. “I’ve come to help you!” he called to them. “I've been delayed, but I will come to awaken you. Hang on and don't give up hope. We can be the ones to triumph with love.”

“Don’t speak of love around me!” Storgane hissed, his hatred beginning to crackle as if starting up a powerful spell.

But love described the natural flow of life and the bonds of magic. Storgane was perverting nature in clinging to what little remained to him. Lest raised both of his hands and cast a counter magic to break apart the spell being cast at him. The ether sea composing this dream was then filled with golden sunlight, stopping Storgane's magic dead and causing him pain instead. However, he had spent centuries clinging to hate and this would not be enough to defeat him. He lurked back to the stagnant parts of the ether sea, the remains of his curse of hate.

“Don’t give up hope,” Lest said again now that it was just him and the lights of the guardians. “You will be freed of your obligations before long.”

He couldn't decipher a response, if they were given a chance to respond to him. Instead, he opened his eyes to find himself lying in bed. The glow of the predawn sky spilled into his room along with the spring breeze through the windows he had left open. Lest held up one of his hands and found that his chi was still glowing. After watching the lines fade away, he got up and stretched out his body in preparation for the day ahead. The day's work would begin with farming, but soon turn to work on the marketplace. However, he had to be thinking ahead to when he would go out searching for the rune spheres and the guardians.

Storgane's spirit was truly still around. He'd need to write Frey and inform her of the dream. Even so, he had a good idea of what she'd say in response. Storgane had been the divine wind dragon before Ventuswill was born and ascended into divinity. According to tales in his mother's family, Storgane hated humanity so much that he was willing to betray his duty to make the ether sea fall still, making magic impossible for most mortal beings until Ventuswill's birth. Perhaps such an event would destroy all life in time. What was certain was that Storgane's curse was a powerful part in why Ventuswill was having trouble fulfilling the same role he had held.

However, there was a big mystery now that Storgane revealed himself. What was he still doing in the world? Even the gods returned to the Forest of Beginnings upon death.

* * *

 

“Will you... be my friend?” She sounded so sad and timid.

“I would be your friend,” Xiao Pai said, turning around and trying to find her. But there were so many butterflies, in all colors she dreamed of, swirling around and around, up and down, surrounding her.

“We can fly away to the rainbows, out of this sadness and guilt.” She seemed like she would cry.

“If it would make you happy, I’d fly away,” Xiao said, finally seeing a form other than the small butterflies. Instead of little clover-shaped leaves, the form had huge wings like the petals of an iris.

“My friends have all wilted away and I cried and cried. Wilted away, all but the dragon and the birds in the darkness.” Her voice quivered.

She was like a fairy princess, a beautiful girl with butterfly wings. Xiao was entranced. “Your friends are still with you, yes?”

“NO!” She shrieked as the butterflies turned into biting flies and the golden sunlight turned to silver moonlight. Xiao shrieked herself when the flies started biting. “I hurt her bad, I didn't mean to, she was so sad that I found tears of blood and I couldn't go back to her because I made a big promise that was supposed to save her and now she's wilting even more than the others and I want to help her but I can't help anymore, I want to go home but I can't because I promised!”

There was a wail and Xiao fell out bed. But it wasn't her wail. Things were hushed in the inn, just the sounds of her ending up on the floor. She rubbed her arms where she could remember the flies biting. While she could nearly feel it under her skin, there were no marks on her skin of such bites.

“Just a dream again,” she said to herself, wrestling herself out of her blanket in order to get back in bed. “But why does it keep coming back, so powerfully?”

* * *

 

It was early morning just before dawn, but Kiel found himself unable to go back to sleep. Memories from yesterday kept coming back into his thoughts. When he'd gone over to to Bado's place to check up on him and do a few small chores, the dwarf had snapped at him and driven him back out. He had been testy this whole time while in the grip of thelnar. Yesterday had been particularly bad as he'd said some things that cut deeply.

Kiel still worried about him. From his studies, the inspiration usually didn't last this long. It might be that the fountain he was making really took that long. Or it might be that his health was starting to suffer from being pushed so long, keeping him from working as quickly even under divine inspiration. Bado hadn't eaten all that much. The udon and cheesecake from Porcoline that he'd usually polish off even in large portions had remained untouched, even unsealed. There was no way that he could have meant what he'd said.

With those thoughts in mind, Kiel got a jacket and headed out down the street to check on him again. The sun wasn't even above the horizon yet, although it would be before long. Selphia had a mystical silence at this time, one that caused prickles on his skin even with the jacket's warmth. Without anyone else in the streets, there was only the rustle of new leaves in the breeze, the ripples of water in the moats, the call of a few birds, and his own footsteps to disturb the quiet. But he knew it was all at rest, merely awaiting the rays of the sun to begin wakening all. Except maybe Bado; there was still smoke coming from his furnace.

He hesitated a moment at the door, worried he might get yelled at again. Bracing himself for that potential, Kiel gave a few knocks and waited. When he didn't hear anything, he turned the knob quietly and entered the building. “Bado?' he asked.

It was still in here too. Kiel came in and shut the door behind him, then quickly spotted his friend on the floor. With a fright at his condition, he hurried over and knelt to check on him. He seemed to be asleep, the energy of his runes rather low. It reminded him of Lest's condition after he'd come out of his inspired state. Letting out a sigh of relief, Kiel tried to shake his shoulder lightly. He didn't wake up immediately, but mumbled something.

Feeling that he should be okay, Kiel took his jacket off and went around the rooms seeing what chores needed to be taken care of. He saw the fountain again and thought about what a wonder it was, but decided to avoid it for the time being. Instead, he turned down the furnace and opened up all the windows in order to let out the heat and let in fresh air. The meal from Porcoline was still untouched and unsealed, so he took that into the dining table and cleaned up how he could.

He had the door open to sweep out some ashes and dirt when his sister came by on her morning patrol. “There you are,” she said, a little annoyed and a little relieved. “I was worried when you weren't in the house.”

“Sorry sis,” Kiel said, smiling. “I was worried about Bado and decided to check on him when I couldn't sleep.”

“How is he?” Forte said, stepping into the store herself to see.

He pointed out where he was still on the floor. “I can't really move him, but he's just asleep. Looks like he finally finished his work and was released from inspiration's grasp.”

“Oh good,” she said, just as relieved. “I know you told me about it the first day, but this was getting insane. Well I'll leave him to your care, but if he's still not up by noon, you should probably get Jones just in case.”

Kiel nodded. “Right. We won't be able to help with the market cleaning, I guess, unless he gets up and feels well enough to install the fountain. I want to stick around to make sure he eats once he wakes up.”

“That's a good idea,” Forte said, then opened up her bag. “An envelope came for you yesterday, but we were so busy that I couldn't get it to you.”

“Thanks,” Kiel said, taking it once she handed it over. It had a familiar seal on it, one that made him frown. “Oh this.”

Forte shifted and for a moment looked nervous. “It's from the knights in the capitol, so, it's probably about you...”

“I know, I've gotten them before,” Kiel said, tapping it against his hand. “I'll check it, but if it's the same as the rest, I'll just give the same answer as before.” He chuckled. “I might even have the draft from last year, so maybe I'll send the exact same answer.”

“Kiel?” she asked.

He smiled at her. “Whatever they think, I think you're best for the job. Besides, if I accepted their offer a knighthood, I know it's only because of who our father is. I'd have to give up my alchemy studies and I don't want to do that, or take the job you're so dedicated to.”

“I just hope the fact that you've been denying them doesn't come back to bite us,” Forte said, but she smiled at his words.

“I've got your back and you've got mine, so I don't think we have to worry,” he said to reassure her. “I'll see you later then.”

“Right, good luck with Bado.” She nodded then headed on to continue her review of the town.

It wasn't long after that when Kiel heard a groan out of Bado. He left the room that was used as living space to come check on him. Bleary eyed, Bado was sitting up on the floor and looking around. The intensity that had gripped him was no longer there, leaving Kiel feeling safe in saying, “Hey, good morning. How do you feel?”

“Like I've got a wicked hangover,” Bado replied. “What day is it?”

“Spring 21,” Kiel said, stopping by the shop counter.

“Good lord,” he replied, rubbing his head. “What about the fountain?” He got up and turned to look in his forge.

“It looks amazing, a real work of art,” he said, following after him. Bado mumbled something and looked over the fountain silently for a couple of minutes. Coming closer, Kiel said, “You really should eat; I've got one of Porco's meals waiting on you on the table.”

“It's not installed,” Bado said finally. Then he sighed. “All right, you're probably right. I'll eat and then see about getting this over and attached. Hope I can do that properly now that this has passed.”

“I can help you out with it if you need it,” Kiel said.

“Yeah, that'd be good. I don't think I'll feel completely settled down until it gets in. Oh ****.” He clapped his hand on his forehead with a grimace that seemed in pain.

“Headache?” Kiel guessed, tugging at him to go eat now.

“Well yeah, but,” he shook his head then turned to him. “Kiel, you've been over to check on me all this time, haven't you?'

“I tried to visit once or twice a day, to take care of the house and try to take care of you,” he said.

“I don't remember clearly, but I must've treated you horribly,” Bado said, upset now that he realized that. “I'm really sorry, I probably said some crazy stuff to you.”

He had, but Kiel would readily forgive him. “It's okay, I kind of expected it,” he said. “You weren't exactly yourself, being enthralled in the act of creation.”

“Yeah. In that case, thanks for trying. Man, but I really should make it up to you somehow.”

He smiled. “Well first you can eat so I can stop worrying about you passing out from hunger.”

Bado laughed at that, a good sign that he was back to his usual self. “All right already. You're a great guy, don't let anyone tell you any differently.” He patted Kiel on the head then went to have his first breakfast in nearly two weeks.


	11. Marketplace Cleaning

Spring 21

Wood dust was everywhere as multiple sanders were at work. Lest had a handheld one as he went over the surfaces of one of the booths, taking off old stains and smoothing down rough patches that had grown over time. With goggles and a face mask as protection, he still smelled the sawdust and friction from sandpaper. Sounds from other sanders overpowered anyone trying to talk, especially the large one that Volkanon, Forte, Vishnal, and Lin Fa were taking turns with to get the deck floor. Lest would offer to work the big one too, but Jones advised against it as the vibrations might be too much for his knee. Doug, Xiao, Jones, Margaret, Illuminata, and even Nancy when she got someone else to look after Alice were all working on the booths as well. Those who weren't working with the tools were making sure the rest were taking breaks and getting snacks or drinks to keep them going. Except for Clorica, as she was busy taking care of daily chores around the castle.

Margaret poked him at a point where the other sanders were quieting down. “Hey, Bado's going to show off what he's been doing finally.”

“Good, I have to see this,” Lest said, shutting his sander down and locking it so it was safe to leave. The others were gathering around at the front center of the marketplace deck where Bado had kept a sheet over the project he'd installed.

Bado himself was looking worn down from the long effort he'd put into this. After wiping off his brow with a wet cloth that Nancy had given him, he looked over them. “Well, I...” he scratched his head. “I have to say, this is what we call thelnar. That is, an inspiration of the gods and not something I could remake. Or charge for, not even the most liberal of dwarves would do that. It's the first time I’ve had it hit me and, well, hope you don't mind it being a public piece.” He then pulled off the cover to reveal his work.

If compared to his stock of poor blades and shields, one wouldn't believe that this fountain was made by the same person. It was gorgeous, polished to gleam brilliantly in the sunlight. Instead of one simple spout, it had four springing from the same center, each spout topped with a flower sculpted of colored glass. The four flowers were all different, each with a pretty fairy perched on it. A red tulip had a yellow fairy lounging on its base, a pink lily had a green fairy kneeling on its petals, a white rose had a red fairy seeming like she had just landed, and an orange chrysanthemum had a blue fairy resting in its petals. Sculpted leaves made up the handles while wide silver bowls caught the water below. With the design, the distance the water fell was enough to put a cup under to catch some or make the bowls below ring soothingly.

“Holy smokes, you're not kidding,” Doug said in awe, examining the fountain.

“It’s beautiful,” Lin Fa said, to the agreement of many others. “Though a bit girly, don't you think?”

Bado laughed, although he was clearly proud of the work. “Guess you could say that. It's from some rarely seen fairies that are known to live in Selphia, the four elements, so I’ve called it the Elements Fountain in my mind. I was going to make a simple fountain, but then I was talking to you Lin Fa, and Nancy and Lest too, and this kept coming back to me. Eventually, it completely gripped my mind and I had to make it real. Course, now everybody's going to expect master level crafting from me which is a huge load of work, but, whatever. I'm honored and humbled to have been the hands of the gods for a short time.”

“I think it's great,” Lest said. “Praise the gods with their mysterious ways.”

“Yeah, praise them,” Bado repeated.

“Does anybody else think it's lunch time?!” Porcoline called as he came down the street with a pair of large carts. Nobody wanted to disagree, so they took a break to share a meal.

Lest decided to eat with Lin Fa and Xiao, as he still hadn't gotten the latter to mention the dreams to him yet. She did seem less awkward around him today, only shaking her head when her mother teased them. “I’ll find love when I’m ready for it, I’m sure,” Xiao said. “Just not right now.”

“Wait too long and you might find yourself too old for guys to want,” Lin Fa said.

“Would you rather her rush into things?” Lest asked skeptically.

“No, but she's already 22.”

“That’s not old!” Xiao insisted. “Not anywhere near too old for love. I don't see why people think you ought to get married by 25; sure, it's fine if you do find your true love early on. But I’m still finding things out and I want to make sure things will work out.”

“I guess you do have a point,” Lin Fa admitted. “What do you think, Lest?”

He shrugged, not wanting to tell them it was law in his tribe. “I’ve had people in my old town tell me to start looking when I turned 18. But then I had the obstacle of finding someone I wasn't related to first.”

The two women laughed. “I used to be afraid that might become a problem here in Selphia,” Lin Fa said. “Then again, if efforts like this work out like we want, it might end up no trouble at all. We may even have to start thinking of improving our inn in case we get competition.”

'Like if someone buys up the old Willow Inn?” Xiao asked. “Or even manages to evict the ghosts out of Obsidian Mansion.”

“I doubt that,” Lin Fa said. “That place has been haunted for generations and the Marionetta monster is as dangerous as Ambrosia.”

“But Obsidian Mansion is right in town, up the hill and across from Dragon Lake,” Lest said. “That’s a pretty big threat as a neighbor if it's like Ambrosia.”

“It is scary at times,” Xiao said. “I would be so scared of shadows in the windows that I saw from the inn that I wouldn't look out the southwest windows when I was little. But that part of the mansion is on a different cliff, while the ghosts rarely come across the crevasse.”

“What do you mean by that part?” Lest asked.

Xiao spread her hands apart. “Because the mansion appears in about a dozen different places in Selphia's countryside, sometimes separated by miles. When inside, though, it all becomes one building like the Coquille manor. It's all chopped up on the outside, but the runes put it back together from the inside.”

“There aren’t many reports about what the inside is like because it's difficult to escape,” Lin Fa said. “Marionetta sometimes lures people inside. At a time before I came here, there was a princess who ordered the bridge to the other cliff destroyed to keep people from wandering in at this location.”

“I heard that Kiel got stuck in there once,” Xiao said. “And Forte risked her life to get him out. But I haven't heard much of the story from them. I was in another country when it happened, so I don't know much about it.”

Lest made a mental note to try asking Kiel and Forte about it later. There was supposed to be a rune spring on the other cliff here, maybe even in the mansion. Then if Marionetta was as dangerous as Ambrosia, they might have the same origin. “I wonder if the two monsters are related,” Lest said. “Just a hunch, but...”

“They might be,” Lin Fa said. “Both of them return to rune springs rather than the Forest of Beginnings when defeated, and it takes an awful lot of effort to defeat either.”

“Are there other monsters like that in Selphia?” Lest asked, guessing there were two more.

“Thunderbolt is, I believe,” Lin Fa said. “It roams the old ruins near the northern border, which is big trouble as the water spring there helps to supply Selphia and a couple of our neighboring regions. Because the area around there is mostly uninhabited, not as many people get into trouble with Thunderbolt as with the two right here. But those are the only exceptional ones as far as I know.”

“You’d think there'd be four because there's four rune springs in Selphia, not three, yes?” Xiao said. “I wonder if there's something really special about them, and sometimes even feel a bit bad for Ambrosia.”

“Even after it attacked you?” Lin Fa asked, surprised.

Her cheeks turned pink as she admitted, “Um, yes, actually after that. See, because, I keep having one of those dreams about her, and she asks me to be her friend. Then she says that all of her friends except some birds wilted, I guess she means died, and then she gets really upset when talking about one other friend who isn't wilted. That was the really terrifying dream, more like a nightmare that I can't help but think is Ambrosia's nightmare. Somehow I keep seeing it. I don't know, maybe she wants help?”

“If she wants help, you think she wouldn't attack people,” Lin Fa said.

“Unless she can't help it,” Lest said. “Like how those caught up in her curse can't help their delusions because they can't realize what they experience isn't real.”

“Lin Fa, Xiao Pai!” Porcoline called out in a way that got everyone's attention. He was waving the two women over. “There was something else to go along with lunch.”

“Really?” Lin Fa up, getting up to go over to him. “But, why only call us?”

Xiao chuckled and ran a little ahead of her. “Oh Momma, you should know. It's your birthday, yes?”

“Huh?” Lin Fa asked. Lest would have asked if she really could forget something like that, but her runes indicated so. Once she realized it, her eyes brightened. “Oh yes, it is the twenty-first, isn't it? Thanks for reminding me.”

Some of the others there laughed, but Xiao seemed happy. “Same as always. Well I wanted to make you a cake for celebration, but then this came up, so I felt as though you would want to share. I honestly could not make so much cake at once, so it seems I asked Porco for assistance.”

“Yay!” Lin Fa said, clapping her hands in a nearly childish delight. Everyone there offered her well-wishes and seemed happy to celebrate with her.

* * *

 

Spring 22

After making sure all the sawdust was gone, the next day was spent painting wood finish and sealer on the deck and booths. It wasn't as messy or noisy, but took just as much time due to needing several coats. Doing this outside helped as the fumes were readily scattered in the wind, but Lest and his neighbors (he couldn't bring himself to think of them as subjects) still wore masks just in case.

This time, he took lunch with Kiel and Forte to talk about Obsidian Mansion. “We’re trying to boost tourism and interest, but that's going to be tough with these dangerous locations so close by,” Lest said, as an excuse to get the topic started.

It made Kiel thoughtful. “I suppose you could advertise it for adventurers? If enough strong people come through, it could cut down on the danger in a few years and make things safer.”

“That’s a risk as such areas are deadly to the unprepared,” Forte said, not happy with the suggestion.

“We could require an adventuring license for going there,” Kiel said, not wanting to give up on an idea of his.

Lest smiled. “That doesn't sound half bad. We've already got laws requiring a cooking license. If there was a way to test the skill of adventurers and get them to agree that these areas are to be taken at one's own risk, there might be those who try.”

“Oh, but we might need another doctor if we really do that,” Kiel said, turning the idea around in his head. “Because it is dangerous and they'd come back injured.”

“It’d be tough finding an adequate area to test such people in without risking their lives in doing so,” Forte said. “Selphia's a beautiful region, but there is a lot of danger even in unexpected places. Like those element fairies we have a fountain of now. They're powerful with magic and can cast great distances. You don't even have to see one and they can make you end up seriously wounded.”

“What about a dungeon flower?” Kiel asked his sister. “If you take care of them in exact ways, you can affect the difficulty of the resulting dungeon space that appears in their gate. And you can schedule the tests that way so that it's ready when the applicants are ready.”

“Possibly,” she said. “We still wouldn't want them near the non-returning monsters or some others, especially not the ghosts in Obsidian Mansion.”

“Not all the ghosts there are bad,” Kiel said. “I met a really funny one who got me into the library to help me find a way out, before you came in after me. She even let me take one of the books, which was a huge help as I was learning magic.”

“Most of them are trouble, and then there's the torturer in Marionetta,” Forte said, shivering at the last.

“Well she’s a monster so she can’t be a ghost,” Kiel pointed out.

“How did you two get out?” Lest asked. “I heard that the doors can lock on you.”

“It can fix the windows too, since that’s what I tried first,” Forte said.

“If you’re in the right spot, you can use escape magic to get out,” Kiel said. “That’s what I did; we tracked down a good area that was a weak zone in the mansion’s runes and I used Escape for both of us. I was going to send us to the theater door, since that’s the one right in town across the crevasse. But then Marionetta was lurking in that room, so we ended up some distance from town to the northeast, where the main entrance hall leads to.”

“I had heard enough about her from my father to not even try to fight her at the time,” Forte said. “Then again, I was just twelve and still using training equipment. We got in a lot of trouble for going in there, but I think Father was more relieved that we got out quickly and alive.”

* * *

 

Spring 23-24

The booths were still drying the next day, delaying moving them back until evening. Instead, they took to cleaning up the three gates into town, by the inn, on the docks across from the general store, and to the south heading out into a large plain. New flags sewn by various people went up, making the marketplace feel more complete.

Today, they were able to put the booths back in place, making sure that they lined up with the new outlets. The covers, having been taken down to recycle for other projects, were now replaced with a widely mixed array of covers. One like a leafy canopy, another with big bold orange and yellow stripes, one with Ventuswill’s symbol, one with a snowflake pattern, one with a patchwork quilt appearance… it made things much more colorful.

Then there was other pieces to add. Illuminata and Margaret had made new signs to mark the booth numbers, waiting to carve the numbers in until they saw which roof cover best matched the sign pictures they had made. Nancy and Clorica brought various pieces of wall paper to paste onto shelves. At the end of the day, they had what seemed like a completely new place, not plain in any part. It was fun and hopefully it got the attention of visitors.

They celebrated with a feast at Porcoline’s and a long evening of chatting and having fun. But Lest’s mind was already thinking of the days ahead and what he wanted to get done. He took a chance to join some of the older residents to talk about it, in particular Blossom and Illuminata. Doug was also at the table, but he was mostly listening. To make it seem reasonable, Lest explained about wanting to know about the threats. “Because central Norad wants us to have better tourism, but we can't talk about what's outside of town with these unusual monsters around.”

“You're in quite a pickle there,” Illuminata said.

Blossom nodded. “Yes, although it's generally safe as long as you avoid certain areas. Like with Ambrosia; she's nearly always at the western edges of Yokmir Forest from about mid-spring to early summer, then again in mid-autumn. Thunderbolt never bothers anyone who avoids going near the lake ruins and Marionetta never leaves the mansion.”

“Oh, but we do have to check on the aqueducts at least once a year, so Thunderbolt is a huge obstacle then,” Illuminata said. “That trip requires planning a group to go in one day to clear out the monsters, including Thunderbolt, then a second group to go in quickly that evening or the next day to check over the spring there before it comes back. The water spring that feeds the aqueducts, I mean, not the water rune spring.”

Lest wondered when that trip was usually made. “I see. Is there a fourth monster like them? Because there's four rune springs.”

“Yes, that'd be Sarcophagus we haven't mentioned,” Blossom said. “Most people don't even dare go near Leon Karnak Tower and never have my whole life. But that's some of the most frightening stories in town folklore, about the black coffin that eats people alive.”

“When I first came into town, they were starting to discourage people from going,” Illuminata said. “There used to be a superstition about when it was safe to go to the tower without running into Sarcophagus, sort of like how Ambrosia moves around based on the seasons. I'm sure I remember it...” She tapped her fingers on the table, thinking.

Doug had been thinking all along, so in the quite he said, “When you're talking about Thunderbolt, you mean that black stormy unicorn at the water ruins?”

Blossom nodded. “That's the one. Have you seen it?”

“Yeah, that one nearly killed me once,” Doug said. “Certainly scared me bad because the ruins seemed like a quiet place to set up camp and then it torched my tent with a lightning bolt. Thankfully it didn't pursue me past the lake. Afterwards, I got to thinking that unicorns are supposed to be peaceful solitary creatures that you have to get crazy lucky to see, especially for a guy. Not like this one that seemed more likely to gore me for trespassing on its territory.”

“Oh my, good thing you ran from the ruins instead of into them,” Blossom said.

Illuminata then snapped her fingers. “Got it! The tower is safest to approach on a Sunday, as well as the first and last days of the season. Sarcophagus is also supposed to be less aggressive if you go during winter or the moon cycle just before and after that season. But even with those guidelines, you can get unlucky and run into it outside the tower. Once you see it, well, you're probably screwed.”

* * *

 

Spring 25

Gauntlets were nice objects. They were armor and weapon all at once, enforced gloves to make more powerful blows and allow a fist fighter to block a weapon. Although, the latter wasn't a guarantee unless the fist fighter was an expert and the resulting vibrations could still do damage to one's arm and hand. Still, it sounded good, sometimes enough to make a sale unless the customer was an expert fighter.

Bado considered the gauntlet he'd recently made. Finger joints on a proper gauntlet took days to get right and then had to be adjusted to fit the customer, so he'd simply made a hand guard and used spiked rings to give it an extra edge. Simple and the rings should fit most hands. It wasn't a pretty object, with unpainted blocky surfaces. As a weapon, aesthetics shouldn't count for much; a rougher looking weapon like this might be more intimidating. And it was heavy, possibly taking a toll on a user who didn't have adequate strength.

But it should work. That's what mattered, and that it sold. Thinking he'd put it on special, he began making a sign for it. The price didn't need to be any different for it to be a special, it just needed a sign to make it look more appealing. Give it a flashy name, like... Blockbuster Gauntlets, as a person of sufficient strength and skill could bust up a concrete block with this. Play up its weapon and armor hybrid state to make it seem more useful. He could even point out that the gauntlet wouldn't need a custom fitting and appeal to a customer's sense of saving on that extra cost. No need to tell them that he normally didn't charge extra for a fitting if an item needed it and figured that into the cost in the first place. Just the perception of a deal could tip a waver into a sale.

Bado was looking for a place to set the gauntlets and sign when Kiel walked in. “Hello!” the young man said, an excited look on his face. Something big was on his mind.

“Good afternoon,” Bado said, setting the sign face down on the counter. Although it was declining lately, Kiel often thought of how he could be stronger and defend himself better. The sign might appeal to him when he took things at face value more often than not. And to tell the truth, Bado would not want these Blockbuster Gauntlets to go to Kiel. They were too bulky (especially for his hands) and without the finger pieces, they were also not as secure and didn't guard all they should. But if he wouldn't want to have Kiel use them, why would he sell them to someone else?

Cursing his nagging integrity, Bado was relieved that Kiel hardly saw the gauntlets and instead put a dagger on the counter. “Xiao pulled this out of a tree in the royal farm the other day. What do you think about it?”

The dagger soon put the potential special sale out of Bado's mind. He picked it up, noticing the divide between the glittering majority of the blade and the rusting base of it. Despite the wear, it was quickly apparent to his eye that this was the work of a master blacksmith. “Whoa... she pulled this out of a tree? That's really bizarre. Was it a twinkle tree? This glisten is like glitta augite but it's clearly not made of it.”

Kiel nodded. “Right, and it was the most amazing thing! The one this had been stuck in was dead, but we found a sapling right by it and Prince Lest said that he wanted to make a miracle happen, what he called, uh, aioni I think. And it worked! I got to hear the earthmate's pledge song and he used it to recover all the surviving trees in the orchard area and make a little stick of a sapling into a big healthy twinkle tree. He even fixed up his own leg, but then also disturbed some kind of curse of hate and got knocked out because of it. He was using that dagger to direct the miracle and fight off the curse spirits at first. So, I was mostly curious about what this was and if it could be fixed.”

Bado rapped on the rusted section, finding that there was still solid metal there. “Yeah, it should be salvageable. Have to get the rust off, then patch it up carefully to retain the quality it should have. Still, in a tree, that's not where you should be finding a dwarven miner's weapon.”

“It's a miner's weapon?” Kiel asked, leaning on the counter.

He ran his finger carefully along the part with the glitta augite coating. “This coating will have changed its native properties some. Anyhow, the base weapon a good choice if you're going to be fighting spirits because that's its original purpose. This kind of dagger would be given to one fellow in a crew so that if the group ended up disturbing a spirit or another creature that resisted mining tools, he could dispatch the monster for the rest. From the runes, it seems this one was used in a volcanic mine; it probably took the wet winter weather worse than another weapon. And here, see the gems on the handle?”

“Is that part of the enchantment?” he asked, then frowned. “No, couldn't be. Lest is a rune breaker and would ruin any extra enchantments it had when he held it.”

“The anti-spirit enchantment is due to the alloy,” Bado explained. “And if that's true, he shouldn't disturb what these gems do either. They're special detectors that will crack if the air in a mine turns dangerous. They wouldn't be the only such detectors in a mine crew as the faster they know, the quicker they can get out of danger. Still, the fact that these gems are uncracked and primed for that purpose tells me that this is the miner's dagger as opposed to one made to counter spirits in general. Then the size and shape of the handle itself tells me it's for a dwarf. You know, a regular one and not a giant like me.” He laughed.

Kiel smiled. “Right, that one doesn't fit you. Do you think it belongs to Doug then?”

He shrugged. “Probably, he's the only other dwarf in Selphia and the one I have in my collection has cracked detectors. And if you don't recognize it, it's not part of your family's collection.”

“You'd have to ask Forte to make sure,” he said sheepishly. “I don't know how to tell some of those swords apart.”

“Well I'll patch it up and see if Doug recognizes it,” Bado said. “Thanks for bringing it by.”

“No problem, thanks for letting me know what it is,” Kiel said, glad to learn something new. The boy's head had always been like a sponge for knowledge. Although, one would think he would have found more skepticism in all that learning somewhere.

Out of respect for the weapon, he was careful in making the fix. It had some age to it, telling him that it was likely a hereditary weapon. The miners might even attribute it as a lucky item if it had been with an active miner and never had its detectors break. Even if it was extra work, Bado didn't like the idea of messing up a weapon with that kind of history to it. It had to have an especially interesting one to have ended up in a dying twinkle tree long enough to get mostly coated in its sap. Once he had the dagger in usable shape again, he headed down to the grocery store with it.

Blossom was the one who greeted him at the door as usual. “What are you looking for today?”

“Don't think I need anything, although your cinnamon rolls smell tempting,” he said. Blossom was good with baked treats, especially breads. Bado found himself buying some from her at least once a week. “I was hoping to talk with Doug about something, if he's around.”

She nodded and got up. “Sure, he's in the basement storage.” She put a hand on the door frame and called down, “Doug? You have a visitor.”

It was a funny thing interacting with Doug because while Bado was tall among the humans and elves of Selphia, he was nearly twice the height of a regular dwarf like him. It was a quirk of his family, making them some of the first dwarves willing to walk on the surface and interact with other races. At least this young fellow wasn't a traditionalist who held him in superstition. “Oh, Bado. What is it?”

“This yours?” he asked, handing down the miner's spirit dagger.

He looked at it, then nodded. “Yeah, this is my great-grandmother's dagger. What're you doing with it? Last I knew it was stuck in a tree.”

Bado smiled, glad he had it pegged right. “Kiel brought it into my shop; apparently Xiao pulled it out. It had some rust, but I patched it up.”

“Thanks,” he said, turning the blade over to examine it. “It looks a little different, though.”

“That's due to it getting mostly stuck in a twinkle tree and getting a coating of a magical sap,” Bado explained. “It'll change the properties a bit, mostly in that it can use energy projectiles now when swung right. Not very powerful because the blade isn't fully covered, but even that much would be a rather expensive upgrade.”

“It's nice that you got it back,” Blossom said to Doug. “But what was it doing in a tree? And a twinkle tree no less; the only one in town that I can think of was in the royal orchard.”

“Ah,” he scratched his head, then said, “Well back when the former prince was ignoring most of his farm, I took to practicing in the orchard some evenings. Only the dagger got stuck one night and I wasn't able to get it out at the time.”

“You should be more careful with that weapon,” Bado said in a friendly warning. “It's meant to fight spirits and ghosts. More importantly, as old as it is, it looks like none of the detector gems on the handle have broken and been replaced. The miners would hold it in great regard as it had the luck to go on many expeditions without lethal accidents in the mines.”

“Oh, is that what they meant?” Doug said, looking back at the dagger with a new respect. “My grandfather said it was a good fortune and protector, but I was never sure if he meant some enchantment I hadn't found.”

He nodded. “Most likely it's the unbroken detectors.”

“I wouldn't know, since I wasn't born in the mines. But I'll be more careful with it, thank you.”

That explained how he hadn't known, although the answer just brought up another mystery. “Must've been some big reason to convince him to give it to a surface dwarf,” he said.

Doug shrugged. “I guess. How much do you want for fixing it?”

Maybe he could get some extra money... no, not for a fortune weapon like that. Its history called for special care and consideration. “Well I don't want to overcharge for an unasked fix on a hereditary weapon, so seventy-five gold would cover the work and material for it.”

“All right, I'll get that in a moment.” He paid for the repair and then Bado used some of it to pay for a tin of the cinnamon rolls. It was worth it.

* * *

 

Meant to fight spirits and ghosts... must have taken a big reason to give it to a surface dwarf...

It was late and Doug was lying in bed, running those statements through his head still. Both sets of his grandparents were mining dwarves, very traditional and very superstitious (if hypocritical in ways they wouldn't admit). When his grandfather had given this to him as if it were a holy relic, he thought it'd just been a hope to inspire him to come back to the mines and the traditional way. But Bado thought that the air detectors on the handle had never been replaced. Mines were dangerous and for a detection item to go unbroken for many years, at least two generations, that was worth the veneration. How long had this dagger existed like that?

Not that he could find out that answer nor why his grandfather had given it to him. But he had known already that it was very effective against spirits. He'd first dispatched a hate spirit with it not even a day after he'd received it. Yes, a hate spirit just like the ones that had appeared in the royal orchard when he witnessed Lest's miracle. If Xiao had pulled it out of the tree, it had probably been this dagger that the prince had been using against them. Then Ventuswill had killed the third and Lest had screamed and fainted from contacting some powerful hate.

Normally the thought of Ventuswill would make his blood boil. But not tonight. “Something's not adding up,” Doug muttered. But what?

Lest might have found an old hate in a curse, true. Or perhaps the newer hate that Doug had of that murderous Ventuswill, that could have gotten the prince off guard. Lest would have been in a vulnerable position, being under his kind's version of thelnar and in combat with a hateful spirit. While that could easily be explained, another side wasn't easy. Ventuswill had used one spell, a moderate cyclone attack that a sufficiently skilled mage could cast. Heck, Kiel could probably cast that one readily. The cyclone had caused Ventuswill to collapse to the ground, the energy from the magic and having left her usual spot in the center of the castle taking an immense toll on her. While she might have done something unseen to keep the rest of the curse energy from escaping, that shouldn't have been too much for a divine dragon to perform. She'd only gone out of her castle and what she did could have better been done by a mortal mage.

Could this really be the same dragon that, five years ago, had traveled outside of Selphia and crushed an entire village for no apparent reason? Two whole villages, one of them being underground? It didn't seem right. But after so long of preparing his revenge, could he risk being wrong now? There was always the chance that she could be faking the weakness as much as she faked being a good protective goddess.

“It had to be an act,” Doug muttered. And if this dagger was lucky against dangerous air, perhaps it was a good thing to keep on him.


	12. Leon Karnak Tower

Spring 25

When Lest got up in the morning, he went out into the fields to check on his crops. The field he’d chosen to work with was the northeastern field with some work in the southeastern orchard. Having cleared away the grasses and weeds, he bought various standard crops from both stores to start with: spinach, turnips, lettuce, onions, carrots, cucumbers, toyherbs, clovers, more cherry grass, and blue charms. In some pots inside, he kept various cooking herbs like parsley, oregano, chives, and coriander. There had been pink melons for sale too, but they were just out of his budget right now, along with the watermelons. But there was some time to wait on them still. After all, he’d want to hold back on the watermelons so that they came to ripened fruit around the start of summer and lasted through that season. There were weeds to pick and some unearthed stones to break up, but he was already getting strong enough to not have to take it as slowly.

He got back into his room around eight, where Clorica had brought in some breakfast for him. Her eyes were mostly closed and her words were all mumbled; sleep runes were still strong in her. While it was curious, he’d seen her sleep working like this before and knew she was okay. The first time she had delivered his breakfast, she’d been in her pajamas on accident and it was earlier than he was used to. Somehow, even asleep as she was, she now remembered what he said about preferring breakfast after he’d done his morning farm work.

There was one advantage to her being like that. Even though she stuck around to do some cleaning, she didn’t question him when he started pulling out the adventuring gear that his parents had sent him. He’d checked over all of them last night, as well as his staff as a back-up weapon to the casting gloves. Since he didn’t know what kind of charm would work best where he was going, he put in the jasper one in the cloak alongside Venti’s charm. He wore light clothing underneath the armor, using the boots and gloves to finish it off. The hairpin got a charm that should prevent against status effects like sleep and confusion; that protection was often best on the head. Then he headed out, hoping to catch a few people to talk with before leaving on his first exploration of the Selphia countryside.

There were a few who asked curiously about his gear. Lest simply told most of them that he was going to scout out the nearby area for signs of the rune spheres. However, Forte seemed unsure of letting him leave on his own. “It’s my duty to see to your protection as well, especially as you’re the prince,” she said. “As we talked about the other day, there’s a lot of dangerous places out there.”

“I know where the road to Yokmir Forest is from the local maps,” Lest said. “I don’t mean to go there yet. I’ll be fine.”

“How much experience do you have being out in the wilderness?” she asked.

“I spent a full year out in a forest, living off the land and taming some monsters to help me out.” There was also his family helping him out, but he needed to convince Forte that he’d be fine on his own.

It seemed to work as she nodded. “I see. Still, don’t take any careless chances and call me with your bracelet if you get in any kind of trouble. I’ll be right over to help.”

“Thanks, that’s good to know.” With that, it seemed no one was going to stop him from leaving Selphia to start off the mission he should have finished by now.

As he walked down the dirt path heading south and eventually west, things started out relatively pleasant. The earth was fully awakened to spring now, with the bright green grasses and pops of flower color coating the ground. Most trees had filled out, fresh with green leaves and bright flowers if that was their way. There were some monsters roaming around, but they were friendly non-aggressive sorts that would be handy to tame and keep on the farm. The big apple-like Pomme Pommes were known to have sweet dispositions and simple curing powers, the fluffy Woolies were more likely to pause for grooming rather than attack people who walked by, the large ants were busily working at their group survival. There were some orcs camped out near one monster gate, each armed with simple clubs or knives. But they were easy to take out with a fireball spell and the gate was weak enough that a single wind blade took it right out.

His goal for this day’s trip was to check out Leon Karnak Tower. It was only a few miles away and the roads to it weren’t forbidden like those to Yokmir Forest. He wasn’t sure yet where the nearest entrance outside of town to the Obsidian Mansion was and the northern ruins were going to be a long trek to arrive at. According to the superstitions, this was a good time to come here. It was a Sunday within the first moon cycle of spring. Thus, the tower seemed the best choice to check on first.

Another group of orcs were clustered in a meadow not far from the tower. After dispatching them to the Forest of Beginnings, Lest stopped to have lunch and observe the place. The tower was shaped much like a giant slender fox. Large paws stood at either side of a massive door written with a long text in Earthmate script. He spent some time copying down that text to send to Frey for translation, since she knew the old holy language better than he did. Instead of stairs, this tower had a pair of wide ladders that headed up to levels that floated around the tall fox’s body. Sections of the tower were formed like clothes, eventually leading up to an ornate collar and a large fox head at the very top. But wrapped around the tower was that smoky malformation of runes that still resembled a forest. Up here close to the tower, he could see that the forest wasn’t even realistic looking. The textures were too smooth on the leafs and too shiny on the barks, with the colors all unnatural.

“Is that the Forest of Beginnings?” Lest wondered aloud. He didn’t know what that forest was supposed to look like, only that few people had ever been inside and managed to return. It was a place for souls, not for those still attached to their earthly body.

Perhaps the more pressing question was, how was he going to get to the rune spring when it was within the tower itself? He could sense its powerful flow through the walls, but when he approached the large door, there seemed to be no way to open it. On walking around the tower, he found that there was a twisting decoration all the way down the fox’s back. A set of stairs, possibly? The rune spring seemed to be close to where the stairways ended at the ground, but there was no door back here either.

“So it’s either get that door translated, or get to the top of the tower and climb all the way back down to reach the rune spring,” he noted. “All the while avoiding the malformation because that feels dangerous. This is gonna be a hard nut to crack.”

He could try to get the rune sphere at least, as he could sense it near the ground. Maybe he couldn't get to this rune spring and its guardian yet, but he could take the sphere to another spring while waiting on the answer to get in here. There was a sharp drop in the land here, forcing Lest to find a path down it safely to get where he sensed the sphere. This was quite a ways from Selphia, making him wonder why the monster that found it decided to bring it out here.

On hearing a crunch underfoot, Lest looked down and saw that he'd stepped on an old bone. An old human bone, he realized on seeing its runes. And it wasn't the only one. The dirt and weather had covered them up, but bones were scattered all over the ground here. Maybe even all around the tower if what Nem said was true, that many people lost their lives trying to solve the problems around this place. Briefly, he considered leaving now. He could handle monsters, but most of the time he did so by using his empathy to find ways to deter them from attacking. He'd only dealt with the orcs because they were aggressive but easily dealt with using magic. Wanting to make this trip worth the walk over, Lest continued on down the bone littered path to find the rune sphere.

Runes marking a battle began to appear, soon followed by a monster's death scream. But that really wasn't typical. Many monsters would calm and go quiet as tamitaya, the spell of returning, hit them. Lest ran down the path until he spotted a strange looking orc going through a painful looking transferal to the Forest of Beginnings. Some of the corrupt runes even appeared from its body. However, a telltale blue glimmer came from the strange orc. Standing over it, the black armored Executioner was waiting for it to pass fully.

Lest held his breath for a moment. Was he ready to take on this warrior? But he remembered the fear this one claiming to bring death held. While his powers should work on the guardians, he didn't think he could help this man in the same way. Machinery was tricky to work magic on and could be highly resistant to spells. The low sounds and peculiar quality of the runes reminded him of looking over an airship engine.

Then the eyeshield on the armor glinted red. “You,” the Executioner growled, immediately forgetting about the rune sphere in favor of rushing at Lest and trying to kill him on the spot.

Lest bolted, his heart racing in his chest. Thankfully, the Executioner overshot the attack and jammed his scythe nearly entirely into the ground. He didn't doubt that the armor could pull the weapon out as easily as it had gone in, so Lest cast a paralysis spell to try slowing it. While it was stuck paralyzed and unwilling to let go of the scythe, he hurried over to the orc and cast tamitaya directly on it. The seizure quieted immediately, letting it vanish normally. The corrupt runes remained as well; Lest ignored them and grabbed the rune sphere.

As he did, a small being that looked like a glowing turnip with adorable eyes appeared in the air where the orc must have stood. The runey chirped cheerfully, a thanks for letting the forest reclaim the orc. This was followed by the tearing of the ground as the Executioner got his scythe back in hand. Unafraid, the runey babbled and made the whole scene nearly turn white to Lest's eyes. When his vision cleared, he found himself and the runey on the lowest platform of Leon Karnak Tower.

“Thank you, runey,” Lest said, a deep sense of relief coming over him along with some sadness. How could he figure out what was going on with the Executioner and help the person trapped inside?

The runey peeped, already fading from existence. The strange little creatures could never last long. But with the peep, Lest heard a ghostly voice from above him. “Kind one...”

And a second, “Wise one...”

“Ascend and speak with us,” the two said as one.

The runey seemed enthusiastic for the idea, but then passed on to the Forest of Beginnings. It looked like he was going to be climbing the tower after all. But, perhaps it was for the best. He wasn't ready to take on the Executioner and that enemy would surely look around for him and the rune sphere before long. “All right, I'll take your invitation,” Lest called towards the sky, then looked around at the platform. The corrupt runes flowed in crooked streams that didn't care for typical directions. But as he could see them, he could avoid them.

The tower's platforms often had large monsters patrolling them: little devils, goblins, minotaurs, maul cats, wizard spirits. Aside from the last, Lest managed to make his way by casting spells before the monsters could reach him. His new casting gloves gave him a considerable range compared to his previous limits. It helped that the monsters were also reluctant to cross the corrupt rune streams. If he could get a stream between himself and them, only the wizards and certain goblins could attack him. Using his counter magic skill was often enough to dispatch them. It took several hours to get through the monsters and climb all the ladders.

Upon reaching the collar of the fox tower, Lest found himself looking up at a final pair of metal ladders. Both were tall and spindly, with air all around them due to how the fox's face had been carved. One had a piece snapped out of it; age and being left up here in the open air hadn't been kind to the structure. Lest put his hands on the whole ladder and focused for a moment to carefully examine the runes. From that, it looked like it should still hold his weight as he was on the small side for a man. He climbed up it carefully, with the winds sweeping around him and the sun's rays starting to fall into a sunset. Getting up here had taken longer than he'd planned on staying; he wasn't going to get back to Selphia tonight.

At the very top of the tower on the fox's head, Lest pulled himself onto a dangerous platform. It wasn't entirely flat, with some parts sloping down to fit with the sculpted form of this tower. There were no rails keeping him from slipping or being blown straight off here. Not only that, but the floor that was there had been made smooth from over a thousand years of wind, rain, and sun. He did find the two beings who had spoken to him: a pair of stone fox statues that sat looking down upon him. One had a sweeping stone scarf of red glass going around its neck, over its back, and coiling around the base of its tail. The other similar ornamentation in blue.

“Who are you?” Lest asked them. Their runes showed an artificial life within them, making them some form of golem.

“Sano,” the one with the red scarf said in a voice leaning towards being masculine.

“Uno,” the one in the blue scarf said in a voice not entirely feminine. “We are the servants of the master of the tower.”

“We are the ones who guard the guardians,” Sano added. “Who are you, descendant of Darryl?”

Descendant of Darryl... interesting that they picked up on that. “I'm Lest, the prince of Selphia,” he said. “I've come to free the guardians and replace them with these rune spheres.”

“Are you worthy of becoming the master of the tower?” Sano asked.

“I don't know,” Lest answered honestly. The wind picked up and made him tense. He tried to move towards the center of the platform, to feel less like he could go over the edge at any moment. That put him directly under the gazes of the stone foxes.

“The master of the tower is one who can change the world,” Uno said. “Darryl was the first master of the tower.”

“The only master of the tower,” Sano said. “Only the master can enter it.”

“But the rune spring is inside the tower,” Lest said. “I need to get down there to put the rune sphere in place.”

“That's not what we mean,” Uno said. “Only the master can enter the tower.”

“The rune spring is below us, not in the tower,” Sano said.

Which didn't make much sense to Lest. “But I sensed it within the tower's walls.”

“It is, but it is not in the tower,” Sano said.

Not wanting to figure out that bizarre riddle right now, he shook his head. “All right, if you say so. Then may I go down the stairs here to place the sphere and awaken the guardian Leon?”

The two foxes didn't answer for a moment. They didn't seem to have full emotions, but they had more than a typical golem would have. At the moment, they were uneasy, caught in their own riddle. “We are... unsure if that should occur,” Sano finally said.

“Darryl told us to guard the guardian and make sure his work goes undisturbed,” Uno explained.

“When other guardians came into being, we felt they fell under our duty as well even if we had to remain in this tower.”

“But the guardians are being disturbed from forces within that we cannot guard them from. They are in a lot of pain and despair with their duty and connection being the primary objective keeping them going. We have been uncertain how to respond to this other than to follow orders and make sure nothing outside disturbs them as well.”

“We have waited for the master of the tower to return to us and advise us on what to do about this.”

“Darryl is dead and passed on after all this time,” Lest said, starting to see a way to make this work in his favor. He just wished he didn't have to do this out on the open top of the tower.

“He is not here,” Sano agreed.

“He is here,” Uno disagreed.

“Pardon?” Lest asked, looking to the blue scarfed fox.

“He is here and he is not here,” Uno repeated. “He does not return to us to inform us of changes.”

“Little is done to regulate the energy flow in and around the tower,” Sano said. “Darryl is the only master of the tower thus far. There seems to be no master to the tower to regulate the flow.”

“We were not informed on how to view a new master should he arrive,” Uno said.

While many of the texts in his family spoke highly of Darryl, this seemed horribly neglectful to Lest. Golems did not need the same amount of care as other monster servants. However, they did need clear instructions to complete their tasks. Without it, such beings were often brought to a halt as they had no ability to decide a new course. It may work in his favor, though. “Do you feel guilt that you cannot do anything to save the guardians from the pain and despair they suffer from?” he asked them.

“Guilt,” Sano said as if it were an unfamiliar term.

“There is nothing we can do,” Uno said.

“Do you worry about them suffering like that and thus suffer yourselves because you can't help them as you should, being their guardians?” Lest asked again.

That was more familiar to them. “Worry is ceaseless thinking of the object of one's worry,” Uno said. “By that definition, yes, we worry of them and cannot do anything to stop such worry.”

“If that is guilt, then yes we have guilt of failing them,” Sano said.

Good, they were getting somewhere. Lest offered up the rune sphere so they had a clear view of it. “As I said, I wish to replace them with these objects, to replace Leon with this rune sphere. It will conduct the flow of runes through the rune sphere more efficiently than he can and it has no heart to suffer as he does. Thus, there is something you can do about your worry and guilt: help me replace and awaken him by letting me by to reach the rune spring.”

“We cannot make such an action without consulting our master,” Uno said.

And that could ruin his argument. “Your master and creator is dead,” Lest said. “He cannot return to you to advise you. Since you cannot serve a dead master, remember that your other role is guarding the guardians. Do what is best to fulfill the role you can by stopping their suffering.”

The foxes were quiet for a minute, making Lest worry briefly that they'd gone inactive. They were very old creations after all. Just as he was wondering if he should use the Escape spell to keep from slipping off trying to get down the ladder, Sano and Uno became enveloped in a light that rapidly shrunk. They reappeared as the size of normal foxes, able to move around even though they still had a stone appearance. “That does seem best,” Sano said.

“You are our master's descendant,” Uno said. “It seems acceptable to take advice from you until we determine our new master or the guardians no longer need us as guardians.”

“Good, then let's get going,” Lest said with a smile. He followed the pair down the stairs within the left ear of the fox tower, immediately loosening up now that he was no longer on that perilous platform.

It had been a long climb up and it was a long climb down. There were no windows, but Lest could feel the descent of the sun towards the horizon in his blood. Without being asked, the foxes made their now fluttering scarves glow brightly, casting red and blue light on the walls so there was no risk of him making a misstep. His shoes left noticeable marks in the dust that had been blown in over the centuries. Had anyone else descended these stairs since Darryl was alive? The air felt heavy with time and Lest sometimes thought of using a wind spell to stir it up. But he was still able to breathe and wind would cause dust to fill the stairway.

The stairs were formed in a mirrored spiral, the two pathways occasionally meeting up before sweeping back out. And just like outside the tower, there were streams and mushroom-like growths of the corrupt runes inside. Sano and Uno took turns darting down the stairs ahead of Lest, coming back to inform him of which way was safest from the corruption. There were points when he needed to duck under a stream or place his steps carefully to avoid what was on the stairs. At one point, he nearly brushed his hands through one of the streams and got a shower of white sparks in response. The jasper charm was vibrant with power, reacting to its purpose. If he actually touched the stuff, being impure runes, that might really mess him up. His mother and Frey had to already know about it.

Eventually, they got to the bottom of the stairs to find the room with the rune spring. There was no floor here, just the bare earth enshrined in a chapel. Right in the ground, Lest saw a structure of runes unlike any he'd ever seen before. It reminded him of an illustration he'd seen of the structure of a muscle, thick fibers woven together to form a pulsing organ that pushed runes through it. On seeing it the first time, Lest felt something wasn't right with it. It was tightly constricted, struggling to keep the flow of runes passing through it. As a result, there was a vast quantity of stagnant dull runes lying below the spring, a bloated mass that strings of the corrupt runes ran through.

“Careful,” Sano said, lowering his stance. Uno had her ears held back, staring up at the wall at the same spot her twin watched.

There, Lest saw something he'd missed in his interest in the rune spring. It was quite a thing to miss, an object that should have drawn his attention immediately. On the back wall of this chapel, what seemed to be an elaborate coffin was hanging eight feet off the ground. Built entirely of black stained wood, it bore a sculpture of an intimidating powerful man with the head of a fox and spread of nine long fox tails arrayed behind his head. What seemed to be golden geometrical wings spread out behind his legs. It held a strange collection of runes, ones that made Lest wonder if there was an actual body inside.

Body... “Is that Leon's body in there?” he asked.

“His body was entirely warped into that monster,” Sano said.

“Sarcophagus gets out of here from time to time and devours the flesh of travelers,” Uno said. “It seems inactive now, but that could change in an instant.”

“That has to be quite a nightmare, seeing your body mutated into a monster that eats others,” Lest said. “But it must be just one suffering among others if my thoughts are right.” He put the rune sphere against his chest, sending a reassuring sensation through him. “We have to deal with it to bring him back, but if it's inactive, let it be for a bit. I'm going to place the rune sphere.”

“We shall observe,” Uno said. As Lest walked forward, the two foxes came close to his sides, ready to protect him at any second.

He knelt by the spring and heard a weak voice nearby. What it said was hard to tell, but Lest paused and looked back up at Sarcophagus. The monster hadn't stirred yet. He then turned his attention the the sphere and spring he had to bring together. Because a lot of this was theory that had been untried, he had only vague instructions on what to do here. To him, the thing that made sense was to use his rune breaking power to briefly disrupt the sphere and the muscle of the spring, giving them a weak point at which to merge them together. He could only trust in the natural flow and actions of runes to patch up such a break. That was what he did, putting the sphere physically in the center of where he saw the muscle structure, then briefly activated his power to disturb the bonds of runes and reattach them so the structures joined together.

A shine raced across the surface of the rune sphere; the muscle vibrated in a way that was out of sync with its normal motions. Then the two latched onto each other and began to change. The muscle rebuilt itself through the rune sphere, and the sphere stretched its own structure out to follow the spring's muscle. At first the beats were rough, distressing the whole structure. Lest started to sing the earthmate's pledge to remind it of the love between earthmates and the earth. The structure then loosened and expanded, growing rapidly to and through the walls of the tower. Finding himself within the rune spring itself, Lest became powerfully aware of the runes around him. There were all sorts there, mostly earth-based but other elements flowed through to spread to the surrounding area.

Below, the stagnant runes trembled but remained mostly a solid mass. That couldn't stay, Lest thought. The spring was stronger, but the stagnant mass would limit the flow of runes that could pass through it. In the end, little would change. Making his chi lines glow bright, Lest put his hands on the ground and sent his rune breaking power right into the stagnant runes to break them apart.

Those runes fell into smaller bond groups and were immediately swallowed up into the newly strengthened spring to be recycled and renewed. That led to a flood of runes swarming up through the spring that briefly overwhelmed him. Still, he smiled even as he struggled to keep his attention. This was how the ether sea should be.

There was a snarl from overhead, snapping Lest's mind back into the chapel instead of the runes flowing through it. Sano and Uno were still curled defensively around him while Sarcophagus pulled itself off the wall and waved its tails behind it. Sharp little crystals rained from the ceiling in response, sending the monster's feelings of bloodthirsty hunger all around them. But with the reawakening of the rune spring, Lest could feel a guardian's light overhead as well. Uno put a shield of ice over the three of them to defend against the crystals while Leon's soul struggled with horror and pain.

“My power is going to undo any spells you two cast in these conditions,” Lest told the two foxes. “I'll hold off until those crystals stop.”

“We shall coordinate with you,” Sano said.

Once the crystal shower ended, Sarcophagus removed its golden wings and proceeded to whip them around like blades to break Uno's shield. Before it could, Lest broke the shield himself casting his counter magic. It caused the monster to drop its bladed wings and stop its many tails. However, Lest couldn't send his consciousness through the spell to get a better grasp on the arrangement of runes in the monster. Sarcophagus was furious at the counter while Leon recognized Lest from the dream not too long ago. His horror broke due to a sparked hope that maybe the nightmare was over.

“I need it to get down here,” Lest said, trying to cast his paralysis spell at it. It didn't take as Sarcophagus managed to loosen one of its tails to block it.

Sano howled and caused streaks of fire to race across the ceiling of the chapel. Being made of wood, Sarcophagus dropped down in response. Uno joined in with ice and between the two of them, they got the monster to come down to the ground where it took its wings back up. Lest tried his counter magic again, but it seemed he was going to have to break it like he had with the butterfly dream curse. When he ran closer to the monster, the foxes countered the monster's attacks to keep them from hitting Lest. He grabbed one of its tails first and tried to examine it through that.

He got a brief sense of a rune structure that was much like a braided rope, with Leon, Sarcophagus, and etherlink bound together in what was nearly one whole. Strangely, he also found threads of the corrupted runes too, trying to tie the three together even tighter. It made him think of Storgane's words, that he only needed one heart in total despair and had six in powerful despair. Then those corrupt threads might be Storgane's curse trying to further torment the guardians.

Then Sarcophagus yanked the tail out of his grasp, wrapping its other tails around Lest's arms and legs. Horrifyingly, the sculpted fox face began to move and gnash its teeth. Just holding onto the monster wasn't going to be enough to let him break the runes as it would fight back. Lest needed a more powerful and meaningful contact. Sano and Uno combined their spells along with a paralysis effect in order to get what he had failed to do, Sarcophagus slowed down some and not able to move as readily.

Meaningful contact... a kiss was powerful contact between two beings. However, Sarcophagus wanted to eat him and Lest wasn't sure he could bring himself to go that far unless nothing else was working. But a hug could be powerful too with the advantage of constricting the monster's movements. He just had to keep in mind that although this looked and acted like a monster, it was actually a human's body. This was a person that he wanted to save even if he had chosen this fate himself. At the time, Leon could not have had any idea that his decision would eventually lead to this. That thought let Lest wrap his arms around the coffin and hang on tight.

Sarcophagus snarled and started to shake. But this close to it, Lest immediately knew how the rune structure here worked. He picked out the runes specific to Sarcophagus and began to tear them out of place in the braid. The coffin was frantic in response, nearly throwing him off. When one of the tails brushed by Lest's right hand, he snatched it to keep his grasp before breaking apart more of the monster's bonds to Leon. It began to lose power, its face going still and its struggles becoming weak. Lest kept focused on his rune breaking. Once he knew the last of the monster bonds was gone, he latched onto the rune flow coming through the spring and flushed Sarcophagus with it.

The coffin wrinkled and softened, turning from wood to flesh. The blacks melted and turned to living colors, a browned muscular skin and thick blue hair. While the body shrunk some, Leon turned out to be a tall man with a strong chest, quite heavier than Lest. He was wearing an outfit that seemed strange to Lest: no shirt but a pair of long wide pants, a short fur cape with a striped vest, a jeweled cloth belt holding Venti's charm and a fan of beautiful feathers, leather sandals with symbols of gold, blue tattoos similar to carvings on Sarcaphogus, a cloth hat with ancient symbols, and a long set of metal chains attached to black bands around his chest, wrists, and ankles. Lest also found that he was still holding onto a fox tail and that Leon's ears were tall and wide, very much like those on Sano and Uno.

“He is alive and not there,” Uno said as Lest tried to keep hold of Leon's body when it nearly fell out of his arms.

“Yeah, his spirit's still separate,” Lest said, kneeling down slowly to place Leon on the floor. He wasn't sure how long he could support the larger man's weight. “And etherlink is still active. I need his cooperation to undo it.”

“His spirit is here,” Sano said.

He nodded as he placed one hand in Leon's and the other on Leon's forehead. Like with the weaker curse, he could get a clear picture of how the runes of Leon and etherlink intertwined. But this time, the enchantment was so old and potent that it created a nearly natural structure with Leon's life. There were also those threads from Storgane, mostly broken but already trying to rebind themselves and restart Sarcophagus' existence. Lest could also see runes of Leon's own emotions that were going to undermine this effort. Not only the loyalty and love that had brought him to become a guardian, but also an awareness of Venti's loneliness and suffering that brought guilt and loneliness to Leon. Those feelings looked as though they could reform the core of Sarcophagus, which Storgane would use to revive the whole monster.

“Leon, you don't have to suffer like this now,” Lest said, looking at his face.

There was a twitch to his cheeks but his eyes didn't move or open. Elsewhere in the room, Leon said something that Lest couldn't hear the words to. But he could tell the emotions, which indicated that Leon couldn't hear him either. The guardian couldn't even tell that he was still in the room, leading to a swelling of despair that perhaps this hope had been mistaken. He was even troubled about distressing the other guardians.

This was a more powerful enchantment that needed a more powerful dispelling. This environment was perfect with the rune sphere blended nearly entirely into the rune spring now, sending a strong flow of new runes all around them. Looking at the two foxes, Lest said, “Fine, I have to cut off my own awareness to a degree in order to make contact with Leon's soul. You'll continue to watch out for me?”

“Certainly,” Sano said.

“Thank you,” Lest said, then leaned over to embrace Leon again. He closed his eyes and focused entirely on the runes. After a moment, it put him back into a dream like state within the ether sea.


	13. The First Guardian of Ventuswill

Give up and despair, Leon Karnak.

Your efforts were never enough.

You could never save her.

You were the one who made her suffer.

You continue to make her suffer.

You led others to choose the same suffering.

Your choices will always make others suffer.

You deserve to suffer.

Give up and despair, Leon Karnak.

Give up and despair.

* * *

 

There is hope, a light from long ago. Long ago...

His earliest memory was a fragment of light that felt as ephemeral as a dream, but his heart knew it to be truth. He was a small boy sitting in the field of flowers outside of Ventuswill's shrine, before he knew how sacred the place was and how important she was. The important thing was that he wasn't afraid of her. Singing a child's song of joy, Leon made the dragon smile when he took a cluster of tied wildflowers and put it on her head. He laughed and the simple magic there embedded itself in his heart for all eternity.

All eternity.

No matter how much the darkness and cold wrapped chains around him, it could not steal that tiny light from him even if it seemed like the only light left in his heart.

He could mock the darkness as much as he liked. It continually called on him to despair, so he laughed at it. Obsessed about suffering, it cycled the same words so often that they started to lose meaning. He would not despair for it. He would like to say he would not despair for anything, but...

Sometimes the tiny light flickered in someone else. Ventuswill remembered that simple moment too and it warmed her heart. Then she'd immediately remember another time, the last moment their eyes crossed. The air was full of delicate spring petals falling on sun kissed breezes. She had been uneasy about the plan and he was facing a destination that was a complete unknown.

“As beautiful as this place is, you want to spread your wings in the sky freely,” Leon had said. “I want that too, I want you to be strong enough so that all people know the love in your heart. They're working hard to fix this and I'm sure it won't take long. I'll just buy them a little more time and be back to see the world with you again.”

The divine dragon looked up to him as if she wanted to believe but she couldn't let go of her fears. “I don't like this. I don't want people to be sacrificed to me.”

“It's not a sacrifice,” he said, believing it at the time. “I just need to enter a different state of being to protect you better.”

“You'll come back to me, you promise?”

“I promise.”

And she had watched too, through the wind across the distance to the foot of the towering fox to the west. There was an old man that Leon had always thought of as a wizard, capable of crafting miracles through song and stopping hateful evil no matter how powerful it was. Darryl had Leon dress in a ceremonial fashion, as if he were acting as the interpreter between the divine wind and mankind. As that wind bushed across his cheeks and gave wishes that he would be safe, Leon knelt before the wizard and held still as he spoke in the language of magic.

A dagger was placed against Leon's shoulder and he reminded himself that this wasn't a sacrifice. He was just being put to sleep so that his mind was free to watch the runes flow in this location and make sure no spirit monsters interfered. This was for Ventuswill, to make her strong. When the dagger was placed against his lips, Leon looked up at Darryl, whose eyes told him to remain calm. Leon remembered others who had said goodbye to him before they had left for here, one face nearly making him want to back out. But no, it was more important to help Ven. The wizard then covered Leon's eyes with his fingers and spoke the words that sent his soul into the ether sea.

The thing he first faced there was the ghost of a insane god who hated mankind so thoroughly that before Leon could even think to fight, Storgane took his heart and crushed it.

* * *

 

It started with a bit of mischief. His father was a very serious man who tried to put him in the same strict cast, but Leon thought people who were too serious ended up looking silly. The only reason he went along with the priestly lessons was because they would guarantee that he could stay with Ventuswill. While she was a goddess, she was so small, cute, and sweet that Leon preferred to see her playing among the flowers than sitting as a divine figure while people prayed to her. So one day, he suggested half in jest that, “We should run away on some beautiful day, take to the roads and spread divine goodness to everyone, not just pilgrims. And on the way, we can see all the sights that the world has to offer.”

“Wow, that sounds fun!” Ven said, smiling and showing off her long dragon teeth. So one beautiful day, Leon, Ventuswill, and Darryl's granddaughter Maria all ran away from the tiny village of the shrine to see the world.

And it was fun: climbing mountains, exploring forests, seeing new flowers, chasing new winds. And then the ocean! They came to a long beach full of soft sand and vast waves, the expanse of dark blue ocean spreading below the bright blue sky. No one else was around to stop them from racing across the sands, splashing in the salty water, playing ridiculous games that brought nothing but grins, catching new fish and roasting them over a merry fire. It seemed like the wonders could never cease.

Then they woke up late in the day to find that Ven was ill. She tried to get up off the sand but couldn't even lift herself on her legs. Her scales and feathers fell away at Leon's touch and she was clearly in a lot of pain. On being asked, she admitted that she'd been feeling bad for at least three weeks on their trip. But she didn't want to stop their fun and so kept pushing herself until this day when her body refused to keep up.

They thought that maybe taking it easy a day would get her back to normal. A day turned to two, then three, then a week. Leon kept smiling and tried to keep her spirits up, but one evening when she barely responded and he knew it was his fault for not noticing her troubles before, he cried and couldn't stop apologizing. The next day, he went to a town they'd seen and bought a wagon and Buffamoo with some of the natural treasures they had found along the way. That was the only way they could get her back home, a painful trip in his heart.

When they got back, Ven started to recover but Leon's father was not going to forgive him easily. Leon argued with him at first. However, the truth came out and it was just as he feared. It was his fault that Ven had grown ill. She might seem strong but she was actually weak for a goddess. Taking her away from her birthplace had nearly killed her and it had been Leon's idea.

That made him start taking his studies as a dragon priest seriously. But it was all to find a way to save his best friend. Leon would serve her and find a way to save her. No matter what it took, he would make sure she could go see the ocean once again and actually enjoy it that time.

No matter what it took.

Even having his heart crushed by an insane god.

He'd promised he'd come back.

He'd said it wasn't a sacrifice.

But he would sacrifice himself for Ventuswill.

They both realized that and Ven would wait for days and days in her flowers waiting for him to return, knowing that he loved her enough to give up his life for her. Her loneliness and grief grew, eventually flowering into guilt because she couldn't be strong enough to stop him. Leon kept calling out to her, telling her that they were still connected and he would keep his promise. While he could hear her sorrows, she couldn't hear his voice anymore. And that darkness continued to speak of despair to where even he had a hard time laughing.

Then Leon screamed into the ether sea, despair clamping onto him as tight as chains. Everything went dark and his body reappeared in the rune spring. Desperate, he tried to wake up only to find a coffin snapping over him and closing over him in death. He was a sacrifice that would never work. He felt like he was losing his mind as he passed through the walls of the tower and looked over a group of people out there. But real insanity didn't set in until Sarcophagus consumed its second victim, the first being Leon himself.

He despaired and it seemed like the only future in store was to one day close his heart completely and cease to exist.

Yet there was that tiny light continuing to shine. The feel of soft grass on his bare feet, the smells of the colorful wildflowers, the smile that kindled a true friendship... Leon wept and started to sing that song again, a childish song but one that meant so much. His heart warmed and he could almost feel the touch of Ven's wind trying to brush away his tears. The darkness told him to despair and he sang because if he didn't, he might actually listen to it.

For a long time, Leon was a song.

* * *

 

Then another guardian came. Leon heard the darkness start to speak to that one as well. Even if Storgane's attention wasn't on him, Leon felt a terrible pain that someone had followed in his footsteps. How much time had passed? He'd lost all sense of time well before the chains ensnared him. But as soon as he realized it, it no longer mattered. There was another guardian who was going to be tormented exactly as he was.

But in order to be a guardian, that person had to hold the same love has he did. Leon had never managed to communicate with Ven, but he tried to call out to the second guardian. He tried to warn of Storgane's torments and what was to come. In the currents of the ether sea, his words were turned to dust, never to be heard.

“Don't give up hope!” he called with all the power he had, trying to reach out.

The words did not cross. The feelings did. Then feelings returned to him, naive hope and bewilderment at the dreams she had entered. A bond was forged and Leon felt some hope return to him. While their words could never meet, they still became friends. The second guardian had a voice that was breezy and cheerful. Leon no longer felt alone and his heart began to heal.

And then Storgane crushed her heart too. Leon didn't know how it happened. He knew when it happened, as he heard her scream as despair filled her. At first, he was terrified. If he never knew her words, could he really know her? Could he really call her a friend? But no, having no words didn't matter. Their feelings still reached each other. Leon tried to encourage her and faced a torrent of her tears. Despair tightened its grip again, so Leon turned to the only way he knew to face it. He began to sing, as loudly as his heart could manage to reach his friend.

It took some time, but she began to sing with him. He didn't know what light she had in her heart. While his own light was tiny, it seemed to be enough to share. And some of her light came back to him. Leon sang of hope, that one day they would both awaken and return to Ventuswill. She agreed; she had promised as well. They sang and hoped and dreamed... sometimes nightmares that caused one or the other pain, but they would sing and the nightmare would eventually pass.

Then a third guardian joined their bond. Her voice had an incredible range, burning strong against the darkness but glowing gently for them. But even she fell to despair. Leon and the second guardian combined their songs to bring her back. Yet there was a pain in Leon's heart that was growing stronger. They had followed the path he had forged, not knowing the terrors it held. The grief was strong, but his desire to lead and protect the other two was strong as well. He let the second guardian sing of awakening, focusing his own songs on keeping the other two out of despair. Doing so kept himself out of despair.

And then, a fourth guardian. His voice was soft and flowing, a ripple that all three of them missed until he too screamed in despair. But unlike the two girls, the fourth guardian fell right into the same insanity Leon had went through. It shocked them and nearly threw them into the same state. Leon felt the brink of insanity as well, but he immediately threw all his attention and songs at the fourth guardian, trying to reach him and forge a bond with him too. The two girls noticed and joined in, fighting their own despair to sing in the turbulent waves. Eventually, he came out of the insanity singing in his soft sorrowful tones.

The four of them sang together, being a song together.

Leon was the lead voice, ignoring his own pain to save the others from theirs. The second guardian held much of their hope, voicing their dreams of awakening from the nightmares and returning home. The third guardian became much of their strength, defying the darkness to ignite light within. The fourth guardian blended their melodies, reminding them all that they weren't alone.

It was the best way to begin laughing at the darkness again.

* * *

 

And then something else changed. The ether sea had long been dark and still. Suddenly, it became filled with brilliant light and vibrant motion. The song of the guardians briefly stopped as they witnessed an angel with a golden halo appearing before them. The angel had eyes of gentle violet, a rarity of color with a rarity of voice. He spoke and some of his words actually crossed the ether sea, the first real words that Leon had heard in a long time. “Don't give up hope. You will be freed of your obligations before long.” Then the angel melted away, his light remaining in the ether sea for a long time.

For a time, they were laughter instead of a song.

Storgane hated it.

Now the angel was back, but only Leon was seeing him. It was in flickers, his light sparkling around him. But Leon could also see the twisted monster that his body had become, trying to devour the angel. His song became anguish and the other three were quick to reach out to him. He tried to reassure them that it was the angel, apparently at the tower trying to awaken him. But what if he died there due to Leon and killed their strongest light in the darkness yet? He didn't want to be responsible for causing his unseen friends such devastation.

Things started to grow dark except for those brilliant sparks. Leon found himself shaking and full of pain. Real physical pain, not the emotional pain that had been constantly around him. The song of the others was filled with worry, but then wrapped around him in the reassurance he had always given them. Even the water guardian, ever the quiet one, was singing stronger to make sure he reached him.

But he was having trouble finding his voice.

Then two more voices joined in, both able to speak in words.

 

Give up and despair, Leon Karnak.

Your efforts were never enough.

You could never save her.

You were the one who made her suffer.

You continue to make her suffer.

You led others to choose the same suffering.

Your choices will always make others suffer.

You deserve to suffer.

Give up and despair, Leon Karnak.

Give up and despair.

 

Leon? I'm here to wake you up.

Do you feel the strength around you?

I've empowered the earth rune spring.

You're no longer needed here.

But Venti needs you as a friend now, not a guardian.

She's waiting for you and the others.

I don't care what your past is.

You're a friend of my friend.

I forgive you.

Please wake up, Leon Karnak.

Forgiveness...

Leon laughed again, a brilliant sound that lit up the ether sea. The power of earth was strong around him. “We can be free!” he called out to the others, not caring that the words would probably be lost as usual. The meaning would get to them. “I'm sorry, I have to leave you now. But I'll be right there when the three of you wake up too. I promise, we'll finally meet face to face and be able to sing together for real.”

They were happy, possibly the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. They were happy to let him go for he had been in this darkness the longest. And, it was a promise, just like they would come back to Ventuswill. They would come back to her and sing together. Sing for Ventuswill's health and happiness. Sing for their freedom.

Capturing one of the golden sparks to light his way, Leon left the ether sea.

* * *

 

Spring 25, 1611

The bonds between Leon and the etherlink enchantment were stronger than the bonds both had with Sarcophagus. But once the guardian agreed to awaken, the outer bonds weakened and Lest could pull them apart like undoing a zipper. Getting etherlink out of Leon’s body was harder, as he had to reform some binds between Leon’s body and soul before he could safely increase the flow of runes through him and take out etherlink fully. Lest hung onto Leon until the bonds seemed secure and able to repair themselves fully.

This meant that he missed Leon waking up until he put one arm around Lest’s back and the other on his head to stroke his hair. “Hello beautiful,” Leon said.

The infatuation wasn’t nearly as choking as it had been in the girls. Lest wondered if it was because the more complex arrangement made it seem more natural to Leon. In that case, it was going to take a lot more than a few minutes and some distracting to free him of that. Lest opened his eyes and lifted his head to look Leon in the eyes. “Hello sleepyhead,” he replied. “You sound like you’re still dreaming.”

On seeing his face, Leon recognized Lest somehow. How? Maybe it was from the dream earlier. “Feels like it, waking up to an angelic face like yours,” he said. “I could stay here like this forever.”

Since he was already infatuated, might as well use it to guide him. Lest pushed himself up onto his knees, much to Leon’s disappointment. “Might feel like that. But we shouldn’t stay in this rune spring for too long. It’s rather powerful and you don’t need that kind of runic disturbance while recovering.”

“If you say so,” he said, sitting up as well. His ears flicked at some irritation, causing a strange look to cross Leon’s face. He put his left hand on the side of his head to feel the furry ear there. “Wait, what’s going on here?”

“Your body was transformed for so long that it took on aspects of the monster Sarcophagus,” Uno explained.

“Your native powers have changed as well,” Sano added.

“Hey, could be worse,” Lest said with a smile.

Leon’s tail swept across the floor on hearing that, getting him to notice that too. After grabbing its tip and pulling it around to see, Leon said, “Well this is going to be interesting. But nice to see that you two rockheads are still hanging around.”

“Certainly, we were assigned to watch over you,” Uno said.

“We have kept physical intruders from harming you, but we feel guilty in not being able to do anything about the spiritual intruders,” Sano said.

While Leon tried, he wasn’t able to suppress a shudder at that. “It’s… fine,” he said, glancing aside. Then he lifted his hand and looked at the metal band and chain still there. It was gone from around his chest and the chains faded away into nothing after a foot, but they were still attached to his wrists and ankles. “What’s the deal with the chains? You kinky like that?” He looked over at Lest and raised an eyebrow.

“No,” he said. “It’s the remains of Storgane’s curse on you; I wasn’t able to get rid of those entirely.”

“His curse remains?” Leon asked, puzzled.

At this point, another voice joined the conversation. “It’s not a mistake, it was merely unanticipated and this will still work.”

They all looked over at a spirit now in the room, one who appeared to be an old man in an armor cloak much like Lest’s. The two stone foxes went to him immediately. “Master Darryl,” Uno said with respect.

“What the hell is the guardian doing awake?!” Darryl’s spirit snapped at them, making Sano and Uno step back with their heads lowered in shame. “It’s going to disrupt the ether sea and the balance of power.”

Lest got up immediately and stepped between the foxes and Darryl. “Hey, I woke him up, not them. I replaced Leon with the rune sphere designed around etherlink.”

“You shouldn’t be messing with the ether sea on a whim,” he scolded. “Its balance is very delicate right now and a major change like this could create a worldwide chain of disasters.”

Even if this was supposed to be an ancestor of his, Lest couldn’t help but get angry at that. “It’s not on a whim, it’s based on over twelve hundred years of research that we've been working on. I just happen to be the one who got sent to put it in place and free the four guardians.”

“These foxes shouldn’t have let anyone down here inside the tower,” Darryl said, disgusted at the idea.

“He is your descendant and you said this wasn’t in the tower,” Sano said, still in a submissive poise.

“His logic was sound and his plan works,” Uno said.

“You shouldn’t have let anyone in while I’m working on my masterpiece! And there are no mistakes! Keep maintaining what I’ve done and all will be solved once I’m finished.”

“If there’s no mistakes, what’s with all the corrupt runes and remnants of Storgane’s power around here after so long?” Lest asked. “And if you can’t complete your work in this amount of time, how much longer do you intend to make Ventuswill and everyone wait?”

Darryl had no doubt in himself and all doubt in the rest of them. “There are no mistakes because I never make mistakes. No one else can match my genius and I don’t see why you idiots always have to question me. There is nothing wrong with this and I’m almost at the breakthrough I need.”

Leon got to his feet and took his fan from his belt. “Hey wizard, let me ask you something. If there’s nothing wrong with this plan of yours, then why are there three other guardians and why have we all been in a complete hell created by the evil god you were supposed to have slain?”

“Shut up!” Darryl said, shaking. His spirit was turning red in rage. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I do because I was there,” Leon said, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

“You’re making the one you were supposed to help suffer,” Lest said. “Along with those that were helping you, like the guardians and these foxes.”

“It can’t be my mistake, so it must be all of yours,” Darryl said.

Leon then traced a rune of light with his fan. While Lest wasn’t sure what he was doing, it seemed better to step out of his way. “Fine, you leave us no choice. Restless spirit, the time has long passed since you should have gone to rest.”

“You wouldn't dare do that to me!” the ghost said, not even afraid.

“Let go of what binds you to this realm and return to the Forest of Beginnings,” Leon went on.

“I still haven't completed my masterwork here!”

“Leave the world of the living to the living. Your mind needs to be cleansed in the purity of rebirth. I pray that the gods have mercy on you and judge you based purely on your life, not your clouded afterlife. Spirit, it is time to rest.”

Throughout Leon's prayer, runes of light and love gathered like a golden whirlwind around him. Guiding that energy with his fan, Leon sent the prayer to surround Darryl. The ghost shrieked and tried to struggle, but the prayer was built upon the natural cycle of runes which made it difficult for a purely spiritual being to resist. The whirlwind collapsed in on itself, taking Darryl with it. However, a small fracture of corrupted runes remained in place, like a crack into the Forest of Beginnings.

“That was impressive,” Lest said, although he worried about the sharp dip it caused in Leon's rune points.

He tapped his fan against his shoulder. “Well I am a priest.”

He took Leon’s arm, surprising him although it pleased him to have that contact. “Then let’s get out of here.” Lest then cast Escape to get out of the tower without having to go all the way up and down it again. Not only did he not look forward to that platform up top again, but he didn’t think Leon could make it fully up the stairs. He was sure of it when they arrived in front of the fox tower’s paws and Leon immediately collapsed without the support of the rune spring. The foxes were able to get out with their own magic and were soon at Leon’s side with Lest. “What is it?” Lest asked.

It was clear from his pale face and weakened rune flow that Leon was having trouble adapting to being in a lower density of runes. “Sorry, I’m just, really tired.” He managed to smile. “Heh, wouldn’t think that’d happen after sleeping so long. Twelve hundred?”

“1224 years,” Sano said.

“Crazy,” he mumbled.

“Lest!” Forte ran over to them, her runes a mix of being cross and concerned.

“Good to see you,” he said, guessing that anything he said wouldn’t keep her from being mad at him.

“What are you doing here?” she said, just as scathing as he expected. “Leon Karnak is dangerous.”

“You have no idea, honey,” Leon said. At least he was able to crack a joke even if he could barely keep his grip on Lest.

When she stared at the part-fox man lying on the ground, Lest explained, “Forte, this is Leon Karnak. I just freed him from his duty as a guardian, but he’s going to need some time to adapt before we can get back to Selphia.”

“Aw, but I wanted to go see Ven as soon as I woke up,” Leon said.

“I’m not sure even camping out here is a good idea,” Forte said, confused but feeling some decisive action was better than none. “Could we get him back to town with teleporting?”

“Well his runes are really frail right now and I shook them up just teleporting through the walls,” Lest said. “I don’t know the kind of teleport spell that could take him across several miles safely.”

Uno had been sniffing him, but she looked up at this. “We could arrange for a gentle transport,” she said.

Sano nodded. “It seems our duty is still to guarding the guardians, thus taking him to safety is within our ability.”

“All right, then can you take us all back to Selphia?” Lest asked. “And you do know where we mean?”

“At Ventuswill’s dwelling, correct,” Sano said.

“We will send you there,” Uno said, her eye glinting blue while Sano’s shone red. The two foxes howled, creating a circle of runes on the ground. Forte stepped closer to be more in the circle in time for a yellow curtain of light to wrap around it.

Watching the flow of runes, Lest noted that they would be creating the same kind of phenomenon at the location they were targeting. They shifted the very space around them to swap places, causing a few flower petals to arrive before the tower and some ancient dust to appear in Selphia’s town square just outside of the castle’s main entrance. It was very gentle for a teleport, in part because the active runes made no direct contact with any of them. The foxes didn't return with them.

“We should probably get Jones to watch after Leon for a couple of days,” Lest told Forte. “Could you get him?”

“Yes, but you’re going to hear it from me later,” Forte said sternly, then went to the clinic.

“Couldn’t I sleep in your bed with you instead?” Leon asked, looking up at Lest.

“Sorry, not now,” he said.

“Had to try. So your name’s Lest, huh? Strange name for an angel.” He closed his eyes.

“Try to stay awake a bit longer,” Lest said, taking his bracelet in hand to call on one of the butlers to get Ventuswill.

“If you’ll stay with me, sure,” he said.

Then Venti came out of the castle to see for herself what was going on. She gave a cry of surprise and darted right over to crouch down next to them. “L-Leon? It’s really you, this isn’t a dream?”

“Don’t ask me about dreams, I’m having a hard time convincing myself,” Leon said, opening his eyes and reaching up to rub her chin. “My goodness, you’ve grown to be quite a lady.”

Venti smiled although she was crying out of relief. “You’ve grown into your wild side. But I think that suits you.” She rubbed her head against Leon’s side, making him chuckle.

“I did my best in tying his soul to his body, but I think it’s on the weak side,” Lest told her. “Can you do something about that?”

“It’s from coming out of the ether sea as well,” she said, causing the wind to pick up around them. Green sparkles turned to tan all over Leon’s body, tightening up those bonds and easing the transition. “There… I’m so happy to see you again Leon, you have no idea.”

“I promised I’d come back,” Leon said. “I wouldn’t let you down.”


	14. A Day of Lectures

Spring 26

Lest got about an hour of quiet that morning while he tended to his farm. While he had the northeastern field full of plants now, with a few among the trees in the southeast, the plants were all strong enough that he only had to water them, check for bugs and illness, and pull a few weeds. He'd planned for that so that he had more time to focus on retrieving the spheres and the guardians at this time. He didn't have a lot of personal money as a result of all the planting. However, he wanted to compensate Jones and Nancy for taking the time to look after Leon. He had picked up some wild herbs and monster items while he'd been out to the tower yesterday, so he divided them into a group to place in the shipping box, a group to put in a basket for the clinic, and a small group of the herbs for Porcoline. He added in some tender leaves of spinach and lettuce from his garden to the two baskets, hoping that would be enough for the chef to cover some of his meal costs.

Once he got back inside to clean up, it was clear that the quiet wouldn't last. Volkanon was there with breakfast and Lest's first lecture of the day. “Did you really have to go to a dangerous place like Karnak Tower on your own?” the master butler said sternly. “Most people who go there never come back. But more than that, you're the prince now and you have a responsibility to the people of this region. You can't be taking risks like that without warning anyone.”

Thinking that he probably deserved it and it was better to just let it go, Lest finished washing his hands and dried them on a towel. He still tried to explain his situation. “I've told people before, I'm here on a mission to place the rune spheres in the rune springs. Even if they're all in dangerous places, I've intended to go to those places from the start.”

“You could have at least brought someone like Forte with you and waited until you were stronger after your recovery,” Volkanon insisted.

“I got delayed for more than I meant in that injury,” he said, coming back into the bedroom. “And the elder told me to get the spheres in place as soon as possible. Besides, I'm not sure having someone along would have helped much.”

“Two fighters are better than one out in untamed wilds.” Even if he was lecturing, he still let Lest get started with his breakfast. Probably because it kept him a captive audience in eating and not wanting to talk then; Volkanon went on for a good ten minutes with stories and admonitions.

By the end of it, Lest started feeling a bit sorry for Clorica and Vishnal, given they probably got this treatment during their learning process fairly often. But they still loved him like a second father and it was clear that Volkanon was more concerned for Lest's safety and reputation. Once he was given a moment to say something for himself again, Lest asked, “Do you know anyone in town who can see runes without special equipment?”

That caused him to pause. “Well... Jones can read runes.”

“He requires an adaptive enchantment that he's tied to his equipment,” Lest said.

“Illuminata can, but...” he put his hand on his chin, stroking his beard.

“Same thing, but with her monocle,” he said. “I read runes and chi as naturally as others see colors without needing extra help. The only other one in town that I'm sure can do that is Lady Ventuswill. Leon might be able to, but he's just arrived and I haven't confirmed it. And having been there, I can tell you that you absolutely need the ability to sense and interpret runes to get around safely. The whole place is laced with corrupted impure runes. I'll admit to not understanding them fully, but a close brush with some convinced me that they're incredibly dangerous and must be navigated around. Might even be lethal to someone who can't see them and walks into them by accident. While I didn't know before, now I definitely would not want to take anyone else along to that place unless I know that they can navigate the runes too. And that they won't risk having an enchantment or artifact broken, leaving them blind to it.”

“Well that is definitely something to keep in mind,” Volkanon admitted.

Lest nodded. “And I'm sure you've heard that I'm an empath. It's not easy to surprise me since I can read emotions and runes, getting a warning of what might come. Along with that, my power to break runes is required to get the rune spheres in place and handle them safely. My talents combined also let me disenchant the guardians and wake them up, something that really needs to happen because their creation may have been a moral mistake not far removed from a full human sacrifice. This all means that I need to get into those places to serve Lady Ventuswill properly and make her happy. I agree that it would be better for someone to come with me to the other places, but we need Forte here to protect the town while we've got the threat from the Sechs Empire hanging over us. Even with the Norad central knights here, she knows the town by heart and I feel it's best to keep her here to protect everyone else.”

“You might have a difficult time convincing her of that,” Volkanon said. “What about Leon?”

He shrugged. “He's probably a good choice, although I do need to speak with him later and see about that. Plus we'd need to make sure he's in good enough shape to fight.” He looked up at the butler and smiled. “Look, I promise I won't go after the other spheres and springs alone if I can help it. I got impatient yesterday and various incidents kept me from returning even when I thought I probably should.”

“Very well,” he said, still reluctant but satisfied that he was acknowledging the danger and promising to not go alone. Volkanon leaned on the back of another empty chair at the table. “You can be a hard one to work with, Lest. There's many times when you display exactly the kind of attitude and wisdom expected of Selphia's leader. But then you go do crazy things like use a miracle to heal yourself, run off to fix ancient mistakes, and even when you showed up that first time in drag.”

Volkanon clearly didn't like that last one, but it was one of those serious 'men ought to be masculine' attitudes that Lest often had trouble resisting some teasing with. “Well I only go out in skirts if it's a special occasion,” he said with a trouble-making smile. “It wouldn't be surprising if I did it more often.”

He frowned with an expression that said, 'how do you not see what's wrong with that?', much to Lest's amusement. “One would think it's better to make a good first impression.”

“I was trying to evade bandits who knew they were looking for a guy,” Lest said with a shrug. “Then I got to talking with Nem and Helena on the ship. I'm sure you know how easy it is to lose track of details such as time and what you're wearing when chatting with good friends.”

“I wouldn't be comfortable in that kind of situation,” Volkanon said without thinking about it too much. It caused a few runes of someone's funny bone being tickled to drift in from the hall. “Besides, what would your father say?”

Lest paused to raise an eyebrow at that, then in complete honesty said, “He'd say that I should have used makeup to look more convincing.”

Volkanon groaned and slapped his forehead while laughter broke out in the hallway. “What are you two doing out there?” he asked, increasing the volume on his speech a couple notches.

As might be expected, Vishnal and Clorica came in the room. “We were waiting on today's meeting,” the former said, struggling to keep a straight face. Clorica didn't even try, still laughing a little.

He glanced at the clock and realized that it was seven thirty. “Ah. How long were you out there?”

“You were talking about when Lest showed up in drag,” Vishnal said.

“Did that really happen?” Clorica asked. “Oh no, what a sight to miss. Was it a pretty skirt?”

Volkanon was caught speechless at that while Vishnal put his hand to his mouth while he laughed again. “It was academical,” Lest said. “I thought the ensemble was cute.”

“You'll have to show me sometime,” she said cheerfully, in an innocent fashion.

“I don't know if that's a good idea,” Volkanon said.

Vishnal cleared his throat, then said, “Well you have said that we should learn some information on our master's hobbies and help out when needed.” Volkanon's eyes went wide as he realized that was his advice, which set both of them back into laughing.

Lest smiled at the scene. “Don't worry, I wouldn't push it on a guy who isn't interested in the first place,” he told them. Although he had the feeling that Volkanon might be interrogating Vishnal later on based on that comment.

Once he was done with breakfast, Lest went to his office for a couple of hours to take care of some the the little daily tasks he had to handle as prince. Mostly reviewing Forte's security reports, checking on any notices from the capitol, seeing what notes the patrolling knights in the countryside had. He also had a response from the Sechs Empire today about their query into the building on Selphia's lands. While it was a lot of highbrow language, he guessed that the gist of it was 'Don't fuck with us, neighbor, or we'll raze your city'. This was something he needed to discuss with Arthur about.

He then got his second lecture of the day from Forte when she came in with a stony look in her eyes. “Lest, I thought you said that you weren't going anywhere dangerous yesterday.”

“I said that I wasn't going to Yokmir Forest,” he replied.

“You're not going to get away with exact words,” she said and preceded to give him nearly the same lecture that Volkanon had given not that long ago (minus the comments on his attire). Lest sat through it patiently, filing away in his mind that he would have to watch that tactic around Forte now.

After she seemed done with it, Lest gave her a shortened explanation about the corrupt runes and how it turned out better he was alone. “But I already promised Volkanon that I wouldn't be going out to these places alone again,” he finished with. “I'm hoping Leon can handle it because I'd rather you be here in town.”

“Do you doubt my ability in battle?” she asked, skeptical and almost insulted.

He shook his head. “No, actually it's because I know you're good that I'd rather you be here. Your job is to serve Lady Ventuswill and protect her, right? But she cares deeply about the people of Selphia, so she would want you to protect the town and those who live here. You want that too, right?”

“Well, yes,” Forte admitted.

“Good, and there's also this,” Lest said, picking up the letter from the empire. “I have to check with Arthur, but I'm pretty sure this is trying to provoke a war with us. We do have a lot of help from the capitol with the region's defense, but is it enough? I have no idea and I don't like the idea of leaving the city without a capable defender. There's a few others who seem like they'd be good in a fight, but I feel more comfortable knowing you're around in case an emergency comes up.”

“Err, thanks, although I'm not sure I'd be enough if we get the Sechs army marching through here,” she said.

“If it were that big, we'd notice such a large group gathering,” Lest said.

She nodded. “But for a small group, then I would do all I could to drive them away. Still, you'd better take someone with you for this mission. You've only been here for a few weeks, but you're already important to many of us. I think you need to start taking into account the confidence and well-being of the whole community when deciding on these things.”

“I consider the guardians to be part of this community because they all came from around here in the past,” he said. “Which means I do want to get them back home soon. Fortunately, two are practically right here and it won't take us all day to go out and get them.”

Forte frowned, still not entirely happy with this. But then she nodded. “Very well. But first, let me find my father's journal and copy down his notes on the locations as well as the non-returning monsters there.”

Lest brightened at that. “Great! Actually, those non-returning monsters are important to getting the guardians back. I already put one to rest for good getting Leon back, so more information on the others will help a lot. Just don't forget that I have to go out to the northern ruins at the water rune spring too.”

“There should be plenty of information about there too, since he and I have made sure to go out there at least once a year to make sure the aqueducts are secure,” she said. After saying that she'd have those notes for him tomorrow morning, she left to return to her patrols.

Lest got his tasks done for the day, thinking that this work might increase in time. But that would mean that Selphia was growing again and would be a good thing. Placing the letter from the empire in with Porcoline's basket, he went to check on Venti in case she was awake and wanted to ask something of him. She was awake, and had the same concerns about him going off like he had yesterday.

“Do you know how worried I was when I realized you were all the way out there?” the dragon said, trying to be strict but her worry overrode that. “I admit I wasn't fully awake at the time, but I heard the foxes become active on the wind and realized it was your voice answering them. But then you three went down into the tower and I'm not entirely sure what the inside of that place is like anymore.”

“Even with the earth spring revived?” Lest asked.

“Well I can tell now through that,” she admitted. “Somewhat, the wind can't go far in there. I know the place is infected with corrupt runes like perverse mushrooms.”

While there were some clusters like that, he'd seen it differently. “It's more like streams of the runes flowing from somewhere, perhaps the remains of Storgane's curse.”

“I don't know if that is the source,” she said, now thoughtful. “It's certainly drawing from it.” Then she blinked and shook her head. “And don't change the subject on me! What you did yesterday was a reckless thing, going to the rune spring and trying to alter it and the guardian there without full knowledge of what would happen.”

Lest shrugged. “Not much I can do about lack of knowledge because even as long as it's been studied, this part of the plan is pretty much all theory.”

“And how do you know about that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Wile his sister had advised not mentioning it, Lest didn't think it'd be smart to avoid the truth here. “My mother's family is the one who's been studying etherlink, the rune spheres, and all of this going on here,” he said. “Mom couldn't come here while she was alive because she was still affected by your word, but my sister and I aren't.” When she got really worried about it, he put a hand on his hip. “Although she taught Frey all of it first; Frey's the one who actually knows etherlink and helped finish the crafting on the last rune sphere. I didn't know much about it until Frey grabbed me last summer and started telling me about it. Keeping the son from the knowledge was a habit they started and I got pulled in primarily because they realized that my combination of talents would make me more effective in undoing etherlink on the guardians.”

“Then you came here with the intent of freeing them?” Ventuswill asked, her feelings on him wavering.

Lest nodded. “Of course, it'd be silly to leave them in place.” That might be what he'd tell anyone else, but it made him think on something sad, a deeper reason. After biting his lip, he added, “So I knew that my Mom was going to die about an hour before she did because of reading runes, but before she'd let me go get Dad and Frey, she made sure to tell me... a lot of people in my old town thought I was a burden and curse for being a rune breaker, among a few other things. But she thought that it was a gift based on the guilt and regret that had built up in her family after generation upon generation not able to find a way to get the guardians awake safely, that they had to keep resorting to what was pretty much a sacrifice of good people in what should have been the prime of their life. So getting this done as soon as I possibly can is really incredibly important to me to get this sin off my family.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes softening and the simple response showing that she fully understood it.

He didn't want to leave her with such a heavy serious thought, so he smiled as best he could. “Although it was completely worth it when I saw you and Leon back together.”

Venti smiled warmly. “It'll be a huge relief to me when they're all back home. In that case, I suppose I should tell you.” She crouched down so that she was lying on the floor, her head closer on level with his. “About your rune spheres, I can tell where the other three are. One fell in Yokmir Forest and was claimed by a tree monster there. While it'll remain in place, you're going to have a difficult time getting past Amber's monster form of Ambrosia to reach the sphere or the spring. I think you'll be safe from her butterfly curse and Leon knows an anti-status prayer that will keep anyone else safe as well. But Ambrosia flies quickly through the trees, meaning even between the two of you, you're going to have a hard time pinning her near the ground. I've noticed that the range of your magic is pretty bad even with the casting gloves.”

“Yeah, I've been known to break a spell while casting it many times when I was first learning,” Lest said. “Plus, I ended up having to hug Sarcophagus and later Leon in order to get a good grasp on undoing those spells. The uncursing requires me to briefly flood their systems with love magic in order to get the monster and etherlink runes out of them, which makes them believe that they're crazy in love with me.”

She laughed at that. “I was really seeing that in him yesterday? But then, I can't see a way to avoid that. You would need to get those runes out so they don't reform. Oh, but I think I should instruct you on establishing natural bonds a little better, so the tie between body and soul isn't as weak as it was in Leon then.”

He nodded. “That'd be great, I was hoping the body's unconscious memory would be enough.”

“It might not be so bad in the others as Leon's been under enchantment for over a thousand years,” Venti said. “Back to the rune spheres, one fell on the southern roads, but was picked up rather quickly by a flower lion monster. It got mutated when it swallowed the sphere and has retreated to the flower lion's primary territory of Delirium Lava Caves. And the last one fell in a valley not far to the north. However, it got picked up by a roaming Twinkle Bird; they really like shiny objects. After it got in a losing fight with others in its territory, it took the rune sphere with it when it flew northward, eventually landing in the water ruins. Then it got killed by one of the monsters there who,” she hesitated, then said in a quieter voice, “some of the monsters around the rune springs? They spring from the nightmares of the guardians. Not just the ones their bodies turned into, others that are usually extremely powerful for the area they're in, like the tree monster in Yokmir Forest. You're going to have tough fights to get them back.”

“All right,” Lest said. “Seems like the thing to do would be grab the one in Delirium Cave, then take it to Yokmir to put into the spring there. Once we free Amber, we can take the sphere there to Obsidian Manor and get the northern ruins last.”

“Well,” she said, hesitant to accept that plan. “It sounds logical, but there's some problems with it.”

“What kind of problems?” he asked.

She rubbed her wing against her snout. “Well... like I said, Ambrosia will be fast and I don't know if a team of you and Leon will be able to get her to the ground without harming her. Marionetta would be easier for you two to handle first, plus that's Dolce there and she'd be an asset in battle immediately while Amber's not used to fighting. But then, Dylas is at the Water Ruins and, well I'm just not sure it'd be best to leave him for last even though that location and the monsters there could be the most dangerous of all. Although I feel awful already for whichever one of them ends up awakened last.”

“Well think about it and I'll ask your advice again when I know Leon's fine with helping me,” Lest said.

“I'd be shocked if he didn't offer without being asked,” Venti said, then yawned.

After parting from her so she could nap, Lest headed out to reach the restaurant before the morning got too far along. He took the east road and got halfway there when he started feeling uneasy. Some of the runes nearby were taking on sharper edges. Looking up, he crossed eyes with Doug. He didn’t get long to think as a hate laced with suspicion cut through his chest. Caught short of breath, Lest paused and put his hand on his chest, his mind frantically trying to keep calm and let the feelings pass by.

Doug had a cold expression, making it harder to tell what he was feeling beside the hate. Trying to smooth it over with politeness, Lest smiled weakly and said, “Morning, Doug. Something up?”

“Why should you care?” he asked. It might sound dismissive to others, but the words might as well have been barbed to Lest. “Only because it bothers you to have other people bothered? That kind of thing nearly got you kicked out of your last town, didn’t it?”

“H-how did you hear about that?” Lest asked, a shiver running through him.

“Just around,” Doug said, shaking his head and hurrying past.

Feeling an immense relief that Doug had decided not to say anything more, Lest hurried on to the restaurant. He didn’t feel secure being out on the road with how he felt. But where had he heard about his empathy and that time he’d nearly become an outcast to the tribe? Certainly his friends in the postal crew wouldn’t have spoken about the latter. Maybe word of his empathy was getting around town now that he’d told a few people. A cold wind cut through the trees, disrupting the self-control Lest had been trying to gather again. Did it have to be bad enough to start influencing the weather? He had to calm down. Just go inside somewhere and calm down.

“Super good morning!” Porcoline called out from the kitchen as Lest came in, not even turning from his work yet. But once he did glance back, he left off his work to lean on the front counter across from him. “Oh my word, what’s wrong, Lest? You look a ghastly pale.”

“I-I’ll be okay,” he said, his voice still shaking as he set the basket for Porcoline on the counter. “Something just… spooked me, I need to calm down.”

Porcoline smiled and waved a hand out to the dining area. “Well then pull up a chair and I’ll fix you up something relaxing real quick. On the house.” He then went to go retrieve a few things.

Taking him up on his offer, Lest brought a stool over and sat there with his arms resting on the counter. If he got a grip on his nerves, he wouldn’t accidentally summon a storm or something. It was just such a shock to run into someone who directly hated him again. He’d managed to get people back in Grelin down to indifference or acceptance towards him so they didn’t often get angry at him. Coming here, the people were friendly and quick to like him. Running across Doug like that caught him completely off-guard. But, why Doug? Did it have to do with the incident back in the orchard where someone’s hate of Ventuswill made him faint? It might have been him.

“Here you are, one fresh hot cup of relax tea,” Porcoline said after a few minutes, handing him a teacup with sailboats painted on it. It was filled with a milky pinkish-brown drink. “With a splash of milk and addition of chamomile leaves to be extra soothing.”

“Thanks, Porco,” Lest said, taking a careful sip of it. It had been brewed quite well.

The chef smiled, but left him alone for a few more minutes while he checked on the progress of the upcoming meal. Lest looked into the cup of tea and kept thinking. At least the incident hadn’t lasted long. A few more barbs and he might have really called up a spring storm in a panic. Still, it told him something. While Doug hated him, he saw when he was going too far and walked away instead of lashing out more. He wasn’t unreasonable or heartless. He may have known about the empathy, but maybe seeing how deeply it could cut got to his normal empathy and caused him to stop. While Lest was really curious about what the story was here, he would need to handle this situation with care. Softening a person’s hate could take years, he knew from unfortunate experience.

Once lunch was in a place where it could be left to simmer, Porco came around the counter and got a stool to sit by Lest. “Well you’ve got some color back to your cheeks, that’s good.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I feel somewhat better. Still kind of shaken, though.”

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

He went ahead and explained about the incident, although he declined the say that it was Doug who he ran into. “Something needs to be done about it, but I really don’t want to turn anyone against this person,” he finished with. “It’s a slow process to bring someone down from that.”

“Well if you need help with this person, I’ll do what I can,” Porco said. “I’d even keep it under wraps if that’s what you’d want.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that offer in mind,” Lest said with a smile. “Oh, and I came here because I got some things from my garden I wanted to give you for use. Here, it’s mostly baby greens and some freshly dried herbs.”

“Those could be nice to throw in a spring salad,” he said in delight. Seeing that, Lest wondered if it was possible for him to be down for long. People like that were lucky.

After thanking Porco for the tea and feeling a lot better, Lest went to the next room to find Arthur. Sure enough, he was there working as usual. Arthur had three newspapers, all spread out on a table while he used a highlighter to mark certain lines, a pencil to make notes in a notebook, and a long bookmark to keep focused on particular information. When Lest glanced at one of the highlighted sections, it was all numbers and abbreviations that didn’t make much sense. The page was labeled ‘Marketplace Data’; he wondered just how much information was in those numbers.

“Excuse me, do you have a moment?” Lest asked.

Arthur tensed in being startled, his pencil making a little extra scribble on the notebook. Then he smiled and quietly erased the mistake. “Oh Lest, it’s you. Sure, I was almost done with this. What’s on your mind?”

He passed over the letter. “We got a response from the Sechs. If I’m reading it right, they’re basically telling us not to mess with them or they’ll mess us up and blame a war on us.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Arthur mumbled, unfolding the letter and reading it for himself. After a minute, he sat down on the couch while Lest sat across from him and waited. He had just figured out that one of the highlighted lines addressed the supply and average price of wheat when Arthur nodded. “It’s written to appear politically neutral, but your assessment is accurate.”

“Then this whole thing with them building on our lands is an impatience thing?” Lest asked. “They want to start a war with us and probably all of Norad, but for some reason don’t want to be seen as instigators.”

He nodded again. “It’s because of other nations in the world that still trade with both of us. I wouldn’t say it’s entirely impatience, although that’s certainly a factor. Since they do seem to be planning a war, it’s in their favor to have a base of operations on both sides of the Maya Mountain range, historically one of the biggest obstacles for both of us in such a war. But if they were more open with building in and threatening Selphia, other nations would not approve of such aggressiveness especially towards a region at a disadvantage as we are. If they can make us appear as instigators, which actually wouldn’t be hard because you are new to being a prince, they might be able to appeal it as a reactionary invasion and discredit Norad as a whole. They almost pulled off a similar tactic in the last war.”

“But they’re already in the wrong in building on our side of the range,” Lest said.

Arthur shifted his glasses. “That depends on how long that building stays there. If they wait, they can claim that since we haven’t complained, the building and the land it’s on belongs to them and that can be fair cause to start a war. You’ll want to file this letter away securely with the copy of the one we sent to them in case we need to prove that we did complain. All the same, we’re not in a position where we can go do something about it. Our standing army is basically just Forte with reinforcements coming from central Norad. If we want to use the other knights to do something about it, we need to ask permission from the high king and the knight generals to do so, including convince them of taking an action that may lead to a war with Sechs. I’m certain the Sechs emperor is fully aware of this and taking advantage of it.”

“It seems like the best thing might be to find some way to get rid of the building without making it clear of who did it,” Lest said.

“Maybe,” Arthur said. “Whatever we do will require careful consideration. I’ll inform my father and gauge how willing he’d be to take action against the building’s presence. At least find out what it is, that could help. If it is a military base, we could bring that fact out into the open and discredit them with their allies. Enough pressure on a global scale could get the Sechs to withdraw and stop acting aggressively.” He shrugged. “That is, if they’re sensible about it. There’s been repeated signs that upper levels of their government are insane. For a few years, they insisted that they were the…” he clicked his tongue, then wrote ‘Zzyyzx’ on a newspaper margin. “An empire with an illogical to pronounce name. But they’ve been just sane enough that other governments still trade with and support them.”

Hearing that, Lest had to agree that any action they made had to be cautiously thought out. “I see. Then yes, finding out the building’s purpose safely and subtly is going to be important. At the moment, though, I’m mostly focused on my mission from the tribe, with the rune spheres and awakening the guardians.”

“I heard that you’ve brought one of them back now,” Arthur said, a little impressed. “I’m sure that will help us out as well, given what you’ve told me of Lady Ventuswill’s worrisome depression. Just be careful that you don’t end up badly hurt again.”

He nodded. “I know. Although, given that we need to be careful with the Sechs, I’d like to ask about the royal airship we have on the airfield. My friend Helena says that it’s in good shape and should be able to fly, but it’s also unarmed with only light armor. But I was considering trying out for my airship piloting license soon in order to get around the region quicker. One of my next tasks will take me out to Delirium Lava Caves which can take a full day to reach and another to return.”

“And we wouldn’t want you gone for long,” he said, thinking about it. “If the ship’s unarmed, it should be fine to fly it around as long as you don’t go near the Maya Road building. But I would take heed of air reports to make sure the warship doesn’t come overhead again when you intend to fly. It’d go down as fast as the other.”

“I’m sure of that,” Lest said. They talked for a little longer, Lest asking Arthur briefly about the market reports. Then he excused himself to go to the clinic and check on Leon.

But when he got there, Leon had already left. “It seems a true rest was enough to put him at a good strength,” Jones said. “Perhaps not full strength, so he may not be as good in adventuring and battling as he should be for a while. But I was confident in letting him go with the recommendation to exercise with plenty of breaks and extra care to eat healthy.”

“Might need to keep an eye on him, since he’s from so long ago and we wouldn’t know what he considers healthy eating,” Lest said.

Jones nodded. “True, but Nancy also told him about Porcoline’s restaurant and I’m sure Porco wouldn’t mind arranging menus with him in mind.”

“That’s good. I did bring over a basket to thank you for all the work you’ve done for me so far, especially since I’ll probably send the other guardians to you when I bring them back.” He passed over the gift basket.

“Thanks, just doing my job,” Jones said with a warm smile, accepting it. “And yes, let me check over them too. There isn’t much of a precedent for what you’re doing, so it’s best to keep an eye on them and act quickly if something doesn’t seem right.”

* * *

 

“Hey Vishnal? Do you think there's anything weird about Lest?”

“Um,” he paused with his fingers on the checker piece he was intending to move on his turn. He had a couple hours off this morning, so he'd come over the the general store to hang out with Doug in that time. Across the board, the dwarf's gray eyes seemed far off in thought. They hadn't spoken much during the game; something was clearly on his mind. “You know I'm limited in what I can say about my master.”

“Oh, sorry, slipped my mind for a sec,” Doug said, scowling briefly then trying to get back to whatever thought he'd had.

Looking over the checker board, Vishnal could identify a set of moves that he could easily win with. But Doug didn't have his head in the game. Maybe he wanted to say something? Taking a move meant to extend the game rather than win it, he said, “Although there's plenty weird with him that most of the town already knows. Not creepy weird, he just... he has a really open mind, but you can tell that he has morals he won't betray. He loves everybody,” then he rethought saying that, “Well I don't mean love love, I mean he sees the good in people and wants to help however he can.”

“Sure it's because he loves people?” Doug asked, not noticing it was his turn. The question surprised Vishnal, although not as much as when Doug closed his eyes and added in a spiteful mutter he could barely hear, “He works with Ventuswill.”

There was a moment he wasn't sure what to do or say. After biting his lip, Vishnal asked, “Pardon?”

“N-nothing!” Doug said, startled enough to bump into the checker board with his face turning pale. “Oh shit, sorry, didn't mean to do that.”

“It's okay, you seem to have a lot on your mind,” he said, giving a friendly smile. The clock said his break was only half over, so he said, “Want to restart the game?”

“Yeah, I'll try to pay more attention this time,” he said, smiling but embarrassed as he picked up some pieces off the floor.

“But what would make you think Lest doesn't love people?” Vishnal asked, being careful not to make it sound like an accusation.

“Well he might be pretending to to take advantage of anyone who likes him,” Doug said. “After all, nobody outside their tribe understands much of what earthmates really do since they keep a lot of secrets. But they have a tremendous amount of power, far more than any normal person could hope to attain in a lifetime. They could probably rule the world if they wanted. Maybe they even draw rune power out of others for their own use.”

“That is a scary thought,” Vishnal said. “Although, if they could rule the world but don't, doesn't that mean they don't want to?”

“I guess that could be, or they could be pulling our strings outside our notice.” He was thinking again, although it seemed like he was trying to stretch ideas to fit a view he wanted.

“Since I'm sure he'd talk about it if asked, Lest gets his power from his farming,” he said. This conversation reminded him of negotiating with his younger siblings, trying to introduce rational ideas gently. When Doug looked over at him, Vishnal nodded. “He believes his power came as a blessing from the earth, so he works hard in raising plants to pay back the blessing. Then the plants bless him in return for caring for them strongly, which makes him continue the work to return that blessing. It's an endless cycle for the earthmate's entire life, although the price they pay back varies between them.”

“Sounds like an endless grind to me,” Doug said. “I don't know if I could keep up with that.”

“And somehow they love it,” Vishnal said.


	15. Delirium

Spring 26

Having taken care of his morning errands, Lest headed back to the castle to speak to Leon and possibly start some other tasks. Leon was in Venti’s area, saying something that had made her laugh. As Lest came in, his ears twisted back briefly. “Well hello lover boy,” he said as he turned to him, amusing himself by speaking in warm affectionate tones.

“Hello Leon,” Lest said, nodding. “I heard from Jones that you’re doing well now; that’s great.”

He flicked his tail. “Dodging the issue? I’ll let it pass, but not for long. Yeah, I’m ready to head out whenever you’re ready and all the official stuff like finding me a house is settled.” He did become seriously determined when he added, “And I am going with you since I promised the others I’d be there when they woke up. You’re not going to make me an oath-breaker, right?”

“Of course not, I was hoping you could help,” he said. “I’ve got some things I need to arrange today, so we can head out tomorrow.”

“Good,” Leon said, nodding.

“Told you so,” Venti said happily. “I gave it some more thought and the best route would be to take the Delirium Lava Caves rune sphere first and place it in Obsidian Mansion. Getting Dolce’s help should let you get up to the northern ruins next. While Ambrosia is a current threat to the town, there's some really good reasons to leave Amber to last. I think you'll understand when you meet them.”

“All right, and if I can manage it, we should be able to use the royal airship to get to the more distant locations soon,” Lest said. He wondered what reasons she had, but decided to ask later if he felt he really had to know.

Leon looked intrigued on hearing about an airship, but Venti spoke first, “Great, then I hope that works! Would you go get Volkanon and tell him to get the new residency forms as well as the real estate papers on the town library?”

“Sure thing,” Lest said, then went into the servants area to find Volkanon. It’d be easier, to his mind, to go to him rather than call him in and send him back to get the papers. He had to follow the master butler up to the records room on the second floor there to retrieve the forms, including one for his pilot's license.

Volkanon brought in a small table and a couple of chairs so they could work in Venti’s chamber. The butler showed Leon the papers on the library first. “Since the caretaker of the library as a full position is considered a public service, there is a small residence included in the building as part of the head librarian’s pay. You would need to agree to clean and upkeep the building, keep the collection orderly, record borrowing, and handle fees for late returns or damage.”

“I need to check up on the filing system you have, but that sounds easy enough to handle,” Leon said. “As long as you don’t mind that I’ll be away at first helping Lest.”

“That’s fine, it’d be wonderful to have a full time librarian again,” Volkanon said.

Leon nodded. “Right. I just don’t want our brave and adorable prince to get marred up on his mission.”

Lest chuckled a little, in part because Volkanon’s eyes went wide at that. “I see,” Volkanon said, restraining himself.

Of course, Leon noticed and really wanted to keep teasing the older man now that he was uncomfortable. Lest intervened by saying, “Huh, I wouldn’t have taken you for a librarian from what I’ve seen of you.”

“Why not?” Leon said with a shrug. “There’s a lot I need to study about what’s gone on in the world in my long slumber. Plus, free housing is good by me. Gives me some space to adapt with all I need to learn, including the new currency system.”

“It was the most reasonable thing I could think to suggest,” Ventuswill said. “Especially since I haven’t used a dragon priest in centuries, not since I learned to speak common Norad fluently.”

While Volkanon helped out Leon with the residency and librarian forms, Lest filled out the request for an airship license that he’d grabbed from the records room while there. There were two different forms from the NACC group, a pilot’s license with a few pages of a written test and a captain’s license with a much more in-depth test. The pilot’s license would let him fly a private vessel in a civilian class but not charge official fees for passengers or cargo. A captain’s license was required for things that Helena did: working in an official NACC piloting position, fly larger vessels that required a full crew, charging for transport, and entering airship races.

They got done at the same time, so Lest offered to take Leon over to the library to check it out. “There’s so many buildings around here,” Leon said, looking down into the manmade streams that ran by the streets. “This was all one big open flower field with a shrine by the fire spring, with the village halfway between here and the tower.”

“They even ran out of space going north and east, so there’s buildings around that are built on huge platforms beyond the cliff line,” Lest said.

Leon shook his head. “I wouldn’t have believed this would be what I’d come back to. But Ven must have been okay with it.”

“Just going to take time to get used to, right?”

“Right, could take a long while.” He stretched his arms up behind his head, then smiled at some thought. “It is nice to see some things don’t change and I can still shock people. But it’ll be more fun when I learn more. By the way, I know what you’ve been up to.”

“What I’ve been up to with what?” Lest asked.

He grabbed Lest’s arm to pull him near. “How you’ve gotten me to fall completely for you before I even know what your name was.”

“It’s all in the magic,” Lest said. It was much easier to keep calm to this display than earlier with Doug. He knew what was causing this.

Leon still smiled wide, his teeth seeming oddly sharp for a human. “Yes, I know my runes and you are chock full of love magic. Thus it’s no surprise that anybody hit by a strong enough spell from you would fall madly in love with you, even myself.”

“It’s only happened with disenchanting so far,” he said, then brought his free hand up between them when it seemed Leon was going to try kissing his cheek. “If you understand that, then will you understand if I ask that this remain chaste for thirty days?” He wasn’t sure just how long the infatuation would remain in Leon. It was certainly strong if it still held him even though he understood why he felt like that. But, a full cycle of the moon seemed a sufficient amount of time to let him cool off.

The suggestion still disappointed Leon, although he seemed to exaggerate it in how he spoke. “So long? But you wouldn’t deny me if it remains?”

“I’d have to think about it myself, but I wouldn’t deny it if that’s what our hearts say,” Lest said.

Thankfully, that cheered him back up. “Good, then I’ll be looking forward to it. Still, you’re an awful naughty one to know it’s going to happen and still go after the others when I have feelings for you.”

Lest raised his eyebrows. “You would want me to wait on freeing them? Venti’s so eager to have you all back.”

“Well, no,” Leon admitted, his cheeks going red as he realized it. “I suppose I’ll just have to deal with sharing you for the time being. And convincing them to not take you from me first.”

“Don’t be mean about it,” Lest said. Was he going to have to deal with jealousy here? That was really going to make him uncomfortable, even more so than before. Although, the two girls had seemed weirdly fine with sharing. He'd have to see what came of this.

“Hey Lest!” Kiel called as they met up at the street intersection by Bado's shop.

“Hey, great timing for you to show up,” he said, waving and pausing a moment for Kiel to come over. Thankfully Leon stepped aside at a more conversational distance. “Leon, this is Kiel Greenwind; he’s been looking after the library part-time for a few years. Kiel, this is Leon Karnak, former guardian of Ventuswill. He’s going to take over as the head librarian, so it would really help if you took some time to teach him about the way the library’s set up.”

“Great, I could use the time to focus more on my alchemy,” Kiel said, shaking Leon’s hand with his eyes full of awe at meeting a living legend. “It's amazing to meet you, Leon!”

“Good to meet you too Kiel,” he said, nodding to cover up how much that reaction startled him. With the introduction handled, they headed down the street to the library. “Although I can’t imagine there’ll be a lot to look after in terms of books.”

“Huh?” Kiel asked, puzzled but then a light went off in his head. “Oh, right, if you are the first guardian, you’d be more familiar with the labor-intensive means of copying texts by hand. A printing press was invented around seven hundred years ago that made producing books a breeze, so they’re often cheap and widely available.”

“A way to make books cheap?” Leon asked, astonished by this. “Then… how many books are we talking about in this library?”

Kiel spent a moment trying to recall that. “Well, I asked the golem in charge of the catalog once how many books were in the library and in storage in the basements. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but there were over fifty thousand in total. That’s not counting the scrolls and artifacts, or that I haven't been able to purchase many recent books for the collection. Our library is nothing compared to the library belonging to the Norad high king.”

“I'm not believing that until I see it,” Leon said, so the three of them walked quickly to the library.

The library was a large building on the west end of town, bigger than the ones around it but not as big as the inn or restaurant. It had two tall stories above ground and Kiel told them that it took up another two stories under ground. Since he officially owned the building now, Leon had the keys to unlock it. Inside, it was fairly clean; Kiel probably kept it that way easily with the low traffic it got. The librarian's desk, office, and apartment were right by the entrance on the east side of the building, with a gathering area of some couches and chairs around a wide oval table on the west side. A set of large cabinets with many small drawers stood behind gathering area; the doll-like golem sitting on one indicated that it was likely the card catalog system. Past the front area, there were many hefty wooden shelves holding all kinds of books packed together. A spiral staircase in the center led up and down while a faded old sign gave a general guide of what kinds of books were where.

Leon was caught astonished at the sight, wandering into the stacks slowly trying to comprehend all the books that were being kept here. Kiel started to say something, but Lest gave him a hand signal to hold on for a moment. In Leon's day, a community library would be really lucky to be as large as the collection in the royal castle. This was a true wonder to him, which convinced Lest that despite his playful words and attitude, he would work out well as the librarian.

After looking over it, Leon turned back to them. “The other levels are all like this?”

“The second floor is, with smaller study areas so it actually has more books,” Kiel said. “The two basements include storage for old community documents, rare books, and artifacts, so not as many down there. I know how to work the magical devices around that keep the humidity and such safe, so you can ask me about those too.”

“A magical device wouldn't be tough to learn, maybe,” Leon said. “Huh, here I was thinking I could look through the collection and see what went on while I was gone, but there's just way too many here for anyone to read. And there's even a whole section just for fictional books? That would've been seen as a waste to those who taught me to write.”

“What kinds of languages can you read and write in?” Kiel asked.

Surprisingly, Leon started tapping them off on his fingers. “Well there's the common Norad language... thank goodness that's still around, although it sounds off to me. I can understand most of what people say until they start using newer words. I know high Norad and Latin too, if those are still in use.”

Lest didn't know what he meant, but Kiel did. “Latin's dead except in some scholarly pursuits. I don't think High Norad is used except in really antique traditions and very few can read it. I certainly don't know that one.”

“Doesn't surprise me,” Leon said. “It was mostly high and mighty old farts who insisted on talking and making documents with it. I also know the common dwarf language with a couple tribal variants, the elven tongue, dragon speak because that was a big part of the job, the fairy language...”

“The fairy language?” Kiel asked, puzzled.

“Fairies are misanthropic little bastards,” Leon said. “If you're going to be near them, it's best if you can ward them off in any way possible, especially for men. Then there's orc symbols which are handy for navigating through their territory, Ath script which is basically a source language for Norad with a different alphabet, and the earthmate holy language if you want to be formal in spell casting.”

“That's really cool,” Kiel said, impressed. He confused Leon a bit, but he seemed to get it from the context of his expression. “Some of the languages might have changed, but then you'd already be an expert with the older forms. Especially in the earthmate script, since not even Lest knows that very well.”

“These days, as long as you can sing and understand the pledge, it's not needed to study it further unless you want to get recognized as a sage,” Lest said.

Leon's ears twitched. “Really? From the earthmates I knew, all their magic had to be cast in the holy words.”

Lest shrugged. “Well I use a number of farming hymns and melodies in the ancient language, but our teachers taught nearly all spells without the need of it.”

“What you call common Norad is the main language of the Norad regions and a number of neighboring nations,” Kiel said. “Even the dwarves and elves use it more than their specific native languages save for a few communities that keep themselves closed off.”

“That's a useful thing,” Leon said. “It can be awkward if you're not sure which language to use with a visitor. Well I'm not going to have the library actually open until we manage to get the other three guardians back home too. I'll take a look around while I'm here and ask you about it specifically when it's time to get ready.”

Kiel smiled. “Sure thing; I don't live far from here, just on the next street down south. It's been nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Leon said. Once Kiel left, he rubbed his chin. “Smart guy, maybe a little too easily impressed. Seems like this place could have a lot of fun people around.”

“If you mean to tease them, just don't take anything too far,” Lest said.

Leon smiled. “I mean you too.”

“So what happened with Sano and Uno?” he asked, having been wondering that and finding this a good place to cut Leon off from being tricky.

He raised an eyebrow at the change of subject, but answered anyhow. “Haven't seen them today. It does worry me since if they get damaged, I don't know how to repair them. But they should be able to take care of themselves for the most part.”

“They your friends?” he asked, recalling how he'd affectionately insulted them back at the tower.

“As much as one could be a friend to a golem, I suppose,” Leon said. “Back when they were Darryl's guards and messengers, I liked to confuse them. Somehow they took it to be interesting and would come to see me if they didn't have something else to do. It surprised me when they said they felt guilty about not being able to help, but I gave it some thought and yeah, in their limited sense they probably do care about me. Hmm, I don't like how serious this is getting. How about we look into the apartment?”

“Sure thing,” Lest said with a smile, following him past the desk into the closed off area.

Unlike the library itself, the apartment was dusty and neglected. The furnishings were old and worn, although it seemed most should hold together for a little while longer. The kitchen was tiny, mostly a corner with a pantry, small fridge, small stove, and sink. “You need a license to cook most things, but there's always the restaurant in town,” Lest said.

“Fine, but why two different cabinets?” Leon asked, opening the fridge. It was dark and empty inside.

“That's a refrigerator, storage to keep things cool,” Lest explained. “Seems like the power source might need replacing. And the freezer door up here is for even colder storage. Some things need more than just a preservation spell.”

He rubbed his chin. “Huh. Is preservation by enchantment more common? It was a complicated technique to seal by magic.”

Lest nodded. “Well the spell's simple now, formed so that anyone can lock and unlock it.”

While a lot of things in this place were older to Lest's eyes, he had to explain more about what was in the apartment. Like the entire bathroom, the laundry machines in the basement area, the furnace, the standing fan, the radio, and the lights. Leon asked about a clock, but Lest was able to guess that he was teasing him on that. It all seemed so ordinary now, but there were twelve centuries of inventions to cover.

“I can't decide if this is making things more complicated or more simple,” Leon said, going into the last room they were checking on, the bedroom. “Maybe more convenient once I learn all this stuff. Hey, would you come here a sec?”

Thinking it was probably something he wanted to ask, Lest said, “Sure,” and went into the room. Then he noticed runes of mischief; Leon was up to something again.

Sure enough, he grabbed him in an embrace as soon as he was near enough to reach. “Got you,” he said with a prankster smile. “And you walked right into it.”

“Well I can't deny that,” Lest said, looking up at him and weighing what the runes were saying.

Leon put a hand on Lest's cheek. “Is it still a naughty thing to get drawn into someone else's bedroom?”

“It can still start rumors, if that's what you mean,” he said. He could tell Leon did want the hug in ways he wouldn't say based on troubles simmering below the surface. However, getting too deeply involved so soon with the knowledge that the others would also be infatuated was sure to cause trouble in the future. Lest wanted to help Leon, but not make things worse in the future. “But remember what I said.”

“Tch, if you insist,” Leon said, letting him go.

At least he could help him adjust. “Here, we should probably wash the bedding before you sleep here. There should be plenty of time for that.”

“Sure about that?” he asked. Lest nodded and helped him to strip the bed, then let Leon set the washing machine to run.

* * *

 

It was getting late, but Vishnal wasn't sure he could settle down for the night. There was too much going on in his mind. Mainly, he'd never thought having his loyalty challenged would be so hard to deal with. It had seemed like an easy thing to deal with when he read up on it. After all, he wanted to be a butler more than anything, to be the best at it. It shouldn't be hard to keep loyal, especially when he admired his masters in Lady Ventuswill, Prince Lest, and even his teacher Volkanon. But the challenge came from his friend and he should be loyal to his friends too.

There were also some simpler worries on his mind so he settled on figuring one of them out first. On making sure Volkanon and Clorica weren't around, Vishnal went into the kitchen. He got a shallow dish, then found the container of cut up chicken to warm some up along with a little chicken broth. This wasn't full cooking and could even be done without a license. Plus he'd done this often enough that it wasn't something he worried over. There was a small paw cat that had been hanging around the farms, in the western fields that Lest wasn't using. Vishnal had felt sorry for her over the winter and started giving her a little food like this on occasion. But he hadn't seen her in a few days.

Maybe she simply moved out of town now that it was spring, but he didn't think so. He took the dish outside and went into the old barn where she often slept. There she was, a brown tabby with white markings sitting by a rotting crate. “Ah, here you are Maple,” Vishnal said, glad she was still around. “I brought you something.”

Maple meowed and came right over as he set the dish down. When he'd first seen her, she'd kept her distance to watch him warily. Now she didn't mind him sitting nearby while she was eating.

“I know you probably won't cause me trouble,” he said, his thoughts drifting back to the game of checkers this morning. “You're a friendly little monster like a cluckadoodle. But I didn't think one of my own friends would be causing me trouble. I should stick up for my friends if they're in trouble, that's the good thing to do. Yet, I've sworn fealty to Lady Ventuswill and the ruler under her, so if Doug's a threat to them, I should turn him in for justice. But he seems to be conflicted about it and if I turn him in, I'll be betraying him. Is it a betrayal to Ventuswilll if I don't, though? I don't know.”

Vishnal glanced down and noticed Maple was just about done with the chicken and broth. Sometimes it seemed like it'd be a nice idea to be one of the monsters. While they often had to fight to get by in life, they didn't have to deal with this kind of situation.

Sighing, he went back to talking. “You probably don't care what I say. But I can't really talk to anyone else about this.” The wind picked up briefly, causing the old structure to rattle some. It really wasn't all that safe to be in, not even for a paw cat. “You probably don't have much choice in where to sleep, though. I suppose I could ask if you could have a place in the castle, but then would you take it? I wonder, what kind of choices brought Doug here? And what's he facing now? You know, Ventuswill did ask me to keep being his friend and be there if he became lost in being alone in his troubles. I want to keep faith in him; I know he's a good guy. Then, since she asked me to keep an eye on him, does that mean I'm still being loyal to her even if I don't say anything about Doug seeming to hate her and Lest? I'm following her orders.”

“Meow,” Maple said, looking up at him before licking a paw to wipe her face off.

He smiled. “You're welcome. I guess it did help to talk to you even if you don't understand.” She got up and walked to the back of the barn, but then looked at him over her shoulder. “What, is there something over there?” Taking the dish, he got up and followed her. Behind the row of old crates, he found a group of five newborn kittens sleeping in a close group on one of the castle towels. “Aw, so you did have kittens. You seem like a proud momma.” Vishnal rubbed her head for a happy purr.

The light in the barn brightened from a illuminating orb. “Who's out here?” Volkanon asked, coming in.

“It's me, sir,” Vishnal said. “Um, this is a cat that showed up this past winter. I've been feeding her occasionally and now she has some kittens over here. I'm sorry if that was out of line, she didn't seem well and I felt bad for her.”

Volkanon came over to see for himself, then rubbed Vishnal on the head. “Ho ho, that's fine, you could have told me sooner. I'm sure Lest would appreciate a paw cat being around to hunt after small pests. Does she have a name?”

Laughing in relief, Vishnal got up. “I've been calling her Maple. Though I'm worried now with her keeping her kittens in here. The barn's not in good shape.”

“Right,” he agreed. “We have been talking about repairing the barn soon. But it'll be fine, we can work around them if need be. Might even hurry up on getting the lumber needed since there is a little family in here. Would you mind if I sent you to find some outside of town? There's been a large fallen tree not far that should have plenty.”

“Not at all, I'd love to help,” he said. It'd be helping another of his friends.

“I'll have to show you some special techniques for it. But tomorrow, it's getting late.”

Special techniques for chopping lumber? Butlers really did have something for every task. “All right. Good night, Maple.”

The paw cat jumped onto one of the more solid crates to keep an eye on her kittens and the barn for the night.

* * *

 

Spring 27

Leon had barely been out of being a guardian for two days and he felt like his head was spinning with the things he had to learn. Not only all these people living around Ven, but the devices they took for granted, the town streets where there had only been a field of flowers, the vastly changed culture (even around how Ven was treated), the changes in how people knew magic, and probably other things he hadn't encountered yet. At least the language was still something he could use, albeit his pronunciation of many words was noticeably different than those living around Selphia now. It was close enough that it wasn't an obstacle to communicate.

And now he was climbing down a long spiral staircase to get to a ship that flew in the air so that they could cross the distances in Selphia more easily. An airship; he would have thought the idea crazy, but now he could look over the open field below to see two such vessels waiting for departure. They looked much like ocean sailing vessels, with long wooden bodies and similar designs. But instead of sails, they had giant balloons. Instead of anchors, they had long ropes that got tied around tall poles spread out through the field. And instead of a keel to guide movement, they had large winged wheel devices like those on a windmill, apparently called propellers.

As if it wasn't strange enough, his first ride on one would be when the pilot was taking a test to fly them alone. The two women who were giving the test, Helena and Nem, had taught Lest and were now making sure the lessons had taken hold. It seemed like a dangerous sort of thing to do, go flying with an inexperienced pilot. Then again, Leon liked life to be a little dangerous. Staying safe was such a bore.

Lest seemed like he knew what he was doing, answering their test questions without hesitation. Like explaining what he had done to the ship to prepare it for flight. “Check over as much as you can while the ship is on the rest trolley, especially the balloon and propellers. Of course, I just read the runes and look for weakened spots like you do Lena.”

“You see runes constantly, so we can pass you on that,” Helena said, brushing a strand of bright blue hair back among the rest of the black strands. “Just as long as you take care when teaching someone without that. Go on.”

He nodded and touched the side of the floating airship. It seemed only the anchor ropes were keeping it from slowly drifting away. “Once the first checks are done, then you can pull the trolley out to a place on the airfield. Tie the ship down, then start inflating the balloon to a stalling pressure. Check over the ship again, especially the structural ropes before the balloon gets too full. When you can get inside, check over your engine and fuel stores, as well as the gas heaters. If you find you need to refuel, make sure to properly ground the ship to prevent sparks. Only pull the trolley out from under the ship when you have completed all checks and the ship is at a stalling hover.”

“Good so far, so let's talk about the propellers.” Helena and Lest went to the back of the ship for that.

Leon stayed where he was a moment, looking up at the hovering ship. All that was keeping that heavy looking thing aloft was a bag full of hot air and some enchanted pieces of wood along the bottom. Yet he could step right underneath the ship and reach up to touch it without fearing that it'd fall on him. He tried pushing it lightly, then stronger. He wasn't wearing the ceremonial gear today, so it didn't feel like anything would slip off his shoulders in reaching up like this. Instead, he had prepared for their destination by wearing some sturdy tan pants (Kiel had called them khakis), some better soled sandals (as he was never fond of full shoes), and a patterned headband to keep his hair out of his face. He also added a small striped vest when that stuffy old butler insisted he wear some kind of shirt. The vest was an article of clothing on his torso, which counted in his mind. Once Leon was pushing strongly on the ship, it shifted over about half an inch.

“You've got to be pretty strong to make the ship shift like that,” Nem said, coming under the ship with him.

“It took just about all my effort,” Leon said, tapping the underside. “By the gods, I thought I'd be coming out of the rune spring just a few years after I went in with only people aging and small changes. But here the world's gone and conquered the skies while I slept.”

Nem laughed politely. “It must be a wonder. It's pretty dangerous; we've already lost two ships to accidents and one to a warship. Still, it's a life neither of us want to give up.”

He could understand that. “I imagine so. Still, what about when you get married? Won't your husbands worry?”

Then she laughed much more sincerely. “We are married,” she said with a smile. “To each other.”

His eyes went wide and he looked right at her. “Wha... seriously?”

“Seriously,” she said with a show of the ring on her left hand.

The culture had shifted a lot. He crossed his arms over his chest. “The wonders aren't ceasing today, it seems. To think I'd be meeting a wedded couple who were both women...”

“I hope you don't have a problem with it,” Nem said. “A lot of older people do get shocked when they learn about us and we even got ostracized from the earthmate tribe. But many folks our age don't seem as troubled about it. The times are still changing.”

His tail twitched as he said, “Well I could tell you a bunch of things that my teachers would have had issues with in that. But honestly, I'm not bothered by it. Someone once told me that as long as nobody's getting hurt and the couple are happy with each other, they should be left to be that way.”

“That's a good way to see it,” she said happily.

He couldn't help but smirk at it too. “Also means that I have a chance with Lest, doesn't it?'

“I wouldn't be surprised,” Nem said. “I'm just worried that he'll get too caught up in helping everyone else to notice his chance at love.”

“That's good to know,” Leon said with an extra bit of enthusiasm. “Although right now it's all love-magic induced delirium and he insists on keeping things chaste. I can understand it, even if I don't like it.” It was very weird because he'd never seen another man like this before. But the delirium made it all too easy to just go with the flow and not care.

“Well be patient and love will find a way,” Nem said, then brightened. “Oh, since you're helping out, would you like to learn how to be a navigator? I'm sure he'd appreciate that.”

He considered it. “This ship is all new to me, but navigation isn't. I used to get around by tracking the land, the stars, and the sun.”

“That'll make it easier,” she said, waving him out from under the ship. “Come here, I can teach you some things before we take off. First thing is that you need to be aware of the ship's size.”

Following after her, Leon learned a few more things about the airship. The size of the ship was important because the crew wouldn't want to scrape the bottom on treetops and tall structures. Nem showed him how to pull down the boarding ramp so they could go onto the deck. There, she pointed out the structural ropes and how they divided the sky up into sections without obscuring anything. He could learn how to give directions and guidance through angles, but at the start it was easy enough to use the rope sections to let the pilot know where things were. The navigator just needed to be aware that any positions needed to match up to the pilot's point of view.

This ship, named the Sky Siren after a rather quirky headpiece of a golden siren up front, was an aft-driven ship as the pilot's position was at the back of the ship. The whole airship was designed like a curve, with the pilot's area being the highest of the deck. From up there, they was a good view all around. “But a lot of your dangers are things that are below the rail lines,” Nem said. “When you get high enough, the pilot's only going to see the sky all around them. That's where a navigator helps, checking over the edge of the ship and directing the pilot.”

“Ah, so you're the eyes to the ground?” Leon asked.

She nodded. “Exactly. Since we're heading for Delirium, it's an easy landmark to fly by since the nearby power plant has a heading tower on its roof. But to fly near, that gets harder because of the heated air changing the wind patterns. If we were heading for somewhere without a heading tower or a tall landmark, say the northern ruins of Syra, then you would need to stay by the edge and keep watch for the location to guide the pilot into landing. Now there is a device you need to use. I think it's simple, so I hope it is for you.”

She handed him something that looked like a golem's instruction tablet with a pen tied to it. But it was a great deal lighter than the stone tablet would be and had an internal power source. On activating it, the tablet displayed a map of the surrounding area. “Oh, this is a geological map,” Leon said, recognizing the way grades of the ground were displayed. “Except it includes trees.”

“That's right,” she said, then pointed out a similar tablet near the pilot's wheel and console. “The pilot has one too and it's one way they can tell what the ground is like. But this is just the area immediately around the ship, only about five yards around. Yours is a wider in the fore. What you do with this is, when you're at the fore of the ship or where you can't immediately talk to the pilot, take the pen and make notes on approaching obstacles, like tall trees or signs of a gust. It'll cause the marks to appear on the pilot's map. Just don't make any embarrassing marks because anyone who walks by can see it too until you clear it.”

“Ah, so no flirting unless it's the two of you alone?” Leon asked, much to her amusement.

There was also learning how to gauge the wind conditions. In that, Nem had a huge advantage in that she was a wind-based magic user (and an earthmate at that). She could see the currents of the wind where most people could only feel them. But she still had some tips to help him, such as watching the movement of the trees against the triangular flags around the ship. Once Helena and Lest were done with preparing, the latter took up the pilot's position behind the steering wheel. Leon couldn't follow everything, but once he and Nem were sent down to untie the ship and pull up the boarding platform, Lest changed the heat on the balloon in order to make it rise above the cliff line.

While he still had to learn all the symbols used in airship navigation to be a real navigator, Leon picked up some based on Nem's instructions. The tablet kept track of the ship's altitude; he had to keep track of the size and depth of the ship in order to mark trees and hills that were in the ship's way. On the other side of the ship, Lest steered to get around them safely. Helena even had him rise high enough that he couldn't see the horizon and had to rely on Nem and Leon guiding him. By that point, they could see the tall steel tower on top of the Delirium Power Plant. They just had to pick a course to get the ship there.

The power plant was a curiosity, but their goal was the lava caves. Smoke rose out of them today, pale tan puffs rising out of the ground. But that actually helped as Leon could also see the currents of the air in them. It looked rough, several pillars of hot air rising far into the sky only to spill back over at the edges to return back down. Even the experienced crew didn't want to get into that tumult with the airship. Looking over the ground, Leon found a patch of road not far from the caves that seemed big enough to land at. Nem agreed and showed him how to mark that location and guide Lest into landing.

On the ground, Leon tied the airship to a sturdy tree. When the others got down, he pointed ahead. “Seems like we have an entrance into the caves.”

“That's great,” Lest said. “Thanks for the navigation, it was helpful.”

“Did you expect me to be doing nothing?” Leon asked. “Especially knowing this was your test, had to do something so I didn't get too nervous.”

“Not to worry, he's good,” Helena said. “Hey, I'm going to check on the engines while we've got them running. Some of the stiffness might have been how long it's been in storage, but there might be something I can do to make it more responsive.”

“As long as it's not like your racing ship was,” Lest said. “It was amazing how quick that could turn but it was a scary thing to pilot.”

“Aw come on, live a little,” Leon said. “See you ladies later.”

“You two be careful in there,” Nem said, waving them off before joining her wife back on the ship.

As they got closer to the cave entrance, a warm ashy breeze blew towards them. But the fire rune spring wasn't here. This was an appropriate spot, but that spring was right up near where Selphia was, within its town limits. At one time, he'd asked why the divine wind lived next to a fire rune spring. Ven had been young for a dragon then, so her reply was simply that it made a warm spot to bask in the winter. The town wasn't at the center of the four rune springs as that spot was currently further north due to the location of the water rune spring.

Leon got into the cave and planned on activating his rune detection skill in order to check the place out. Once inside, he found that he didn't need it. It was faint at first, but as they walked deeper inside, he saw the runes more clearly. Here it was mostly the rock and air runes interacting, some metals and gems inside the walls with pockets of steam rising through cracks. There were a few monsters, fire resistant but weak to water which Lest had prepared for. But fire runes slipped up from underneath, indicating that the lava was on a lower level.

“I couldn’t find a good map on this place, so we may have to track rune flow to find a way to the rune sphere,” Lest said. “I think it’s on a lower level.”

“It’s strange because the runes are almost speaking to me here,” Leon said. If anyone could understand that feeling, it was someone like Lest. “I usually have to cast detection spells, not today. I think there’s a way down that way.” He pointed down a tunnel off to the west.

Lest nodded and they took that tunnel. “It might be the place; there are a lot of runes here, a large variety of them. Still moving slow with only one spring strengthened.”

Following this unexpected sense, they got to a jagged descent where someone had tried to smooth out a staircase to make it easier. This brought them down to the lava lake. Dark islands of sturdy stone rose above the molten red surroundings, often dotted with fire geysers which spewed sparks and lava droplets. The air was heavy with soot and haze, giving a red glare at the edge of their reduced vision. In these harsh conditions, exceptionally tough monsters roamed.

After dispatching several monsters and exploring a few islands, Leon asked, “Where's our rune sphere?” He had a vague idea of what they looked like, having only seen one in the storm of runes of the energized earth spring and his haze of just waking up.

“It should be just ahead, unless we're forced to loop around to find a different path to the stone island we need,” he said, leading the way along a thin path that headed up to a higher island.

“Quite likely to happen,” he said.

Luckily, the next path did get them to where the rune sphere was. There was only one monster here, obvious because it was a giant plant living within a lava lake cavern. The rune sphere was nowhere to be seen, but from the intensity of the runes around the central stem, it seemed that this monster had tried to swallow it. Resting in a base of fire-resistant leaves, it had four stems with varying appendages, including some dangerous-looking claws. Part of the central head looked like the flower lion monsters that had also been roaming the whole cave, so it was possible that the power of the rune sphere accelerated its growth into something capable of swallowing people.

However, it was still one monster against the two of them. Lest went in to attack, using a sapphire charm on his casting gloves to enhance piercing arrows of water. Leon had planned on supporting him with some of his prayer magic, but the runes in the area really did seem to speak to him. In their meanings, he found a spell that seemed strangely familiar. He cast it, causing a small downpour of sharp little crystals to tear apart the plant monster. They sparkled blue, which finally made the spell click in Leon’s mind: it was one that his monster Sarcophagus used against travelers trying to explore the tower.

Lest was able to finish it off, causing it to dissolve as it passed back to the Forest of Beginnings. It left behind a shimmering blue stone, something that looked like dark glass the size of a fist. While its physical appearance might be underwhelming, its runic appearance was astonishing. It had a rune density unlike anything Leon had ever seen before, as if even its physical presence was entirely runes given weight. It also had an unearthly hum that reminded him of the background sound of the ether sea. No wonder this thing could revive the springs in a way that even they had been unable to accomplish as guardians.

Once Lest had the sphere in hand, he turned to Leon in concern. “Are you all right after using that spell?”

“It’s a shock to see it again,” he said, not touching on the brief horrific flashback it had caused. “I guess if it possessed my body, it only makes sense that my body remembers its skills.” Then he rubbed his forehead. “It’s just too dang hot in here. I prefer my heat to come from a close encounter with the beautiful such as yourself.”

“If you’re well enough to joke around, it must not be that bad,” Lest said. “And isn’t that kind of comment more fun if there’s someone else around to react to it?”

His ears pricked up at the idea. “Now that you mention it, it would be,” he said. Then a fast movement in black caught his eye. Someone in a huge suit of armor all in black metal was rushing up to the island they were on. “Watch out!”

Lest managed to get to Leon’s side as the strange warrior arrive. He carried a huge scythe, but one that seemed entirely impractical for farm use. “You’ve been lucky a few too many times, Prince Lest,” he said as a black spirit all too familiar to Leon began wrapping around him like a serpent. “But I will keep tracking you down until you fall by my blade.”


	16. Obsidian Mansion

Spring 27

The minds within the Executioner were in a powerful struggle today, one that briefly made Lest forget entirely about the vast lake of lava not far under his feet. One mind was fearful, trying to hope but completely lost as to how to achieve his hope of freedom. The other mind was emotionless and methodical, following orders relentlessly without guilt because it had no intelligence to know it was doing wrong. Tied into the second mind, there was a third mind full of ancient hate and anger.

Before Lest could even think of what to do, Leon grabbed him and cast Escape to get them both out of danger. Leon swore as they came out into the cooler air. “That was Storgane, I know it,” he said, an element of fear in his runes.

Lest turned to him and noticed that the spirit chains on Leon’s arms were vibrating. “We’d better get back on the ship and get out of here,” he said. Not just because of the Executioner, but because Leon might be in danger from the hate spirit.

“Yeah,” Leon agreed, sprinting back to the ship with them. Lest quickly told Nem that they were being pursued, so she called for Helena to come out of the engine room so they could take off.

They worked as quickly as they could to untie the ship from the tree and lift the boarding ramp. But not quick enough as the Executioner emerged from the Lava Caves and rushed right for them. Lest was busy getting the ship to rise when there was a shudder from the entire structure from an attack spell. “Are we going to be able to get back to Selphia?” Lest asked Helena. She had a sense for machinery and a price in the same, while Nem's price was actually in woodwork. Between them, they would know the extent of the damage instantly.

“As long as that buzzard doesn’t cast that spell again,” she said, already preparing to go back below deck. “Keep rising, I’ll go back to the engine and make sure things stay working.”

At the edge of the ship, Leon cast the crystal storm attack in an attempt to fend off the Executioner. He watched from there until they started heading back north. “What was that, some servant to the old dragon?” he asked, coming up to the pilot’s area.

On seeing how the armored warrior was today, Lest was starting to have different ideas about him. “I think he’s like you, maybe even a fifth guardian.”

“No way, I would’ve known about one,” Leon said. “Unless he was very recent and even then, he’s nowhere near a rune spring.”

“If you follow how history has gone, a fifth one might have come around in recent decades,” he explained. “Of course, that requires someone outside my family knowing etherlink. But then word of the rune spheres somehow got spread when we kept it secret too. There’s also what Storgane told me in a dream I had, the time when you first became aware of me.” He tried not to shiver in recalling it. “He only needs one heart in complete despair to reactivate his curse and ruin the world, when he had six hearts in deep despair. That would be counting you four guardians, Ventuswill, and someone else. The fact that the Executioner can summon one of Storgane’s hate spirits points to the person within the armor as being the sixth one.”

Leon considered it, pacing around. “I still doubt that guy is a guardian. Although I won’t really be certain until we rescue the next one, I believe that I will know their voices. He doesn’t sound like any of the other three.”

Lest nodded. “I see. And the fact that he has been traveling around, even as far as the capitol, also hints that he’s not a guardian. The armor does seem to be under Storgane’s control.”

“Why you you make the difference between the armor and the guy inside?” Leon asked.

Noticing a mark on his map (as Nem had gone to the fore of the ship to watch that area), Lest corrected his course to avoid a tall hill and head for the Selphia airfield. “Because they clearly have different minds to me. It’s in the interactions of their runes. The armor is a machine with a human inside, but the human appears to have no control over what the armor does. Somehow, Storgane can give the armor orders that it follows without thought.”

Leon went still rather than pacing about on hearing that. “Oh yeah? Then, I suppose he is like us in that way. I bet Storgane torments him too. Although, we got through it because we had each other and we had a very good reason for getting into that situation. What kind of reason would he have? And I doubt he can talk to anyone even in the limited ways that I could with the other guardians.”

Shrugging, Lest said, “I only know that there’s a lot of fear in him. I really want to save him too.”

“Even though he’s trying to kill you?”

“Yeah, because it isn’t him trying to kill me,” he explained. But since he only encountered the Executioner on chance, he couldn’t prepare for freeing him like he could with the guardians. Although with his orders to kill him, Lest was sure he’d meet the Executioner again.

When they got back to Selphia and landed, Lest had noticed a cluster of stressed runes coming from the engine room. But it wasn’t the sort a human would have. Helena had an explanation for that. “The attack did some damage to the engine. We were okay this time, but I wouldn’t recommend flying this ship without someone like me to help out until the damage is repaired.”

“How long is it going to take to get it fixed?” he asked. It would be good to have the ship for when they went to the northern ruins and they did have a few days to spare in giving Dolce a couple days to adjust.

Helena wasn’t optimistic about that. “Hard to say as it depends on how quickly we can get the parts delivered here. I could fix it then, although that requires taking the engine apart completely to replace the damaged sections. Could take a couple of weeks.” She grinned at Nem. “Hey sweetheart, want an excuse to get out of the capitol’s inn and move in here?”

“Sure, that sounds great,” Nem said. “If we manage to win that post service race coming up, we might even be able to pay for it.”

“I think we can work something out for you two,” Lest said, happy to hear that they might be moving in permanently. Sure they’d be away often, but they’d always come back home.

* * *

 

Spring 28

The next morning, Lest and Leon walked on a road heading northwest to reach the nearest entrance to Obsidian Mansion that could be gotten to on foot. As they got close, the presence of the strange home became obvious. The plants were twisted and dark, grown into aggressive forms due to a hostile environment. Scattered blocks and eventually an old stone wall topped with iron spikes appeared along the road. Left unlocked, a rusty iron gate clattered in the wind right in front of a grand entrance. The stone archway and gothic windows gave the building a brooding appearance. But like Kiel had mentioned, the building did not look as large as one would expect from such a huge set of double doors. The edges of the walls seemed ripped apart, the other pieces of this house tossed aside for some indecipherable reason.

“Shall we see if the lady of the home is in?” Leon said, going up to bang on the iron circle knocker. After a series of echoes from inside, there was a click and the doors spread outward without an apparent effort.

“Guess so,” Lest said, going inside with him. And right as they crossed the threshold, the doors slammed shut behind them, clicking shut with an ominous sound.

The room they arrived in was a grand entrance hall. Two dozen candles on an ornate chandelier overhead lit themselves to cast a wavering light. Two staircases swept around the outer walls, leading up to a second floor. Broken furnishings were everywhere, even blocking the two doorways just ahead of them. In many corners, old cobwebs were coated in gray dust. Paintings had been slashed to unrecognizable shreds. And to Lest's eyes, corrupted runes were gathering in fine lines along the messes.

“Looks like somebody threw a temper tantrum,” Leon said.

“Maybe more than just one,” Lest said, heading up the stairs. It didn't seem like they could get into any of the ground level doors.

“Person or tantrum... hey, you hear someone?” Leon asked. When Lest glanced back at him, his fox ears were twitching around.

Lest listened, but didn't quite hear it. “No, I don't think so.”

Then Lest could hear it too, coming from the ceiling. “Aaaaaaaaaoof!” And with that, a little girl with purple pigtails dropped through the ceiling and grabbed hold of Leon's shoulders.

“Hey, get off!” Leon snapped, turning quickly and then having to brace himself on the rail to keep from slipping.

“Wheeeee!” the girl squealed, laughing in delight as she was flung around like a ragdoll behind Leon. Lest tried not to laugh as he caught sight of a pointed hat drifting downwards. It seemed to match the strange girl's clothes, so he caught it. In his grasp, it barely had a presence.

“What is on me?” Leon asked, his ears turning down in annoyance.

“A little ghost girl,” Lest said.

“I'm Piiicoooo!” the girl cried, pulling herself up. “Oh mister, what big ears you have!” She took hold of the edge of one, grinning when Leon tried to flick it out of her grasp.

“Which means you don't need to shout into them,” Leon said, glaring at her over his shoulder.

Pico just grinned wider when she got herself partway over his shoulder and poked his nose. “Oh mister, what a big nose you have!”

Lest snickered, covering his mouth with a hand. Recognizing the pattern too, Leon relaxed some and told her, “Yes, enough to be grateful that you have no smell when you're right in my face.”

She showed him what right in his face meant as she got herself even closer. “Oh mister, what big teeth you have!”

“All the better to eat you with!” he said with a growl, causing her to fly off his shoulders and laugh in delight.

“Except you're a fox, not a wolf,” Lest said. “And she's probably all empty calories.”

“Yeah, she wouldn't even make for a satisfying snack,” Leon said, looking away in mock disinterest.

“But I'm sweet and salty all in one delightful package,” Pico said in an entirely too cheerful manner. “Are you here for Dolly?”

“You mean Dolce?” Lest asked, tossing her the hat.

“Thanks,” she said, catching it and putting it on. “Yes, I mean Dolly cause you're running around with a not sleeping guardian. Are you here to rescue Dolly too? Are you? Are you?”

“That's the plan,” Leon said.

“Yeeeeesss!” She bolted right for Leon's back and clung to him again. “I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for this day, like for-ev-er. Let's go get her! Charge, noble steed!”

“I am not a noble steed,” Leon said, although he was starting to have fun with her. “I'm a dragon priest.”

Pico tilted her head. “That sounds like a noble steed to me.”

“We have to find her spirit, her body, and the rune spring,” Lest said. “I can contact her spirit if we find her body, so do you know where she or Marionetta is?”

“Dolly is not Marionetta,” Pico said, indignant but sad as she hid her face behind Leon's hair. “Marionetta is actually mean and makes Dolly do bad things. But if you need her body, um, I guess we have to do something about Marionetta.”

“Where do we find them?” Leon asked.

“They're usually in the theater because that monster likes drama,” Pico said, pointing to the large central door of the second floor. “I'll tell you the way.”

There were all kinds of spirits lurking in the halls of the manor, most of them monstrous like smokey panthers, hooded ghouls, and even blobs of slime. Yet some were true ghosts, although Lest mostly sensed their presence rather than saw them. Various people had died in this house, including a relatively new group of Sechs soldiers in one room where a door was partially nailed shut. From the looks of things, they had killed each other. That would explain the amount of fear, distrust, and hate lurking in the air, not just in the continual sprawl of corrupted runes like cracks in the wall.

Lest mentioned it while they descended a staircase. “It's not as dense here as it was at Karnak Tower, but the corrupted runes are here too.”

“That feeling of badness and wrongness has a form?” Pico asked. “It's like a sickness in that it's been spreading from room to room, but most of the time I thought I was imagining it.”

“No, it's really there, just faint here,” Leon said.

“I just know that I don't like how I feel when I get near it,” Pico said. “But I had to stay near Dolly.”

After changing halls a couple times, they found the entrance to the theater. Unlike the demolished entrance, this room could easily be gorgeous. A cluster of dining tables sat in front of a raised stage. Huge red and gold curtains were drawn back on either side, with old fashioned lights lining the stage's edge. A pair of balconies were overhead for more exclusive seating. While there was a coating of dust on the floor, a thorough cleaning might make the wood surfaces beautiful. And most curiously, the fire rune spring sprouted high above the middle of the stage. If performances were put on here, this might stir up especially passionate and energetic shows. But it too had a build up of stagnant runes trying to get through a weak spring.

“The rune spring's in here too, isn't it?” Leon asked.

“Yes, right above the stage,” Lest said.

Pico had been looking around from her perch, then made Leon flinch when she shouted, “DOLLY!”

“Watch the ears,” Leon said testily, tensing his tail.

All of a sudden, a bundle of dolls poured down from the balcony they were under. It might have been strange, but flashes of light showed that knives were hidden among the dolls, making it alarming. An inhuman laugh or wail filled the air as all of the items vanished as quickly as they came. Pico murmured in fear, trembling on Leon's back.

“You need to get this one like you got mine, right?” Leon asked, holding his fan at ready to cast.

“Right, exactly what you woke up to,” Lest said. Which meant finding where Marionetta was going to appear and hopefully paralyzing or otherwise restraining her.

The wailing laugh came again, this time from the stage as a strange thin creature appeared. It had the head of a pumpkin, a pointed hat like Pico's, and long thin limbs covered in striped ragged clothes. “I am not jealous of you one bit trying to tame that shrew,” Leon said, darting out of the way of a stream of knives Marionetta hurled at him.

“Yours was worse,” Lest said, trying to get her paralyzed.

The spell failed to stick. She vanished again, right as Lest felt something like strings latch onto his arms. When he tried to shake them off, Marionetta appeared right behind him and jerked him backwards, straight into a wardrobe that immediately latched shut. Lest could hear Leon chanting something, but there were worrisome runes formed into swords circling the wardrobe. The swords paused right before one hurled itself straight through the wardrobe. While he was able to get out of its path, it was followed quickly by two more narrow misses that pinned him in place. And there were ten swords remaining outside; one was surely going to pierce through him as well.

Then all the swords clattered on the ground, seconds before the wardrobe vanished into nothing. Lest stumbled in place, nearly losing the rune sphere from his jacket. On the ground in front of him, Marionetta was sprawled out asleep. Leon's runes were being strained in trying to keep her asleep. “Not much time,” he tried to say.

“Dolly!” Pico shouted, jumping from Leon's back to hover close by Marionetta. She looked like she wanted to clamp onto her just like she'd been on Leon the whole time, but was wary of the monster in her friend's place.

“Got it,” Lest said, hurrying over and dropping down on his knees so he could hug her. It was a strange feeling, like hugging a cold bundle of rags that might just be hiding a sharp knife out of sight. As he took the rune sphere from the pocket he'd put it in, he said, “Dolce, answer me! Ventuswill needs you.”

“I do too!” Pico added, shortly before Lest's attention cut off what was going on around him.

The enchantments here were nearly half the age of those that had been on Leon. This made it easier for Lest to pick out the differences. However, the etherlink itself was a more refined spell. He started the same way that he freed Leon, picking apart the monster runes quickly in hopes that the sleep enchantment held. It didn't, but by the time it broke, Marionetta could barely move.

But she could speak to him, into his mind. “What's the point, sweetheart? The people she knew and loved are dead now, dead! Not that she would be surprised, she was always surrounded by the dead. If she wakes up, there'll just be more death waiting. There is more death waiting for you as well, I know because I can taste that suffering in you. What's the point of living if it's always going to end up surrounded in death to eventually die?”

The monster was trying to trick him, drawing on his mother's death to cause him pain. But this wasn't the right time to be thinking on that. “Ventuswill needs her back.”

“Even the divine ones die, boy. But she kept fighting that simple truth, fighting pointlessly to prolong the life that already outlived a human's lifespan, a life that should have died hundreds of years before! Ventuswill would not be so weak if these fools hadn't made such pointless sacrifices to save one far more powerful than themselves. It's insanity in every way!”

“You're the one who's not needed,” Lest said, taking out the last bonds Marionetta had on Dolce. The monster puppet shrieked in anger, but could not fight against him sending her out.

And now the etherlink enchantment... right away, Lest found a problem. In the presence of the sluggish spring, he was having a harder time finding the difference between etherlink and Dolce, as well as the bonds between them. He decided to place the rune sphere when he felt the light of a guardian nearby. However, it was Leon. He was singing in a way that Lest couldn't hear at the moment, but could feel in his heart. There weren't words to it, but there was meaning. 'Fire-guardian... Dolce, we come to you the angel and I as promised. Are you here?'

'Dark, there was a fright,' she replied in an unclear song. 'Earth-guardian Leon, I hear you. Find you.' There were more distant encouragements from the other guardians, happy to hear this.

'Have you heard another voice in the sea?' Leon asked.

Lest came out of his focus and found that Leon was sitting nearby, singing as he'd noticed. Once he finished his message and waited to hear from the others, he hummed to maintain the connection. Lest looked down and found himself looking at a woman a little younger than himself. She had long pigtails of dark pink hair and a pale complexion. While her attire was closer to normal, it was still a very old-fashioned dress with a high neckline and little skin showing aside from her face. There was a touch of macabre to it, what with the skull decorations on the collar and sleeves, as well as a marionette's control bars for earrings. There was a corset over her dress, but it was in an ugly metal attached to chains wrapped around her torso, eventually connecting back to bands on the ankles and wrists just like Leon.

Getting to his feet, Lest waited until Leon noticed and glanced up at him while still humming. “I need the rune spring fixed before I can undo the etherlink enchantment,” he explained. “Keep in contact so her spirit comes and stays near.”

He nodded, then lowered his head as he relayed the message in song. Pico was kneeling right by Dolce's shoulder. “What can I do to help?” she asked hopefully.

“You could show me how to get up on the catwalks,” Lest said, pointing up to where the spring actually was.

“Oh, that's a dangerous thing,” the ghost girl said, getting up. “Hope you have good balance or else you'll join us! Come on, the ladder's behind the curtain.” She hurried off to the stage.

At the side of the stage, Lest climbed the metal ladder up to the catwalks. They were narrow beams crisscrossing the area up here, some supporting small platforms with stage lights, others with areas to drop scenery items or puppets from. The rune spring wasn't near one of the platforms. Instead, there was a long beam between two scenery platforms where the muscle area of the spring was. The catwalk seemed unsteady when he stepped on it. Lest waited a moment to make sure it wasn't going to crack before he carefully put all his weight on it.

“I think what you're looking for is around here,” Pico said, flitting about in the air close to the muscle. “I can't see whatever this spring is, but I can feel power trying to move here.”

“You're right,” Lest said, pausing by the muscle. She may have said it lightly, but he knew this could lead to a lethal accident. Praying in silence for a moment, he brought the rune sphere out and held it in place within the spring. The same technique as before worked, making a small cut in both to fuse them together when they healed.

The spring shuddered, then pulsed and expanded with the increase in rune power it got. Mostly it grew downward, then flared out once it hit the stage to fill the whole room. While it had a feeling of fire like the lava caves, that wasn't all it contained. It was the fire that warmed a family hearth, a fire that ravaged a thick forest, a fire of passion ignited in someone's soul, it was all kinds of fire. Like the stage showed all kinds of life in the plays, songs and speeches that went on in it. In that case, maybe it wasn't so strange that fire inspired the theater.

Lest then used his counter magic to break through the stagnant mess of runes around the area. As he did so, he became aware of the many ghosts housed within the mansion. Many of them felt the fire and were entranced by it. The power swept through them, letting them know that their killer and tormentor Marionetta was gone. With that reassurance, the ghosts found hope and peace. Some even found enough that they willingly passed into the flow of runes to reach the Forest of Beginnings. Not all of them could, still tied to this place for one reason or another. But enough did that the mansion's power quickly waned. The magic that locked them in was dispelled.

On his way back to the ladder, Pico floated alongside him, her hand on her chin as if in intense concentration. “Huh, you're kind of scary,” she finally said. “You did more to undermine this place than anyone's been able to do for centuries, even before I died!”

“Thanks, I think,” Lest said.

“I guess it's okay,” she said. “A building shouldn't be pulling people in and devouring them. Just so long as you don't separate me and Dolly, I'm fine with it.”

That made him think. He knew that some ghosts could chose to haunt a certain person, binding the pair together until the living partner died. “If I haven't affected your bond with her yet, I doubt I'll cause you trouble.”

“Good,” she said, then hurried over to Dolce's side.

When Lest joined her, Leon and Dolce were still singing with the others. Her lips weren't moving on her body, but Lest could see a ghostly image that was a lot like her nearby. Instead of pigtails and a hat, her spirit had loose hair in wavy curls with some skull bows as decoration. He knelt down and waved to Leon to get his attention. “Okay, I'm ready.”

Leon helped up a hand, then focused on communicating with the others. “The angel will wake you but our enemy will try one more time to claim your heart. We'll be here for you like you were there for me. Be strong as you always are.”

Because of the renewed spring, Lest could hear the other two guardians a little now. They were giving what support they could even as a fog of hate tried to pull on her chains. Dolce seemed confident. 'The way is open to save Ven. I will not falter.'

Then it was just up to him. Lest hugged Dolce's body again and focused his attention on undoing the etherlink bonds. Thankfully, Ventuswill's insight made it easier this time to do so and tie her spirit back to her body. They had to deny Storgane one of his captive hearts again.


	17. The Third Guardian of Ventuswill

Give up and despair, Dolce Amaretto

Your sacrifice was an escape.

You could be a forever outcast surrounded by the dead.

You could be a wife kept within the house.

You had no other options until a sacrifice became an escape.

You will awaken to all in your heart dead.

You've known it all along.

Give up and despair, Dolce Amaretto.

Give up and despair.

* * *

 

She had known all along.

The divine wind was ill and depressed, spending entire days asleep. Dolce's mother was the dragon priestess and she tried her best to serve the goddess even in her bad days. Since Dolce was studying with her, she was often there helping too. She had to know a lot of things to be a dragon priestess, including about the two guardians.

Over in the northeast part of town at the very edge of the cliff, there was a stone marker with two names on it. It reminded Dolce of a gravestone, even in how she'd been asked to always make sure it was clean and that flowers were set there at the beginning of every week. The first name was 'Leon Karnak, Dragon Priest' with a later carving adding ‘362-386'. The second name was 'Amber Yokmir, Child of the Forest' with the added dates of '574-592'.

It was year 895 when a winter's night was disrupted with the return of Dolce's father and one of their neighbors. Sometimes the arrival of this neighbor was a joyous thing, as Adaline was an earthmate who specialized in crafting toys. Dolce herself had enjoyed many of the woman's toys over the years, especially a lovely knitting nancy that helped her make her first handcrafted hat when she'd been just six. But this visit wasn't joyous at all. It was terrifying as her father couldn't stand on his own, with red welts marking his skin in strange patterns.

As her younger siblings were asleep, Dolce and Pico sneaked into the hall outside of her parent's bedroom where he'd been taken. Adaline seemed distressed as well. “I'm terribly sorry. It's not a spell I neglect, but I haven't cast it on a person before as it's technically forbidden to do so. I don't know if it's because of my doubts or his age, etherlink just wouldn't set in place.”

“But you need more time to continue your family's work and find a way to save Ventuswill for good,” Dolce's mother said, torn over these issues. “I... we had accepted what it would do to him. The world could suffer if Ventuswill dies, but we could move on.”

It didn't take long for her to realize that her father had tried to become a guardian too, even though he was currently serving the divine wind as her dragon knight. Adaline was very skilled in her magic; even if she had doubts, it should have worked. Thus, it had to be because of her father's age. Runes weakened in a person as they grew older and his had not been strong enough to endure the potent enchantment. And the earthmate said once that he had lived a full life and thus didn't have as much potential as the other two had when they became guardians.

Dolce was right about the same age as the younger guardian. However, taking care of their memorial made it clear that they had been waiting for the solution to Ven's weakness for centuries. It could be the same for her. This wasn't a decision to make quickly.

* * *

 

For one thing, she had a boyfriend.

She met him outside of Obsidian Mansion one day. “I have something to talk with you about, about this place,” she said, for there was a rune spring inside that didn't have a guardian attached to it. She visited the strange house often to deal with the ghosts that bothered people at night, thus it made sense for her to be at a place she was familiar with. Like Leon must have been familiar with the tower that bore his name and Amber must have been familiar with the forest she'd taken her name from.

Strangely enough, he nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking about it too. I'm happy to be with you, but could you please stop coming to this place?”

“What's wrong with that?” Dolce asked, hurt that he'd complain about it. She'd been so happy when they started dating, even moreso when he first kissed her hand. Who'd think that she could get the attention of such a handsome witty boy? But she also liked speaking with the ghosts and didn't see why people could be so afraid of them.

“Yeah, we ghosts can be a lot more interesting company than some jerks I can think of,” her ever-present companion Pico said. She had disliked him from the moment he started courting Dolce, but that had been simple enough to excuse as jealousy.

He was clearly trying hard to ignore the little ghost girl. “Well people are talking about it and saying that you're a creep for being so interested in the dead.”

Her face felt warm with embarrassment; he didn't have to tell her because she'd certainly heard them. “It's not like that,” she said, not able to meet his eyes.

“She is not a creep!” Pico insisted, giving a death glare to him. “She's one of the nicest people around, a lot better than someone like you deserves.”

“You keep out of this,” he said to Pico. “And I can't really feel comfortable around you knowing that she's always lurking around and watching like a pervert.”

She could endure bad talk about herself, but did not like it being about her ghostly sister. “She has her reasons, so if you want to be with me, you'd better get used to her,” Dolce snapped.

But in the end, he couldn't handle either Pico or the talk that he was dating a death-obsessed girl and thus had to be a creep himself. Dolce tried to hate him for it, but she felt completely awful when she'd felt such strong love for him earlier. At least the people who really mattered and cared stuck by her: her parents, Ventuswill, and even Pico.

Strike that, she didn't have a boyfriend.

* * *

 

She did have other friends.

Winter was a time when cold winds blew and snow filled the stone streets. The men had no trouble bundling up and going out to clear the streets or do other work. But for women who wanted to keep a reputation as a good lady, it was a season to stay indoors except to go to a biweekly sewing circle in the castle. Or maybe a small social event like a tea party. They always had to be escorted outside by a man, preferably a relative or a spouse.

The quilt the sewing circle was working on currently was not to Dolce's liking. It had a clash of bright colors in a sunburst pattern that made it appear gaudy in her eyes. If she had a say in the design, she'd prefer to work on something more somber and comforting. But the household that this quilt was going to wanted brightness, and so brightness they'd get.

Working with four girls she'd grown up with, she felt out of place in being single again. Three of them were married now, two of them in different stages of pregnancy. The fourth was the youngest of their group, but rumor had it that her suitor might be proposing to her before long. “It really is the greatest series of joys for a woman, to get married to a good man and to have children,” the married one who wasn't pregnant said. “I'm sure you'll be in good hands with him. Then you get to bring a new life and joy into the world, a real miracle.”

Dolce paused in her stitching to look over at her. She recalled days, very recent days, when this friend had been crying and not even wanting to get dressed out of her nightgown. The stress of managing a household and learning to be a mother had turned her into a complete wreck. In years past, the two of them had run around outside the town walls and climbed trees to get fresh fruits as secret treats. Then they got to an age where their mothers insisted they stay inside the town walls to be good and respectable ladies.

She couldn't deny wanting an escape from this, to run back outside and climb trees where adults weren't around to complain about the noise of children.

* * *

 

In a way, learning to be a dragon priestess was an escape.

Dolce and her mother got to leave the house every day to go to the shrine and attend to Ventuswill. This including helping the dragon refine her speaking in the human language, something that wasn't easy even for a goddess. To help her, Dolce had the idea a few years ago to bring some of the children to the shrine and help them with their speaking, reading, and writing as well. Ven had tried to deny the idea, but she quickly came to love it. Her conversations with the children delighted her and Dolce.

Sometimes, Ven asked her to run errands or do tasks for her. Dolce often had to ask her father to accompany her when she was a girl. As she grew older, she started going on tasks alone even though it troubled adults around town that she was an unmarried girl going outside of town on her own. But she wasn’t really on her own since Pico was always with her. Her father gave her a few lessons in fighting in case monsters gave her trouble. He did warn her not to go in someone’s house with just Pico along. As he put it, one hoped that all the men were gentlemen with self control, but such was not the case and so a young lady shouldn’t put herself at risk.

Yet the duties of a priestess reminded Dolce every day of Ven’s troubles. The divine dragon slept a lot, but it was troubled sleep that didn’t seem restful at all. Things got worse when Ven and Dolce’s mother caught a cold around the same time. Her mother was starting to recover, but Dolce was still spending most of the day at the shrine attending to Ventuswill and trying to make her feel better.

If anything, she seemed to be getting worse. Dolce had hoped that a bath might help her feel clean and thus a little better, so she put seals on the doorways and increased the fire to make sure it was plenty warm. As she ran the soapy sponge over Ventuswill’s body, some of her scales flaked off. The ones that stayed on should be cleaner, but they still looked dull when they dried. It seemed strange that an illness that made a human only ill for three days was making a dragon so ill after four.

Ven’s body shook in a few coughs, stopping Dolce in her work for a moment. The dragon lifted her head and turned back to see her sitting on the ground. “Oh, it’s you,” she said in a hoarse voice. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to clean you up,” Dolce replied.

“I see, thank you.” She put her head back down and sighed sadly.

“What’s bothering you, Ven?” Pico asked, floating near her head and bending over.

“Just the usual, never mind,” Ven said, not saying any more even when Pico continued pestering her.

Dolce had been contemplating offering herself as a guardian and this convinced her that she should.

* * *

 

She tried to make sure there wasn’t anything left undone, which meant she had to talk with her parents.

“I don’t like the idea either,” Dolce said. “But it’s been proven to work and Ven’s really suffering. The earthmates have a lot of secret knowledge, so they should be able to figure out something.”

Her mother Grace had her arm around her. “Adaline is working hard and that’s why we were willing to try with your father. But you… you could be in that state for a long time.” She never said it could be beyond their lifetimes, but she had to have known too. The dates on the stone were centuries ago.

“I know,” Dolce said, although it gave her a sick feeling to say so. This could be their final goodbye. “But if Father’s too old, who else could? I want to see her get better more than anything and not just from this cold.” She tried to smile a little. “Remember when I was small and she stirred the snow up in a cyclone so my friends and I could play in the snowfall on a sunny day? That’s more of what she wants to be doing, not sleeping all the time like she has been this year.”

“It’s going to make her sad like the others,” Grace said. “But if something isn’t done soon to help her now,” she sighed. “Well this is exactly what we talked about before,” she looked up at her husband.

Anthony had been thinking quietly. But at this, he bowed his head. “It does take a rare bravery to offer your whole self like this. But you seem just as resolved as I.”

Since it was her parents, Dolce didn’t mind saying, “I am scared, not sure what I’ll come out of it to see. I’ve been thinking about it ever since you tried and it always comes back to Ventuswill. There isn’t a lot more we can do and their research has been arduous.”

“Scared but still resolved, that’s what I mean,” Anthony said. “Has Pico agreed with this?”

That was a problem. “She hasn’t spoken to me for a couple of days, ever since I convinced myself to do it,” she said.

“If you can get her to agree, then,” he paused, then gripped her shoulder. “We love you, Dolce, and we’ll miss you. But if you can convince Pico too, we’ll let you go.”

The reason her father had said that was because Pico and Dolce shared their feelings and thus if Pico was against this, Dolce wasn't fully ready for it.

* * *

 

Their bond just made it harder to convince Pico.

After not speaking to Dolce for a week, the ghost wouldn’t stop talking today. They were out by the shore of Dragon Lake, hidden among the icicle-laden trees so that anyone who walked out of town wouldn’t notice they were out there on their own. “This whole thing sounds awful and the person who invented this plan is probably an awful terrible person without a heart,” Pico said. “I would’ve smacked him good if he were still around. Ventuswill is in trouble, but who’d think the solution was to take one of her best friends and basically kill them without killing them to fuse into the ether, whatever that means, so that they could take on a portion of her work and support her life force? If you kill somebody’s best friend, of course they’re going to be miserable no matter how healthy they get as a result.”

“I won’t be dying from this,” Dolce said. “I will come back to Ven and you, I promise.” The wind picked up with a bitter edge, making the trees rattle with ice. Dolce shivered in spite of her handknit winter gear.

That didn’t satisfy Pico. “When are you coming back? And how? Do you have any idea of how? The other two haven’t budged in all this time and that earthmate lady hasn’t said anything about it. Ven and I will be there however you get back alive, but what about anyone else? Or anything else? Who knows what the world will be like?”

“Those questions are insignificant when you consider that something needs to be done now or Ven will fade away,” she said.

“They’re significant to me!” she said, balling up her fists and looking teary-eyed.

Dolce took Pico’s hands, able to do so because of their bond. “I know. But think about this: the earthmates need longer to be able to fix the big problem here. If this cold ends up being the thing that kills Ven, then what’s going to happen to the two guardians? They’re tied to her like you’re tied to me, so they could end up lost to the ether sea. And if that happens, it means that Ven will have died with a heavy regret on her heart. You know what happens to ghosts who have a regret they can’t solve.” She pointed over to Obsidian Mansion where several such souls lingered and would have terrorized the town of Selphia had Dolce and Pico not convinced them to stay within the house.

“That could still happen to you,” Pico said, looking down at the ground.

“In that case, we just have to trust the earthmates to make sure we have a future,” Dolce said.

“You really are resolved to do this,” Pico said sadly. She smiled anyhow. “Well whatever the future has, you’ll always have me at your side. I’ll wait by you forever if I must.”

“Maybe not the best thing to look forward to, but I’m glad to know that,” Dolce said, which was enough to make Pico hug her. She let it happen this once. “Just keep Ven company in my place.”

“All right.”

* * *

 

In the end, she didn’t tell Ventuswill because she would’ve tried to talk her out of it and might have succeeded.

Dolce said goodbye to her parents, siblings, and friends one day in late winter, then walked with the earthmate into Obsidian Mansion. Pico went along too, but she was the only other coming in for this. In the mansion’s theater, they found the rune spring. Dolce knew it was the fire rune spring, mostly because this room was always warm in spite of the constant chill filling the rest of the building. She felt mostly calm although her fears still lingered.

Adaline stopped a moment to pick up a small sliver off the ground. It seemed to be a shard of red glass. “I’m really sorry that it had to come to this, Miss Dolce,” she said sincerely. “But no one can deny that we’re running out of time again.”

“I’m fine with it,” she said. “What is that?”

“A piece of something I tried.” She did something to the sliver to make it shine like sparks falling off a burning log. “Past tests claimed that we couldn’t get etherlink to set on an inorganic object, but there are runes that describe the properties of inorganic materials like glass and metal. I got it to set on a small glass bead.” She showed Dolce the sliver, not even long enough to cover the width of her smallest fingernail. “It took me many moon cycles to get it strong enough to try fusing into the spring. But it wasn’t enough; if an object is going to replace the function of a guardian, it’s going to need to be a lot bigger and probably of a higher density of runes. That’s going to take more than any one person’s lifetime, even for our tribe.”

“Are you going to keep trying?” Pico asked.

Adaline nodded. “Of course, but I’m going to need to run more experiments with small beads. I hope this won't end up taking too much longer. You're all young folks who deserve to live.”

The rune spring happened to be in the part of the mansion that held a dinner theater. Dolce and the earthmate sat across from each other, close enough that they could touch without reaching far. Singing her native words as if putting a child to bed, Adaline cast her magic over Dolce. She put her hands on her shoulders, then chin, then eyes to send her into the ether sea.

She started dreaming of an uncomfortable cold born of knowing that someone hated her.

* * *

 

Since she was bonded to Ven, Dolce tried to call out to her and apologize for doing this without speaking to her. She couldn't get a response at first and when she did, it was a wordless feeling of sadness and guilt. Ven tried to accept it and might have told Grace that she had. In the ether sea, Dolce could feel her sadness grow as well as a sense of helplessness. Another one of her friends was gone. Dolce wanted to explain, but it seemed even her feelings weren't crossing over.

She then tried to reach Pico. She was a ghost and could hear things beyond normal hearing. Sometimes she saw images of her sister doing as she said, waiting by her side and sleeping to pass the time. Even though Pico had agreed to let her do this, she was growing sad and lonely too. She left the mansion some nights to go talk to Ven but it wasn't always possible. Obsidian Mansion was growing stronger. For that or some other reason, Pico couldn't hear her either.

Dolce was starting to worry that she'd go mad from this state, able to see her friends mourning her and not able to contact them at all. But then she started hearing voices within the darkness of the ether sea. They spoke no words, but the feelings and focus seemed entirely human. It didn't take her long to realize they must be the two other guardians, somewhere else in this strange landscape. When she spoke to them, they could respond. They wanted to reassure her, warn her... there were dangers in this place she hadn't yet seen. Without words, it wasn't easy to tell what they meant.

As their voices were distinct, she could tell which one was which. Amber had a light happy voice most of the time, twirling about like petals on the wind. She had a strong hope that they'd wake up and go back home, for Ventuswill was enough of home for her. In contrast, Leon had a strong willful voice that reminded Dolce of the Maya Mountains forming a formidable wall between Norad and an unknown land beyond. He was like that most of the time, protection from the strange elements of the ether sea. Before long, Dolce resolved to be as strong as they were.

* * *

 

There were times when being that strong was tough, especially the first time she clearly heard the words of the one they warned her about, “Your parents are dead.”

It was something she'd known, something she thought she'd prepared herself for confronting. But it was different coming from the voice of a harsh blizzard that had nothing but contempt for warmth and life. While she had no body, she could feel sharp pricks of ice on her cheeks and hands. “Death is absolutely fair, sparing no one,” she said even as her heart tore in two.

“Except you have bypassed death in order to save a doomed life. What you're doing is futile. Have you felt a change in how things are? Do you even know how this works? Even Ventuswill will die; she will die miserable and alone now that three of you have left her side.”

“You can't know that,” she said, although there was a part of her that wanted to scream in despair.

There was a malicious laugh and a flash of sharp teeth that were oddly familiar. “I know far better than you, flea. I am the divine wind that preceded her, the dragon god Storgane. She will die just as I have. With the agony in her heart, I will doom the whole world on the power of your souls. All you have done is delay the inevitable and secure my desired end.”

She tried to deny it, but there were the truths she knew. She didn't know how they'd leave here, the other two had been here for centuries, she couldn't talk to Ven or Pico... if Ven died while she was here, her soul would fuel the doom of the world. Dolce felt despair and for a moment felt like nothing more than a puppet controlled by invisible strings.

That's when she saw that her body had turned into a puppet, a monstrous one that lurked the halls of Obsidian Mansion. Marionetta was luring people in and trapping them to die in terror. Knowing that, Dolce felt sick and like she might go insane. But Leon and Amber sang to her, doing their best to soothe her of the nightmare. They were experiencing the same things, they understood. They also understood that it was only their wills and good memories that kept them from giving in to the cold darkness Storgane spread. That is, if they were alone. But they were together and would sing together, the other two being strong when the third was weak.

Doing her best to ignore Marionetta and Storgane, Dolce sang with them and it was her salvation. Theirs as well.

* * *

 

Probably the most terrifying moment in all of this wasn't the first time Storgane made her despair. It was shocking, but nothing like the moment she first heard the fourth guardian. Had he been there before then? It was hard to tell because his scream of despair and insanity swept through the ether sea as a typhoon.

Dolce's heart was assaulted by all of the worst moments of her life, by every fear and nightmare she'd had. When she lost her boyfriend, when her father had come home from his failed attempt to become a guardian, when one of her siblings died (he'd been barely three seasons old), when she thought she'd accidentally exorcised Pico after an argument, when she had to help her friend through a mental breakdown after having her first baby... there were even things in there that didn't seem to belong to her but were just as painful. In that, it seemed like the world was black with terribleness and it was best off gone.

Then Leon's voice resounded through the ether sea, singing his powerful defense in trying to reach the fourth guardian in the middle of his maelstrom. They knew nothing of this fourth guardian. But at some time, the other two had known nothing of her and still reached out to help her. They all shared something very important: a powerful friendship with Ventuswill. That was enough to make them friends. To help him, Dolce just needed to hold onto her own light, the memory that most protected her from darkness.

There were a lot of good memories in her heart: a family picnic, helping ghosts find their peace, the rare moments when Pico did something truly endearing, the pride in winning a sewing competition in the capitol of Norad. But her true light lay in a rather simple memory. During one of her lessons with the children of Selphia, Dolce taught them a song of praise for the four divine dragons. Then the divine dragon in their presence sang along in a squeaky silly voice that delighted all who were lucky enough to witness the class. It might not mean anything to anyone else but for Dolce, it was a moment of pure happiness, one she was proud to have made possible for one of her dearest friends. Now as a guardian, she knew it was the same for Ventuswill.

On this happiness, she steeled her heart against the storm and joined Leon's song reaching out to the guardian she didn't know the name of. Amber wasn't far behind them. Although Storgane seemed to have a powerful hold on him, the fourth guardian eventually calmed, quieting the ether sea. Something in his moody tone reminded Dolce of her troubled friend. Maybe he had been through that kind of storm before he'd come here; maybe he was here because Ven had bonded with him to help him out of it. That thought made Dolce take a gentler tone with him. This wasn't a good situation to really help someone, but any reassurance had to help.

It was easier with four of them to keep hopeful. There were only four rune springs, there could only be four guardians. While keeping each other strong, they just had to hope in the earthmates.

* * *

 

And then their prayers were answered when an angel appeared in the ether sea, bringing sunlight with him and revealing Storgane's form to Dolce now that the darkness no longer hid him. The evil divine dragon had a similar body structure to Venti, but he looked wretched and spiny. Storgane ran away and the angel promised that their obligations would end soon. They just had to keep hoping as they had hoped all along.

Amber was all optimism as usual, but Dolce and the other two were still hesitant to put their full trust in this vision. It did bring a stronger sense of hope then ever before. Still, even in this place where emotions carried as songs, such a brief appearance and a few words wasn't concrete enough to put full faith in. Dolce wanted to have faith in him. He had appeared as such a beautiful angel, with a golden halo of light surrounding him. If such a being had come for them, it might be vindication at last that this had been a good thing after all.

It didn't seem long after the first appearance when something odd happen. Leon's voice suddenly broke and fear was in his song. Occasionally he had nightmares, but far less often than the rest of them and it was easier to get him calmed. His voice got faint and even went quiet for a time, causing the three to get worried. “It might not be much longer, hang on,” Dolce said in reassurance with the others.

In response, there was a second explosion of light in the ether sea. Dolce felt like she was surrounded by the power of the earth: the mountains and hills, the plains and valleys, land that grew crops, land that supported life, and land that protected those living on it. The soil, the metals, the jewels, the sands, all these ideas flowed in the ether sea with a sense of renewal.

As it calmed, they could hear Leon laugh in relief. Their angel was with him, he sang. There really was an end to this, a time of awakening for the four of them who had slept so long. He was going to be leaving them now, but he would be there to help awaken the rest of them. In response, Dolce laughed as she enjoyed the new light in the ether sea and sang goodbye to Leon. They would be seeing each other soon.

Very soon. It seemed like barely a minute when a shadow passed by her and she heard Leon's voice again. He was close by, like he could be within reach if she could just see him. His meanings came through nearly as clear as words. 'Fire-guardian... Dolce, we come to you the angel and I as promised. Are you here?'

He even knew her name now. “There was a dark shadow that nearly gave me a fright,” she replied. Following his lead, she said, “Earth-guardian Leon, I hear you clearer than ever. I can almost find you.” In the distance, the other two sang of surprise this was happening so fast. But it was more proof that this was the end of their work and they'd be back home soon.

'Have you heard another voice in the sea?' Leon asked. 'Try to find me.'

Dolce wasn't sure how she'd find him, but then the area around her flickered like it did sometimes when she had nightmares. She was in the ether sea and drifting in the halls of Obsidian Mansion. “I haven't heard another voice. You're in Obsidian Mansion, right? Where are you in there?”

'Rune spring, theater.' That gave her a definite direction to go when she saw the hallways. 'Sure about the voice? How long has it been?'

'Blink and wink,' Amber called out.

“Right, that,” Dolce sang, getting agreement from the fourth guardian. “How long has it been for you?”

She thought the close distance might get a clear answer, which it did. 'Three days. The angel thinks Storgane has another captive who may or may not be a guardian.'

'What?' the fourth guardian asked.

They might not be hearing Leon as clearly as she was, Dolce thought. “Storgane might have another captive,” she repeated for the other two, wrapping the last word in feelings of helplessness so that if it didn't carry, the meaning was understood. “There might be another voice in here.”

'Listen good, quick try,' Amber replied. They'd try to get a response out of this fifth prisoner, guardian or not.

In the meantime, the fire rune spring ignited just as powerfully as the earth rune spring had. Fire that inspired, created, and destroyed filled the ether sea, bringing a warmth to join the new light of the ether sea. The two springs exchanged a spark, creating a stream between them in a powerful flow of magic. While a few shadows still lurked around like monsters, this place was becoming less hospitable to the hateful ones.

Leon said, in words she could hear in spite of the wake of power, “The angel will wake you but our enemy will try one more time to claim your heart. We'll be here for you like you were there for me. Be strong as you always are.”

Dolce nodded. “The way is open to save Venti. I will not falter.”

'Sing to Venti,' the fourth guardian said.

'Tomorrow, we will sing,' Amber said in enthusiasm.

Yes, they would sing for her so there was no mistaking their feelings.

* * *

 

 

Give up and despair, Dolce Amaretto

Your sacrifice was an escape.

You could be a forever outcast surrounded by the dead.

You could be a wife kept within the house.

You had no other options until a sacrfice became an escape.

You will awaken to all in your heart dead.

You've known it all along.

Give up and despair, Dolce Amaretto.

Give up and despair.

 

“Shut it, devil.”

 

Tell it to him well.

Hello Dolce.

I've come to awaken you and bring you home.

He speaks of the past.

The world has changed, still changes.

It may be tough.

You won't be alone.

Let Venti know that she won't be alone either.

It's time to wake up


	18. Ball-Jointed Doll

Spring 28

'Lest really is a sweet talker,' Leon thought as he heard the words the prince used to pull Dolce's soul into her body. He had worried about this getting complicated with jealousy due to the love magic involved. However, he didn't really feel that as he saw Dolce start to breathe in her proper body again. He smiled and felt like he had been waiting all day for a dear member of his family to come back home, then there was that moment he saw that person on the road almost there. His real family was long departed to the Forest of Beginnings, yet this was also his sister opening her eyes.

“Won't be long now, see you soon,” Leon sang, then ended his communication into the ether sea. It had been little more than an intuition to start singing when he did, but it worked. Then he spoke normally, “Hello, Dolce.”

She seemed dazed, half asleep still. But she looked over at him and smiled. “Hello Leon.” Dolce closed her eyes again; her voice was exactly what he'd thought she'd sound like, not as fiery as in the ether sea but familiar all the same.

“DOLLY!” Pico shouted, darting in and clasping her hand.

“Already? Hello to you too Pico.” Then she got alert enough to realize that Pico had her hand, Leon was sitting a couple feet away, but someone was lying on top of her. Dolce's face turned pink as her eyes flew open and she looked at Lest for the first time. Just like him, she promptly got confused and must have wondered who this person she loved was. Or how they ended up on the floor like that.

Leon could tell from the movement of runes that Lest was still making sure everything was in place. “Don't worry, all he's done is hug you and disenchant you,” Leon said, putting his hands together so he could rest his chin on his knees.

“This is the angel?” she said, her voice wavering between embarrassment and awe.

“Yes, his name's Lest,” he said. She started to move so he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. “Hold tight for a moment there. He's an earthmate and he's still making sure you're properly fit back in place.”

There was a snap as the metal bodice that had been outside her dress dissolved into nothing. But like Leon, the bands and chains on her wrists and ankles remained. Lest was then able to come out of his trance and sit up, careful not to put his hand down on Dolce as he did so. “That should do it. How do you feel, Dolce?”

“Not entirely sure that I'm awake,” she said, starting to push herself into a sitting position too. But then her left arm slipped backwards and up in a way that a human body really shouldn't move, causing her to fall back on the floor. “Ugh!”

It was hard to see that and not feel sick at the sight. “Careful there,” Leon said, moving closer and seeing if there was something he could do to straighten her arm.

Then Dolce did so herself, still moving in inhuman ways. “Yeesh, that looks painful,” Pico said, taking to the air and hovering over her friend.

“Not really,” Dolce said, surprised herself. “Does feel odd.”

“Doesn't seem like you broke anything,” Lest said, worried.

“I think I can still get up,” she said, waving Pico aside so she could try again. She did manage to sit up, if wobbly about it.

“Is that her taking on elements of the monster that possessed her body like I did?” Leon asked, causing Dolce to stare at his ears a moment.

“Seems like it,” Lest said. “Let's get out of here and head into town.”

“Don't we have to find a place where Escape can be cast?” Leon asked. As he said it, he noticed what would make it easier. “Although this place doesn't seem to have the power it once did.”

Lest nodded, getting up and watching Dolce as she tried to stand now. “It lost a lot when the rune spring was renewed. The door here's no longer locked and we should be able to walk back that way.”

“Isn't there a large crevasse out there?” Leon asked, holding a hand out in case Dolce wanted support. But she seemed determined to do so on her own, getting on her feet with her hands flat on the floor to be steady until she got her balance.

“Not a problem anymore,” Lest said.

And he was right. They had to take it slow while Dolce carefully walked herself to the doorway, trying to keep her joints moving in a normal fashion. She did leave an impression of a marionette's movement, like she was being supported from above with her arms swaying loosely. When Leon pushed open one of the big double doors, they found Volkanon on their side of the crevasse, overlooking a brand new wood and rope bridge between the shore of Dragon Lake and the hill that Obsidian Mansion sat on.

“How did you get this bridge up so fast?” Lest asked him immediately. “It wasn't here this morning when we left town.”

Volkanon turned and bowed to them. “Ah, Prince Lest, seems I was just in time. No worries, it's all part of a butler's duty to help however we can.”

“I was not aware that a butler's duties could involve bridge building,” Dolce said.

Chuckling, Volkanon twirled a hammer in one hand. Meanwhile, Leon was taking a second look at the slope they were on. It was quite steep and the path down was a ramp in some parts. Then there was the crevasse itself, full of jagged stony sides. Without bothering to ask, he went to Dolce's side. While she was briefly puzzled, he put on arm around her back and leaned down to pick up her legs to carry her in his arms. “Gotcha,” he said.

“What are you doing?” she asked, giving him a cold look.

He started down the path, taking care with his steps. “Just being cautious with you,” he replied. “You seem to be fine on flat ground, but we don't want you tumbling down onto the sharp rocks here. Have to get you to Ven unharmed.”

Sighing because she didn't want to argue the last point, Dolce said, “Fine, just put me down in front of the bridge.”

“After, I think it'll still be too much right now,” he insisted.

Pico laughed, soon grabbing hold of Leon's back again. “Now he's a noble steed for both of us!” That did make Dolce smile, so he let the jest pass this time. While the butler said he'd go and report the success to Ventuswill, Lest and Leon stayed with Dolce as she made her wobbly way back into town. They could stop at the clinic as it was right along the way.

They came in to find Nancy looking tired while sitting with her fussing baby. But she did smile on seeing them. “Oh, you came back much earlier than expected,” she said, getting up. “Then this would be Dolce?”

“Yes, this is her,” Lest said. “Dolce, this is the town nurse, Nancy. Is Jones in? She seems to have changed in an unusual fashion.”

“No, he went out to go speak with Blossom,” she said. “He should be back soon unless they got to talking on other things. What kind of change are we talking about?”

“Like this,” Dolce said, bending her elbow backwards.

Nancy's eyes widened briefly, then she patted her baby gently trying to calm her down. “I see. That's out of my knowledge, I'm afraid. Lest, do you mind watching over Alice for me for a couple of minutes? I'll just run over to get him and come back soon.”

“That's fine,” Lest said, taking Alice when Nancy handed her over. “Like this?”

She nodded. “Yes, and I'm really sorry about it. She doesn't want to take a nap now but was already cranky. I'll be right back.” She squeezed the baby's hand, then hurried out the door.

“I probably could have gotten him,” Leon said. “But Blossom, that name doesn't click for me yet.”

“She's the lady who runs the general store,” Lest said, trying to rock Alice slowly like Nancy had been.

“Be careful,” Dolce said, going over to Lest's side. “They must trust you a lot to leave their newborn with you.”

He smiled. “I suppose so. Don't have a lot of experience with children this young, but I wouldn't hurt her.” Lest looked down at the baby in his arms. “I can't read her runes as clearly as older children, probably just not used to them. She does seem tired and cranky from being tired.”

“I've taken care of several children before, including babies,” Dolce said, seeming hesitant on touching her while her movement must still feel strange. “She should be fine once she gets some sleep; it's just hard at times to get them to sleep.”

“What would you suggest?” Lest asked.

Leon put his fan over a smirk on his face. Really a sweet talker. For Lest, it wouldn't be hard to get another's trust as he had a way of knowing just what to say. That would make it hard to tell if he was really in love, as a quiet thought in the back of his mind said. He'd talk you into doing what he wanted without affirming his feelings once. Even if it was manipulative, Leon still felt he wasn't malicious in it. Lest had to know by now that being a guardian was something of a nightmare and he seemed to be using what obviously interested Dolce to make her feel more comfortable in the new time she'd awakened to.

“Gentle movement can help, but we could try comfort through tone,” she said. “Her name is Alice, right?” When Lest nodded, Dolce leaned closer and spoke in a way that was half humming. “Alice, hmm, little Alice, time for calm, time for sleep, hmm hmm.”

The baby's cries softened as she looked to find the new voice. Lest tried humming too. “Hmm, seems to be working, hmm.”

“Hmm, I don't see the point to babbling at a baby,” Dolce said, her voice warmer and softer like when she was singing to calm one of the others. “Speak intelligently as you would to any other to lay the groundwork for intelligence in their future. But I've seen a loud hum work to calm them most times, hmm, as long as there isn't something truly wrong.”

By the time Nancy got back with Jones (not that long for running across town), they had Alice asleep enough that Lest had been able to put her in the crib in the living room without waking her. Nancy seemed relieved. “Oh good, I didn't think you'd be that wonderful with children,” she said to Lest gratefully.

“It was mostly Dolce who got her to sleep,” Lest said. “I just did what she suggested. Although it seems like you should be taking a nap too.”

“I was just saying that myself a little while ago,” Jones said in agreement (although he looked worn down too to Leon's eye).

“I can at least help you here,” Nancy insisted.

“No, it's fine, you should stay well rested to keep up with Alice,” Dolce said. “I wouldn't mind as long as Leon stayed with me through the exam. He's close enough to being my brother to count.”

“Sure, if that's what you want,” Leon said, glad that she felt that way. Although a little concerned about what the exam might entail. He didn't mind going around shirtless himself, but he was used to women being more modest in dress.

Between that and Jones' request, Nancy agreed to take a nap on the couch while Alice was sleeping. Lest went outside to wait for them while Leon followed the other two into the exam area. At first, Jones did a basic exam like he'd done for him when he'd come in barely able to hold himself up. A check of her heart and lungs, looking into her eyes, nose, and mouth, asking some questions on how she felt. On being told that Dolce's joints were behaving strangely, leading her to feel unsteady in moving, Jones examined her right arm closely through the runes. Then he slowly led her into bending her joints around into her unnatural range, keeping a hand on her shoulder, elbow, or wrist while moving them.

“I know of people who've been double-jointed at the fingers, or had trained their body to contort unusually,” Jones said, returning her arm to a natural position. “This is rather extreme. Looks like your bone and muscle structure have been altered to allow for this flexibility.”

There was a dirty joke in this, but Leon's mind instantly labeled it too disgusting because it was about Dolce. It was more proof that they had become bonded like siblings in the ether sea. On thinking about it, it started to make him feel happy in a way that not even getting awakened by an inexplicable love could do. This was a time where a familiar place was far too strange, with lots of complications to learn about... when all he had known but Ventuswill and the two stone foxes had passed on. But there would still be a family here for him in the other guardians; he could still be the big brother to reassure and protect the younger ones.

“It doesn't really hurt, but it feels weird,” Dolce told the doctor. “I have to think about walking to be able to walk.”

Jones nodded. “Some practice with the changes should reduce that need. Thankfully, you're able to hold your neck straight, avoiding a dangerous condition there. For the next day or two, take things easy, don't lift anything heavy, and if you need to use a staircase, make sure someone is with you. You seem perfectly healthy otherwise.”

“Great!” Pico said, smiling warmly.

“That's better than I was,” Leon said. “Although that's just because Lest was acting blind with awakening me.”

“That's good to know, thank you,” she said, putting a hand on the bed's rail to stand back up. “Then we can go see Ven now?”

“If you think we're going to delay that any longer, you're crazy,” Leon said with a smile.

“Hmph,” she replied in a very short laugh.

She obviously wanted to hurry over, although there were a few stairs in between the clinic and the castle. Lest led them up the north street to take the stairs in shorter segments. At those, the two of them took her hands to help her keep her balance getting up them. A few people in the plaza watched them curiously as they did so, but Leon didn't care and he didn't think the other two did either. A few odd looks were worth nothing when they brought a second guardian back to Ven.

“Dolce! Welcome back!” Ventuswill stayed in place, but leaned down to rub her head against Dolce's when she got close.

“I'm happy to be back home with you,” Dolce said, hugging her back. “Is this new plan helping you?”

“The rune spheres?” she asked. “It's only been a few days since the first one was placed, but I have been able to stay awake longer times. More than that, I'm relieved there's finally a way to free you of that duty. You really shouldn't have had to do that for me.”

“I became a guardian because I wanted to help you,” Dolce said.

“Still...”

“That's what I told you, we all chose to do this,” Leon said. “I'm sure of that.”

“You two at least had some idea of what you were getting into.” Venti sighed. “The other two got tricked, in different ways. I was thinking back over the plans.”

“We're going after the fourth guardian next, aren't we?” Dolce asked. “Whoever he is.”

“Dylas,” Ven said. “Almost like you read my mind even if you just woke up. We could have the three of you go into Yokmir Forest after Amber because she's closer, but I keep thinking, no, it's better to get Dylas first.”

Since she seemed indecisive, Leon came up and asked Dolce, “Why do you think that?”

“I think it would be obvious why,” she said. “Amber's got boundless optimism. Even in her troubled times, she had no trouble keeping faith that we would go home and we were helping. And it really didn't seem like a lot of time passed between when you left and then got back in contact with us today. I don't think she'd have trouble keeping light in the ether sea on her own as long as we didn't leave her to a time she could perceive as long. But him, Dylas as you say, there was always sadness in his songs and I don't think that he could handle being there on his own. Storgane kept telling us to despair and it'd be a lot easier for him to get Dylas to despair than Amber.”

“That's very true,” Ven said.

Leon bit his tongue, mentally chiding himself for not thinking of that. Amber had always come across as innocent to him while Dylas, sad as his songs could be, seemed like he had gone through rough times and might be able to tough it out for a short time. But when it came to fighting Storgane's despair, optimism probably was of stronger value than experience. “In that case, it seems we'll need to prepare for a long hike after all.”

“The doctor did say I could adjust with exercise, so that's fine with me,” Dolce said.

“I think you should stay around for today before taking off on the long hike,” Ven said. “You have just woken up from an overly long sleep and we need to arrange somewhere for you to live and a job for you to do. What would you like to do, Dolce?”

“I was supposed to be your priestess,” she said.

“That's not going to work,” Leon said. “She already denied me that.”

The dragon smiled at them. “You're both wonderful, but I'd rather have you as friends. Besides, the main thing a priest or priestess needed to do was interpret for me and I don't need that anymore.”

Dolce nodded. “That's a good point.”

“Why don't you be a teacher?” Pico asked. “You did that well.”

“Right, I was just thinking of that,” she said.

“Yes, you were a wonderful teacher,” Ven said, happily reminiscing. “Although that would be impossible at the moment. The only child in Selphia right now is Nancy's baby.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

“There aren't many people here overall,” Lest said. “It's a noticeable increase now that I'm bringing the four of you back here when I only moved in a few weeks ago myself.”

“Is it becoming a ghost town?” Pico asked in worry.

Ven chuckled. “Maybe a one ghost town with you around more often. I just hope it stays a one ghost town and more people move back.”

“Okay, I'll try not to invite others around,” she said, nodding.

“I wonder if they'd hire me as a nanny,” Dolce said, her eyes partly closed in thought. “Alice is clearly their first child and they also run the town clinic. Must be a heavy burden on them trying to continue their work while adjusting to starting a family.”

“Yeah, that's a great idea,” Ven said, proud of her for thinking of that.

“They've already seen that you're good with children,” Lest said. “It wouldn't hurt to ask.”

“Maybe in a couple hours when Nancy's awake again,” Dolce said. “There's still a lot we need to talk about, Ven.”

“I'd love that,” she said enthusiastically.

* * *

 

As Lest thought, Jones and Nancy were delighted with Dolce's offer of being a nanny and an assistant around the house. They even offered her a room upstairs in the clinic so she had a place to stay. “It's no trouble, Alice can sleep in our room for a few years,” Nancy said, helping her prepare the room. “And you've shown up at just he right time to be helping us, not just with her but with the first moon of spring almost complete. Selphia's always been most popular in the spring with the flower viewing tours, so our clinic gets lots of visitors.”

“I know some basic first care and healing spells,” she said, trying to ignore the sleeveless dress that Nancy was wearing. It might be okay if she was just going to stay up here in the private part of the building. However, she was wearing it even downstairs where anybody might come in without knocking. She wouldn't even put on a shawl to cover up with. And nobody seemed to think that was bad.

“I'll have to make sure you know some things before we can let you take care of more than little scratches around here, but every little bit helps.” Those things included some amazing knowledge to Dolce, like how to make sure a wound did not get infected and what signs and symptoms were things that she'd need to get Jones taking care of the patient right away. That was just what Nancy could teach her today; she said it took three years of study to be able to serve as a proper nurse. Hearing that, Dolce figured she'd rather stick with what she knew, caring for the baby and selling medicines for them.

Towards evening, Nancy encouraged her and Pico to go look around town and check out a few places. Dolce wasn't sure about meeting a lot of new people in just one day, but felt she'd best know the important parts of town and get used to her new body structure. There were just two shops on the other side of the plaza, a general store and a flower shop. An alchemy store was not far from the clinic and the library was in the same area (now under the care of Leon, so she knew where to find him). In a huge mansion in the northeast corner of town (where the cliff line had been but now wasn't), there was a restaurant where she got a delicious meal of pork chops, sauteed greens, and mashed potatoes.

The last place she checked out was an inn that had, strangely enough, a public bathhouse built into it. Lin Fa, the owner of the inn, tried to explain it but it was out of Dolce's and Pico's knowledge. “So this bath isn't really a bath?” Pico asked, puzzled.

“Not in the sense of getting your body clean, no,” Lin Fa said. “It's for relaxing and cleansing of the soul, an old tradition in other nations. You get undressed in the first area, although you can use a swimsuit if you're not fully comfortable with it being a public bath. You also make sure to rinse off any dirt, especially from your feet, with the buckets and faucets there. Then it's relaxing and meditating in the hot water, or chatting with other patrons. It's very revitalizing; I can send Xiao in with you if you're still not sure about it.”

“I'll think about it,” Dolce said, fiddling with the collar of her dress. “It seems odd, to me. Of course, seeing what people wear these days is odd. People show so much skin, like arms and legs, and then Leon doesn't even wear a shirt even though he claims to be a priest.”

“You could look good showing some skin,” Pico piped up, her eyes brightening.

“No,” Dolce said firmly.

Lin Fa smiled, trying not to chuckle at the exchange. Then she noticed someone near the door behind them. “Oh, good evening, Lest. Did you need anything or are you just going around chatting?”

Lest was here? Even if she considered herself well-mannered, it was hard not to resist the impulse to turn right around and smile at him. Dolce tried to turn part way to see him without appearing overly eager. She had just met him a few hours ago. On seeing him, though, her pulse quickened and she wanted to hug him again even though that was way too forward. He was the sunlight that had broken into their darkness. He wasn't an angel, just a human earthmate, but there was something mysterious to his violet eyes and silvery hair. Why did this near stranger cause an attraction that threatened to break her restraint as a lady when not even her actual suitor had made her want to act loving in public?

“Going around chatting for the most part,” he said, apparently not afraid to admit to that. Then he had to look right at her, not quite heart-melting but she could easily imagine it. “Dolce, I wanted to see how you were doing. Are you still up for starting the hike to the water ruins tomorrow?”

“She thinks,” Pico tried to say quickly, but Dolce had her hand over the ghost's mouth before she could go further. Otherwise, she would have spilled how she was feeling, perhaps spiked with jealousy like before.

“I'm adjusting,” Dolce said, avoiding the subject of feelings. “Lots of things have changed, and yet others haven't. But I'm doing fine. We could start tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Good. If you don't mind, could we go somewhere else to talk for a bit? I had something I needed to talk to you about.”

Inside her mind, there were little bubbles of happiness trying to break free. Was he trying to be her suitor? But it was too early for that, had to be far too early. Still, wouldn't it be nice? Dolce bit down on her tongue to keep the silliness inside and replied neutrally, “Sure. Pardon us.”

Lin Fa smiled. “No trouble. Have a good evening and be careful out there.”

Once they were outside, Dolce asked, “Where do you want to go and talk?” Hopefully somewhere public, she could keep better control if other people might see them.

“Somewhere quiet since the matter is private,” Lest said. “We could use one of my farms as long as it's not the central one.”

Maybe an angel was the wrong first impression of him. Though she could already imagine Pico asking if that would be so bad. Before Dolce could decide (the farms were his property as prince (I've got a prince interested in me, so happy) so it counted as somewhere she shouldn't be alone with him (but then...)), Pico spoke up with something reasonable. “How about the observatory instead?”

“Sure, should be fine as long as no one else is up there,” he said.

“What observatory?” Dolce asked.

“The windmill,” Pico said. “That's what it became known as since they put far-sight scopes up there.”

“Telescopes, you mean,” Lest said, then led the way along the northern street.

Once they passed by the Saint Coquille Manor, the end of the street was quiet. It was good for a private talk, but still open enough that they could get away if need be. Before they entered, Dolce glanced around. “There was a memorial stone around here instead of a windmill, with the names of the two guardians. At the time.”

Lest paused, then waved her towards the side of the stairs instead of up them. “I don't think it's the same one, but there is a marker here.”

At the base of the windmill, there was a piece of white marble among the red bricks. A small flower vase was attached to the wall next to it, currently holding a cluster of cherry blossoms and a daffodil. The spot was clean and obviously honored. A collection bowl nearby was labeled for donations to a orphanage in another town. Inscribed in artful script, this memorial was similar to the last.

'For the blessed saints of our town, in deep gratitude, we remember you.'

'Leon Karnak, Dragon Priest to Ventuswill, 362-386'

'Amber Yokmir, child of the forest, 574-592'

'Dolce Amaretto, Dragon Priestess to Ventuswill, 876-895'

'Dylas Leland, a beloved son, 1211-1230'

In smaller letters, the very bottom stated, 'scribed by s. leland, 1230'

On seeing this, Dolce sniffed. It was at least enough to distract her from the internal silliness. “I was never a dragon priestess, only training to be one.”

“They might have named you one because you volunteered as a guardian,” Lest said.

“Yup, that's it,” Pico said. “Your parents insisted you be remembered that way.”

Had they? It gave warmth to her heart but also made her have to restrain some tears as well. “I see.” To keep control, she put a hand on the next line down. “What's with this for Dylas? I know Amber's story, so her inscription always seemed fitting. But this doesn't tell us anything about him that we couldn't guess.”

“It's one of the few pieces of information we have about him,” Lest said. “I've been preparing for this, so I read a lot about the four of you. But no matter where I looked or who I asked, there's very little about Dylas anywhere now. Venti keeps stopping herself from talking when she mentions him and Blossom says that people would pray to him if there was a missing child in town.”

“What did they pray to Dolly for?” Pico asked curiously.

“Wouldn't you know?' she asked, although curious herself. Maybe for the lost souls of the mansion. She'd certainly never heard any such prayers, but they may have gone to Ven.

“I didn't talk much to the residents here unless they came in the mansion or were Ven,” Pico said.

Meanwhile, Lest had been quiet in recalling that. “That would be for good health, or to help someone recover from an illness. Amber was prayed to for a good harvest or safety in traveling outside town, and Leon was for guidance in personal troubles or wisdom. Dylas also got prayed to for the safety of children in general. Really, I learned more about him based on what you said this morning than I could find in books so far.”

“I can't tell you much more,” she said, her runes indicating that she wished she could. “We were limited in how we could communicate, mostly just feelings and impressions.”

“You seem to know each other pretty well in spite of that,” he said.

She shrugged. “Leon surprises me, but he seems familiar to me as family.” Then an idea came to her. “Pico, you could come out and visit Ven at times. Did you ever meet Dylas in person?”

“I never got to talk to him, but I did see him once,” she said, as if just realizing it herself. “He'd fallen asleep in Ven's room when I came to visit, a kid with messy black hair. She said that he was new to town and had a very bad day that day, so she'd talked to him to cheer him up.”

“Doesn't take her much to care about anyone,” Dolce said, smiling at the thought.

Pico then widened her eyes. “You should have seen how furious she was when he became a guardian! When I went back to see her just after you had etherlink cast on you, she was sad and trying to be grateful without crying. That was completely unlike how she reacted to Dylas undergoing the same thing. She went and cursed the earthmate and her descendants to never return to Selphia. Then she took the king's crown and demoted him to being a prince, never letting any leader of the town be called a king or queen again.”

“She actually cursed a whole family?” Dolce asked, shocked.

Lest nodded. “Yeah, that would be my mother's family. It's worn off by now obviously, but that was nearly 400 years ago and my mother still couldn't come into Selphia. Guess that's why they call me a prince too.”

“That's it,” Pico said, nodding.

“But what was the difference that made her so mad that one time?” she asked. “She did mention that he and Amber had been tricked in different ways.”

The ghost shook her head. “I never asked her because of how angry she was; it even scared me and I knew I couldn't be involved. By the time that wore off, she was depressed again. Sometimes she talked about the rest of you to me, but when it came to him, she had a really hard time saying anything.”

“I'm not sure of that either, but I guess it has something to do with the trickery,” Lest said with a shrug.

“You'd think your family would have recorded why,” Dolce said.

“Well my sister might know more, since she was the one who did most of the studying,” he admitted. “The knowledge passed from mother to daughter for so long that I only found out a few years back.”

“That seems odd, but fits what I know,” she said. “What did you have to tell me?”

“It's about how I'm undoing these enchantments,” he said, then explained about how the love runes caused him to unintentionally make them fall in love with him.

This wasn't real and it explained how she felt so strongly about him on just meeting him. While her reason could agree with that, there were lots of competing thoughts that insisted that no, this was real, it was love and he was just excusing the situation on magic. She should tell him so and hug him so that he accepted it. Then it'd be like living in a fairy tale and she'd get to live in a castle and... fairy tales weren't always real, she reminded herself. They were fantasies that should be kept to children's books, not something to attempt living out.

“Well the power of love is a mysterious and powerful thing,” the ghost said when Lest finished the explanation.

“And very confusing, which is I want to stick to being friends until thirty days pass and we're sure the disenchantment isn't influencing any of you anymore,” Lest said.

“Any, you mean all four of us are going to be like that?” Dolce asked. Although that strangely didn't bother her. If he said he loved her, she wouldn't care who else he said he loved. It was ridiculous, but the thought was still there and whining against this thirty days business.

“Yes, like Leon's been flirting with me every day,” he said, as if it didn't bother or attract him one bit. “Although he figured it out on his own and does it out of jest half the time.”

Dolce nearly laughed, but managed to turn it into a snort to hide it. “He has a strong lack of restraint,” she said, feeling sorry for those poor souls who had prayed to him for wisdom. Although, she had seen him as wise in the ether sea; his voice there wasn't like his face here.

“In some ways,” he agreed. “I'm here to help you all out, but at the same time, I don't want to hurt you by presenting false feelings.”

“It hurts to hear the truth,” she said bluntly. Maybe this would quiet those silly thoughts. “Yet I could see how it would hurt more if I learned of this weeks later rather than now. I wasn't ready to act on it anyhow.”

“So you'll admit that you've been thinking,” Pico started.

Dolce stopped her there. “Not now, Pico. Like he said, we'll wait for the moon to change before deciding how things stand.”

“Aw,” Pico whined once she pulled Dolce's hand from her mouth.

“Thanks, but do feel free to drop by my office or otherwise find me if you need help with anything,” Lest offered.

They talked for a little while longer, then Lest left Dolce and Pico to do some work while they went to the top of the observatory. It was an incredible sight from the top too. As the windmill blades creaked nearby, they could look for a long ways in spite of the growing darkness. Maybe they could see for miles around on a clear day. Peering into the telescopes, Dolce could see the small lights of towns far away. Were they in the Selphia region or even further away in Norad? Dolce looked away and saw something even stranger descend from above towards an open field of poles down below. It was a large wooden ship with windmill-like blades on the bottom. As it passed by, she could see a few people acting as crew underneath the giant white balloon that held it aloft.

“They have ships that sail in the sky now?” Dolce asked, her eyes wide at the sight.

“Yeah, airships were invented a few decades back,” Pico said. “Isn't it awesome? I heard about them from Ven once and the next time I visited, there were a whole bunch docked here for a race the next day. I stayed out here past dawn to see them take off. Maybe there'll be another race soon and you can see that awesome sight too.”

“That would be impressive. Wish I could tell Mom and Dad about them.” She put her hands on the fence keeping them from the edge and watched the ship dock below.

“Are you okay Dolly?” Pico asked, sitting herself on the fence. She sounded sad.

“I don't know,” she said. Since it was just Pico, she added, “I'm feeling so much at once that nothing can win out and I'm mostly confused as a result. Though I'm glad Lest explained the magic. There's a lot of irrational ideas that I can bat down easier knowing that.”

“Like how you wanted to shut up that explanation with a kiss?” Pico asked, tilting her head.

“I thought you'd be possessive and jealous like you were before,” Dolce said, looking at her.

The ghost grinned and leaned towards her. “I'd be jealous of you if you managed to get a kiss out of him. Maybe your lovesickness is leaking over to me.”

“Then you keep to the waiting agreement too,” she said sternly. It seemed like the most reasonable course of action.


	19. Water Ruins

Spring 30

One thing that Dolce had learned in the hike up to the ruins, or rather confirmed what she suspected, was that Leon was a lot more flippant than she had expected based on his songs in the ether sea. They were out to rescue their brother guardian and he acted more like this was an outing for pleasure. He paused briefly to admire some tree blossoms, or spoke in nonsensical riddles. To make things worse, Pico took a liking for him and added onto his riddles.

Although perhaps that was a mask and he too didn't fully speak his mind. At times when Dolce found herself troubled over a flashback or some thought, Leon was quick to change his tone to what she was more familiar with. Like at this campfire outside of the ruins, when she had started thinking about a particular battle from today. “I just had a weird idea and when I followed through with it, those strings appeared from my hands.” She shuddered. “I've seen Marionetta use them, not just to pull people around but to control their minds. Why would I have such a cruel thing at my command?”

“It's the memory of your body when possessed,” Leon said, shifting his own fingers. “I've got a few things like that. The raining crystals for one; I've been figuring out a large beam spell and might even manage the teleporting thing. But yes, it is creepy and hard to keep what you've seen with them out of mind.”

Dolce brought her knees in close and wrapped her arms around them. “She used to lure travelers into the mansion and lock them inside to drive them crazy. Most of the time she didn't kill directly, since she liked to trick them into deadly accidents. Or if it was a group, use the strings to set them against each other so they died at the hands of those they trusted before coming in.”

“But she wasn't you,” Pico insisted.

“She had my body so it was practically me,” Dolce said.

Leon shook his head. “I don't think that counts either. These monsters are Storgane's creations. Sure, maybe you could say they're corrupt versions of us, but we never had control over them. They were entirely different entities.” He looked across the fire where Lest was sitting; the prince seemed deep in thought, watching the ground in front of the fire. “Don't you think so?” Leon asked. When he didn't respond, he said, “Lest?”

“Hmm?” He finally looked over at them, but it was clear he hadn't been listening.

It was as good an excuse as any to get away from talk about Marionetta. “What's going on with you today?” she asked. “You were talking just fine yesterday, but then have been quiet and distracted most of today.”

“I'm kind of surprised I managed to do that yesterday,” Lest said in a worrying way. He rubbed his neck, still thinking.

“Well I don't think you were as sharp as usual then, for what time I've known you,” Leon said.

“Affected me that much?” he said, trying to smile but it didn't last. “Sorry. Before we left, I got Venti to talk a little more about her worries over Dylas. He was struggling with depression for a couple of years before he became a guardian, one of the factors in how he got talked into it. Which yes, is a nasty way to take advantage of someone.”

“And then get her completely angry as a result,” Pico said.

“Right, he wouldn't have been able to make a rational decision in that state,” Leon said, his ears shifting in a way that made him look mad even if his face hadn't changed all that much. Dolce made a note that it might be easier to tell his real emotions by watching his ears. “No one should make a large decision like becoming a guardian lightly or irrationally.”

Lest nodded. “Yeah. It's unfortunate, but more to the point, it means that I might be dealing with that tomorrow. You were saying that he always sounded sad, Dolce. Since I have empathy based on magic, I'm going to feel it too.”

“What's magical empathy like?” Dolce said. She knew it upset her to see someone she knew sad or upset.

“With depression,” Lest closed his eyes and seemed unsettled. “A cold dark grip, sometimes suffocating. It takes more energy to do anything. If I'm not careful, it can imbalance my rational thought too. But I've worked around it before and I know what precautions I need to take.” He looked back over at them. “It's just something I need to mentally prepare for before going in there.”

“You should probably get to sleep early if that's so,” Dolce suggested. He was the most important part in getting Dylas awake. They were here to protect him and, if this was the case, maybe help keep him from getting thrown off by this empathy.

“Yeah, probably,” Lest said, getting up to enter the tent they'd set up for the guys.

“Oh, but before you do,” Leon said, “could you answer the question from earlier? What's the relation between us and the non-returning monsters?”

“Separate beings tied together on a spiritual level,” he answered without having to think on it much. “They have a stronger relation to Storgane as he's their creator. Once I removed their runes and etherlink from you both, they can't come back through your body. You'd make a better argument that Pico and Dolce have a stronger relation than Dolce and Marionetta, for example.”

“Well we do share a heart and mind,” Pico said in delight.

“Unfortunately,” Dolce said. “That's good to know, thanks. Good night, Lest.”

He nodded. “Good night Dolce, Leon.”

“Sweet dreams, dear prince,” Leon said in a silly lovestruck way, which barely got a nod of acknowledgment out of Lest. Leon rolled his eyes. “He might be preoccupied, but he's still obstinate in returning my affections. I'm going to stun him one of these days, somehow.”

Dolce smirked at that. “He said you figured out the false infatuation early on.”

He shrugged. “Well yeah, it's obvious because he is a love-aligned earthmate. Their powers might manifest in different ways, but the elements give hints. Still doesn't mean he's any less attractive, plus it's fun to see how he plays it off when there's other people around.”

“Hey, maybe you should try stunning him with a declaration of love,” Pico suggested to her, bright-eyed with mischief. “He might expect it out of Leon, but not you.”

“It might work,” Leon said, apparently amused by that suggestion.

“I think it's a ridiculous thing to attempt,” Dolce said. Saying she loved somebody when she couldn't be completely certain that she really did, that was just wrong.

“You over him already?' he asked, raising his eyebrows and tilting his ears towards her. “Impressive.”

“Well I can't say yes to that either,” she admitted. “I simply agree with his suggestion that it's more prudent to wait and see how we feel later on.” Dolce frowned at a thought. “And it's just as strange that we're talking about being infatuated with the same person without arguing about it.”

Leon had a small grin to that. “Hey, I think that guy can earn a whole harem of admirers and keep things mostly peaceful.”

“I'm pretty sure he wouldn't,” Dolce said. “I can see that much in him already.”

“That's probably true,” Pico said.

“That's kind of one of the more attractive things about him, isn't it?” Leon said. “Changing the subject, what I find weird is being here, looking at that place.”

“What's so weird about that?” Dolce asked, wondering where he was going with this topic change.

“Things didn't change as much for you when you woke up,” he said, starting to sound serious. He might even be this time. “You said the town was already there with a king. Wasn't for me, there was just a tiny village in the area with that name. Instead,” he pointed over to the broken pillars that seemed like it could have been an archway, “this place was where the king of my time lived, not near the shrine of Ventuswill. It was called Syra Springs at the time, so we lived in the nation of Syra.”

“I'm pretty sure it was already a wreck when I was alive,” Pico said.

“An earthquake toppled much of the town after a series of bad omens,” Dolce said. “There were several plays popular in my time about it, on how the mistakes of the king here led to the ruin of his kingdom. A couple decades after Amber became a guardian, the survivors came south to where your village was. The only person living there at the time was the Dragon Priestess Heather; she agreed to help them as her house had been hit by the earthquake too. They reestablished the town around the shrine and used the village's name in an attempt to avoid the misfortunes that ruined Syra.”

“I haven't changed much, but the world has changed greatly,” Leon said, possibly disoriented by that information. It had been common history knowledge to her.

The changes in the world made her feel disoriented too, although she wasn't sure which of them had it worse. Everything changed for him, but Dolce kept finding the familiar and unfamiliar blurring together. Giving him a look of concern, she said, “You should probably get to sleep early too, if you're being this moody tonight. Pico and I will keep an eye on things.”

He smiled, but in combination with his ears seemed sad. “Might be the company I keep making it easier to talk. Sure you're okay with staying up? You can wake me halfway through the night if you need to.”

“I don't need to sleep,” Pico said, grabbing the tips of her pointed shoes and twirling around in the air.

“It's fine,” Dolce said. “Just don't get near the prince; he really needs the sleep.”

It made him chuckle, lifting his mood back up. “Fine, I wouldn't want to be the reason he has trouble tomorrow. Good night, Dolce.”

She nodded. “Good night, Leon.”

Once he was in the tent, Pico drifted over and whispered in her ear, “Should I keep an eye on those two silly boys?”

“At least until they fall asleep,” Dolce said, smiling a little. “Leon's the actual priest, but he doesn't act like it one bit.”

“That just makes him more fun,” Pico said, then shifted herself until she was mostly unseen.

“Just don't do anything perverted yourself,” she warned.

Since she had watch duty, Dolce passed the time tending to the fire and thinking over the things they'd discussed the past two days. She could agree with Leon that traveling with him and Lest made her feel more secure than she should around two men she'd just met in person. She had known Leon for centuries in the ether sea and Lest... maybe it was infatuation, maybe it was charisma, maybe it was sincerity, but she trusted him already. While it was his family's duty, he really wanted to help them. Dolce felt like she could rely on Lest. But love him? That was a question best not answered now.

Her mind often returned to the issue they were facing now, about freeing Dylas and this recent revelation that he had suffered from depression. It was something she could see all too easily. Even when they sang of their hope of returning home, he had a piece of uncertainty. Even when Lest had appeared as an angel to say he was going to free them of their duty, Dylas couldn't manage a purely happy sound. Storgane wanted them to despair completely. What if his hate-filled words pushed him over the edge?

They'd need to get the rune sphere first, Dolce thought. After hearing how Lest had completed the other two last night, she felt he'd need the support of the empowered spring to get through to Dylas. At that point, perhaps she or Leon could stay at the rune spring and sing to Dylas. Amber too, get her to encourage him as was her strength. They'd need to do all that they could, to save their brother guardian and bring more peace to Venti's heart.

There was a rumble of thunder, seemingly in the ruins. But when she looked up, she saw stars rather than clouds. What kind of omen was this?

* * *

 

Spring 31

The next morning, Lest got up first and started some breakfast on the coals that remained. Then he went over to where he had seen a strawberry vine while searching for wood. Most of it was still in flower, but a few parts had tiny developing fruits. Lest knelt by it and gave it some encouragement with a song and runes. Doing this could put stress on the plant, so he tried to keep it to the fruiting section. The berries plumped up, nearly getting ripe but then the vine complained about the burden of quick growth. He switched to a plant recovery spell until it was stronger than he'd found it, then continued the encouragement until he had a small group of ripe strawberries. Taking them with a sung thanks to the plant, he returned to camp to find Dolce checking up on breakfast.

“Good morning!” Pico called loudly, from where she had plopped down on the ground. “What were you singing about?”

“Good morning,” he said. “I was singing for some plants. Here, I've brought some strawberries to go with breakfast.”

“These look nice,” Dolce said, taking one.

“I dunno, should we really be eating magically enhanced produce?” Pico asked, sitting up. “I hear it can sometimes do stuff like make you grow a ten foot long beard in an hour. Or it just tastes bland.”

“I haven't heard of the first, but I be careful of the plant's natural state to avoid the second,” Lest said.

“Besides, you can't eat or grow a beard,” Dolce said.

“I bet could grow a beard if I really wanted to,” the ghost insisted. “But I don't, not just now.”

As she spoke, Lest felt a powerful point of runes rushing their way, as if coming down the street past the columns. “We could be attacked soon,” he said loudly, flexing his fingers and glad he had already put on his gear.

“What is it?” Dolce said, getting up from the ground. Leon came out of the tent on hearing the warning, not wearing any shoes (or vest, but at least he had pants). He held his fan at ready.

“Whatever has the rune sphere,” Lest said, watching the street. A large blue beast was coming their way. For a moment, he thought it was a huge lion. Then it got closer and he could see goat horns and a snake for a tail. “A chimera.”

The chimera seemed like it was going to ram itself into one of them for its first attack. Lest was closest, but then Leon had a brown aura appear around him as he tackled it from the side. Although the beast seemed like it could have weighed over twice what Leon did, he managed to knock it out of its rushing attack. Dolce then hurled Pico at chimera, with the ghost somehow hitting one of the goat horns with enough force to snap it off. The chimera howled and gathered fire runes. Casting quickly, Lest tried to hit it with a counter spell. Unfortunately, the fire breath attack was natural enough that he couldn't counter it. He'd have to go for more traditional attack spells.

“Is it going to resist fire magic?” Dolce asked, holding her staff close.

“No,” Lest said.

“Good,” she said, before launching rather large fireballs at the chimera.

In the end, Leon and Dolce were doing far more damage to it than Lest was. They returned it to the Forest of Beginnings, leaving behind the floating rune sphere. Lest went over heal up Leon. “You've gotten paralyzed and poisoned,” he said, using spells to counter those conditions before working on the claw wound he'd gotten.

“I could tell the former,” he said, moving his left arm so it wasn't blocking the healing. “What in the world was that first thing you did, with the sparkling cone that didn't do anything?”

“It's a counter spell that can negate a spell being cast,” Lest said. “Except in these cases where it's a natural ability rather than a spell. When it works, it is the most damaging spell I have.”

“You'd think an unnatural creature like that wouldn't have a natural ability,” Dolce said, going over to her bag. “I've got a potion you should take too.”

Once Leon's injury was taken care of, as well as a water burn Dolce had taken on her hand from the chimera's tail attack, Lest retrieved the rune sphere and they went back to have breakfast. Dolce had some reasonable ideas on how to proceed, including having one of them stay with the rune sphere to keep contact with Dylas' spirit. That would leave Lest and the other guardian to deal with Thunderbolt. It didn't take long for Lest to decide on taking Leon to go track down Storgane's creation. From the name given to it, he expected electrical attacks. Those runes were rare outside of new technology, but Lest knew from his studies that those aligned with earth runes, like Leon, often resisted electrical spells. Plus he had that sleep spell which would definitely be more useful than paralysis against Thunderbolt.

Inside the runes of what Leon called Syra Springs, a few sturdy stone buildings were standing among large stretches of water. Most structures had fallen down, probably in earthquakes or monster attacks. Broken statues lined the stone road heading up to the central building where Lest sensed the rune spring. For being so old and abandoned, the town lake was still clear and clean. There were even some fish swimming around, so this place wasn't totally uninhabited. But like Obsidian Mansion, there were tiny streams of corrupt runes in the stones and the water. They gave an extra unsettling feeling to the quiet ruin.

The central building was the most intact, perhaps because of the spring. A marble roof covered in many carvings stood on top of tall pillars; walls of smooth white stone ran between them, leaving a huge arched entryway facing south. In the carvings, some old event was memorialized. Did anyone in this age know what was being depicted here? Maybe Leon, but Lest felt it'd be better to ask later.

When Leon started talking as they entered the building, Lest wondered if he was thinking the same thing. But not quite. “I've been thinking, ever since I realized this place was Syra Springs... you do realize that this isn't the natural location for the water rune spring?”

“There's certainly enough water here for it to be,” Dolce said.

“But if it isn't natural, who would have the means to move it?" Lest asked.

“It would take a god's power, and it did,” Leon said, then gestured ahead. “My elders taught me that all of the rune springs had been shifted from their normal positions as part of Storgane's plan to curse the world to decreased magic. Originally, they were at equal distance from where Selphia is now. When the mortal races began their efforts to overthrow the hardhearted divine dragons of the time, Storgane responded to the deaths of his peers by pushing the springs out of place and unbalancing the ether sea.”

“Is that why he still lurks there, making it so dark and cold?” Dolce asked.

Leon shrugged. “Not sure, but it might be. We had hopes that when Ven got powerful enough, she could move the springs back into place. Apparently, she still hasn't reached that state. I'm hoping renewing their strength will help her do that.”

“Are we sure that the rune springs need to be so powerful?” she asked. When Leon raised an eyebrow and Lest glanced back at her, she said, “Just asking. The flow of runes and the ether sea stimulate life, doesn't it? But life has continued on in spite of things being as they are and Storgane has practically said that he can't make his curse complete without taking power from another.”

“If it was just the theory of mortals, that would be something to consider,” Lest said. “But we have statements from other gods, those who've lived even longer than Ventuswill has, that the springs are not even at half the power they should have. Yet they haven't been able to do much because the constriction here affects the power they can wield.”

“Storgane's basically screwed everyone over with his curse,” Leon said. “I guess the fact that life still carries on speaks more of the sheer stubbornness of the world and everyone in it.”

“But then that's better than just giving up,” Pico said. “Now mortals are going to fix a god's mess, that's pretty awesome!”

“More like it's yet another reason to figure out why that god is still being such a bastard and stop him,” Dolce said.

“Only reason I need to have is knowing he's ruined Ven,” Leon said, his ears shifting angrily.

“That's going to have to wait until we get the springs restored and all of you awakened,” Lest said, going up to the spring's muscle. He had to sit on the floor. From the runes, he could tell that water from a natural spring bubbled up underneath these stones. “This one's mostly in the floor and the lake below us, but I can still reach it.”

“There's a whole lake under here?” Dolce asked, glancing at the ring of water around the inner edge of this building.

“Yeah, Syra was built on top of it,” Leon said.

"I thought there'd have to be some land underneath this big structure."

Leaving them discussing the matter, Lest made the breaks in the spring and the sphere to fuse them together. He would have liked to be able to place the sphere lower, but the optimal point was under the water and floor. But the muscle itself managed to do this, pulling the sphere under while it began fusing with the spring and the sea. The water trembled under the changing presence of the rune spring, creating waves in the small ring here that splashed up onto the stone floor. When Lest broke up the stagnation, that disturbance only increased. A roar of waves came from underneath the floor and the building trembled. Outside, there was a series of cracks and crashes as various old structures began to fall apart.

“Do we need to get out of here?” Leon asked, coming over with Dolce.

“I don’t think so,” Lest said. “The structure below us seems sturdy.” Although he hoped the other two could swim as well, just in case. Once things quieted down, he got up. “Dolce, you work on contacting Dylas’ spirit. Leon, let’s go out and see what parts of the ruin we can still get around.”

“It’s not hard, just start with a familiar melody and the spring will carry your voice,” Leon said to her.

“Be careful,” she said, then sat down near the center of the spring to focus on her part. Pico floated around on guard.

Outside, almost all the other buildings had collapsed. The lake was murky with debris and columns stood out alone over its surfaces. The stairway and road back off the lake were mostly intact, although large cracks showed that this might not last. While a few other pieces of road remained above the newly risen lake, most portions left were partly submerged. On one of those sections, they finally got a look at Thunderbolt.

The monster snorted and stamped a hoof down as things were quieted down. This led to the section of road it was on to break further apart. Before it could fall into the water, the strange unicorn bounded to other portions of the road, eventually reaching the one below them. Lest had heard of unicorns being small slight creatures, but this one was tall and brawny. Its black coat was like the surface of a lake at night, while plumes of sparking storm clouds took place of its mane and tail. On seeing them, Thunderbolt whinnied defiantly and used a lightning spell so fast that Lest barely saw the runes gathering before the jolt shot right between him and Leon. They both got knocked back into the sides of the stairway.

“That is one mean stallion,” Leon said, spinning his fan to create a shield around them both. “Keep it occupied for my prayer, just don’t get gored on that horn.”

“Right,” Lest said, briefly checking on the shield runes as Thunderbolt ran up the stairs. It wouldn’t last on him, so he detached it and threw the energy at the monster.

Thunderbolt stumbled on the stairs, but was only slowed in his approach. Once it was on the portion of road they were on, it reared up trying to intimidate them before charging runes for a skill. Even if he could cast quick enough, Lest was sure he couldn’t counter the lightning bolt spell. But he could counter this. He worried about the kickback hurting Thunderbolt enough to dismiss it into the rune spring. Thankfully, Thunderbolt remained on its feet; it just got really angry at them fighting back.

Leon had completed his prayer by then, casting it over the monster with his fan. Now that he could see it working, Lest knew this was a potent sleep spell that could probably work even on monsters that would normally resist being put to sleep. The length of the prayer spell helped keep the energy to cast it manageable while being more potent. Thunderbolt quieted immediately, even its stormy mane calming under the influence of sleep.

Leaving Leon to keep the sleep enchantment on as long as he could, Lest went over and put his arms around Thunderbolt’s neck. Its mane caused painful static shocks on his hands, but he endured it as best he could while focusing on the runes. What struck him immediately was the abundance of the darker threads from Storgane. Some of them were even large enough to be cords, trying to tie Dylas, Thunderbolt, and etherlink together in an inseparable fashion. But not quite inseparable. Lest was able to undo bonds to Thunderbolt in several places, enough to where when the sleep enchantment broke, the unicorn stood there meekly without a thought of what to do about being hugged.

Lest took a moment to find his voice. After a few false starts, he said, “Leon, help me get him into the spring. Storgane’s influence is strong here.”

“All right,” he heard as if he were hearing through water. Lest kept an eye on the enchantments and kept undoing the bonds that reconnected. “Come on, big fellow. You too, lover boy.”

Thunderbolt had enough thought to snort at this, but walked along with them into the central building. Once inside the rune spring, the cords loosened up. Lest went ahead and tapped into the spring’s power to completely undo and remove the monster runes. Meanwhile, he could hear Dolce singing with Amber. Just Amber. “You’re here,” Dolce sang to them. “Water guardian Dylas is being quiet. Won’t respond.” Amber seemed to call on Dylas in a trembling song of concern.

Leon helped to catch Dylas’ body when it transformed from Thunderbolt. Lest focused back on his vision to see that he was taller than Leon, just leaner in muscle tone. Unlike Pico’s description of him as a boy with black hair, his hair was now a stormy blue, being long enough that it reached his waist. Then his tail fell further down to his ankles. His face was vaguely similar to the unicorn monster, in the shape of his nose, ears, and brow. However, the chains on him were really troubling. His body was wrapped up almost entirely in them: his legs pinned together, his arms bound so they crossed over his chest, his eyes and ears covered with a full metal band. Worst of all, pieces that were floating were parts of a band for around his neck; they had long spikes that pointing inward. A green tuft of one of Venti's feathers peeked out of the pocket of his black jacket.

“Put him on the ground, I can work from there,” Lest said. “You should help her contact him; I can’t completely undo etherlink until he’s ready to awaken.”

“Yeah, I hope we can do this,” Leon said, not even hiding how troubled he was at the sight of Storgane’s chains on Dylas. Once they had him on the ground, Leon started singing what seemed like should be a happy little song before he connected over to the ether sea. “Brother guardian, come forth! We want to meet you in person.”

Dylas was here, Lest thought. He could feel the light in the ether sea nearby. Was his depression still holding onto him strong enough that he would refuse to awaken? The thought troubled him. But no, he had to have faith. “Dylas, come back to Venti,” he said softly, then focused in on the bonds between the guardian and etherlink.

A feeling like being smothered in a wet heavy blanket engulfed Lest.


	20. Hell Gate of Water

Dylas Leland…

I don’t need to tell you to give up.

You already have.

I don’t need to tell you to despair.

You already are.

Tell them that.

Tell them that you are mine.

* * *

 

Spring 31, 1611

For a moment, all Dolce heard was the hum of the ether sea. Storgane’s words bit coldly even if they weren’t directed at her. Had their tormentor won already? It was hard to deny it, looking at Dylas’ body that was very nearly covered in chains. There was a clatter from them as loose ends shifted, then he started lifting into the air even though Lest was still holding onto him.

Amber’s voice came first, begging Dylas to prove Storgane wrong and be happy he was almost free.

“He’s delusional, you can escape him,” Leon said.

“We all promised we’d come back to Ven,” Dolce said. “Come on, come back home with us.”

Then she finally heard from Dylas, a sigh. Being so close, she knew his words. “I never promised that. The last thing I said to her was goodbye before I tried to kill myself. I only ended up here because someone stopped me and I wanted to do something useful for my final act. But it just hurt her and the pain I thought I'd be free from never ends. Please, just let it all end.”

“No, don’t give up,” Dolce said, frantic in trying to think of something to change his mind with. The other two echoed her sentiments.

In response, there was a crack and a hiss inside the room they were in. A monster gate appeared, first just the size of a marble but rapidly expanding into something larger than any gate she had ever seen. The loose ends of Dylas’ chains extended and reached into the gate. Before either she or Leon could do anything about it, the gate pulled Dylas and Lest into it.

A crazed whinny came as Thunderbolt emerged from the gate. But it wasn’t the same monster she had gotten a glimpse of when Lest and Leon brought it in. This Thunderbolt had clouds of red around it, its eyes full of Storgane’s hate. Something in her heart told her that this was a creature born entirely of hate and the gate connected to hell instead of the Forest of Beginnings.

Before they could even think of trying to get Dylas and Lest out of there, they’d need to put down this demon.

* * *

 

Lest had felt the hell gate form in the corrupted runes around them; the chains started to pull Dylas inside. The only thing he could think of doing was to hold on tighter even when it pulled him in too. In seconds, the guardian vanished from his arms and he was deep within the gate. He was left in a hallway filled with a blur of black and white specks. The feeling of depression still wrapped around him. This suicidal form sometimes darkened his vision and made it hard to breathe. While he had dealt with depressed people before, he hadn't encountered one this bad yet. It had worried him since Venti had told him about it.

For a moment, he tried to think of how he was going to get out of this gate with Dylas. He came up blank, save for that he had to find Dylas first and convince him to return to Venti. Lest had a hard time finding that light he would feel from a guardian’s soul. However, he could hear chains and decided to follow that.

Strange leaves and flowers began to appear, right before he took a step off the oddly smooth non-surface and onto a stone floor with dry leaves scattered around. The spot seemed familiar: a stone doorway with a wooden door carved with leaves, a creak of a huge windmill behind him, a spread of rooftops past the stone wall ahead. Overhead, the sky was a deep blue, night approaching dawn. He could see the castle of Selphia easily.

Lest glanced over where he sensed another person. When he saw Dylas, the guardian was his old self. He wore the same clothing but had shorter black hair that was in a ponytail to his mid-back. But the look quickly didn’t matter as he was sitting on the edge of the railing, looking down over the cliff’s edge.

“Dylas?” Lest asked, going over to him.

The next few moments seemed to slow down around them. Dylas looked back at him, his eyes wide in surprise that someone was up here on the observatory with him. Something made him stand down on a ledge on the outside of the rail, then slip off. For a second, Lest wasn’t sure if he could make it. Then he found himself leaning over the rails that came up to his waist, both of his hands gripping Dylas’ arms tightly while he dangled with nothing below his feet.

If this was real, then it would be a struggle for him to keep hold like this. He looked down and could tell that since they were inside this hell gate, willpower was more important than physical strength. As long as he wanted to save Dylas more than Dylas wanted to die, he was going to be able to hold him.

Dylas panicked because someone was trying to stop him. “Let me go, let it end,” he said. “I’m a worthless burden on everybody. I’m always going to be held back by my own mind, it’s never going to end. I don’t have a reason to live, let me go.”

“Venti wants to see you again,” Lest said, hoping that reason was enough.

It made him think, but not enough. “I’m a burden especially to her,” he said regretfully. “She has greater responsibilities and I was selfish enough to take up so much of her attention. It was going to hurt her anyhow, but I should have just died instead of drawn that suffering out.”

He shook his head. “It’s not that way. She wants you to be happy, and live freely. She wants to see you again. Not only her, but the other guardians want to meet you as a brother they’ve never seen.”

Ashamed, he looked down at the ground far below him. “They’re stronger and more worthy than me. They were selfless and I was selfish. Get them out; just forget about me.” Most of his runes were like those gripping Lest's empathy, trying to smother Dylas with despair. Yet even as he asked to be forgotten, even as he said he didn’t have a reason to live, there was a deep wish to be given some reason.

On seeing that, Lest felt that perhaps the occasional dimming of his vision was another hint. He could see because the feelings were only empathy, not his own. Dylas would not be able to see what hope or help was out there. In that case, Lest needed to give some hope that was bright enough that Dylas couldn’t miss it. Or, a feeling so strong that he couldn’t ignore it. Both Leon and Dolce still felt love and attraction towards him even though they understood now that it was caused by an emotional misunderstanding.

Dylas had already been hit by the love runes in having Thunderbolt removed from him. Tugging at them, Lest said, “I won’t forget about you, Dylas. I’m not going to leave you behind.”

He looked back up in shock, then in being dazzled at an unexpected sight. It seemed like he hadn’t seen Lest clearly at first. Might not even see him correctly now, but he saw enough to recognize him the way the others had. “You’re… the angel?”

“Yes,” he said, deciding to explain later on. “Whatever you think, you’re just as important as the others. I serve Ventuswill and she needs you back so she can let go of the guilt and pain in her heart. So I need to bring you back home, even if I have to drag you out of here and back to Selphia. Even so, I believe that you’re not entirely hopeless. You can find a new reason to live. And I’ll help you if you can’t find your way yet. So will the other guardians; they already called you brother before they saw your face.”

He couldn’t find the words to respond, but his emotions spoke for him. There was a sharp struggle between not wanting to believe and wanting to believe. When the latter won out and became stronger, Lest was able to pull Dylas back up over the fence. Although it appeared to be fall here, there was a roar of a winter’s gale around the windmill, causing its blades to turn faster. Dylas soon was hugging him for reassurance.

This caused a dark fog to fill Lest's sight, obscuring what was around them although portions of the observatory were visible. Voices filled the air, only fragments of speech but each of them some barb that Dylas had faced. In contrast, Lest found his chi glowing bright here. No wonder they were calling him an angel with that being the main thing they saw. “Come on, this is all in the past,” Lest said, tugging Dylas over to the door. “We’ll go find your future.”

He didn't say anything, but let himself be led into the observatory

Once they walked through the door, the scenery changed. They were in a hallway that never seemed to end. The dark fog had lightened but the old oil lights flickered unnervingly. Sometimes there were doors ahead. By the time they should have reached them, the doors had faded into walls. Something was going on here.

Lest thought of suggesting they stop, but then Storgane spoke up again. “You’ve already given up, Dylas. You belong to me. You can’t escape. You can’t find your way.”

He trembled and it nearly broke this new resolve. “I’ll help him find his way until he can walk on his own,” Lest said.

“Fool, you can't give hope to the hopeless,” Storgane said. “He's been mine all along.”

He shook his head. “No he hasn't. If he was, you would have already won. There's some light or hope that must keep you going, right Dylas?” He looked back to him.

While his runes indicated that he thought of something, he was hesitant to say it. Storgane spoke before him, “He may have tried, but he's always been too slow and weak. This is just a move of desperation; he won't trust or believe you for long. He ends up disappointing and hurting everyone around him.”

Some of the lights in this endless hall went out. “Why do you have such faith in me?” Dylas asked quietly.

“You still have one of Venti's charm feathers,” Lest said, as the first thought that came to mind. He wondered for a moment how long he could keep this up without fabricating some reason. While a lie might help a lot right now, it was sure to cause problems later. “She told me she only gives those to her best friends. So, you must be someone really special.”

“No, she's a softhearted weakling herself,” Storgane said.

“You're going to regret saying those things,” Lest said, hoping that he'd get to punch Storgane in the face someday. Or whatever of his face was left as a hate spirit.

“Right, stop dissing Venti,” Dylas said, some emotions other than his depression stirring.

“What are you going to be able to do about it?” But this question seemed to come in Dylas' voice. Thunderbolt stood ahead of them, scraping a hoof on the floor as it blocked their passage. “You have no reason left to live. You gave up completely when you jumped off the windmill. All that's going to happen if you get out of here is that what little energy and hope you've scraped together will run out and you'll end up just the same as before, with your heart dead to the world. There is no escape left for you other than acceptance of Storgane since you bypassed death. There is nothing left for you but misery until you agree on ceasing all existence.”

Lest tightened his grip on Dylas' hand, but this was really something the guardian should try to answer for himself first. Yet he might have to keep convincing him. Thankfully, even as he thought that, he saw hope continue to build in Dylas. “I, I have a reason to live now,” he said. “More than one, even.”

“It won't last you,” Thunderbolt said, approaching them.

“I have to try,” Dylas said, then looked over at the unicorn monster and clenched his fist. “I don't need you demons reminding me of every little pain I've had! I don't need you anymore! I'll make sure this reason lasts, or I'll find a new one. I have to try.”

At his declaration, Thunderbolt retaliated by charging at them, Lest first because he had been leading the way. Dylas was quick to intervene and punched his monster through the wall. Out in the strange black and white haze, it dissolved quickly into nothing. Storgane shrieked in a rage, but his voice seemed to come from further away. The hallway disappeared too, leaving them in the same strange place that Lest had arrived at. With a loud snap, metal bands and chains suddenly appeared and fell to the ground. Dylas had changed to his altered form, but without the bindings to Storgane that the other two still had.

“Wow, you managed to free yourself entirely,” Lest said, feeling glad about Dylas' accomplishment.

“Did I?” he asked, looking at the fallen chains in some puzzlement. Then he sighed. “Just from him, darkness still grips me. But there's some hope now; I thought I'd lost hope before I came here.”

“It's great that you've found it again.” Now they just had to figure out how to get out of here. He wished briefly that he had some way of contacting his sister. If anyone knew, she'd be the one.

Then Dylas faced him, his cheeks pink as his mind was struggling to make sense of this new hope, the lingering depression, and the feelings of infatuation. “I, I meant it. I mean, there's reasons I want to try again. After hurting Venti for so long, it's only right that I go back and apologize to her. An-and if the other guardians would call me a brother...”

“They do,” Lest said to encourage him.

He clutched Lest's hand. “They helped me so much and all I had to do was sing with them. I want to help them somehow, even if I am weaker. And, well,” he shivered, feeling that he was in love and afraid of admitting it only to get turned down and hurt.

Lest wasn't sure what to say himself. How to get him to delay saying that reason without hurting him in the process and undoing this progress they were making? But then Dylas decided to give up trying to put it into words. Instead, he pulled Lest back into a hug and kissed him. A part of Lest was really concerned that there wasn't a graceful way to back out of this anymore. At the same time, there was a thrill in his heart about it. He'd made people infatuated with him and he'd had a few crushes, mostly in travelers who came and left without really knowing they'd left an impression on him. But he'd never gotten someone to kiss him like this; it made him wonder if he should just give in this once and deal with the complications later.

After the kiss, they ended up in another place. It was still strange, if more peaceful than the rest of what they'd seen. They were under a large tree at the side of a lake, a tree that glimmered with leaves of dark blue. A white fog made things past the tree unclear, but the ripples in the water and leaves were soothing. With the stark contrast from his initial impression that this was a hell gate, Lest wondered if cutting Dylas off entirely from Storgane had destroyed the gate. Could they have been shifted to the Forest of Beginnings? Or somewhere in the ether sea where their minds tried to interpret what an awake mortal mind couldn't comprehend?

“I, I'm sorry, I'm being terribly clingy and selfish again,” Dylas said. Although he didn't seem inclined to let him go.

“It's fine, I can forgive that,” Lest said. “I'd rather you find some happiness.”

“Um, thanks,” he said, becoming unsure of what to do now.

“We do have a problem in that I'm not sure where we are exactly or how to get back out the gate we got pulled into,” Lest said, taking a blue leaf from the air. “This place certainly isn’t normal.”

“I don’t think we’re in the ether sea,” Dylas said, looking at the leaf. “The water sounds different.”

“Let me get etherlink out of your system and see if that clears up anything else,” Lest said. They were already holding onto each other and he could sense the enchantment still active. “I won’t be able to focus on anything but the magic for a moment.”

“I’ll protect you,” Dylas said. Although there didn’t seem to be much he needed to be protected from.

With the chains gone, the fragments of Storgane’s power were also gone in his runes. Lest found that he could tap into the etherlink to make sure he got the water spring’s power to undo the bonds and get the enchantment out. Then further things changed, unlike the other two. Dylas’ whole rune alignment shifted, from a neutral balance that most humans held to a water-heavy alignment that matched was Lest saw in other earthmates. There was also a strong influence of wind runes, clearly from his bond with Ventuswill; both of these in combination made for a stormy presence, one that would have no issue using the rare and tricky electric element. With that storm, Lest also felt a powerful potential that reminded him of the time he worked a miracle.

“What is this?” he asked quietly as he opened his eyes and brought his focus outward.

“I feel like something should be happening,” Dylas said, then looked at him and became startled enough that he let go. “W-w…wait, you’re a guy?”

Lest was about to ask how he’d missed that, but then remembered the dark fog. “Yeah.”

He turned bright red and quickly became overcome by still being in love and being shocked about it. “I thought you were some angel who didn’t really have a gender,” he said with an angry tone.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fool you in any way,” he said. “I couldn’t be sure how clearly you were seeing things either.”

“Aren’t you embarrassed or ashamed at getting kissed by another guy?” he asked, although some of that did seem directed at himself.

“Nope,” Lest said. Dylas stared at him for that, as he was acting completely foreign to how he knew the world. “But if you’re uncomfortable with it, I won’t tell anyone about it. I still want to help you, and get you back home to Venti.”

“Oh my god,” he muttered. “Well… fine, nobody knows about this but us.”

He nodded. “Sure thing.”

“You don’t have to be ashamed of it,” a woman’s voice said, unfortunately embarrassing Dylas all over again.

“How can you..?” Dylas started to ask defensively, but then the woman came into view. Even though she appeared human, her presence was that of the divine. She wore a brown dress with a pattern of strawberry vines, a crown of strawberry flowers was woven into her hair. Most tellingly, she had a glow like the end of a summer’s day.

“Say that?” she finished for him. “You couldn’t see him clearly for one. But then, you should love the ones you love, no matter what others may think of it. You should decide for yourselves later on.” She bowed her head politely. “For now, we need to get you two out of here. I am the Harvest Goddess, the divine guide of the farmers and a patron of the earthmates.”

He already knew one goddess, but Lest still felt a deep sense of awe to meet this one, the goddess he prayed to for his fields and his powers. “Your presence is a great blessing; thank you for helping us out, gracious goddess.”

She laughed at that. “Oh, you’re a farmer, you don’t need to be formal with me. I like you already. But anyhow, of course I’ve come to help. You two have gotten yourself in a place mortals shouldn’t be, by no fault of your own.” Then she turned serious as she added, “In this situation with Storgane, this won’t be the only time you end up inside a gate, Lest. I will teach you how to get yourself and one other out of here, only if you understand that this is also a forbidden technique for mortals. You are not to teach this spell to anyone else, no matter what the circumstances. Although once you cast it for yourself, I doubt you’d want to.”

Dylas was too nervous to talk right now, so Lest went ahead and said, “All right, I’ll keep it to myself. But where are we? We were in a hell gate, I believe.”

She nodded. “That’s right. Storgane uses it to torment those he has captive. He presented Dylas with his most powerful torment, but because he found hope and a reason to live again, he was able to destroy it from within. That put you both into the Forest of Beginnings, where the living should not be.”

“But the dead shouldn't come out of the forest either,” Dylas said, not fully relaxing his guard but starting to believe the goddess’ words. “Storgane shouldn't still be around.”

“He shouldn’t, but that’s on the hands of mortals to solve,” she said. “I’ve stepped in because there are certain things mortals cannot do which must be done. Like pass on this spell.” She came over and offered a hand to Lest. “This is part of a series of earthmate spells that affect the link between the earth and the Forest of Beginnings. Omnigate can open a gate anywhere, often used to summon monsters; Gate Reject can pull a person's soul from the forest, but only once in the caster’s lifetime. Those spells are discouraged but not forbidden like this one. Arjate can send the caster and a person they hold hands with back to the living earth.”

“What makes it forbidden when it sounds like Gate Reject?” Lest asked, taking her hand.

She smiled at his curiosity. “Well, Arjate is a reverse Tamitaya. It will only work in the forest and no being that’s not a monster or a ghost should enter the forest. It may be worth your time to figure out who invented it and why.”

“I’ll try,” Lest said, reviewing the spell information in his mind. It used a lot of energy and from the look of it, whoever traveled with him would be relatively safe. But it could take a hard toll on him. “Are you ready, Dylas?”

“Sure, we need to get back home,” he said, a bit of happiness starting to spark. It must have hit him that he really was free of Storgane and he could have a future past his depression.

Lest smiled, even if it confused Dylas further about if he loved him or not. “Good.” He took his hands and cast Arjate.

There was a feeling of being stretched and bent out of shape, then smushed back together like a child playing with clay. Yet he only felt a little worn when he and Dylas reappeared in the room of the water rune spring. It surprised Lest for a moment because he was pretty sure that he should feel a whole lot worse right now. Then he saw that the Harvest Goddess had followed them over. Winking at him, she let him know in that that she was supporting him for the moment. There was something more she wanted done and he needed to be alert for it.

“They got out,” Dolce sang, still in contact with the ether sea. Amber cheered from off in the distance.

“Thank goodess, we weren’t sure what to do when the gate broke on its own,” Leon said, coming over to them. “But who’s the broad you brought back too?”

She chuckled at that while Lest gave him a partly teasing partly scolding look. “Hey, watch the names you’re throwing around. This is the Harvest Goddess; she helped us out and is the only reason we could have gotten out.”

“I’ll let that comment of yours slide this time,” she said to Leon, still amused. “But I’m not done yet. I’ve been waiting a long time to help sweet Ventuswill. So then my dear Dylas.” She turned to him.

“What?” Dylas asked, staring at her for what she’d addressed him with. “I’m not a farmer or earthmate.”

She chuckled again. “I know, but I know other things. You must hear the rune spring calling to you.”

He shifted uneasily. “Yeah, guess that’s what it is.”

“You’ve been completely freed from Storgane’s curse, bringing about an opportunity that we must act upon immediately,” the Harvest Goddess said. “Please, stand within the center of the rune spring and recite the Earthmate’s Pledge with Lest.”

That’s why she was supporting him when he should be feeling horrible, Lest realized. But while he knew, Dylas was only further puzzled. “But, I’m not an earthmate. I don’t know that pledge.”

“That’s why he’s helping you,” she said. “And you are a guardian, the only one who can do this. Go on.”

“It’s in the holy words, but you can repeat the lines after me,” Lest said, going to the center of the room where he had placed the rune sphere.

Although he wasn’t sure why, Dylas wasn’t about to refuse the request of a goddess. “I guess,” he said, nervous about messing up something he didn’t know what he was about to do. Amber must have heard what was going on, since she cheered him on.

“I don’t think a goddess would ask for a task that the person couldn’t complete,” Dolce added.

“At least not one that liked mortals,” the Harvest Goddess said warmly.

Once Dylas was standing above where the rune sphere had ended up, Lest recited the first line of the pledge for him to repeat. By the third line, Dylas was very nearly speaking in sync with him, without a slip in the pronunciation. It became clear to Lest what was going on. The Harvest Goddess was turning the power Dylas had as a guardian over to being an earthmate and then guiding him into his first miracle. After they got through one recitation of the pledge, Lest was able to stop while Dylas began singing it perfectly, caught up in the directions of the runes.

The Harvest Goddess had silently got Leon, Dolce, and Pico to come closer. On the second recitation, the floor began to glow in a circle around Dylas. The rune spring trembled again, this time bringing down the building they were in. The pieces fell away without harming them. Even as the ancient town was absorbed by the lake at last, things had barely started. The miracle moved the spring itself, rapidly pulling it and all of them on the circle to the south. It stopped over a large dip in the ground that hadn’t seemed remarkable when they had passed over it the other day. With the rune spring settling itself here, water burst from several low points in the ground and rapidly grew into a lake with trees sticking out all over. Part of the earth pulled upward to form an island where they were set down.

Not only had the spring moved, but it had changed in structure again. Its previous form had merely pumped runes to keep them flowing. Now it was separating out the runes into elements at the base, running them through a brief purification to make further sure that all stagnant pieces were renewed, and then blending them back together to send out into the world. The water element stream was the strongest, although it seemed to be handling all elements while it was the only spring like this.

Once Dylas came out of the miracle’s hold, the Harvest Goddess said, “Now the water rune spring is as it should be. Dylas, in honor of all the years you gave up as a guardian, the earth has given you its blessings. Although you have given much already, please continue to give back blessings into the world so that life will continue to flourish around you.”

“Then I am an earthmate now,” Dylas said, unsure of what to think of that.

“What would his blessing price be?” Lest asked, as that was an important thing for an earthmate blessed after childhood to know right off.

“Crafting, in particular cooking,” she said. “You’ll be able to teach him the basic things, correct?”

He nodded. “Yes, I could do that.”

“Good, then you three, please take good care of Lest. I'll see you again when the time is right to restore the other springs. Toodles!” She then vanished in a flutter of green leaves.

Then the full effect of casting Arjate hit him, a rush of queasiness and a strain on all of his joints. He was left barely able to stand on his own. Before long, Dolce had a hold on him. “What's wrong, Lest?”

“It's that spell she taught you, right?” Dylas asked. He didn't seem winded from the miracle yet as its energy still lingered in him.

He nodded, doing his best to smile in spite of feeling awful. “Yeah. She did say I wouldn't want to teach it. Should be alright if I rest for a bit. You probably should too, since you just cast a miracle.”

Hoping to get some of the walk back in today, Lest declined having the tents being pitched and instead just napped on a blanket on the ground.


	21. Shaky Steps

Spring 31

“I wonder if there's fish in the lake already,” Leon said, taking a box with fishing gear out of his bag.

Dylas felt briefly interested, but then recalled that his fishing gear was probably long lost. The lake was new too, as in it hadn't existed here ten minutes ago. “Doubt it,” he said, sitting down on a rock.

He chuckled as he put the pole together. “Ever see an earthmate miracle before? They can do some wild stuff, and this one was done by two of you and supported by a goddess. I'd be more surprised if there wasn't anything living in the lake.”

“If it keeps you quiet so Lest can rest, go right ahead,” Dolce said, taking out some sewing supplies to work on a small dress. It was too small even for the ghost girl hanging around her, more like something for a baby.

“Yeah yeah, I don't think anything less than an explosion would wake him at the moment,” Leon said. “Whatever spell he did took a lot out of him; he only kept alert as long as he did because of the presence of his patron goddess. One of them, anyhow. We aren't going to get far when he wakes up, but we can at least use Escape to get off this lake.” With his pole together, he got up to go to the edge of the water, lightly tweaking Dylas’ ear as he passed by. “Glad you decided to join us after all.”

He was about to get mad at him for tweaking his ear, then had the thought that his ear shouldn't stick out that far. Dylas put his hand on the ear and found that it stuck out as far as an elf's ear. Not only that, but it was covered lightly in fur and shaped like that of a horse. He couldn't look at his ears right now, although he could pull his hair forward and see that it was blue instead of black. And a lot longer than it used to be. “What the hell happened to me?” he asked, a little horrified at the change.

Annoyingly, Leon seemed amused. “Same thing that happened to me, tail and all.” And it was true, the other guardian had large fox ears and a fluffy tail... tail? Dylas checked and found that he did have a horse's tail to match the ears; he could feel it just the same as tugging his hair. “Just not the nice facial markings, although your chi is visible during spell use. Water aligned, no surprise.”

“Could be worse,” Dolce said, threading a silver needle. “I can't change my hairstyle and that's the forgiving part.”

“Yeah, she's got a really...OW!” Pico made a comical leap and crash onto her face when Dolce pricked her with the needle for nearly saying something. But the ghost looked immediately to see if it had amused anyone, so it didn't seem like that bad of a pain.

How was his tail going through his pants without tearing them? It was a question that came into his mind but he didn't want to ask it out loud. Although he could glance over at Leon getting ready to fish and see that he had the same improbable condition with pants. Maybe there was an insubstantial part of the tails, or somehow their pants became magic. These thoughts were getting weird and he didn't think it would get any better just thinking about it.

“You doing okay now?” Dolce asked. “We were worried about you when we first heard from you today.”

And before then; Dylas could remember when the others were trying to reach him. Storgane had kept telling him it was useless to reply and at the time, he had believed it. “Sorry about that,” he said, uneasy in saying it and tempted to not say anymore. But Lest had said the others were seeing each other as family. They already knew the thing he'd be most worried about them finding out. “I don't know, it's all confusing right now. Hard enough to get out of that trap Storgane put me in and now I'm supposed to be an earthmate, and a cook at that.”

“You cook much?” she asked, looking over at him.

He shook his head. “Not really.”

“You might have an undiscovered talent for it,” Leon said from the lake side. “The price an earthmate pays for their blessings is always something they're passionate about. If not, they'll get that way.”

“I wouldn't know anything about them,” Dylas said. “The only one I knew was the lady blacksmith who was rarely seen away from her forge. All the kids in town were scared of her.”

“They can seem obsessed but they're really good at what they do,” Dolce said. “Although I can't say much about them myself.”

Leon chuckled. “Guess that leaves me to explain it until lover boy there wakes up.”

Why did he call Lest lover boy? It worried Dylas, reminding him of how quickly and suddenly he fell in love with the angel. And how he still felt a weird attraction to him even knowing that he wasn't an angel, but a human and a guy. Dolce seemed to notice, as she said, “Lest's magic is aligned with the love element. Which is a really weird one as far as I know.”

“Well love runes are always present in healing spells, which is why he's good at that,” Leon said. “Other than that, spells that rely heavily on love runes are really hard to cast for most people. Love magic most closely resembles the natural flow and form of runes if they're left alone, as I was taught. But most people learn magic by forming artificial bonds and forms on runes, as they have a hard time comprehending the natural forms. Still, love magic can do some neat things if you can learn the right way to work with it. I've seen Lest neutralize spells and rune skills as they're being cast. But then it makes anyone hit by his stronger magic think they're in love with him.”

Dolce glowered at Leon's back. “Leon, you could be more sensitive in how you say that.” He laughed, so she shook her head. “It's temporary, or so he says. Just don't act on it for a while.”

It was a little late to be telling him not to act on it, Dylas thought, trying not to look embarrassed. How much had Lest really meant what he'd said in the hell gate, or was some of it in his imagination? Were these two were also in love with him? And why didn't that last question bother him as much as it should? “Magic just seems weird all around, except for a few utility spells like the food sealing spell.”

“Aw, you grew up with that?” Leon asked, his ears twitching.

“I knew the spell existed but didn't know it myself,” Dolce said.

“Man, I had a million things to learn just to get along normally in this age,” Leon said. “Can't say I've learned them all yet, having only been here a week. Like that printing press! Books were near priceless in my day due to all the effort it took to make them, and now there's so many of them that most are dirt cheap. It's a welcome thing, but then I look in the library and have no clue where the heck to start in figuring things out by reading.”

Dolce smirked at this. “You'd better learn fast, since you're the librarian.”

He shrugged, flipping his tail about. “Well I know there's a system to organize them all, so I'm learning that since it should be quick. About earthmates, things have changed even there so some of my knowledge is outdated. But we can start with that pledge because if you understand that, you understand a lot of what earthmates are about. Can you still recite it?”

Dylas was about to say no, but the words came into his mind without further thought. “Seems like it, somehow.”

“It'd be easier on me to translate if it was written, but I think I can do it orally. At least jog my memory to the explanation I was given on what it means. Go on, give me the first line.”

He didn't think he could write it, since the sounds didn't entirely make words in his mind. But as he said the first line again, some kind of meaning was there. Leon knew it better once he heard it. Between them, they came up with a translation that Lest agreed with when he woke up and they started back towards Selphia. Those who sang it swore on their life a promise to the earth that had bestowed blessings upon them, to love the earth and all who lived on it, to serve the world and make things good, to honor and respect the gods and mortals alike. The earthmates were to live life selflessly and whenever they were given kindness or gifts, to give back that generosity into the world. Really living life based on this pledge didn't sound easy. But for the powers they were given, a good earthmate should see it as the proper thing to do.

Dylas had a hard enough time just living sometimes; this was going to be a really hard thing to adjust to. But Leon did end up catching some fish in the lake that hadn't been there this morning. Then this was what it was like to be blessed.

* * *

 

Spring 32

Thanks to having the rune spring itself moved, they got back into Selphia before the sun went down when they shouldn't have gotten back until near dark the next day. The rails on the stairs up the cliff were weathered, but Dylas could put his hand on them and feel like it had less than a week since he descended these stairs with the earthmate who turned him into a guardian. Or he could recall the dreaming state in the ether sea and feel like it had been an eternity in a nightmare. Or he could think about meeting back up with Venti not long from now. That was dread, shame, uncertainty, hope, eagerness, and love for a friend all mixed up together so that he couldn't even begin to think about what he should say. Which meant that he was probably going to embarrass himself.

Behind him, Leon tapped his back. Dylas was going to glare down at him, but at a turn in the stairs, the older guardian came closer and whispered, “Calm down, okay? She'll be so glad you made it back that she won't care how you are.”

His first thought was that it was easy for him to say something like that. But then he recalled what Leon had been saying about books yesterday; he had to have his own troubles and this distortion with the time they'd lost had to be worse on Leon. He was probably right about Venti as well. As much as she tried to be seen as a proper divinity, she was such a warm caring being that it was easy to forget at times that she was a divine dragon. But she did have to care how Dylas was, after his last contact with her being that suicide letter. The thought of it made him feel a bit sick.

As they walked through town, he continued having that eerie feeling of this place being familiar and strange. The trees surrounding the royal gardens were no longer in an orderly procession, but fish still swam in the channels running along the streets. Some houses looked the same, others were completely different... his own home was still standing there, painted a different color with some flower boxes added under some windows. Shivering a little, he looked down that street and saw how still it was. “It's really quiet here,” he said.

“There's a lot of empty houses in town right now,” Lest said, clearly concerned about that himself. But he was the town's prince. “Many people have moved out in the past decade; we're trying to get that reversed in time.”

“I was surprised to see the town's boundary hadn't changed even though the cliff had,” Dolce said.

“The cliff didn't look any different to me,” Dylas said. “I heard there was a huge landslide some time...” there'd been nearly four hundred years since he'd heard about it, “before I moved here. Some dwarves came from Telliarc to build structures in the cliff to keep it from eroding away, including the platforms.” The windmill had been the last thing he remembered being finished.

“Dwarven handiwork would be the reason it's all still standing,” Leon said.

There were more different things around, like the lack of the sparkling fountain and the rose beds in the middle of the town plaza. But the castle was exactly the same as he remembered it. For a moment, Dylas didn't want to go in there. The others didn't notice and he went inside with them to meet up with Ventuswill. Her colors were still vibrant, but her eyes and poise looked a lot older than he was used to when she'd always seemed like she'd been around forever.

“Dylas! I'm so relieved to have you back,” she said, lowering her head and wanting him to come closer.

Now that he was in front of her, Dylas couldn't bring himself to keep back. He went over and hugged her, whispering, “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay, I'm glad you're back home,” Venti said, so sincerely that it nearly brought him to tears. Knowing that there were others here kept him from doing so, and from saying all of what was on his mind. Then she had to say, “I just want you to visit me every day from now on.”

“Venti?' he asked, embarrassed at the request. “What for?”

“I want to make sure you're okay, with how you were when you left,” she said.

That did sound like a good thing, knowing that he had to come see her once a day at least. Hopefully he could keep himself from just complaining at those times. “All right, if that's what you want.”

“Careful not to spoil her giving in so quick,” Leon said teasingly.

“Oh sure, like your record on that end is spotless,” Venti said. Dylas smiled briefly at that; it was really nice to see her having fun again.

“That was just enough to keep you from getting too stuffy and formal,” Leon said, then lightly tapped Dylas with his feather fan. “You should tell her about that thing you did.”

“I'm sure she could tell,” Dylas said, uncomfortable with being the main one talking.

“About what?” she asked. Even if she had to know simply by the day of their return.

His tail twitched, the feeling odd against his pants. “Storgane pulled Lest and I into a hell gate and made us fight off some of my nightmares.” Biting his lip to keep that out of mind, he skipped a lot of the events to say, “Then we met the Harvest Goddess who taught him how to get out of the Forest of Beginnings, where we ended up after breaking the gate from inside. Then she made me an earthmaete and we moved the rune spring away from the ruins out there.”

“That's why he doesn't have chains like the two of us,” Dolce said when he didn't mention it.

“Oh, so that's how that happened,” Venti said, impressed. “That's amazing, Dylas! Thank you so much for getting that done.”

Feeling his face get warm, he looked down. “Uh, I didn't really know what I was doing. I was just following what the runes told me to do. I think.”

“That's right, that's how the miracles work,” Lest said. “The goddess also said that the water rune spring is now back to its proper strength.”

“Well I have felt a lot better compared to when the other two got empowered,” Venti said. Then she smiled. “Although the best thing about it is knowing that all of you will be completely free of Storgane's power in the end. We'll just have to figure out how to go about doing so, once you all get Amber back home too.”

“Sure, we can probably head into the forest tomorrow to start looking,” Leon said, then poked Dylas with the fan again. “As long as you're up to it.”

“Yeah, I'll go help,” he said, not even thinking twice about it. The other three had helped him endure everything, as he would have given up shortly after ending up in the ether sea if their voices hadn't reached him. Still... he glared at Leon. “And stop poking me with that.”

“Hey, I can make things explode with this fan,” he said indignantly, although his ears and tail seemed playful. “Be glad I'm just poking you with it.”

Dolce snorted, but Venti had no restraint in laughing.

* * *

 

One of the things Venti had asked him about was his blessing price, now that he was an earthmate. That led to a discussion which led Dylas getting sent to meet someone with the improbable name of Porcoline. Not just on the cooking, but finding a place to stay as well. Lest got held back in the castle to attend to his work. Apparently there was no longer a king of Selphia. Instead, Lest was the town's leader as the prince even though he'd moved in just before this spring started. It didn't make much sense to Dylas, but didn't seem all that important when there was so much else to figure out.

At least Leon got called away too, by a young man who wanted to talk with him about the library. Dolce then brought Dylas to the clinic to be checked up by the town doctor. Jones didn't think there was anything wrong with the tail weirdness or his hair changing color, saying that he seemed normal for a recently blessed earthmate. Wondering what was normal at all about him, Dylas followed Dolce quietly as they walked to the restaurant. It turned out to be in the Sainte Coquille Manor, something that surprised him. In his time, the Coquilles had been unimaginably rich due to creating and managing the Norad Trade Company. They wouldn't have stooped to such a lowly job as cooking.

But that's exactly what the Coquille here was, a chef. He was working with a pile of potatoes, but had stopped his work when they came in. “This is one of the other guardians, Dylas Leland,” Dolce said to Porcoline. “He's an earthmate now and needs to learn how to cook.”

“Really?” Porcoline asked, his eyes wide as he looked to Dylas.

“Um, yeah,” he said, not sure how to respond to the look. “It's supposed to be my blessing price but I only know how to prepare fish for sashimi.”

“But that means you're good with a knife, which is a great start!” Before long, Dylas found himself being dragged by the large man back into the kitchen. “I'd love to take you in as an apprentice! There's even an extra set of rooms upstairs, so you can move right on in. This is going to be so exciting!”

“Ah,” the words got choked in his throat. He had no clue how to react to someone accepting him wholeheartedly the moment they met, not yesterday with Lest and not today with Porcoline. Then the chef handed him a knife. He looked over the counter at Dolce, bewildered and hoping she might help some.

She smiled at the sight, then put on her usual stony look. “That's great, but he'll be coming with us tomorrow to go rescue Amber too.”

“That's fine, I understand,” Porcoline said with a nod. Then he handed Dylas a potato. “Have to bring back all of Lady Ventuswill friends, after all.”

“Yes, of course,” Dolce said, her voice softening a bit. Then she smiled again. “Have fun.”

“Don't be working too late!” Pico called before following Dolce out the door.

Dylas looked down at the potato in his hand. “Um, I meant it when I said I've never cooked before.”

“Then we have to catch you up on the basics,” Porcoline said. “I'm making hashbrowns with breakfast tomorrow, so it's chopping taters tonight. Now you do need a cooking license before you can really be my sous chef, but you can work as a waiter in the meantime and I'll give you what instructions I can within the rules.” Then he corrected how Dylas was holding the knife so that he could start slicing up the freshly scrubbed potato.

Once he got started, he found it strangely easy to put everything else out of mind.

* * *

 

Spring 33

It had been an uneasy night. Dylas sat up in bed as the predawn sky began lighting up the room. While he'd been given this place, it didn't really feel like his. It was too opulent, for one thing. This was furniture for nobles, from the antique wooden bedframe to the matching desk with many little cubby holes. This was a house for nobles, with a sliding glass door leading out to a balcony looking over the town below. Because he wasn't of noble blood, he'd never been in this building until not even a day ago.

That was hardly the only thing that felt wrong. For one thing, he was still alive and now back in the town of Selphia. Dylas sang softly for a little bit only to remember that he wouldn't be able to talk to the other guardians like this anymore. Then there was the whole reason he even agreed to give life another try. It had been based upon a lie, a trick of his mind under the influence of magic. Now he was supposed to be blessed with magic he knew little about and working a job he knew little about. Just... why? What was the reason behind any of this? Even the parts he knew didn't help because there was too much to think about.

What did he do about Lest?

Thinking about him caused immediate turmoil in his heart, a strange feeling. He was used to the twisting thoughts that ran down the same halls no matter how much he tried to find a different way. That feeling had tormented him for ages, literally now. But Lest was really something new. There were parts of his mind that were horrified and wanted to avoid Lest as much as possible, parts that labeled the prince as a wicked angel that had tricked him. His first kiss had been given to a man and that was terribly wrong. If anyone else found out, he'd be looked down on and treated like trash far worse than before.

Yet Dylas could think of how Lest smiled and immediately want to go see him again. Sure, maybe magic influenced his feelings. But he couldn't deny how he'd felt when someone finally said Dylas was important, that his depression wouldn't last forever. The other guardians had supported him, but he was sure that they hadn't realized how deep his despair was until he told them. The hope that Lest have given him before everything got confusing was real, a happiness after being smothered in sadness so long that he had given up on life entirely. While everything else was still shaky steps for him, Dylas had a thought that he could get through it all if Lest would hold his hand from time to time. Even the thought of love between the two of them being wrong wasn't enough to erase this new belief.

Feeling restless, Dylas got dressed and left the Coquille house. No one else was awake, at least it seemed that way. On looking up at the dark blue sky, not yet touched by the sun, he felt an unnerving recollection of another time being the only one awake at this hour. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, other than get out of the unfamiliar room and... try to find Lest? No, he wouldn't be awake and it would seem creepy. He remembered Dolce's advice to simply not act on the feelings. It was probably the smart thing to do. However, he immediately had the thought that he didn't want to be alone, which made him wonder if he was really in love only to be hit by feelings of shame for even considering it.

A spring breeze brushed across his face, making part of his now blue hair fall on his face. Dylas bushed it back and wondered if that was Venti. Sometimes when he wouldn't be sure about seeing her, he'd feel the wind shift to caress his hair. It was a sign that she knew he was out there, inviting him in as otherwise he'd give up without even seeing if she was awake. With that thought, he walked over to the entrance to the royal garden and glanced in. The field was left untouched, an odd sight given that Lest seemed enthusiastic about farming when he'd talked about it yesterday. No one was there, so Dylas crossed the field to enter Venti's room from the back entrance.

She was awake, but she wasn't alone. An older man with the uniform of a royal butler immediately noticed him in the doorway. “What are you doing here at this hour?” he asked sternly.

“Quiet, Volkanon,” Venti said in a stern way, with the regal tones she would take with anyone but Dylas. Or any of her friends, if yesterday had been any indication. “That's Dylas; he's free to come and go as he pleases. Please come in.”

“Thanks,” Dylas said, walking around her. It was far from the first time she had to tell others he had the right to be there.

Strangely, this wasn't taken in disdain. “Oh, forgive me, I didn't realize it,” Volkanon said, then bowed to him in apology. “Sorry about the confusion. Good morning, Master Dylas.”

“Uh, yeah, same to you,” he said. Master Dylas? That sounded completely wrong.

It didn't stop Venti from smiling. “That's better. I wanted to speak with him privately anyhow, never mind how early it is.”

“Of course, we'll conduct our usual business later,” Volkanon said, bowing to her then leaving the room.

Venti twitched her tail and made the screens on the doors slide shut. Most of the time, she kept her room open for visitors. She didn't even close up the room when she slept, only shutting the screens when she wanted to make sure no one would disrupt certain conversations. But that made Dylas feel relieved. He could speak freely now without worrying.

Before long, she was nuzzling her head against him. “I'm really sorry Dylas,” she said, her words a world a difference from just before. She seemed like she'd break down crying at any moment.

Even knowing she showed a different face around different people, this startled him. “You have nothing to apologize for,” he said, rubbing her head. “I was the one who hurt you.”

“No, there's so much to apologize for,” she said. “I shouldn't have left you alone for so long.”

“You couldn't really help being asleep as much as you were back then,” he said, although he could remember many disappointed moments when he couldn't talk to her before.

She shook her head gently and seemed so upset that Dylas had to hug her. “Not just that, I mean... I knew you were suffering, I could feel it even when you weren't here in front of me. I wanted to help you so bad and see you happy again, but I was so afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Afraid of what happened, that you'd become a guardian. I was trying to be proper, be the aloof goddess everyone expected so that no one could get that close to me again. But then I couldn't ignore you as a child having a rough time adjusting while I worried about you becoming dependent on me. I thought, human problems should be solved by humans. I still want to see that happen. Still, I only realized after you were gone that you really reached a point where you couldn't solve this by yourself, nobody else was reaching out to you, and I was only making things worse. I should have done something more to help you long before you got desperate enough to choose death over life.”

Venti's words were breaking and she was really crying now. Hearing it hurt in a way; it reminded him of the last time he'd seen her and all the thoughts gripping his mind at the time. Dylas put his head on hers, trying to be reassuring. But he'd never been good at that and ended up in tears himself. What if she had been awake that one time? He might not be here now if that had happened.

After a little while, he had the odd feeling that the sun was now in the sky. He brushed his eyes dry and saw that the sky overhead was the right color for that. Dylas patted her head again. “I decided to try to live again, although... it looks hard.”

“I believe in you,” Venti said. “And this time, I will help you. Just make sure I do see you every day like we agreed, even if all you do is come by and say hello.”

He nodded, brushing away her tears with the sleeve of his jacket. “I will, I promise.”

* * *

 

A clock nearby ticked; Doug’s pen tapped the register in sync with it. Sometimes watching over the store could be dull. These quiet days invariably led to his mind wandering. Reviewing what he knew, recalling memories, plotting... although not as much plotting lately. Some side was lying, that much had to be true. Asking the wrong questions would make others suspicious. But his contact from the empire expressed frustration in his continuing inaction. He had to do something.

A click out of sync caught his attention, forcing him to straighten up and put on the store smile as the bell over the door jangled. He wouldn't mind a tourist coming in; they usually got just a few things and would be gone quickly if he helped them out. That would mean he didn't have to hide his thoughts long. However, it was a familiar face, one that made him soften into a real smile. “Oh, hey Kiel. What do you need?”

Kiel smiled back. “Hey Doug! I need to fill out my baking stock. Did you hear? There's going to be a big party going on soon.”

That could be a nice change of pace, although he usually hung at the edges of parties primarily for the snacks. “Cool, what's it about?”

Buoyant at the plans, Kiel took a bag to fill up with flour from a barrel. “All the guardians should be back in Selphia by then! You know, the guardian spirits and saints of this town who kept us and Lady Ventuswill safe from Storgane's curse. I've already gotten to talk to one of them a couple of times, Leon. He's amazing! He's strong, smart, and really funny. I've seen the girl Dolce around too, but haven't spoken to her much, and it seems they got Dylas back just yesterday but they went ahead and left to get Amber already. It's a historic moment, which is extra exciting. Volkanon asked me to make some desserts, so I went to ask Ventuswill what I should make that they'd like. Um,” he checked his list, “do you have any candied fruits in?”

“Yeah, I'll get some for you,” Doug said, leaving the register to get them. They were in little tins of various fruits, so he took one of each and brought them over for Kiel to see. “Which ones you want? We're low on the candied pineapple, but there's plenty of the rest.”

“How many are in here?” Kiel said, taking the tin of candied orange and orange peels. “Well it's for decorating, so I'll take this one, and the lemon.”

“All right, there you go,” he said, taking the other back. The guardians back in person... he had met Leon and Dolce briefly but they had spoken mostly with Blossom. He did remember the fox guy Leon teasing him about being a workaholic, but wasn't sure he could call him amazing. But something else Kiel had said struck him. “I'm still learning about this place, remember? I don't know much about them. Like what's with a curse on the town?”

“Oh yeah, you wouldn't know as much,” Kiel said, tying up the bag of flour and starting on some sugar. “It's something that doesn't come up a lot, although people were getting worried this past winter. See, the old divine wind Storgane was really messed up in the head.”

“There's another divine wind dragon?” Doug asked, surprised. All this time he'd been told the divine wind dragon was responsible for the destruction of his hometown, and there was only one such being. But if there were two, might he have the wrong one? Although Kiel wasn't the most reliable source.

“Um, sort of?” Kiel said, then shrugged. “Storgane was the divine wind dragon before Ventuswill; she was born shortly after he died, but apparently his spirit has been trying to return to our world to complete his curse to destroy all magic. One thing he did was leave an untouchable monster gate deep beneath the town. It only ever produces hate spirits, you know, those weird black dragon heads that showed up in the royal orchard that one day. Ventuswill blocks the gate to keep the hate spirits from reaching the town, most of the time. However, Storgane's curse also left her weak. Whenever she gets ill, there's a risk that her shield will fail and the hate spirits will be able to get into town. At least, that's what I've read. I don't think there's anybody living that's gone down there to see what's going on, except maybe the guardians have because they lived centuries ago.”

“Then she has to stay here to keep that gate blocked?” Doug said.

He shook his head. “Not entirely. She can't leave the area between the four rune springs without getting really sick. It's been that way even before Leon was placed as the first guardian twelve centuries ago.”

More proof that Ventuswill might be innocent... provided Kiel had his sources right. “Where do you read this stuff?” Doug asked.

Laughing, Kiel said, “There's lots of history books in the library that go way back. I can find one with those stories for you if you want.”

“Sure, might look better if I can actually talk about history in this region,” Doug said. It might be old crusty history, but if she had gotten ill so long ago just on leaving the area, that hinted at where the liars were. Then he could decide what he should be doing.


	22. Yokmir Forest

Spring 33

At the town gate, Leon chanted a spell over himself, Dylas, and Dolce to protect them against illusion curses. It was an old spell so no one in this day knew if it would work against Ambrosia. They figured that Pico would be fine as she was a ghost. However, it wouldn't set on Lest as usual. They had to hope that his unconscious rune breaker use would be enough to keep the butterfly dreams from starting in him. While the plans were to finish this in a day, they brought along the camping supplies and extra food just in case. Yokmir was a huge forest spreading over the eastern part of Selphia and it wasn't easy to get through.

“Xiao and Margaret were on this road when they ran into Ambrosia,” Lest said as they walked east along the dirt path. The Selphia plains stretched out to their right with just a few trees dotting the landscape. But Yokmir Forest held thick tree growth right on the other side of the road. The road into the forest itself wouldn't come for a few minutes. “But I used the rune spheres when awakening you both and I'd rather get the one in the cave before trying here.”

“There used to be a cave entrance just outside of town, outside the forest too,” Dolce said.

“I believe that's the one where there was a cave-in a while back, making it inaccessible,” Lest said. “Illuminata told me of an entrance she uses, although we need to get down a cliff to reach it.”

There weren't many monsters in the forest. Some woolies gathered near the entrance and a pack of red ants trooped around, but neither group seemed interested in attacking. All along the path they walked, dozens of flowers were budding or in bloom. People would love to come walk here and if it was just the woolies and ants, there was no reason not to let them. But there was Ambrosia to worry about. Sometimes they heard a rustle in the trees or the sound of flapping wings. Sometimes there were strange but pretty butterflies flitting around the flowers. They couldn't be sure if any of that was Ambrosia's doing.

When they got to a rise that preceded the cliff they needed, they were stopped in their tracks due to a stampede of ants rushing away. “What is that about?” Dolce asked.

“They're afraid,” Lest said, just before a clatter of metal was heard through the trees. He hurried along the path towards the sound. The others followed, with Pico darting ahead to check things out.

In an opening by a waterfall, an ivy-clad Ambrosia was angered and fighting off the black armored Executioner. The strange little butterflies looked nightmarish here, biting right through the metal and leaving many little holes. The Executioner didn't feel any emotions, other than a deeply felt terror of the armor's host. Darting about in the air, Ambrosia had a long cut on one of her legs and another on her shoulder and chest. She was entirely under the monster's mind, although Lest had a sense that the guardian was worried.

“Whoa, we're gonna have to fight that armor dude to save the girl?” Pico asked as they arrived.

“We should get them apart,” Lest said.

But too late. Even as he said it, the Executioner activated a weapon skill and cleaved Ambrosia in two, immediately sending her back to the rune spring. They hardly had time to register that before the armor turned and dashed their way, set on killing Lest and Dylas. With each of them acting on their own trying to stop it, the battle was over almost as soon as it began. Lest started up his counter magic on reaction, only thinking after that it probably wouldn't work on the dash. But Dylas cast first, unconsciously sending a bolt of lightning through the Executioner, stopping it and leaving it vulnerable. Storgane had been possessing the armor, not the host, so Lest's counter magic threw his spirit out of the armor, leaving spiritual chains binding the wrists. Before the ancient dragon ghost could retaliate, Leon hit it with Sarcophagus' prismatic beams and Dolce threw Pico and twelve doll copies of her ghostly companion at it.

Storgane called out in rage, but the black ghostly form he took was already dissolving. “You haven't won yet,” he hissed. “I can pull any of you back with those chains, I will win...” then he was gone. And the Executioner was as still as a statue.

“Well that worked better than we could have ever planned,” Dolce said, amazed. “Except for Ambrosia's defeat.”

“What the hell did I just do?” Dylas said, staring at his hands in disbelief.

Lest and Dolce had to tell him about the body memory keeping Thunderbolt's skills on him, then reassure him that it wasn't anything bad. Meanwhile, Leon had gone over to the Executioner to examine it. When Lest looked over at him, Leon was tapping at the chest, speaking something in the ancient earthmate language while he stepped back. He tried again in a few other languages, eventually moving to the Norad language with, “Answer me, come here.”

The Executioner didn't budge. “What are you doing?” Lest asked while Dylas was thinking.

Tapping his fan against his cheek, Leon was quiet for a moment, then said, “From what you've told me, I thought this guy might be like a golem. Except the part of there being a human inside as well as machinery most people can't figure out. He doesn't reply to general commands, though. I can tell he's alive, but not sure if he can hear me.”

“He's gone from fear to confusion, I can tell that much,” Lest said. “Storgane wasn't controlling him, just the armor. Unfortunately, I can't tell anything further than that since machinery doesn't communicate runes well unless you have the right talents.”

“If he's wearing the armor, can't he control it?” Dolce asked.

He shook his head. “I don't believe so. I haven't run into him much, but his feelings suggest that.”

“We could get that lady who talks to machinery,” Leon said. “But we'd have to go back into Selphia to get her, if she's there. I don't think any of us is strong enough to take him there.”

Uncertain but with some idea, Dolce walked up in front of the Executioner. “I might be able to do something; didn't think there could be a use for this that was good in any fashion, but...”

“Ooo, this sounds fun,” Pico said, grinning in delight.

“You be quiet,” she said, raising a hand and causing puppet strings to appear. They attached to the armor and before long, she had it fold up the scythe and put it in a clamp on its back so it was no longer armed.

Leon's ears pricked forward in a way that Lest interpreted as being potential trouble. He quickly shook his head to this. “She's concentrating.”

“Well it just seems like a fun toy,” Leon said. Fortunately, Dolce didn't seem to hear.

Dylas did and he wasn't too happy with it. “She obviously hesitated before doing it, so don't give her a hard time about it,” he said.

“Fine, if you insist,” he said, sounding indignant but there was an unspoken feeling of being rebuked and acknowledging that it was a good point.

Not long after, the host's anxiety came out to the surface, causing the armor to step back and shift its arms to a defensive posture. Dolce spoke gently, “You're okay, the Executioner is gone.”

“A-are you sure about that?” a different voice said, muffled behind the helm. Then he looked around and came to realize his thoughts were moving the machine armor. “Huh? You really put me in control?”

“As best I could,” Dolce said, retracting the puppet strings. “You're not entirely free of it since that machinery thinks strangely.”

“Can't you just take it off him?” Leon asked.

She shook her head. “No. I don't know how, but it seems to be supporting him even down to breathing. In spite of that, it was difficult to convince it to keep doing so and put him in conscious control.”

“Well I'm not sure how long I can keep control,” he said, hesitant on moving much. “I lost that the moment they put me in here, and then the Executioner was taking orders from phantom voices.”

“Storgane, you mean?” Leon asked.

“Sounds familiar.”

“You should be fine for the moment,” Lest said, about to ask for his name.

But then he said, “Wait, you were that new prince of Selphia, right? Lest Nolan.”

“Yes, that's me.”

Before he could move that into introductions, the Executioner's host bowed to him. “Uh, sir, I'm sorry if this sounds odd, but would you please give me sanctuary from the Sechs Empire? I-if they find out that I'm in control here, they're going to kill me. I'm only alive because they found the Executioner useful. I'll do whatever you want of me, just, I don't know much other than fighting from the armor...”

“That's fine, we'll work something out to protect you,” Lest said. Although he wasn't exactly sure if it was a smart thing to take him in. Arthur or Volkanon might not approve. But he knew this person wasn't lying; he was genuinely afraid of getting sent back to the empire, either of having the armor and himself disposed of or of being put back into a helpless state. “What's your name?”

“Sven Geisel.” Something seemed familiar about it, but Lest couldn't think of what. Like a piece of information he'd only heard once and not actually used. “Thank you; I hope I can be useful.”

“Like protecting the one you asked for protection?” Leon asked, amused at the thought.

“Maybe,” Sven said, taking it for a serious suggestion.

After introducing the three guardians to Sven, Lest said, “If you have the hang of controlling that armor, it would be to our advantage to complete a couple of our goals for this adventure even if we can't bring Amber back yet. We still need to track down a tree monster for the rune sphere, then get it to the spring. Ambrosia should manifest again before long, maybe even tomorrow.”

“I'm fine with that,” Sven said, although his anxieties crept back up.

Thinking it might help, Lest said, “I don't know machinery all that well, but I'm pretty sure I'd be able to sense if there might be problems with the mind that was in there coming back.”

“It's thoroughly gone from what I could tell,” Dolce said. “Just with, basic functions, I guess you'd call them? That's all that was in there, like instructions on walking and fighting. No conscious. As long as Storgane doesn't try anything, you should be safe.”

“I hope so,” Sven said.

He could walk around fine, letting them head back and descend a path that led around a cliff into the caves. While the surface of the forest had been fine, they encountered a large number of orcs, wolves, and hornets in Yokmir Caves. That would be something to keep in mind when deciding how to advise travelers. Dolce knew a surprising amount of spells, although her fire-based ones were stronger than all but the doll spell. While Sven wasn't as nimble as he'd been as the Executioner, the armor still made him powerful and tough. Dylas helped hold the front line using hidden gauntlet weapons as well as his recently discovered lightning bolts if anything tried to run from him. Leon still had the most powerful spells with his prayers, but since they took some time, he'd gotten a spear to help out. Lest kept up on their healing since only a few of the orcs and wolves knew the right kinds of moves to make his counter spell useful. In this manner, they got through the monster-filled caves in good time.

Even so, the sky was turning orange in sunset when they got to the location of the tree monster. They were close to the rune spring; Lest could feel it just past a vine covered rock wall that jutted out of the bottom of the cliff. In this place, they seemed to be half in the caves and half outside. The rock walls still loomed high overhead, creating a half ceiling with stalagmites. But only half, as the rest was exposed to the changing sky. The conditions made it a good spot for the strange apple tree, which started shifting branches ominously as they approached.

“Huh, she wasn't kidding about a tree monster,” Lest said. “It's become animated through absorbing the corrupt runes in the forest, which might be why their density is lower here.”

“Will killing it off get rid of the corrupted runes?” Dolce asked.

“We'll just have to defeat it and see,” he said.

There was a strange roar from the tree, something that sounded like wood being ripped slowly apart. Then the tree began hurling huge apples at them. Sometimes, it added attacks from its roots, ripping through the stony ground to lash at their legs. Yet as unnatural as it was, it was still an immobile tree. Dolce cast her strongest fire spell and quickly had it engulfed in flames. When Sven used his scythe skill to create dozens of whirling blades in front of him, he sliced the flaming tree into ashes, burning branches, and a trunk that was still trying to fight them. It didn't last long after that.

Sven and Dylas were closest to the spot it had fallen; the latter nearly took the rune sphere from where it was floating, but quickly snatched his hand back. “What the...? That's your rune sphere?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Lest asked, busy at the moment in observing the corrupt runes. They were still saturating the pieces of wood and ashes that remained after most of the tree got pulled into the Forest of Beginnings. He tried his counter spell on a fire that was close by. It put out the flames and took care of some of the corruption. However, it would take many castings to remove them all in these conditions, possibly years of work tracking them all down.

“That thing is creepy,” Dylas said.

“You're saying that after we fought a vicious apple tree,” Leon said, going over to Dylas. “That's just a concentrated bundle of runes.”

“Not exactly,” Lest said.

“Close enough,” Leon countered.

Dylas shook his head. “No, it's... it's a rock full of life, okay? And rocks shouldn't be like that, not even storing it, or whatever this thing is doing. Felt like it was going to squirm right out of my grasp.”

“I doubt it would do...” Leon then took hold of the rune sphere, immediately giving it a strange look before letting it go too. “Ah... well that one, maybe. How in the world are you handling these things, Lest?”

Since he felt he had a good grasp on the corrupt rune situation (for the time being), Lest went over and took the rune sphere. “They don't interfere with my runes and my runes don't interfere with them. I don't understand a lot of it past that, but it's basically because I got lucky in my earthmate talents.”

“Or it's because your family is the one who makes them,” Dolce said.

“How would you make a rock full of life?” Sven asked. “I thought... I know golems aren't living things even if they move around.”

Lest chuckled. “You're asking the wrong earthmate. From what I've been told, the rune spheres make use of veins into the ether sea to act as a physical conduit and storage for runes. Something about those veins allows the crafter to imbue a greater density of runes inside the crystalline material than would normally be possible.” The veins also were a part in explaining how the guardians were meant to work, but he didn't feel this was the right time to talk of that around three guardians and someone who might not know anything about any of this. “The veins are strongest at the rune springs, and the wind spring should be just past that wall once we get around it.”

“Or you can just go through the wall,” Leon said.

“I can do that,” Pico said. “Don't think any of you can.”

Leon shrugged. “We can go through; there's a hole in the wall as long as we cut aside the vines in the way. Or burn 'em.”

“I don't think that's a smart idea in a forest,” Lest said.

Being armed with a battle scythe, Sven had no trouble clearing out the vines from the spot Leon pointed out so they could pass through to the rune spring. On the other side, they were surrounded by the cliff walls and giant trees. The wind picked up in the area, moving in a gentle spiral centered on the spring. One spot was clear of any tree, giving a well of sunlight to a group of bright wildflowers. The wind spring was above the flowers; Lest could see that even though it had no rune sphere, it was already loosening up with the restoration of the other three.

“Any sign of Ambrosia?” Dolce asked, watching the large trees around them.

Clutching the rune sphere and closing his eyes, Lest soon found the monster's runes, within the braided rope like the others. But there was nothing physical of her yet. “It's still regenerating,” he said. “I can't call Amber back until she's fully here.”

“I think there's a creek around here,” Dylas said, his ears flicking. “That and the caves make this a good spot to camp out at if we want to wait.”

“We might as well prepare for that,” Lest said. “Once I place this, Ambrosia might show up sooner with the increased energy flow.”

“I don't look forward to getting through this forest at night, so let's just set up camp once we contact her about the wait,” Dolce said, putting down her bag.

The others agreed, Sven going along with the group since he didn't understand what they were doing. Lest went over to the muscle and reached up to place the sphere. Like with the water spring, this one was not in his reach but he could get it attached into the spring's muscle and let it place the sphere properly. The two united and the spring grew upward in a powerful updraft that felt like it could whisk them off their feet. There was a loud din from the forest canopy, the leaves rustling so loud it was like they called out in joy. While Ambrosia did gain power from it, it was not enough to make her manifest yet. It did bring Amber's light into the area, close and aware of them.

“We've got a couple of hours before Ambrosia is back,” Lest said as the air settled into a calmer wind. “But there shouldn't be any trouble contacting Amber.”

“What makes you say that?” Leon asked.

They could hear Amber laughing in the wind. “Ha ha, you are here! Mountain bird and angel, anyhow.”

“Mountain bird?” Leon asked, looking stumped at that.

It made Dolce chuckle. “I always thought of mountains in your voice. That's Leon, Amber. We're all here. I'm Dolce; the water guardian is Dylas, and the angel is Lest.” She glanced over at Sven, then added, “We've also got another friend who helped us here, Sven.”

“I'll try to remember all that,” Amber said. “Oh, but you have Sven there too?”

“You know him?” Lest asked. That statement had nearly all of them confused.

“You sound familiar,” Sven said. “Amber? I thought I was just dreaming of you.”

“You were dreaming!” Amber said, amused. “After creek bird, um, Dylas left, I did hear the fifth voice you asked about. It was Sven! He was having nightmares about a really scary fish monster called Executioner, so I tried to sing nice songs so he had nice dreams. It was sort of working, but then he kept waking up.”

“The Executioner isn't a fish,” Sven said, although some of his dread in the name was numbed by what he was saying. “It is scary.”

“Well it sounded so scary that I thought it had to be a fish,” Amber said, a dread of fish in her voice.

“How long have you been in Yokmir Forest?” Lest asked Sven.

“A few days, since you and Leon escaped at Delirium Lava Caves,” he said. “Given some of what you've been talking about, I think a mix of orders from the empire and Storgane's directions led it here. That Ambrosia has been trying to drive us off from the moment we crossed paths, but it wasn't long after the first fight that I started hearing Amber.”

“That doesn't make much sense since Ambrosia and the Executioner were both Storgane's puppets,” Dolce said.

“Ambrosia's been steaming mad about another strong monster being in her home,” Amber said. “She's still mad and is trying to come back stronger right now.”

“Storgane didn't care what they were doing to each other as long as they kept following the orders he gave,” Sven said.

“We've still got to wait on Ambrosia to get you awake, Amber,” Lest said into the wind. “Hang in there for a little while longer.”

She didn't seem to care about a wait. “I'm fine, especially if you're all here to talk to. Oh yeah, Dylas is there, right?”

“Yeah, I just don't have much to say,” Dylas responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Hee, I'm really happy to hear you again!” she said, embarrassing Dylas a little. “It won't be long now that we're all back with Ven!”

“We're going to have to camp a night out in the woods first since it's going to be hard to get out in the dark,” Leon said with a smile. At first it had been just amusement about Dylas, but the thought of their full reunion was definitely on his mind too. “But yes, it won't be long now.”

“Oh yeah, find a safe spot because it can be scary at night,” Amber said.

Leon and Dylas left the conversation to set up the campsite; Lest advised them to keep to this side of the rock wall since the corrupt runes were scattered back in the partial cave. Meanwhile, he, Dolce, and Amber explained what they were doing to Sven. Sven confirmed that the empire was after the rune spheres, but couldn't tell them why or how they knew about them. He didn't say everything on his mind, but Lest hoped he might give more information in time.

Then it was simply a waiting game while Ambrosia regenerated.

* * *

 

Dragon Lake spread out before Doug, its deep blue surface rippling with a wind that had picked up as the sun was setting. He wasn't having much luck fishing tonight, only catching a small masu trout that he released back into the water. Although, fishing wasn't the reason he'd come out here. He just couldn't do anything about his plans because it seemed like everyone else was also interested in being here this afternoon. Granny had been here for a little while, then Forte was around on her patrol and Bado had been fishing too briefly. Now it was just Doug and Xiao Pai. She was busily searching through flowers in the meadow to take a few, being very picky about it. Couldn't she just buy some from Illuminata?

Doug tried to watch without being noticed. Eventually, Xiao left with a small group of flowers. He pulled his line and put away his fishing equipment. He worried that someone would come just as he was done with that, making it hard to be here casually. Thankfully, he was still alone when everything was in place and he could cross the wooden bridge to Obsidian Mansion without being seen.

While he'd been waiting, he'd thought that he could relax once he got inside and shut the door. Vishnal had said that the doors no longer locked people inside, making it safe. The prince and guardians were off in Yokmir Forest today, keeping them out of the way. When the door clicked shut, he made sure that he could open it again and get out. That still didn't get rid of the unease he'd had all day waiting to get this done.

Were there ghosts? Doug drew out the miner's dagger he had, glad it was repaired for this. If there were ghosts, they shouldn't be a problem with this weapon. But this wasn't what he'd expect out of a haunted place. People always said that the presence of ghosts added an extra chill to the air, with the hairs on one's body standing on end. Instead, this place was warm and waiting. The tables were all set and clean, the chairs waiting for occupants. The stage was silent but seemed like it could draw the crimson curtains aside at any moment for a play to begin. Feeling like he'd arrived really early to an event that would never come, he wouldn't be surprised if other people came in to watch whatever would occur.

Hopefully they wouldn't. Doug took out a pair of eyeglasses to put on. His handler had given him these in order to see runes, thinking it necessary for this particular task. Now that he had them on, Doug wasn't sure of it. The whole room looked a lot busier with the rune energy revealed. They flowed all around him like a stream, but obscured his vision like a fog with the powerful flow in the room. But he could tell where all that energy was centered, around an intense star of power far over the stage. When he took the glasses off, he could see something sparkling like a campfire overhead.

He was supposed to get up there? He sighed and considered just reporting this. That might still be useful as a bargaining chip trying to get better information from both sides on the situation. But then, Lest had somehow gotten the rune sphere up there. There had to be a way to get to it. Doug searched around the stage, finding a ladder on the side behind the back curtains. If this was a play, the audience wouldn't see someone going up here. He climbed up and found himself at a series of catwalks and small platforms.

After making sure these structures were holding his weight, Doug was able to walk over to where the rune sphere was. It glistened like an orb of fire, heating up the air and making fiery sparks flow up its sides. Compared to the task to kill Ventuswill, this was far easier even if it required him being up here on this sparse structure. All he had to do was get this rune sphere and return it to his handler. Although, it was simply floating in the air up here, supported by the rune flow itself. That had to be too easy. He reached over and could just barely grab it.

'You think you're not going to get caught doing this?'

Doug gasped and pulled his hand away. The catwalk beam under him shifted, nearly throwing him off balance and onto the stage below. After a terrifying moment getting secure footing again, he looked at the orb. “Were you... talking?” It wasn't a voice he recognized.

The voice didn't respond. When he looked around, there didn't seem to be anyone there, not even a ghost. But ghosts could go unseen. Doug gripped his dagger and glanced at it, but it showed no reaction to the presence of a ghost. It would react somehow, wouldn't it? At least the blade. He tried touching the sphere with the dagger to push it out of place.

'There's a whole bunch of rune sensitive people in Selphia. They will notice if one of the rune spheres gets out of place, especially this one so close by. Not to mention the divine wind; she would notice first. You fear accidentally killing Blossom? What of being revealed as a traitor to her?'

This time, not even pulling the dagger back stopped the voice. And it was clearly coming from the rune sphere. The last question made him gasp, but also want to desperately stop the voice, whatever it took. Maybe taking the rune sphere out of place would do that. He didn't have any evidence for that thought, but his nerves got the better of him and he grabbed the rune sphere with both hands. The quick move caused the catwalk to shift, making him slip right off. Instead of hitting the stage, Doug found himself dangling from the rune sphere with no other support around him. The rune sphere itself did not budge one bit.

It felt so alive in his hands. He could tell it wasn't moving, yet it felt like it'd escape from him like a freshly caught fish. Briefly, he could see the rune flow without needing the glasses. It pounded away around him, enveloping him in hot energy. Instead of a voice, all he could hear was a sound like a heartbeat and a steady flow of water. Or was that blood, like when he cupped a hand over his ears? But he was the only living being in this room.

Or was the spring itself alive, a piece of the ether sea?

His vision blurred and he found himself in the past like a dream. Five years ago, he had kept a beard. It wasn't much compared to the traditional dwarves living in Telliarc, something they teased him about when he went to the old town. Doug hadn't minded that much; he was just eighteen and had only grown it out so he could act as a messenger between the towns. However, he did take care to wear gloves any time he went. It hid his smooth hands which the dwarves here held in higher disdain than going beardless. That was a sign of one who didn't do hard work and sloth was a heavy sin in their culture.

Although they hadn't bothered him much about it at the time. There were bigger things to worry about. “The siege hasn't changed much around Medritarc,” Doug told his grandfather. This wasn't a normal trip like in the past. This was an exchange of goods through underground tunnels so that the two towns could support each other under threat. “The Sechs soldiers have held their positions for months.”

The old dwarf nodded. “I see. We've gotten them to fall back from their attempt to block off the ventilation chimneys. Sorry we don't have many weapons to pass over, but we've only just gotten to the point of safely reigniting the forges.”

“It's all right, what you've got is helping us a lot and we'll be good on weapons and armor for a little while longer,” Doug said.

“We have gotten information that could be valuable to your lot too,” he said. “A group of captives finally started talking to us. They were ordered to retrieve specific treasures, one of which is actually back in Medritarc.”

“Just specific treasures?” he asked. He knew a lot of thieves could get greedy for the treasures that dwarves made and stored in their underground towns. This wouldn't be the first time the mountain town had been attacked for their wealth, but usually the enemy would take whatever they could get. Over centuries, Norad and Sechs had fought over this small mountain region so they could control the trade of goods produced here.

“It's a set that above all others, we don't want to lose to outsiders. A gift from long ago, ones with hidden power. Let your elder know that they're after the Sparkling Fountain.”

That puzzled him. “They're after the town fountain?”

“It's very important that fountain does not get destroyed or taken.” He wouldn't explain further, but his tone made it clear that losing it would be a huge danger.

Yet when Doug returned to Medritarc, he found the usual tunnel guard dead as though he'd taken some blow to the head. That shouldn't happen; the tunnel was a straight shot to Telliarc as long as you knew which paths to take. All dead ends would lead to traps, pits, or walls. But he hadn't run into anyone in the tunnel, only one strange hateful monster. He came above ground to see what was going on.

The whole town was crushed, as if someone had smashed it all with an impossibly gigantic hammer. Not even the outer defense walls had survived, pulverized to piles of stone and wood. A deathly quiet hung in the air and Doug had a dreadful sense that he wouldn't find anyone alive. Except for a group of Sechs soldiers that had come in to survey the damage. They were in shock themselves, but he didn't care. He attacked them because they were still the towns' enemy.

It hadn't been enough. He'd taken down a few, but others came in from behind him and captured him. Brought before the general leading the siege, Doug wasn't going to say anything. But then the general remarked, “It was unforeseen, a magical force of wind coming down on the town before our eyes. Even with magic, that was on a scale that I can only imagine coming from the gods.”

That reminded him of the odd monster in the tunnel. “The divine wind,” Doug said, wondering.

“What about the divine wind?” the general asked.

“There was a monster that claimed it was a servant of the divine wind, whatever that means.”

The general considered it, then came right in front of him. “The divine wind means a specific god, one of the divine dragons that lives in Norad. Her name is Ventuswill.”

The dream dissolved, leaving him in a fiery landscape while the strange voice talked to him again. 'Odd. Medritarc and Telliarc were on Norad soil at the time. Why would a god of Norad attack two towns of Norad when they were under siege by an enemy of the land?'

“Maybe making sure whatever treasure we had didn't fall into their hands by any means, no matter the sacrifice,” Doug said, what he'd always thought.

'Sacrifice is a dreadful thing. Have you heard the tales? People were sacrificed for the divine wind before.'

“I have heard about that,” he said. It used to support his beliefs. But now? “They're coming back and it's impossible to mistake her joy at their return. And I've heard they all offered themselves for sacrifice willingly. It wasn't something she asked for.”

'Then does it make sense for one like that to be responsible for that destruction?'

“I don't know,” Doug said. “The general and his soldiers were shocked at the destruction too, so it doesn't seem like something they did either. I just... I don't know what to do now.”

'Well one thing's clear: you're not going to be able to remove the rune spheres. They probably won't like that and you'll need to be careful. Think for a little while and figure out what's going on.' The voice and the fire then left him.

Instead of hanging off the rune sphere far over the stage, somehow Doug was lying on the stage unharmed. The rune sphere flickered high above him, weaving runes into visible flames for a brief instant before sending them on. He stayed there for a moment, dazed over the vision and what it had been trying to tell him. Then he noticed the night sky outside and felt he needed to get back home. Granny would be worried.

He got out to the bridge before wondering, was he really thinking of this place as home now?

* * *

 

“We seem to be getting somewhere,” Ventuswill said quietly, glad about it. She sent off a breeze to trigger a call on one of the servant armbands. The three butlers were working together even as it was growing late, preparing for tomorrow. Which reminded her, there was other news on the wind tonight.

Vishnal came into her room promptly while the other two continued their tasks. “Good evening, Lady Ventuswill,” he said pleasantly. “We got a message from the prince a couple hours ago that they wouldn't be returning this evening.”

“I know, they won't be back until tomorrow morning since they want to make sure they return with Amber,” she said. “I heard it on the wind. And there's something he couldn't let you know through the bracelet: they'll be bringing back another person with them. Make sure the plans can be adjusted to invite him to stay.”

He nodded. “Of course, that won't be difficult.”

“Good. Also, we'll need to speak with this person privately, myself, Lest, and Arthur. Get a message to the last about this meeting. At one on the 35th should be fine.”

“All right, I'll get word to Arthur tonight.”

She smiled. “Good. Then, how've you been doing with Doug?”

Vishnal considered that for a moment. “I'd like to give him some more time. He's given me bits and pieces of information so I don't have the entire picture. However, I have faith in him. Once he's sure of the truth, there should be no trouble from him.”

Ventuswill nodded. “Fine, then I will trust your judgment. Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” he said. “It was difficult for a little while when I was unsure on something, but... well, I can tell you more when the truth comes out.”

“I trust you,” she said.

There was more good news on the wind: Lest and the others had been successful in bringing Amber back safely. Now there was no one lost in the ether sea for her sake. It was a great weight off her soul to know this.


	23. The Second Guardian of Ventuswill

Give up and despair, Amber Yokmir

Give up and despair.

You...

“Why do you call me that?”

What?

“Amber Yokmir. I'm just Amber.”

That's what people are calling you.

“That's weird. Hey Storgane?”

Wha... don't hey Storgane me!

“Hah hah! You're silly. I just wanted to ask, why do you like despair so much?”

It's not something you would understand.

“Of course, that's why I'm asking you. It'd be much better if you went around and told people to smile. Then everybody would love you!”

That's not what I want.

“Poo, you're a stinkyhead.”

And you're ridiculous.

“Well I'm going home to make Ven and everybody around her smile. That'll teach you.”

That will be a disaster that you won't see coming.

“Nuh-uh, it'll be great.”

There will be men there.

“Um...”

Most of the people you're going to wake up to are men. Only Dolce is a woman like you.

“Well, I know Leon and Dylas are good people. And Lest's an angel. And Sven, um, he sounds too scared to be scary; I want to make him smile so he's not scared. And all the princes in fairy tales are men. So, I guess not all men are bad.”

There will be rules. Lots of rules for civilization since that's where you'll be going.

“I'll be going to Ven, so, um, if I have to learn rules... I guess I will.”

Then you will never be free again.

* * *

 

Freedom was a very big deal to fairies. It was the highest praise if they called you a wild untamable heart. For one to get captured, it was a big tragedy that they had been shamed so. They did what they wanted, made up their own rules not to be shared, and lived for happiness. Telling a fairy what to do could be a grave insult, one that would be repaid with its best tricks. For them, they would rather die than live under another's rules.

“Normally that means we pick our own names too,” Saffron said to her one day. “And you're old enough to pick your name, whatever you think works best. We've just been calling you Amber since that was the name you had when I got you.”

She was a wingless fairy, but a fairy just as much as them. “Why was I named Amber?”

“Who knows?” her yellow-haired matron said with a shrug. “As far as I could tell, it's some silly human tradition that involves naming a baby after a friend of the parents. But you're a fairy. You don't need human tradition.”

“But I like the name Amber,” she said. “That's what Ven calls me and she says it's the name of a pretty stone.”

Saffron smiled. “Well if that's what you want to be called, then we'll keep calling you Amber. Want to start a dance with the others now that the day must-work is done?”

Amber threw her hands up in happiness. “Yeah! Dance time!”

* * *

 

But the life of a fairy wasn't all dance and fun. Most of the year, their lives were free and joyful. Yokmir Forest was a bountiful place full of green life. It never took long to find something to eat, whether it be fruit, vegetable, leaf, or flower. Sometimes even fish if some of the braver fairies managed to catch and prepare enough for a feast. The trees sheltered them from storms and the sun warmed open meadows for a lovely nap. Except for winter.

Winter was a terrible time. Everything turned so cold that not even the sunlight could warm them. The rain could be an exciting thing the rest of the year, but winter turned it into ice and snow to coat everything in slick white chill. When the wind blew, the leafless trees were not enough shelter. There would be extremely little to eat. Even fish were harder to catch and not as tasty. Not only that, but winter brought the orcs out of their caves. The fairies could steal food from orcs if they were lucky. If not, the orcs would smash and eat them.

When winter was coming, Saffron had a harder time being happy because of worry. Amber found it hard to be happy too, from the cold and from Saffron being unhappy. But every year when the last of the leaves fell off the trees in autumn winds, the two of them and many other fairies left the forest to move the Dragon Lake. There was something called a rune spring there that made the area naturally warm. There was more must-work every day to bring seeds and raise plants to support everybody. However, the alternative of going hungry and cold in Yokmir Forest was much worse.

That wasn't the only danger of the fire rune spring. There was also the dragon there. She was bigger than all the fairies and they were afraid that she'd come over to eat them up. At first, not many fairies would come winter here because of the dragon. But Saffron had decided to take the risk every year since Amber had no wings and would have more trouble in the forest with the snow and ice on the ground.

Amber's earliest memory was of a winter at Dragon Lake. She had been little, but old enough to walk around on her own. At the time, she couldn't understand Saffron well. She hadn't understood much because she was young. Thus she didn't understand what was so scary about a dragon and one day wandered over into the dragon's field while pursuing a stick hoop toy that one of the other fairies had given her.

At the time, the dragon was quite a wonder. All around them, the world had turned white and brown. Even the fairies took on paler colors this time of year. But not the dragon. She was still a vibrant green, red, yellow, and white all curled up in the white snow. Amber was fascinated by the colors and walked right up to touch her scaly body. Waking up startled, the dragon pulled away and lifted her head up with a growl. But then she made a sound of wonder as she saw the tiny girl by her laughing at her reaction.

Before long, Amber was busily playing with the dragon even though she understood her even less than the fairies.

* * *

 

It was a couple of winters before Amber started understanding the dragon, winters in which she was the only one of the fairies who dared get close. In time, she learned the dragon's language too, eventually piecing together that the dragon's name was Ventuswill. “That's so long,” Amber said. “And tough to say.”

“You can call me Ven if you want,” she said, then seemed sad. “A... a friend once called me that.”

“Who's your friend?” Amber asked. “I want to meet her.”

Ven laughed at that. “My friend was...” she said something that puzzled Amber, so she had to explain, “wasn't a she, not like all you fairies here. It's been so long but feels like it was yesterday too.”

“Don't be sad,” she said. “Can't you find your friend again?”

That only seemed to make her sadder. “No, I can't. Gone, like,” it took a few tries, but eventually they came to, “like flowers wilt away when their life goes by.”

“Aw, your friend wilted?” That was sad to think about. “Well I'm here, and if you want, I can come by even outside of winter. This isn't too far.”

“It is far for a little one like you,” Ven said. “Besides, in time, everyone wilts away.”

She got to a point where she didn't want to talk anymore, so Amber gave her a hug and said goodbye for the day. She went back over to the lake to talk to Saffron about Ven and all the confusing things they'd tried to talk about. “Oh yeah, I know what she means about people wilting,” Saffron said. “Or when they get smashed by orcs and eaten. They don't come back from that. Nobody does.”

“That is awful sad,” Amber said.

Saffron laughed. “So the thing to do is don't think about wilting! And if anybody around here does get wilted or smashed, we sing songs about the best of them so that their life is remembered with most happiness. Anything can be made better as long as you can be happy about it, even wilting.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked.

“Why do you doubt happiness?” Saffron asked, horrified. “It's the best thing to be happy, so we're always striving to be happy no matter what.”

That made her feel anxious, to not trouble Saffron but figure out why she was troubled. “I don't! I know happiness is the best, that's what you taught me. But something feels weird about it, being happy even though your friend is wilted and gone forever.”

“Guess you can't help feeling weird like that because you're a wingless fairy,” Saffron said. “Maybe you should try it. Next time we have a remembrance song, I'll be sure you're there to sing too. Besides, we're surrounded by friends, even in winter. Friends are happiness too, like you and me.”

That did make her smile. “Yeah, that's true. Oh, and Ven said something else kind of weird. She talked about a friend of hers that wasn't a she.”

“Eek!” Saffron put her hands to her cheeks and flew back a moment in shock. Then she came back close. “You mean, her friend was a man?”

“I guess so, but what's a man?”

She pouted about having to explain, but she'd always been more willing to teach Amber things as her matron. “Well, we're all girls and a man is not a girl. Men can be scary, although they can also be lots of fun to tease if you don't mind taking the risk. They're like orcs, big and likely to shove girls around. While we can convince non-fairy girls to be friends with us, men and boys don't want anything to do with us. Sometimes they even smash fairies because they say we're too free-spirited and troublesome.”

“They must be silly ones to think one can be too free-spirited,” Amber said.

Saffron frowned. “They like rules. Lots and lots of rules, and most of the time they follow rules that somebody else made. I took you from a man who was too fierce about the rules and tried to take my wings because I kept inviting girls to dance with me in the woods. We moved way far away to keep from him.”

“Good thing he didn't get your wings,” Amber said.

Before she could think more on what she was learning today, there was a group of shrieks from the water. A huge fish monster had come out of the lake. Already it had chewed up a few fairies, being so big that it could have swallowed Amber and Saffron in one gulp. Saffron and other more powerful fairies tried to fight it, but it was too tough. It took Ventuswill flying over and blasting it with a cyclone that made the entire lake surface furious to get rid of the dark whiskery beast. With that, more of the fairies took the dragon as a friend too.

Amber also got to sing in a remembrance, but it took a lot of singing to be happy in spite of friends getting chewed up.

* * *

 

One summer day, Saffron sent Amber to talk to Ventuswill about human growing up things the fairy didn't know much about. But even the wise dragon didn't know what to say, so she offered to fly Amber to someone who could explain. It was a great suggestion although the great part about it was getting to fly on Ven's back. It was amazing getting to be closer to the sky to where she could see the tops of trees like the ground. At these times, she didn't care that she didn't have wings.

They came to a squarish pile of rocks, which Amber had to ask about since it was so even. It was a house where humans lived. Surprisingly, the human who came out was a lot like Amber, without wings and dependent on two legs to get around. “Wow, I never thought I'd meet another wingless fairy!” she said, bouncing on her feet and grinning.

The woman, who Ven said was called Natalie, laughed at that. “Well, nice to meet you then. But I'm not a fairy even though I can speak the fairy language. I'm a human just like you.”

“No, I'm a wingless fairy,” Amber said.

Ven was laughing too. “She's right, Amber, you're actually a human girl, just raised with the fairies.”

“A changeling, huh?” Natalie said, putting a hand to her cheek in thought. “I've heard rumors there was a wild little girl in the forest.”

“Yes, but she's getting to be not so little anymore,” Ven said. “She needs to learn about becoming a woman, and all the changes that come with that. I can't do that for her, so I was hoping you'd help out.”

Natalie smiled. “Of course, I'd be happy to help another friend of yours, Ven. It's about time I should talk with my Heather about it too. Although, that won't be so easy trying to teach in Fairy and Norad at once.” She leaned down towards Amber. “Would you like to learn to speak like other humans too? In case you go to a city someday.”

“I'm going to live free in the forest forever until I wilt,” Amber said. “But getting to talk to more people sounds fun!”

“Glad you think that way,” Natalie said. She invited Amber into the house and introduced her to her daughter, Heather. By Natalie's guess because Amber didn't know, the two girls were about the same age. She and Heather quickly became friends. But then Heather asked a question that made Natalie puzzled.

“What's she saying?” Amber asked, because the looks they were exchanging were puzzling too.

“Well she asked why you weren't wearing any clothes,” Natalie said, now speaking so she could understand. “And I have to say, I didn't really notice that. Huh, the silly things that slip my mind when I start thinking of other things. My husband says that I'd lose my head if it wasn't tightened on.”

Amber's eyes went wide. “Really? But then how would you tighten your head? I never have to do that.”

“It's an expression, not exact,” she said, amused at the thought.

They talked about what Amber had come to learn, but then Natalie's husband came home. He was a man and he was exactly like what Saffron talked about: big, loud, and immediately disliking Amber because she didn't follow human rules about clothing. While she ran out of the house to get away, she liked Natalie and Heather too much to stay away. She was just careful not to cross paths with Natalie's husband.

* * *

 

As it turned out, Natalie and Heather often went to Ven's field as well. They didn't go in the winter because they thought the paths were too dangerous, but it was easy to meet up with them there in the other three seasons. The two women taught Amber many things, although they said some things they couldn't teach because they were earthmates and Amber wasn't. Which was a real pity since Heather was really good at growing the most beautiful and delicious flowers.

One day, Heather told Amber about what they were helping Ven with. “She's been weaker than she should be for a long time,” Heather said. “It's awful because she has the important job of monitoring the flow and cycle of the ether sea.”

“What do you mean?” Amber asked.

“Well, the ether sea is like,” she had to think about it, then said, “it's like all the magic in the world, from actual spells and enchantments to happiness and life itself. And it all needs to keep moving or it'll get stale. You know, like how a stream's water is fresher than that in a hole because the water in the hole doesn't go anywhere.”

“Then Ven makes sure it all keeps moving?”

Heather nodded. “Yup, exactly. It's not an easy job and since she's weak, she gets sick often.”

“I thought she got sick because she's sad a lot,” Amber said.

“I'm sure that doesn't help, though I don't know if that's the cause.” Heather walked around, her thoughts lost to something. “Mom's been studying the problem all her life, and her mom before her, and her mom's mom before that.”

“Wow, it must be tough if so many moms can't figure it out,” Amber said.

“Yeah, it is. Only my Mom gets lost in the clouds so much even if she's not working on Ven's weakness. I've had to take over a lot of that study.” Heather turned back to her and smiled even if her eyes seemed sad. “It's really tough. Sometimes I'm jealous of you because you don't have to study anything that tough.”

“Well you get a warm safe house in winter, so I'm jealous of you too,” she said, smiling and happy. “But it doesn't matter because you're my friend so I don't let myself be jealous for long.”

Heather laughed. “That's important to remember too. The thing is, I found something in my family's studies that can strengthen Ven. But I don't know; it requires a great sacrifice and I don't think that's right. Then again, Ven's been ill a lot this year and last. If something isn't done soon, even she might die and then a lot of strange spirits will escape into the world.”

“Ven can't wilt away!” Amber said, scared of the thought. “She's a dragon and she's tougher than anybody else around.”

“You'd think, but she's weak for a divine dragon,” Heather said.

“That really does sound tough to solve,” she said, hugging her friend. “But you can do it! You're super smart.”

Heather patted her back. “Thanks. I hope I can solve it.”

* * *

 

When Heather decided to solve the problem of Ventuswill being weak, she put a lot of attention to it. She was constantly studying or experimenting, sometimes even going away for many days in order to look into other sources. Amber couldn't play with her as much then, which was sad. However, sadness was a bad thing. If Heather was away, Amber would dance and play with the fairies to keep happy. She played with Ven when she could, but the dragon was sick. She spent a lot of time sleeping and the last time Amber had gotten to fly with her was over a year ago. That time, Ven had crashed into a lake in Yokmir. It seemed fun briefly, but then Ven said it hurt and spent many days in the forest until she could slowly make her way back to her home meadow.

Amber went to Heather's home one day to see if she was there. While peering at the stone house from behind a tall bush, she nearly left because Natalie's husband was outside chopping wood. But it was a really long time since she talked to Heather, so Amber summoned up her courage and went up to the man. “Is Heather here?” she asked, keeping the dirt path between her and him.

He looked over at her for a moment, then shook his head. “No, she went out to the tower to try finding Darryl's books again.”

“Aw, when's she going to come back?”

“Don't know,” he said, dropping his axe along with the cut log. “Say, were you interested in helping the holy dragon Ventuswill too?”

Amber nodded. “Yeah. She's one of my best friends, along with Heather, Natalie, and Saffron.”

“I see. Then would you be willing to become a guardian for her?”

“What's a guardian?”

He invited her inside, which Amber wasn't sure of until he said it was to talk with Natalie. As usual, she could explain. “A guardian is someone who has had their body fused with a rune spring and their spirit sent into the ether sea in order to do a portion of Ventuswill's job and relieve some of the weight she carries. Although, there's only one person who's become one as it's a big job. The guardian was put to sleep in order to protect Ventuswill's life until we could solve the imbalance in the ether sea and the problem in getting her the strength she needs.”

“Oh, so if she got another guardian, she'd be able to fly a lot better cause she doesn't have to work as hard?” That sounded good to Amber. Having lots of must-work chores to do got in the way of someone being happy.

“We hope so,” Natalie said. “But there's some requirements to being a guardian and not many who could fulfill it. The guardian needs to be someone who loves Ventuswill dearly as a friend and is willing to be put into a very long sleep in order to help her. The guardian also needs to be someone with a lot of potential in life, with youthful runes.”

“I could do that,” Amber said. “If Ven gets healthy and happy, then I'll be happy.”

“Well it would mean,” Natalie put her hand to her chin, seeming worried.

“You'd have to carry out the ceremony with etherlink since Heather is away, right?” her husband said. “Don't you have a reference for that?”

“Oh yes, I have several in the books,” she said, getting lost in thought as she went to find the right books. “I know the spell, but there isn't much use for it elsewhere.”

“Good,” he said. “I mean, as long as the divine wind gets help.”

“Heather could be a guardian too,” Amber said as she realized it. “But she's studying hard to solve the problems. She's super smart, so she'd be a lot better at doing that than me.”

“Yes, I'm sure she could,” he said. “Thank you for doing this instead of her.”

Amber smiled. Maybe some men weren't so bad. “No problem, it's what I want to do.”

Since Natalie could forget things she started, he and Amber kept her on task, both in the home and on their way into Yokmir Forest to find the rune spring there. She was really in the clouds today, Amber thought, though not really. Natalie kept tripping over roots, saying she hardly saw what was in front of her for what was in her mind. After that, Amber watched the path for her, nudging the older woman around the roots and rocks so that she stopped tripping.

Deep in the forest alongside a huge cliff, they found the rune spring. They had insisted that Amber be dressed for this occasion, as it was a special thing. Sometimes Amber would borrow dresses from Heather to play in, but somehow they never lasted long for her compared to her friend. They'd get all muddy, stained, and ripped. Natalie gave her a white dress that was like a lily, although Amber would have liked it better if it was speckled and smelled like a lily.

It was late in the day, but Natalie had her books and was ready to turn Amber into a guardian. “The records say that Darryl used a dagger, but I think that's just dreadful,” she said, taking a garden spade that they used for flowers instead. “Amber, kneel down... about here. I'm going to chant some special words, so don't worry if you don't understand. Then you'll fall asleep. All right?”

“Yeah, good night,” Amber said, smiling and happy. She'd be helping Ven.

“Good night, Amber,” Natalie said, then started up her spell. She touched Amber a few times with the spade, then closed her eyes and put her into a sleep like no other.

* * *

 

At first, Amber wondered if she was dreaming or not. She was somewhere very dark with the only things she could see being strange shadows. Sometimes it was like the forest at night, but sometimes it was completely unfamiliar. There were also things swimming just out of her sight. Fish monsters? And she could hear Ven crying.

“Don't cry, Ven,” Amber said. “I can hear you. Can't you hear me?” She tried to say this again and again, but the dragon kept crying.

Then a sound came through, a voice like none she'd ever heard except for the caring love in it. It reminded her of the distant mountains she had seen in the days when she'd flown with Ven, earthy, strong, and unmoving. Sorry, she seemed to say, but she couldn't reach Ven from here. This place could be scary, but she wouldn't be alone.

That made Amber forget her worries about reaching Ven, happy that she'd at least not be alone in this strange darkness. Her new friend like to sing too, so it wasn't long before they were singing together.

Two other voices joined them in time, although it was a time Amber wasn't sure of. By the time the second voice showed up, she had begun to think of them as birds. They were off in the trees of this night forest where she couldn't see them. Even so, she could still sing with them. They could be unhappy birds so Amber tried to cheer them up as much as possible. It was something to do while she was in this weird dream. Besides, they were all connected in an important way: they were all friends of Ven and when they all woke up, they'd go back home to her.

But there was a monster in this place, one that she often heard and sometimes even saw as a shadow swimming just out of view. The monster called itself Storgane and it was an enemy of happiness. It tried to make her unhappy too. Sometimes, it even managed to do that, mostly in letting her see terrible things like an evil fairy named Ambrosia smashing the other fairies in Yokmir Forest. Even Saffron wilted to this threat while other fairies fled the forest to get away.

“What do you do about your friends who have wilted?” Amber asked in song, so that the two birds with her then, the mountain bird and the sun bird, could hear her. “I was told to sing song of remembrance to be happy in memory of them, but those songs make me sad instead.”

We knew we could be leaving them to wilt when we came to this place, the sun bird said, sad at the thought too. Remember them and the love you shared.

“I didn't know it'd be like that,” Amber said, upset.

And it was at times like this when Storgane liked to swim closer. “You've been abandoned to this place since Ambrosia smashed Natalie when she came to wake you up. You'll never see those friends again.”

“No, Heather will save me from you,” Amber said, although she was afraid that maybe Ambrosia had smashed her too.

Then the mountain bird sang in her soothing voice. It's okay to be sad. You loved them and it hurts that they're gone. But don't listen to Storgane and fall into despair. We've got to keep strong for the day when we can go home.

And the mountain bird was very wise, so Amber listened to her rather than Storgane.

* * *

 

In time, their hopes were answered by an angel, just like in the story books that Natalie and Heather had read to Amber. She woke them up one by one, first the mountain bird, then the sun bird. There was a terrifying few moments when the creek bird sang a despairing song and nearly got eaten by Storgane, but the angel saved even her.

Then Amber had heard the fifth voice that the mountain bird had asked about for the angel. She was a bird so close that Amber could almost see her. “I don't care if I get weak and sick again,” she said in a broken voice that wouldn't sing. “Someone get me out of this.”

“Hey, you are here,” Amber sang, trying to get closer to the new bird with the broken voice. “There's an angel coming to save me and she's looking for you too.”

“Huh, an angel? Who are you? Where are you?”

“Yeah! I'm Amber and I'm right here with you. I think. I can hear you, so you must be closer than the other birds. What's your name?”

“I'm Sven. If you're close to me, you should get away. The Executioner will take over and kill you if you stay near me.”

“It's okay. Come on, sing with me! You'll feel happier.”

Sven didn't respond for a little while and when she did, she seemed confused and half-asleep. Amber kept singing comforting songs to her until the strange forest lit up with a green wind. When it did, she could hear the other birds again as well as the angel. Now it was just Amber in the strange place they called the ether sea. For some reason, they had to wait for Ambrosia to show up in order to wake up Amber, since the evil fairy had to be gotten rid of entirely first. Amber didn't mind, not even when Storgane came with his songs of despair.

...Then you will never be free again.

“Don't be silly,” Amber said. “I'm a wild and untamable heart. I'll always be free because I can choose to follow the rules if it means playing with Ven again.”

That's a good way to see it.

Looks like you were just fine on your own for a bit.

“Yup, although I wasn't really alone for long,” she said, twirling around.

Yeah, that's true.

Come on, time for you to wake up too.

“Yay!”

It was painful to wake up. Amber felt like all of her body was being pricked by thorns like Saffron was seeing if she was awake. But then she began to really feel things again: the forest breeze on her face, the soft dirt on her feet, the loose dress as she sat, the warm arms of someone hugging her securely. She opened her eyes and found that there was a really beautiful person holding her. The angel had hair that was like the color of icicles, a beauty without the cold that usually accompanied the sight. Feeling really happy, she hugged her back... no wait, the angel was supposed to be a man. Hugged him back; that'd be hard to change thinking about, that more men were around.

Lest gasped a little. “Ow, careful,” he said, making her laugh. “Hold still, I'm making sure the enchantment's cleared.”

“All right,” she said, although holding still wasn't easy. Once he seemed to be done with whatever he did, Amber kept her arms on his shoulders but moved back to look in him the face. Like she'd thought, he had interesting purple eyes. “Are you the fairy prince come to wake me up from my enchanted sleep?”

Someone there snickered at that; it seemed like the mountain bird Leon (who actually looked more like a fox now that she could see him). Lest just shook his head. “I'm a prince, but not a fairy.”

“But you did wake me up, thank you!” She went to hug him again, flapping her wings excitedly and accidentally knocking him over. But, wings? Amber felt some antennae shift on her head as her wings folded back up. She couldn't see them, but she could feel them. Then... “Huh, do I have wings?”

“Err, yes, you do,” Lest said, rubbing his hand on his face as if checking for bumps.

Then she was no longer a wingless fairy, but a full fairy! “AAAAAAAHHHH!!! I have wings!” Without even thinking about it hard, she took off from the ground and flew into the air. This was going to be great; she could finally dance like the other fairies did and fly over the trees like Ven did. Then she flew right into some tree branches that got snarled in her hair. While it wasn't hard to get free, it still hurt. She'd need to practice so that didn't happen again.

“Amber, come back down here,” the sun bird Dolce said.

They were telling her to do things. But, Amber didn't care. They were great friends so were allowed to do that. She glanced down below, barely able to see them by the light of the fire they had set up nearby. Even so, she could tell who was who. Sven was different because he was entirely made of metal, but she was sure it was him. She flew down and grabbed Dylas from behind because she wanted to make sure to hug him. “Yay!”

Dylas stumbled and just about fell over, but managed to stay on his feet. “Sheesh, your hugs are dangerous,” he said.

Laughing, Amber kept hugging him. “I'm so glad to be with you all finally!” Then she thought of something. Her time as a guardian was up, so, “Oh, I can take off this dress now, right?”

“No!” Dylas said, his face turning pink at the suggestion. Oddly enough, Dolce said it the same time as him. Leon just put his hand over his face.

“Why not?” Amber asked, tilting her head and trying to look at him better.

Lest came over to answer her. “It looks nice on you, so would you leave it on for a while longer, please?”

Hearing him ask that made a weird bubbly feeling come into her. Amber smiled. “Okay, since you asked nicely.”


	24. The Fourth Guardian of Ventuswill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a suicide attempt and could be seen as disturbing.

Dylas Leland…

I don’t need to tell you to give up.

You already have.

I don’t need to tell you to despair.

You already are.

Tell them that.

Tell them that you are mine.

He'd escaped Strogane's chains, but the words still haunted him. Leon and Lest were fast asleep in the tent in Yokmir Forest, but his mind could not stop thinking tonight. The whole night, he thought over the depressing path that brought him here.

There was no one thing that started it. There was no big tragedy that devastated him. Instead, Dylas' heart was slowly crushed by many small weights. By the time he realized he was slipping, the slope was too fast to save himself from darkness.

His father had run out on his mother when she told him she was expecting. She went to live with her parents and worked as a laundry woman to help support the whole family. Before he could grasp the idea of family, his grandmother died. His grandfather died a few years later, so his mother was often struck with bouts of sadness.

At those times, Dylas would slip out of town and go pick flowers. If it was winter, he found a few small errands to run until he could buy one or two from the town florist. Then he would give them to his mother. “Because I love you no matter what happens.”

It usually made her happy, even just a little more. She would put the simple little flowers in a vase, usually toyherbs because they were easy to come by. “Yes, no matter what happens, you're my sweet little boy and nothing can change that.”

In time, he started doing more errands in town so they had more money to live by. Some days he would get her a flower just because. One day, he found a cluster of wild irises of a beautiful blue that he had to share with her. He carefully took one, then brought it back. But the vase was already on the kitchen table, a single red rose inside. Dylas had never gotten his mother a rose. Instead, a stone mason who had long admired her had started to court her even knowing that she already had a child.

Being a child, Dylas was jealous immediately. However, his mother grew happier than he'd ever seen her because of this man's attentions. The two were radiant when they were near each other although they didn't believe him when he said it. Dylas had to grudgingly accept Steven Leland's presence when he married his mother and decided their best future was in moving to a distant town that was rebuilding from a big earthquake.

* * *

 

A new town meant a new schoolhouse. Dylas was fidgety that first day in class, getting introduced to new kids and a new teacher. It didn't help when he mispronounced a few words on being asked to read aloud. His classmates giggled and the teacher reprimanded him, making him repeat the recital until he got the words right. Why did she make him read it in the first place? He hadn't encountered those words written down before.

After class, the day got more dismal with rain as he looked around the unfamiliar streets. One of the boys from class walked by and taunted him with the mispronounced words. Angered, Dylas punched him only to get hit back immediately. The teacher came over to break the fight up. Knowing that the teacher would probably side with the other boy, he fled the scene.

He stopped by a sparkling fountain, the water running in spite of the rain. His face hurt and he knew from experience that he had a bruise there. Which would make his mother ask what had happened, and then Steven would tell him not to start fights. Which he hadn't, it was entirely the other boy's fault. As he bit his lip and tried not to cry out there in the open, he realized that he wasn't sure where he was. He couldn't remember where his new house was, just that it was somewhere in this unfamiliar town that he been dragged to because some unfamiliar man had won his mother's heart. Maybe he wasn't as special to her anymore because she'd said she didn't love Dylas' father but did love Steven and was going to have his child... Dylas tried really hard not to cry.

Then an odd wind blew across his cheek, warmly inviting. It was like someone was calling him closer but he couldn't quite hear it. Dylas looked around, his eyes falling on the beautiful castle in the middle of town. Whoever was calling him was there. He went there, not sure if he really should because he was usually excluded from such beautiful places. Past the huge open archway, he saw a large dragon with green scales and brightly colored feathers.

In the moment he was frozen in fright, the dragon smiled and lowered her head. “Don't be afraid of me,” she said gently. “Come inside, it's wet and cold out there. What's your name?”

Not about to disobey a dragon, he came inside although the whole scene overwhelmed him in awe. “I'm Dylas,” he said.

“Nice to meet you Dylas. I'm Ventuswill, the divine wind.” She nudged her head against his and he was amazed that she let him touch her. “What's the matter?”

“I got lost,” he said trying to be tough, but her manner was so loving that he finally burst into tears after this time of big changes. Ventuswill was kind to him, even letting him fall asleep there when he couldn't figure out where he was supposed to be living now.

His mother eventually came for him, worried sick and hugging him as he was waking up from the nap. His stepfather put off scolding him, for that day at least. But the scolding didn't matter. He'd made a friend in Selphia.

* * *

 

He didn't make many friends in Selphia. The other children saw him as a clumsy outsider for what seemed like a long time. By the time other children moved in, he preferred to keep to himself in studies and play. It seemed like every time he tried to talk or join the others, they found ways to make fun of him. The boys would provoke him into a fight and he'd end up scolded even though all he was trying to do was make another friend.

“Do I talk funny?” Dylas asked Venti. “Or am I really that stupid?”

“You're not stupid,” she said. “And you talk just fine with me. They just haven't seen you for your real self yet.”

“Well what do I do to make them like me? I'm not really that interesting.”

Venti sighed. “Well... that's hard to say. It's something that you should figure out for yourself, that's the best way to do things. I know you can, just keep trying.”

Then the door opened to the area where the royal family lived. Dylas tensed; the servants didn't like him there and he'd only ever seen the royal family from a distance. It was the king and his oldest daughter, looking at him in surprise. “What are you doing here again?” the king asked, irritated.

“Don't speak to him in that tone of voice,” Venti said in a stern and regal way that she never took with Dylas. “He has my permission to be here. If you respect any of my requests, respect that one.”

The king wasn't happy with it and tried to argue. But the fuss between the king and Venti soon didn't matter to him. He was growing into a young man and had started noticing things differently. It really didn't hit until that moment when he got a close look at the princess. She was beautiful, with an elegant poise and snow white hair in gentle curls.

She had a beautiful voice too, smooth and musical. “Oh Poppa, what's the matter with accepting Ventuswill's friend?”

He didn't explain but Dylas didn't care. He dreamed about the princess and soon decided that he would try to be her friend too. When he tried to see if he could sneak around the back of the castle to see her again, he found her in the hidden farmland tending to a small group of flowers. “You grow some nice flowers,” he said shyly.

“Thank you,” she said with a bright smile. “They're mostly tulips from a foreign land, but these charm blues are from a group I found growing in the countryside. You were Ventuswill's friend, right? I'm Melanie.”

“Yeah, I'm Dylas,” he said, nervous but happy she was talking to him without making fun of him. “She might seem intimidating, but she's a real sweetheart when you get to know her.”

They were able to talk for a few days like that, while Melanie was tending to her flowers. He even dared to dream that this might be more than just a friendship. Maybe they could fall in love.

That was nipped right in the bud when her father caught him waiting for her. “I can't keep you from the dragon, but stay away from my daughter,” he said harshly. “You're the bastard child of one of the castle servants, you're not even worthy enough to speak to her.”

In a fit of anger and hurt, Dylas made sure to tear up one of the king's shirts. But that got him lectured and punished to come straight home from school and stay in the basement. It was his mother's work, his step-father said, and they were lucky to have the assignment from the castle because it paid well. Dylas could hardly explain why without his step-father interrupting with more scoldings. Even so, the damage had been satisfying.

When his punishment ended and he was allowed to go around freely, he discovered that Melanie had already left Selphia. She'd been engaged to a prince in a completely different country and was unlikely to ever return. He'd never had a chance with her. When the other teenagers in town found out somehow, he got ridiculed even more.

* * *

 

Melanie had been an unreachable dream, he soon accepted that. He tried to pursue more reasonable goals. A crush or two over the seasons, or maybe just someone he wanted to be friends with. But it was like he was jinxed. He could imagine things and prepare for the attempt, often taking weeks before he felt ready. Then he'd try to make it real and mess it up every time. Say something wrong and get laughed at. Realize too late that his crush already had a boyfriend and end up in another fight where he had no chance to win the girl's heart. The pain of losing every time grew longer as it kept happening.

“How was your day?” his mother asked when he'd volunteered to help with her laundry one day.

“Um, well, there was...” his tongue seemed to fumble for the words for what was going on. Another closed door, another lost crush.

Then his second stepsister started wailing as babies did. His mother went to tend to her, then tried to talk with him again. Then Steven came and talked about bills with her, starting a tense conversation between them. Then one of the castle servants came in with a request to rush a particular coat because the king wanted to wear it tomorrow, halting all conversation while that was done.

“I'm sorry, Dylas, we seem to keep getting disrupted,” she said as they made sure the coat was dry.

“S'okay,” he mumbled. “Nothing much happened.”

* * *

 

He spent more and more afternoons fishing. It was something he'd first done in Selphia, with Venti on one of the rare days that she'd left the castle. When he recalled that day, it was a bright and shining memory that was warm in his heart. But these days, he was fishing alone. He was fishing to be alone. This way, he wasn't in anyone else's way. It didn't even matter if he caught anything or not. It was something that he knew he could to, something he could even feel accomplished at. No one made fun of him when it came to fishing.

When he was there, watching his line in the water, he kept feeling that something was eating away at him. A good day of fishing would make him feel satisfied and proud, but those feelings were growing weaker no matter how many fish he caught. In the quiet moments of waiting, he started to wonder if something was wrong with him.

One day that this feeling was particularly strong, he noticed some pretty white flowers near the lake. They were common toyherbs, but they seemed so warm and sunny sitting in the grass. Feeling nostalgic and without much biting the line, Dylas put away his fishing gear and gathered a small cluster of the flowers to take back home.

He ran into his step-father first, who asked what he had the flowers for. When told, he asked, “Why would you gift common boring wildflowers to anyone?”

“You wouldn't fucking get it!” Dylas snapped, slamming the flowers on the table and damaging most of them on accident. His stepfather started to reprimand him for swearing in the house, but Dylas was fed up. He went to his room and shut the door, willing everyone to keep out.

Still, he let his mother in when she knocked. “It's been a while since you've brought me flowers, thank you,” she said. “But what's been bothering you? I hardly hear from you these days.”

It wasn't the same. “I dunno,” he said. “You know I've been talking to the divine dragon a lot, right? She, um, she's not been doing well lately. Sleeps a lot and when she's awake, she seems sad and distracted. I don't know what to do for her, she won't tell me what's up.”

“Why don't you bring her some flowers too?” she suggested.

It sounded good, so the next day, Dylas went back to the lake to gather some more toyherbs. But there wasn't a table in Ventuswill's room to put a vase of flowers on. After thinking over what to do, he decided to make a chain of them, for a crown for her to wear. While he was working out how to connect them, a shadow fell across him. “What are you doing, horse face?” one of the other boys in town said. “Making girly things because you want to be a girl?”

“You take that back!” Dylas said with a snarl, getting into one of his worst fights yet. He nearly got into a similar fight with his step-father when another lecture began, but then his mother sighed and that took all the fight out of him.

When he no longer had a visible bruise from the battle, he went back to the lake only to find that the toyherbs were starting to go by. But there were enough sunny and white ones left to fashion a small chain crown for Venti. After taking more caution in being seen, especially in crossing town with the flowers in hand, he finally made it with the gift to her room. She was awake and smiled a little on seeing him. “Hello Dylas, sorry if you couldn't visit for a few days.”

“It's fine, it wouldn't have worked out anyhow,” he mumbled.

“What's bothering you?” she asked, leaning closer.

“Don't worry about it,” he said, then held up the flower crown. “I, um, it might be silly, but I wanted to cheer you up, so I made this for you.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah, I hope it's okay.” He put it on her head.

“It's lovely,” she murmured, tears trickling from her eyes.

“Venti?” Dylas brushed his hand on her head, but her tears fell no matter what he did. She cried herself to sleep.

He knew because he watched her in a bewildered mind, wondering how he'd hurt her and feeling helpless to do anything about it... to do anything at all. He walked home silently, his mind barely able to work. Not even saying hello to his family, he shut himself in his room and soon sank onto the floor. He was shaking hard, yet somehow he couldn't find his own tears.

The next morning, he didn't want to wake up.

* * *

 

Why couldn't he make friends? Why did everyone keep making fun of him? Why was Venti so sad? Why didn't his stepfather even try to understand him? Why did he keep getting into fights? Did his mother still love him, no matter what? He tried to find the answers, his thoughts going in all directions. They kept hitting walls and coming back into other questions. One answer he kept finding and considering was that maybe he was just an awful waste of a person.

He couldn't be. He didn't want to be. Dylas tried to find someone who'd tell him he wasn't, someone who had the answers and could tell him how to make everything better. But his mother was so busy, taking care of his stepsisters, their father, and her laundry business. His stepfather was starting to bug him about getting a job, even taking him out to work on masonry. That never worked out. He'd get distracted in all the questions and work too slow, making mistakes that got him lectured and angry and wanting to really wreck things. But in time, he couldn't even get that angry. Maybe he was a lousy person; that kind of feeling ate away at all of his other feelings to where it was hard to care about anything. Some days he tried to fish and ended up just staring at the water, never putting bait on the hook.

Venti tried to help, but she kept saying that she thought he could find the answers himself. That was when she could speak to him, when she was awake. Then she said it one day, that she didn't want mortals to depend on her and felt that they could solve their own problems. Maybe he was whiny and annoying to her now, no longer a friend, just a burden dragging her down as if that toyherb crown had been made of poison thorns. Yet he still worried about her. He still felt like she was his best friend in town.

Which was absolutely horrible to think about when he thought that she might no longer think of him that way. His grief grew deeper and he was starting to recognize it as grief, a sadness so powerful that it consumed all of his energy. He tried to tell this to the town priest, hoping that the holy man would have answers. But Dylas was clumsier with his words than ever and eventually someone called the priest away on other business. The priest left him with a book, telling him that he might find the answers inside.

None of the passages the priest had recommended worked, though. They had answers, but not anything helpful to Dylas. But as he was flipping through the pages, something else caught his attention: a vision of the Forest of Beginnings. A place of utter peace, a restful solace after the hardships of life. And a deep serene river of pure water that, when drunk by the souls whose suffering could not even be soothed by the peace and gentleness around them, would wash away all memories of pain and heartache, giving them blissful serenity at last.

As wonderful as that sounded, only the dead could drink from that river.

* * *

 

Only the dead could find that river of forgetfulness, the one that could ease any pain.

The clock ticked on the shelf. His pen scritched against the paper. Out in the hall, someone walked by. Dylas paused, but whoever it was didn't come in. He went back to writing, the tiny sounds filling the room. It was a little emptier, as he'd given away a few things he kept. Mostly old toys to his stepsisters, but a few other things he thought should be taken care of. Bushes rustled in the autumn breeze and sometimes a distant owl hooted.

As the eastern sky grew lighter, the letter was dry enough to fold up and place in an envelope. He considered writing something to his mother, but things had changed. She was different, he was different... maybe 'no matter what' didn't really mean anything. Maybe he was just a reminder of an old shame that she felt compelled to look after as a punishment, not a child she could love freely like her daughters. But he hardly felt any pain thinking that; there seemed to be too much pain in his heart for him to feel any particular part of it. No, his letter would go to someone who still mattered to him.

He left his room and walked through the quiet house. None of his family woke up as he left. There was a slight disappoint that they hadn't, but he accepted it and walked to the castle. The guards had long been told that he was free to come and go to Ventuswill's chamber. Thus, they paid him no heed even though she was asleep.

Looking at her, he almost rethought his plan. Not that it would be any use. He thought about it over and over again, ever since he'd read that passage about the river. His thoughts would just go down the same hall as before, finding no new doors to another way out. Dylas walked quietly to Venti's side, every tiny noise still being loud. One time, she said something. “Leon, your promise...”

She didn't wake up. He put the envelope under her claws to make sure no one else could read it, then left. At the arch, he turned to see if maybe she'd woken up... if maybe she'd stop him. She was still asleep. Then that was it. Today he would die.

He passed by the dragon knight on patrol, but nothing was said. The place he'd chosen, the windmill that his stepfather had helped build, wasn't even locked. At every point he thought he might be stopped, nothing did. That convinced him that he had to be right. He was a horrible waste of a person, a bastard child not worthy to speak to anyone, a burden to the one person he had any love left for. The only way for him to find any peace and happiness was to find that river of forgetfulness in the land only the dead could reach. He jumped off the top of the the windmill looking for it.

And then someone stopped him, caught him right out of mid-air and set him down on the pavement. Dylas was so dazed that he could only look up at the woman in front of him. She was muscular with short black hair, so unlike every other woman in town that he recognized her in spite of never speaking to her before. She was the earthmate who ran the blacksmith shop, one whom everyone grumbled about but no one dared speak against her mastery of her craft. Could she finally have the answers he'd been looking for?

She gave him a hard look, then said, “Useless. That's what killing yourself is. You end the pain for yourself, but increase it on everyone who ever knew you. Do you really want to leave this world that badly?”

He shuddered at her words. He hadn't known anything else to do. Or what to say now.

“You're Ventuswill's friend,” she said, reaching out to the feather that he had placed in his shirt pocket when he'd started writing the letter.

Inexplicably afraid she'd take it, Dylas blocked her off quickly. “Don't touch it.” It was a time he'd been happy, a time that seemed so out of reach now.

“She's cursed, you know,” the earthmate said.

“What?” Dylas asked, fear and concern for Venti forcing him back to his feet. It nearly made him demand to know what she meant.

She nodded. “You are her friend. And you didn't know? Spirits of hate lurk beneath her castle, barely restrained by her. Chains of grief, guilt, and despair attach to her heart. You know what you were to her? A brief spark of happiness through the curse that tries to drag her to her death. She knows you're mortal, she knows you'll die sooner or later. But she was interested in you, enough to take her mind off it all and become fascinated in your mortal spark.”

Then, should he live no matter how hopeless his life seemed because her grief had been with her even longer, tormenting her even worse, yet somehow he could make her smile?

“She can be saved from it and you are the only one in Selphia now that has the means to save her,” the earthmate said.

“How?” Dylas asked, although he immediately doubted he had the strength to save a goddess, to save his dearest friend.

“Become one of the guardians,” she said. “That will grant your wish to leave the world, but in a far more useful way.”

He didn't think it would grant the real wish he had to find the river of forgetfulness. But his suffering must pale in comparison to hers. “Okay, I'll do it.”

She wanted him to tell the king of his decision. In order to give him some quiet to contemplate this move, she locked him into a shed in the royal farms. Not very well, as the shed was old and he could probably break the lock if he really wanted. But Dylas realized that in a way, he was already dead. He'd made up his mind, no one had stopped him, he'd jumped off the windmill. He'd chosen to die and in a way, this was simply choosing another death at last minute.

When the shed was opened again, it was the earthmate and the king. Dylas gave his decision calmly and the king accepted it, thanking him for his selflessness and allowing them to travel to the water ruins. They left right away on a long silent walk.

At the ruins, the earthmate went right to work, bringing him directly to the central building there. She told him to sit down, the first thing she'd said to him since convincing him to become a guardian. And, Dylas found he couldn't care about that. He was already dead, but still loved and worried about Venti. Using a dagger and speaking strange words, she put him to rest and sent his spirit into the ether sea.

Perhaps this was where he'd find his river of forgetfulness. He'd already been strangely at peace since deciding to be a guardian. But this place was cold and dark, unlike the description of the Forest of Beginnings. As he realized that, his thoughts stirred back to life. His memories in particular; he could almost hear the teasing of the other kids, the sternness in his stepfather's lectures, the weariness in his mother's voice, the tears of Ventuswill...

“Dylas...” she spoke his name with such pain, hating herself for being so weak and indecisive. It was a grief that was a flood to his small pond of tears.

“Venti?” He was supposed to be helping her, forgetting his pain and finding peace in his heart. But the voices, pains, and memories were only growing louder.

You foolish flea, there is no escape now. You will be eternally in pain, tearing you apart until all you're aware of is Ventuswill's pain caused by you. That is the river of forgetfulness that you have found.

Dylas screamed, his mind quickly overtaken by a madness and his body warped into a strange solitary monster like he'd been all along.

* * *

 

Calm down. Don't give up. There is hope, even in this darkness. We'll be here for you. We're all friends of Venti. And someday, we'll go back home to her and be happy again.

“Can I ever be happy?” Dylas murmured. He felt battered and worn, yet unable to sleep. His heart and mind had been ripped to shreds, yet unable to cry. After all of his fruitless efforts, it seemed his only path was pain and despair.

I hear him! Don't give up.

This place is harsh, but we're here. We can be together. Sing and hold onto hope.

Your hope may only be a tiny light, somewhere deep inside the pain. But it's there. You're here out of love, like all of us. Keep your hope and lose yourself in it if you must. Lose yourself in the songs we sing. Don't be ashamed, we feel the same as you.

It was hope itself, something to cling to, people who would understand and already accepted him. “I'll try,” he sang. “I'm weak, this has gone on so long, but if you're here, I'll try.”

Yet it didn't take him long to realize that they couldn't understand. These were the other three guardians, people who have sacrificed themselves selflessly out of a pure love. He'd taken this as a selfish escape. But as he sang with them, he could lose himself. He could forget about all that he'd left behind and become only a song. He did get his wish in those times.

At other times, he could barely hear them and the painful memories returned to open those wounds all over again.

* * *

 

I may be the only one free of the chains. But I am the least of all. I said I had several reasons to live, but I already doubt them.

But her grief is greater and I promised to visit her every day.

I should keep that promise, if nothing else.


	25. Day of Reunion (part one)

Spring 34

When Dolce woke up, she could hear Lest and Dylas by the campfire, discussing breakfast. Amber had snuck over to sleep by her side, some of her vibrant green hair showing at the edge of the blanket. Meanwhile, Pico sat on the bag glowering at the butterfly girl. Dolce half expected this to happen, after the effort it had taken to get Amber to sleep under her own blanket. Slipping out carefully to avoid waking her, Dolce went to her bag to get dressed.

“She's lucky,” Pico said, crossing her arms over her chest and still looking at Amber jealously.

“You sneak into my bed most nights,” Dolce whispered, shooing her off with a hand.

The ghost flew a short ways off. “Yeah, but you half wake up and throw me into the wall for doing that.”

She grumbled under her breath but didn't want to argue about that this morning. There was another possible argument that she had to prepare for, although she wanted it to be a reasonable discussion. While she had come prepared with a change of clothes, she used a refreshing spell on the clothes she had worn yesterday so she could wear them again today. The white dress that Amber had been wearing yesterday was left on the bed she was supposed to be in. That had been the only thing she was wearing: no shoes, no corset, no petticoat, no underpants. Since they and Pico were the only girls in this camp, it was up to Dolce to convince Amber to get dressed again today, preferably in something more appropriate and complete. They'd have to forgo shoes, but she felt they were similar enough in size to let her wear the extra items she'd packed. Then she used the refreshing spell on Amber's dress and patched up a tear on the hem.

Amber came awake by throwing the blanket off her and sitting up on the spot. After a big yawn, she rubbed her eyes. “Morning time,” she said, then stared a moment at the wrist binding and spirit chain she had. She frowned and shook them.

“Good morning, Amber,” Dolce said. “I've got your dress fixed up.”

“That's not my dress, it's Heather's,” she said. On realizing the problem there, she pouted. “Oh, but, she's gone.”

“Then you'd best take good care of it in her memory,” she said.

Amber nodded. “That sounds good. Well, it's morning! Let's go see Ven!” She got up and almost ran out of the tent.

Dolce was too quick for her, grabbing her elbow before she could leave. “Hold on, you need to get dressed first.”

“Why?” She made a face at the idea. “Clothes are fun occasionally, but they'd be a big bother every day. They never last long on me anyhow.”

“They're for warmth and modesty,” Dolce explained.

Amber shook her head. “But it's spring! So it's going to be good and warm for a long time. And even if you wore them in winter when it is cold, they'd get wet and froze real easily.”

Her eyes widened, stunned at the statement. “You never even wore clothes for winter?”

“Good lord, girl, how'd you not freeze to death when you lived out in the woods?” Pico added.

“Me and matron Saffron always moved out to the fire rune spring when winter was coming,” Amber said as if that was the sensible solution. “And I had a big fur blanket for when the wind was blowing.”

“Don't fairies wear clothes?” Pico asked. “You always see them in illustrations with leafy or flowery dresses.”

Apparently not. “No, those are petals and leaves they grow themselves. I was a wingless fairy, so I only got fruits. Trying to make dresses out of leaves and flowers wouldn't work cause they'd turn brown and brittle much faster. But I've got wings now, so I don't have to bother.”

“No, you do because you didn't get the other coverings,” Dolce said. “It might have been fine in the company of fairies, but Ven lives in a human community. We have rules and expectations for how people act and dress. It keeps things fair, clean, and peaceful.”

“Fairies only live by the rules they make up,” Amber said, starting to frown.

Dolce raised an eyebrow. “Who made up that rule?”

That caught her without a clear answer. “Um, well... that's just how it is. I don't think that's a rule. Is it?”

“If most fairies live like that, then it's a rule itself,” she said. “But there are a lot of rules like that, which any being lives by even if most of them don't realize it's a rule. One of those in human communities is that people always wear clothes when they go out.”

She frowned a moment longer, then sighed in giving up. “Well if Ven is living with humans now, I did say that I'd live by some rules made by others Then I have to wear clothes too, huh?”

“That's right,” Dolce said. “Your outfit yesterday was incomplete, but you may borrow a few of my things so you're properly covered. I'll teach you how to secure them.”

At first, it went okay once she accepted that she had to wear clothes. She even liked the things that Dolce let her borrow. But it wasn't even a minute after they got out of the tent that Amber barreled into Lest and clung to his back. “Lest, I have pretty underwear now!”

“Oh gods, I hope I have the patience for this today,” Dolce said under her breath, clenching a fist briefly. All of the guys were out here now.

Meanwhile, Lest turned a bit pink and Leon raised an eyebrow while his tail twitched. Dylas blushed even more and had his face in his hands trying to keep out of this strange talk. Perhaps luckily for this moment, Sven was still covered in his chewed up Executioner armor and any reaction he had was hidden. Lest was the one who replied, saying, “Ah, yeah, that's good Amber, but we usually don't announce something like that out in public.”

“Why not?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“It's indecent,” he said.

“But Dolly had me put it on to be decent,” Amber said, looking over at her.

Pico grinned at that, now finding her hilarious. After shooting the ghost a glare to keep quiet, Dolce bit her lip to remind herself to keep calm too. “It's called underwear because you wear it under things and it's supposed to stay secret like that,” she said.

“Then I should tell people that I don't have underwear?” she asked.

When she'd heard stories of Amber before, she'd thought of her as an innocent child becoming a guardian out of a pure love. Not as this grown woman that was going to need all kinds of basic ideas of civilization explained to her. Could anyone be that uneducated? “Are you trying to be aggravating?”

“No, she isn't,” Lest said quickly, defusing the argument before it could start.

Leon poked her with his fan and tried to help. “Amber, just don't mention underwear. It's a secret everyone has so nobody talks about it much.”

“But now I want to know what underwear other people have,” Amber said. “You can't have any on because you're not wearing much.”

He shrugged. “It's a secret, so I'm not saying.”

Although how much it helped was debatable as Amber pouted. “And why can you wear not much when I have to wear a dress? It's not fair.”

Dolce sighed. Fortunately, Leon explained, “People expect different things out of men and women. Didn't you have anyone to tell you about such things, like your mother?”

“No, not many people,” Amber said. “I knew Ven, and lots of flowers and lots of fairies. I had a human friend my age, but her parents were weird.”

“Oh, I see,” Leon said, looking at her thoughtfully. “Then you have a lot to learn about living with other humans and being a good young woman.”

“Can you teach me, Lest?” Amber asked immediately, still holding onto his shoulders.

“Dolce would be better qualified than me because she's actually a woman,” Lest answered.

“Well you're one of Ven's friends too, so you must be good at it,” Amber said to Dolce (still not letting go of Lest). “Are you gonna teach me more?”

“She's really good at it, even better than me!” Pico said.

“Very well, but you'll need to learn well,” Dolce said, taking Amber's shoulder.

“Yay, I'll be a really good good young woman,” Amber said with a bright smile.

“First of all, let Lest go so we can have breakfast,” Dolce said, tugging at her.

“But I love him,” she said, although she did let go and stand back up.

“We've just met, so you need to practice your manners and graces in order to be ready,” Lest said, rubbing his shoulder.

“Then can I marry you?” Amber asked hopefully.

“You'd need excellent manners and graces in order to marry a prince,” Dolce said. “You have a lot to learn before you can ask questions like that.”

“Aw, but why?” she asked, flicking her wings out like she'd fly off. “He rescued me like a storybook prince and so now we're going to get married.”

“He's rescued all of us here, so there's more his potential bride needs to do,” she said firmly. Although, there was still that lingering attraction to him, so the idea of a rescue marriage sounded nice.

“Then we're all going to marry him?” Amber asked, her eyes wide.

“Ah, no, and I'm not ready to consider things that far ahead yet,” Lest said, as if he hoped that could end the conversation.

“And this isn't a story book, so things are more complicated,” Dolce added.

“Yeah, it seems like there's tons to learn about being in civilization,” Amber said, a bit dispirited.

“We've got lots to learn, sister,” Leon said, smiling at her. “We can figure some of it out together.”

* * *

 

It was noon when they came to the town's south gate. If she had been a human, Venti felt like she'd be unable to sit still. She'd be right out at the gate waiting for them, pacing... if she hadn't gone off with Lest and the others herself. There were so many interesting things on the wind today. While the return of all four guardians was dearest to her heart, this was a day that would be remembered by many for more than that. But if she paced around, she'd wear herself out and might be asleep when they came home. That wouldn't do; she patiently waited.

But this wait of centuries was finally over. The lost souls were all found, all coming home. It was like many chains on her heart were about to break, would be gone once she saw them all together herself. Since her heart was freed, now she could relax. Or, maybe not. She had to stay for a little while longer with them. Make sure they could adapt and make new friends, figure out how to free them all fully like Dylas, see that the town would thrive, observe how the rune spheres changed things, there was a lot to do now.

While she had listened to them talking this whole while, it was easier now that they were coming into town. “Where'd all the rocks come from?!” Amber asked in surprise on seeing the town plaza from under the gate.

“It was horribly muddy before they put the plaza in,” Dolce said. “But I wish they'd kept the fountain.”

“But there were flowers all over, even in winter,” Amber said. “How're we gonna find Ven in all these houses?”

Leon pointed where they were going across the plaza. “She's in the center of the castle over there.”

Before he could say anything more, Amber took to the air and bolted across the plaza on her wings. Venti smiled as she was hug bombed on the neck. “VEN! Yay, I'm back! And I have wings now, and pretty underwear but I'm not supposed to talk about it, but the wings are most awesome!”

Venti laughed in joy, although she felt glad that the others weren't nearly as fast and wouldn't remind Amber of the lecture from this morning. “They are beautiful wings. But I think it's most awesome that all four of you came back safely. I missed you all so much.”

Amber let go of her neck, but decided to perch on her head. Although that wasn't much trouble, since she was even lighter than Venti remembered. “Well you don't have to be sad anymore, so be happy!”

Leon, Dolce, and Dylas all came into the castle then. “Amber, do you have to be on her head?” Dolce asked.

“Yes I do!” Amber insisted.

Arguing already, but it was still fun. “She's fine where she is,” Venti said. “Just as long as you don't go to sleep up there.”

“All right,” she agreed.

Leon was amused at the arguing, but took care to hide his smile with the fan. “I'm jealous,” he said.

“Where'd Lest go?” Amber asked, relaxing up there while clasping one of her horns.

“He went to take Sven to the clinic,” Dolce said. “We brought someone else back, Venti.”

“That's fine, who is he?” she asked, although she already knew.

“You remember that armored guy who wrecked the royal airship from the ground?” Leon said, moving his fan aside to be heard clearly. “We ran into the Executioner in Yokmir Forest and were able to stop the armor and cast Storgane out of it, all unintentionally. But it turns out the person inside wasn't in control of it, exactly as Lest thought. Dolce put him in control. He can still wreak serious havoc in battle, but he asked for protection from some empire.”

“The Sechs Empire,” Dolce said.

“I see,” Venti said, not about to tell them that she'd interfered so they could save Sven. Lest had been worried about him, which made her worry and want to help too. It just hadn't been possible for them to stop the possessed Executioner while sparing its human host and letting him take control. There were too many ways that could have killed Sven. “It's good that you could help him. We'll have to invite him to the party tonight.”

“There's going to be a party?” Amber asked excitedly.

“Of course,” Venti said. “I want to welcome you back properly.”

“You don't have to do that,” Leon said.

But he was countered by Amber's happy yell. Then by her hug bomb in which she floored him. “Don't be a party pooper, we're going to have fun!”

Dolce smiled while Pico laughed energetically. “Now do you believe me?” Dylas asked.

Leon grabbed Amber and sat up with her. “Right, if you don't watch it, somebody's going to get death by hugging.” Which Amber laughed at.

“Well you do need to be careful about hug bombing just anyone,” Venti agreed. Then she chuckled. “But feel free to do so to Leon when he's not expecting it.”

“Okay!” Amber said with a big grin.

“Oh goody, trying to keep me on my toes?” Leon asked, then looked up. A blue-green blur darted in from the ceiling entrance, surprising Venti too. It turned out to be a three foot long wind dragon, probably not even fifty years old yet. From her blue and green feathered wings, it was easily apparent that she was one of the more intelligent dragon types. Looking for something, she turned and saw Venti. Then she squealed in fright and dashed off to hide by a large potted plant.

“Is that a new friend of yours?” Amber asked, trying to wriggle out of Leon's grasp to go see. But he wasn't going to let her go free, not after the hug bomb.

“No, I haven't seen this dragon around,” Venti said. She leaned forward to peer around the plant, the little one shyly looking back. “It's all right, you're welcome here,” she said.

The smaller dragon came back out, hovering a foot off the floor in case she needed to flee quickly. “S-sorry,” she said, her command of the human language a little rough. Then she spoke the dragon language, “ _I wasn't expecting a big dragon here!_ ”

Leon got to his feet, still holding Amber. “ _What were you expecting?”_ he replied, getting a puzzled look from Dylas (being the unfortunate one of them who couldn't understand the dragon language). “ _B_ _ut don't worry, Ventuswill's the biggest softie around._ ”

“Hey, watch your tongue!” Venti said. Meanwhile, Dolce went to Dylas' side and quietly offered to translate for him.

The other dragon's eyes went wide. “ _Oh really? Sorry Ventuswill, I thought you'd be smaller, like me._ ”

“I was small like you at one time,” she said, thinking briefly of speaking like a dragon for her. But then, she'd spoken this human language for so long that it became natural. “What's your name?”

Finding her friendly and being comfortable with humans around, the small dragon flew closer. “ _I'm Doomgale, killer of typhoons! Well not yet, but I'm gonna be one day.”_

Venti chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Well it's an admirable ambition, Doomgale. It shouldn't take you long from now to be that strong.”

“ _Yeah, I'm working on it,”_ Doomgale said, happy to have her support now knowing that she was the divine wind dragon.

“ _T_ _hen what brings you around here?”_ Leon asked, deciding it was fine to let Amber go now. She decided to stay on the ground to get a better look at Doomgale.

“ _Frey said that Lest was living in this castle now and I wanted to say hi to him first,_ ” she said. “ _S_ _orry if I'm interrupting, but is he around?”_

“ _I'm over here, Doomgale_ ,” Lest said as he came into the castle, smiling at this unexpected visitor.

Doomgale immediately went to whirl around him. “ _Hi Lest! Hee hee, I got to see you first!_ ”

“She's a cute dragon too,” Amber said, deciding that she wanted to be friends too.

Lest petted Doomgale, saying, “Yeah, but she's hard to keep up with just like you. But if you're here, that means Frey is around.”

“Your sister?” Venti asked, more so the others knew who they meant. “I haven't met her yet and Doomgale just showed up.”

“ _She and Flareson should be coming down soon,_ ” Doomgale said.

While his usual defense blur was going, Lest was obviously happy to have her arrive. “All right. I was going to talk with you all, but I'd better make sure she doesn't cause any trouble getting in.”

Noticing a fire dragon descending nearby, Venti asked, “Like landing in the town plaza?”

“Yeah, oh wait, are they doing that?” Lest headed right back out to find that they were. The fourteen foot long fire dragon, with rough coal gray scales and plumes of flames, was causing concern in those outside who saw his descent. Including Forte who came into view poised to fight if need be.

“Oo, I want to see,” Amber said, taking off after him.

Venti chuckled. “Same as always; it could be trouble getting her to be civilized. You did well in getting her dressed.”

“That took a lot of effort,” Dolce said, not sure if she could keep that up.

“I have an idea of who to ask about it,” she said.

Outside, Venti could see that Frey was prepared to fly by dragon, with heavy pants, tall boots, and leather gloves to handle the fire dragon's rough scales and heated plumes. Then a tight helmet with goggles, a long scarf, and a tight jacket to handle moving through the air without the shields an airship would have. Strangely, she also wore a huge glass bottle stopped with a cork, strapped right on her back. It had a sparkling swirl like a monster gate inside it. As for the dragon himself, Flareson didn't seem happy with humans other than the twins around. He took back to the air and circled around to find a spot outside town to settle at. Doomgale sat in the castle entrance watching the reunion.

Frey immediately went to hug her brother. “Leslie! You're walking!”

“You're here soon than I thought, Freya,” Lest said, hugging her back. “Just don't go landing in the town plaza again, you'll scare people off.”

“I'd scare them off anyhow,” she said.

“Yeah, but I have to keep order around here, even with you.” Unlike when Lest came and she was suspicious, Venti already thought having Frey around too could be fun. From the letters and his stories, it'd make the town even more interesting. It was a risk that she knew etherlink. Then again, these earthmates seemed to realize it was a mistake.

“That's a girl?” Leon asked, half joking. “Doesn't look like it from that gear.”

“It's practical looking gear,” Dolce said, interested that she'd dare to wear pants out in the open. “Except the bottle.”

As they came into the castle, Frey removed her helmet so she could start unpinning her green hair from the spiral braids she'd put it in. Amber immediately asked, “You're the princess?”

“I'm not a princess,” Frey said as they came through the doorway. “I'm just his sister.”

“Doesn't that make you a princess since he's a prince?” Amber asked again.

“I'm definitely not princess material.” Lest laughed at her, making her insist, “I am not! I'm already a sage, geez.”

“ _Could I be the princess instead?”_ Doomgale asked, flitting around them.

“Seems like we have a lot of new arrivals today,” Venti said, wondering if there was some way to get Frey cornered into being the princess just because she was insistent on not being one. Even if only as a joke.

* * *

 

In the hectic mess of them coming back with Amber and Sven, and then Frey dropping in with her two dragons, Dolce eventually got asked to take Amber to the clinic to be checked on and then to see Illuminata. On her way out, she grabbed Leon to come with them. “What do you want me around for?” he asked. “She'll be entertainment enough.”

“I think even between Pico and I, she's going to be hard to keep track of, and on track,” she said. “But Dylas already slipped off when the room started getting crowded.”

“Hope he doesn't get too shy if there's going to be a party tonight,” he said, his ears turning about.

That stopped when Pico and Amber flew in their path to the clinic. “But I was told people don't come back from wilting,” Amber said. “How are you still alive?”

“I'm not alive,” Pico said. “I'm only here still because I'm tied to Dolly for all eternity.”

“Why her?”

Before Pico could say something terrible, Dolce quickly said, “She's tied to me because she enjoys tormenting me the most.”

“I love you!” Pico said, turning to her with a big grin.

“Huh?” Amber asked, looking between them in complete confusion.

Pico thought it was fun. “We're sisters by different parents, been together for always, she while she lived and I while I've not.”

“And I grew up while she never did,” Dolce added. It was something she often wished, that a ghost could gain maturity. Pico might be more tolerable then.

“That sounds weird, but fun,” Amber said, taking it in delight.

“You really want to know about it?” Leon asked. “It's complicated.”

“Yeah, but I was never good at learning complicated stuff,” Amber replied, giving up on it for now.

It was so much easier to teach children, Dolce thought. They were usually eager to learn things and their age made their excitability easier to deal with. Trying to keep Amber talking so that she followed them, Dolce and Leon brought her to the clinic. It was busy in there, mostly because the two post women were in. While it seemed strange, Nancy explained that one of them was an earthmate good with machines so they were there to see if they could get Sven's armor taken off. Nancy looked over Amber in her husband's place, although the fairy girl kept trying to go off to check out various things in the house. When Amber was cleared as being fine, Leon picked her up again in jest, saying that she could check out that stuff in another less crowded place.

The flower shop was less crowded, with just the shopkeeper there. Illuminata was reading a book, but set it aside as they came in. “Hey, welcome, what can I help you with?”

“Wow there's so many flowers in here,” Amber said in excitement, immediately darting to a basket and getting her nose in them. “They're out of the sun but they're so happy, that's weird.”

“Please don't eat these ones,” Dolce said, recalling how she'd snacked on a toyherb in the forest. “Illuminata? Ventuswill has a request of you, a challenge she says. This is Amber, one of the other guardians. She seems to know a lot about flowers, but not much about civilized living. We'd like you to help her adjust.”

Illuminata got up from her chair and came towards them. “Is that so? You do seem like a fairy.”

“I am!” Amber said happily, looking over at her. “I was a wingless fairy, but then I got wings, so I'm like the others now. Once I find them again.”

“Time displaced changling, huh?” She put her hand on her chin. “Although the time displacement may not matter as much given the way fairies are.” The elf then smiled and said something in an odd tongue. Amber replied in the same. When Leon responded to them, they both looked shocked.

“Mind letting us in on it?” Pico asked, tilting her head.

“I was just checking,” Illuminata said, still looking at Leon. “But I thought I'd never meet a man able to speak the fairy tongue.”

He shrugged. “There was a large population of them in Yokmir Forest in my time, lots of tricksters among them. The easiest way to keep a boy safe around them is to have him learn a few key phrases to ward off certain tricks of theirs. Then I just learned the rest out of curiosity.”

“That would be one way to do it,” Illuminata said. With that figured out, she turned back to Amber. “Then what kind of flowers do you like growing?”

Without hesitating, Amber said, “The tasty ones! And emery flowers, but you don't eat those. They are really pretty, so it's fine.”

“Oo, emeries,” Illuminata said, happy to hear it. “Though they take a lot of patience to grow and the seeds are highly valued due to rarity.”

“I'm surprised to hear that you like a flower that takes patience,” Dolce said. Amber could barely hold still for a nurse's exam, how could she wait on a long growing flower?

“But it's really pretty at every stage,” Amber said. “You get to enjoy it for a really long time. Hey, what's this flower? I've never seen it before.” She picked up a flower that was unfamiliar to Dolce as well, one that had vibrant red petals held upwards like an elegant glass.

“That's a tulip,” Illuminata said. “It's not originally from Norad lands, but they were really popular imports around four hundred years ago.”

Amber was delighted. “It looks like a cup! So you could drink out of it and eat it when you're done.”

The elf laughed. “Nice idea, although I don't think the petals are tight enough to hold liquids.”

“But it might hold honey,” Amber pointed out.

Although she had no way of knowing about the tulip, Amber did know a lot about native flowers, both raising and eating them. Iluminata was delighted and agreed to teach her, even letting her live in the flower shop too. Dolce told her that she'd need to learn about money and the idea of selling things to work in the shop. However, the elf said that Ventuswill was right in that this would be an excellent challenge for one of her mind.


	26. Day of Reunion (part two)

Spring 34

It wasn't long after they got into Selphia itself that Amber took off to see Ventuswill. Sven wasn't sure about going in to meet with the goddess of the region just yet. After all, she'd want to talk a long while with these four now that they had returned. And she was a divine dragon, even if one more beneficent than Storgane. Thankfully, Lest offered to take him by the clinic to ask the doctor if he was really dependent on the armor. His friend who knew about machines, Helena, wasn't going to be in town for a few hours as she flew the post ship for this area of Norad.

At least, that's what they'd thought. It wasn't long after they got in the clinic that a woman with blue-tipped black hair spotted his armor and got curious. “Hey Lest, who's this interesting person?” she said.

“Oh, this is Sven,” Lest said. “Sven, this is Helena, my friend that we were talking about. Lena, this armor is mechanized and supposedly Sven can't live outside of it. We wanted to check with you and Jones to see if that's true and if there's anything we can do about it.”

“I see, that's what that was about,” Helena said, holding her hand near the chestplate of the armor. Sven couldn't be sure if she was touching him or if he should feel this was too close.

Another woman nearby smiled. “Lady Ventuswill told us yesterday that we should take today off and stick around because something interesting might come our way. Seems like she knew what you were doing.”

“I'm not surprised,” Lest said, then nodded to him. “You can trust Helena and Dr. Jones, they'll help you out. Do you mind if I leave you here with them?”

“It's fine,” Sven said. After all, Lest was the prince here and he probably had things to do since they hadn't intended on staying overnight in the forest.

The other woman, Nem, went to speak with the doctor while Helena was still examining the armor. “Looks like you got chewed up recently,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said. “It's going to sound strange, but it was a bunch of brightly colored butterflies.”

She shrugged. “Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. They must have been dang powerful butterflies to make these holes, though. This is high quality armor and the machinery in here is really advanced. If this kind of thing was invented around here, it would've weighed a hundred pounds more at least. I'm guessing this is Sechs tech.”

“Um, yes, that's where it was made,” Sven said, nervous.

“Although it's absolutely mad craftsmanship,” Helena muttered.

“Helena?” a man asked. Jones waved them into the back room. “Bring him in here in case we need my equipment.”

“All right, let's go,” she said.

Even if she thought it was light for what it was, the whole suit was heavy enough that it was a concern of breaking the patient beds here. Sven still couldn't figure out how to get the armor to sit, but between Jones, his wife Nancy, Helena, and Nem, they got him lying on his back on the floor so their work was easier. While Helena kept checking on the machinery, Jones changed headgear to something that greatly focused his mind, allowing him to use magic to check through the steel armor to see how his body was.

“How long have you been in this armor?” Jones asked.

“Six years,” Sven said. “Haven't been outside of it since I was put in.”

“Ah, so since you were around sixteen?” he asked.

“No, I was twelve.” He wondered for a moment why the doctor thought he was older.

“Twelve?” Helena asked, surprised. “How? You've got a bodysuit on underneath the armor and machinery; you should've grown right out of it.”

“They used a lot of drugs to make sure I grew up like they wanted,” he told them.

“That's troubling, although you seem to have grown properly in a physical manner,” Jones said. “Your muscles are in top condition, thankfully; seems like the armor still needs them to work. I am concerned about your lung function, there's a weakness there like you've been under a breathing enhancement spell for far too long.”

“There's an air filter that's keeping him breathing while limiting the amount of openings the armor needs,” Helena said. “Also a fully enclosed support to his digestive system so it needs minimal intake and output. That's got to suck, not being able to eat or drink this whole time.”

“Is it like that?” Jones asked, taking another look.

While Helena nodded, Sven said, “Yes, although I was a little grateful I didn't have to eat those protein bars and manufactured foods they were giving me.”

“It's going to take some long therapy to readjust your body,” Jones said. “You'll have to be under a restricted diet again to make sure your system can handle real food.”

“I can deal with that if it means getting out of this,” Sven said. And getting to eat real food again, perhaps whatever he wanted in time.

Jones nodded. “For what I can tell, you are dependent on what the armor does for you, but that dependency can be gradually reduced in a safe manner until you can be fully independent. I'd like to see the outer shell come off at least so that your skin can get some sun and fresh air, as long as you wear some sun lotion as it's going to burn easily at first. Plus this damage can't be safe to keep equipped.”

Helena took a little longer before she could give her judgment. “We should be able to cut off the outer shell and take off the helm today,” she agreed. “I am going to need your help on the inner helm, Jones; it has wires connected to his scalp in order to communicate electronically through the skull. They should come out without breaking blood vessels, but it's better to be cautious.”

“If it's like removing splinters and other small foreign objects, that should be fine,” Jones said.

“I think it'll be. But you've had one lucky stroke, Sven. Whatever force wrecked the command codes only got the artificial intelligence control unit, not the codes that keep your life support systems running.”

“You mean the Executioner's mind itself got killed?” he asked. It was what Lest had said, but it was encouraging to hear it from someone who knew what she was talking about.

Helena nodded. “Yeah, something like what would have controlled a golem. This armor could have been activated as a golem without the need of a person inside; I could see how it would work. Huh, but whatever they wanted a human host for, that got erased from the codes as well so I don't know why they didn't.”

“I wouldn't know either,” Sven said.

“Anyhow, the life support equipment could use some maintenance work done on it, including adjustments so that we could make a gradual move away from dependency. I'll have to do some fixes on the remaining coding too, so take it easy for a few days until we make sure it all works well. If we could get some clothes that were a size or two big on you, then it shouldn't be hard to get you out of the jumpsuit too and hide most of the machinery under a normal outfit.”

“The market day is tomorrow, so you should be able to pick up some clothes then,” Nancy said. “We'll have to see what can be done until then once the outer armor's off.”

“I don't have anything but the armor and scythe to my name,” Sven said. That was going to be a problem.

“The townspeople should be able to lend you some help to get you started with a new life,” Nancy said warmly.

“Yeah, and getting to study this kind of advanced work is more than enough payment for me,” Helena said with a grin.

This was a world of difference from how the empire had been. “Thanks, you're wonderful people,” Sven said.

“It's no trouble,” Jones said. “I'll put you to sleep for the work so that you don't feel any of it. Nancy, could you start a patient file for him?”

“Of course, what's your full name?” the nurse said, standing up but waiting to retrieve the papers.

“Sven Geisel,” he said.

“That sounds familiar somehow,” Jones said, trying to recall it.

“I think that's Doug's name too,” Nancy said, going over to a cabinet.

Hearing that was a shock unlike anything else; he'd never had such a good thing come around unexpectedly. “What, Doug Geisel, he's here? That's my cousin's name, he's a dwarf with red hair. We were from Medritarc.” Although he wasn't sure how much further he could describe him since Doug had been sixteen when they got separated. It was unlikely, but he might've changed. “He'd be twenty-three now.”

“He hasn't said where he's from, but the rest sounds just like him,” Nancy said, happy to have found the coincidence.

“He's your cousin?” Jones asked, curious.

“We had a rather complicated family,” Sven said. “Dwarves and half-dwarves, but I don't know the full story. I didn't think any of them would still be alive after the town got destroyed.” Perhaps those of his family other than Doug had escaped too, even his parents? He wondered if he deserved that kind of miracle.

“I'll invite him over when you're ready to wake up from the operation,” Nancy said, taking some files from the cabinet. “That's great to know that you already have some family here.”

“Yeah, it's amazing,” he said. Even if it was just Doug, he felt like thanking all of the gods in the world for him being here. And he was free, plus those guardians and the prince who had rescued him... it seemed like a lot of prayers had finally been answered today.

* * *

 

There was an excitement in town that Doug found hard to play along with. While he didn't understand the full story, there were four humans known as guardians who protected Ventuswill in their enchanted sleep somehow. It was the sacrifices that the voice from the rune sphere mentioned. Prince Lest had brought three of the guardians back to Selphia ever since the market cleaning week and everyone expected he'd have the fourth back today. Not sure how to feel about it, he read through the history book Kiel had recommended to confirm what he'd been hearing.

Tonight, there was going to be a feast and celebration in honor of the return. It was going to be really hard to get out of attending, especially with Blossom happily making bread and fried vegetable rice to go along with the meal. From what Clorica had said while arranging it with her, Porcoline was handling the main dishes, she was doing some other sides, and Kiel was making desserts. That meant the meal at least was going to be great. Doug wasn't sure he could keep himself calm and quiet the whole time, though. Especially not with the knowledge of Lest's empathy; no one could hide their feelings around him, which made him nearly a mind reader. Doug wanted to stay away from him as much as possible, but not attending this party was going to make him suspicious to everyone else in town too.

The bell on the door rang, announcing Nancy's entrance. “Good afternoon,” Doug said, smiling as he did for any customer. “I thought you came by this morning.”

She smiled. “I did, but I came for you this time.”

For him? “Really, what for?” he asked, curious but also worried.

“Oh, hello Nancy,” Blossom said, coming into the room to see who it was. “How's it going with Alice?”

“We're doing fine, she's having a nap right now,” Nancy said happily. “I had big news for Doug, actually. We had a different kind of patient come in this morning, he says his name is Sven Geisel.”

His thoughts went completely blank from getting hit with the unexpected name. “Huh, Sven? Are you kidding? He got kidnapped by some crazy doctor from the Sechs Empire years ago.”

“Oh, is that someone in your family?” Blossom asked, coming over to his side.

“Yeah, he's my little cousin,” Doug said, reminded of that afternoon he'd been taken, right out of the middle of a conversation they'd been having. Don't be crying now, he told himself. “Though I guess he wouldn't be so little now; he should be eighteen. Although it's a complicated situation, as his parents were both half dwarves and he's mostly human. Made it a huge scandal for Grandfather Conrad and the three of them had to leave the old town. But because of that, we were pretty much brothers growing up together.”

“That sounds like what he said,” Nancy said, smiling for him.

“That's wonderful, I'm so happy for you,” Blossom said, giving him a small hug.

Nancy nodded, then added, “I said he was different because he came in a machine armor that he's been living in for years. Jones and Helena have been getting most of it off him; they're done and he should be waking up from the operation soon if you want to come over.”

“Sure, is that all right, Granny?” he asked.

“Of course, you go see him,” she said, patting his shoulder. “I'm at a point where it won't be much trouble to keep an eye on the store and kitchen. And you invite him to stay with us, as long as you don't mind sharing a room until we can get one of the others cleared and cleaned up.”

“We wouldn't mind, it'd be like picking up where we left off,” Doug said, feeling even happier that she'd extend her home to Sven without meeting him. “Thank you so much for helping him out, both of us really.”

“Of course, I'm sure any of your family would be just as sweet as you,” Blossom said.

At least until you got more than one generation back, Doug thought, although he didn't want to say it. He walked over to the clinic with Nancy with a little nagging worry that this was too good to be true. But if Sven had said the same things about him, it had to be his cousin. Just what did she mean by a machine armor, though? He knew the Sechs had such things. Did she really mean Sven was the Executioner? That was one of the most terrifying weapons the empire had during the past war, like a golem but with a higher grade of thought able to use rune skills. That didn't make any sense though, for his kindhearted sickly cousin to be in control of the arena killer that no one had ever defeated. He'd been too young to be that kind of monster.

When he got into the clinic, Sven was sitting on a patient bed. He had grown up but looked about right, with copper-brown hair and gray eyes that made him look like a pale-skinned human version of his father. He had a beard too, cut off in an awkward way while his hair was unevenly matted against his head. In another part of the room, Helena was putting pieces of cut up armor into a box, black armor with a glossy red sheen. As if that wasn't proof enough, the Executioner's huge scythe was also in the room. Sven still had some of the machinery on over a black one-piece suit. The machines included clear device under his nose, strange ghostly chains on his wrists, and dense devices on his chest, shoulders, and back.

“It is you, Sven, I never thought I'd see you again,” Doug said, smiling in amazement as he came over.

“Same to you Doug,” Sven said, breaking out in a grin and hugging him once he got near. “I can't believe that you're still alive, and I hardly recognize you without a beard. I thought you were going to keep it.”

“Things change,” he said, self-consciously touching his cheek. “Like you're all buff and have a beard worthy of a dwarf now, wow. Just need to get it cut better.”

“I think the armor took off parts that got in its way,” he said, showing a part that was longer than the rest around it.

Nancy came over and offered a pair of scissors. “We'll let you two talk a bit, do you think you can cut his hair?”

“Sure, that won't be a problem,” Doug said, taking the scissors. Not wanting to bring up the Executioner directly, he thought on what to ask until the others had left the clinic area. “You all right? What happened to you?”

“I have to spend a long time cutting my dependency on all these machines,” Sven said, tapping what was on his chest. “But the machine that was in control is gone, so I'm better than before. I got taken into the Sechs Empire where they trained me like a soldier before putting me in this armor they called the Executioner. It was entirely in control of what we did and all it could do was take orders from its masters, which didn't include me but eventually included a crazy evil god. But then just yesterday, Lest and the guardians wrecked the control machine, cast out Storgane's influence, and put me in charge. Somehow they knew I was in trouble even though I had no way to speak for myself.”

“That's great,” Doug said, feeling guilty in playing false faith in Lest here. Then again, they had saved Sven. How could he stay angry with them?

Especially when Sven said, in a grateful wonder, “Yeah, I was starting to think I was crazy for having any hope of living free again. I still need to talk with Ventuswill and Lest, since I asked them for sanctuary from the empire. But, I hope I can do something to help protect Lest now, or serve him in some way. I owe him and the others so much; they could hate me because the Executioner had orders to kill him, but so far everyone's being really nice to me. Nobody's nice in the empire and if they are, they're trying to manipulate you.”

“I've heard that before,” he said, wondering what he should do now. Definitely not stick with the Sechs although they were severe with traitors. If they heard he was quitting, they could send an assassin after him.

“Good thing the armor's out of here, though I don't know what to do with the scythe,” Sven said. “And what about you? I heard a lot of talk about how Medritarc and Telliarc attacked the empire because I got kidnapped.” He shuddered nervously at that.

“It's all right, keep still so I can trim this,” Doug said, still working on fixing his beard's shape. “There were a lot of resentments against the empire at the time, the kidnapping just triggered it all to come out. But even the traditionalists who raised a fuss about you at first said you were still part of a dwarven family, thus they wanted you back home in Medritarc.”

“The Sechs commanders were proud of the weapon that they used to win the siege,” Sven said, some fear in his words. “Something that could crush a whole town like an impossible storm. I got sick of them saying it and tried to block them out.”

A weapon the empire had used? To crush it exactly as he had seen. But the soldiers at the scene and the general had seemed shocked at the extent of it too. Had they lied about that? Or were they lied to? Figuring he'd think about it later, he said, “Yeah, that's what happened.”

“Sorry,” Sven said, shifting his eyes away but trying to keep his head still.

“You don't have to be,” Doug said, again making sure they were the only ones in this part of the clinic. He lowered his voice to say, “I happened to be traveling between the towns in the underground tunnel when Medritarc got attacked that last day of the siege. And it was like a huge hammer had come down and smashed everything. I went into shock at it all and, well, I'm not sure what all I was doing for a short time, but I wandered around Norad until I moved here last year.”

That disappointed him. “Oh, so it was just you. But, at least you survived and somehow we ended up in the same town now. I thought everyone was gone, so this is wonderful.”

“It is,” Doug said, rubbing his eyes trying to keep them clear. “Oh yeah, I've been living with this sweet old lady named Blossom. She runs the general store and I've been helping her out. She's the reason I've stuck around here, since she doesn't have any of her family around to help her with the heavier work. And she said you can stay with us if you don't have anywhere else to live.”

“They want me to stay here for tonight to make sure this keeps working outside the armor shell,” Sven said, crying a little but he sounded grateful. “But that'd be great. Like I said, everyone's being so nice and I'm just dumbfounded that I am free. There's so much I missed being able to do but I have no idea where to start.”

“This is a great town,” Doug said. As much as he had tried not to like it, it was hard to deny.

Hard to deny that Selphia was warm and welcoming while the Sechs Empire was cold and uncaring. But what did he do now? The arrival of his cousin only brought more evidence that the Sechs general had lied to him about Ventuswill. Then what of the hate spirit in the tunnel and this mysterious Sechs weapon? Surely if they had that, they would have used it on Selphia by now.

* * *

 

They wanted to call her a princess. Frey did not like that idea. In stories both real and fiction, she saw that princesses were most often dressed up very pretty and feminine, kept inside unless under protection, not expected to do or be much, and expected to get married early on. The only part of that she could tolerate was dressing up, but most of the time she preferred a cute but athletic style with a touch of femininity, not huge poofy dresses with ribbons and lace. “I thought you'd know that I didn't like the princess style,” she told Lest.

“I'm hardly a traditional prince,” he said. “It's important that I keep up the farms, for one thing. Besides, the castle has a nice workshop in the basement, complete with a forge and a big crafting table. Even some equipment for alchemical work if needed. It seems like a waste to leave that space unused even though I rarely do anything in those crafts.”

“You've got a forge in the castle?” she asked, excited to hear that. Their house back in Grelin had a forge and crafting area, but only because it had been passed down in their mother's family as part of their work. Buying a house with a forge would be expensive, although she hoped that the funds she had would cover it.

Lest nodded, which did make it tempting to move in with him even if it meant being called a princess. “Right, although it's been years since it's been fired up so you'd want to check over it before trying. Looked like there was even a kiln.”

“Ooo, those can be useful,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest to think. “But still...”

“And you'd be right here to help me bug him to make pancakes more often,” Ventuswill said cheerfully

“Oh gosh, yes!” Frey said with a grin. “Although even if I got my own place, I'd still come over and pester him about it.”

That made Lest smile. “I'm sure. Oh, but then there's your fireworks. The spires or roof here seem like one of the best high spots to shoot them from since the observatory's risky with its windmill blades. Only, it'd be hard for you to get access to those areas unless you did have a small measure of authority as a princess.”

“Wow, you do fireworks too?” Ventuswill asked, watching her. “Big colorful ones?”

“Yeah, those are the best,” she said. She hadn't been around the divine dragon for long, but Frey already liked her immensely. She liked pancakes, and now fireworks too. “Great for late celebrations, although I don't have enough powder to mix up any today.”

“Well there's rules on when and how fireworks can be used,” Ventuswill said. “And I'm afraid there wouldn't be many times right now when it'd be okay. With the Sechs being an invasion threat, we don't want to give them any reason to attack. But if things calm down, it'd be fine for a princess to shoot fireworks from the castle roof.”

“Geez, you two almost make being a princess sound fun,” Frey told her brother.

“You being you would make that happen,” Lest said with a grin.

“Y _eah, I'm sure of it!_ ” Doomgale said from where she was hovering around watching.

“I like the idea of a princess like you being around,” Ventuswill said, smiling as well. “We should do this. Volkanon!”

“Aw, seriously?” Frey asked, being too dramatic for fun. Still, they made good arguments. She had been named a sage but still acted how she wanted. Why shouldn't she continue to act that way if she was going to be called a princess too? The forge alone might make it worth the trouble. Or the fireworks. Or her brother's pancakes. Or being around Ventuswill if this was how she really was.

“Yes, Lady Ventuswill?” a burly old man said from where he'd suddenly appeared near them.

“This is Lest's sister Frey,” Ventuswill said, in an impressive regal manner. Frey wondered if she did that for fun too. “I like her, so I'm naming her the honorary princess of Selphia. Thus she'll be moving in here and you should work with her too. She'll need a room and the forge downstairs should be checked over so she can use it after getting a license.”

“Sure, we'll get to work on that,” Volkanon said with a nod. Then he smiled at Frey. “Glad to have you along! There's several extra bedrooms on the second floor of the royal wing, so we'll meet you up there in a couple of minutes.”

“Wait, what about Doomgale?” Frey asked, not about to make this set in stone unless her dragons were settled in too. “Flareson's fine living in the countryside, but Doomgale here is family and she's not going to live in a barn.”

“ _Oh, may I live in the castle too?”_ Doomgale asked with bright eager eyes.

“Certainly you may stay here,” Ventuswill said. “She's a fellow wind dragon so should be treated with respect.”

“Of course, that's how things should be,” Volkanon said with a nod. “Especially if she's family to you. I believe there's some rooms on the third floor where the windows can be opened so she can fly in and out as she pleases. If you help us with knowing how she likes her space, we'll help set things up.”

Doomgale whirled about on the spot. “Y _ay, I can stay with Frey and Lest again!”_

“Of course, wouldn't leave you out,” Lest said affectionately, tapping her tail as it came by him.

Frey was about to say that she'd help Volkanon, but he was already gone while she'd been distracted in Doomgale's glee. “Dude, you have a ninja butler,” she said, impressed.

“We have three of them,” Lest said. “He's the master with two students. While I can call on them with my bracelet, they have a way to show up right as you're thinking of calling them.”

“It's their way of fulfilling their noble duty,” Ventuswill said.

“That is so awesome,” Frey said. And kind of weird that Lest was going along with having servants, or that she would be. Then again, it'd be nice to have someone who could run a small errand while she was involved in crafting or studying. Doomgale did her best, but the trouble she had learning to speak the human language made it hard for her to fulfill some tasks.

Although she and Doomgale picked out their rooms, there was only a short amount of time to work on setting them up how they liked today. There was a lot of work for the butlers and Lest because of the party this evening, so Frey helped them out. Even if Ventuswill had said it was an honorary princess, not with the responsibilities that Lest had, she figured it was only right to do what she could to help her brother and Selphia. It was what she'd be doing anyhow. One of the first things she noted was outside in the farm's toolbox. The equipment Lest had for that work was really lousy. Deciding that would be top priority, she got the form to request a test for a forging license to make him better gear.

As the evening came, everyone in town gathered in the town plaza. There were three long tables there, one with the spread of food (a large beef roast, grilled salmon, roast potatoes and vegetables, fried rice, a gratin dish, a fruit and cheese plate, three kinds of dinner rolls, an impressive four tier cake, and more) and the other two for dining. Ventuswill sat just outside of the central entrance to her room while Doomgale was flitting about to see if there were other friendly people in town. Near the divine dragon, the four guardians were talking quietly among themselves. That had been a pleasant surprise today, to find that not only had Lest managed to fix his broken bones through a successful miracle, but that he'd already placed the rune spheres and woken the guardians up. Whenever they got a chance, there would be a lot to catch up on between her and her brother.

They were waiting to make sure everything was in place when one of the dwarves in town came up to where Frey and Lest were. “Hey, Lest?” he asked uncertainly.

Pleasant as usual, he smiled. “Hey Doug, what is it?”

“Well first of all, sorry for the other day. It seems I was mistaken about you.” Doug seemed like he wanted to say something more, but wasn't sure about saying it here and now.

“It's all right, I could explain more later if you want,” Lest said.

That surprised him. “After that, I didn't think you'd forgive it so easily.”

Lest shrugged. “Well I could tell there was some reason behind it, so better give the benefit of doubt.”

“If that surprises you, you don't know him all that well,” Frey said.

“Fine by me,” Doug said, relived at it. “More importantly, thanks for saving Sven. He's my cousin and our family lost him years ago. We thought we'd never see him again.”

“Good to know he has family here,” Lest said, his smile beaming at knowing it. “I haven't heard the story behind him, but I can feel a lot of pain in his heart and it's going to take a while for him to feel secure. If he has someone he trusts right away here, then that makes a huge difference.”

“Yeah, I'll be there for him like we used to be,” Doug said, smiling too now. “Plus he and Granny are getting along well already, so we'll take care of him.”

“Good, but if you need any more help, I'll do what I can,” Lest offered, giving him a handshake.

“I'll keep that in mind. See ya.” He went back to two others, had to be the pair he was talking about. Frey still needed to learn names here, which the party gave great reason to do.

She moved closer to him and quietly asked, “Fixing some disagreement?”

“More than just that,” Lest said quietly. “But there's still more work to do with them.”

“You seem pretty happy with it,” she said.

Lest nodded. “I didn't think being a prince was going to help, like I'd have to do all kinds of boring work and argue with folks over laws. But it's pretty laid back so far. I can do what I do and be a busybody seeing what everyone's up to with the excuse that it's my job.”

Frey laughed at that and playfully poked him. “Yeah, you can busybody like nobody else.”

Before they could keep chatting, Volkanon came over to let them know that everything was ready. The led Lest to call for everyone's attention and try to bring them closer in. This was so Ventuswill could speak without projecting her voice too much. “We started this party with one reason, but have found other reasons to celebrate in the meantime,” she said. “Thus I'd like to welcome all who've come into Selphia this spring: Arthur, Sven, baby Alice, our Prince Lest, and his sister Frey. Then of course those who have returned after being gone for far too long, my dear friends Leon, Amber, Dolce, and Dylas. I say to all of you, welcome home and I hope you can find your happiness here.”

People cheered in approval; Frey thought it was understated for how she must have felt, but it seemed she had greeted them more affectionately when they each came back. Leon responded by saying, “We hope the same for you, but we had something else to say before anything else gets going.”

“Don't take too long making people wait on food,” Dolce said, making several people laugh.

“Sure, I can keep it short for that,” Leon said with a nod. “We have been apart for a long time, but something that kept the four of us strong was music. Words couldn't cross where we were, yet our songs somehow reached each other so we weren't alone. One thing we decided early on was that when we could finally be together, we would sing for you. If you don't mind, could you give us some time for music?”

Frey felt curious about that. Words couldn't cross in the ether sea, but music could? Perhaps if they had tried song at the rune springs, maybe they might have been able to reach them before waking them. Although, that was a possibility that was no longer needed. The information might be useful for other things.

Ventuswill eagerly agreed to hear their song and nobody would deny the request. The four guardians began to sing a song of praise to the divine dragons, their version focused mostly on Ventuswill. Hearing it, Frey felt lucky that she'd managed to arrive in time to hear them. There was no doubt in their devotion, giving the song a powerful emotion that could have inspired faith in the most hardhearted. The harmony between the four was incredible too; few groups could claim centuries of practice together like them.

Perhaps there was more to do in Selphia, but the song gave hope that any obstacle could be overcome.


	27. Intermission - 1611 Town Registry of Selphia (In Revision, Also Taxes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intermission chapters occur between larger parts of the story, in this case between arc 1 and arc 2. This particular intermission is filled with lots of little details that you could safely skip if you wanted, but there are hints at future events in here. If you do read this, think of it like a draft Lest wrote with his notes on the entries and Arthur looked over as a beta and wrote his notes outside the entries.

' _You won't need this completed since a town registry was turned in for Selphia on Spring 3 by Volkanon, but good thinking in making the adjustments as people move in. I've added comments to sections you weren't sure about. For future reference, you'll need to turn in a copy of the town registry for census and tax records to Central Norad Palace by Spring 15 of every year. Sorting the list as you have by leaders, then households, then age is one acceptable method for this.'_ -Arthur

This document records the status of inhabitants of our town watched over by the Divine Wind Dragon Ventuswill. Current living population is 22/27. It is accurate as to _Spring 1 1611_ Spring 36 1611.

_'Twenty-two is the more accurate legal number. We don't list Ventuswill as she is above the law, thus she doesn't count towards population numbers. I'll note the others in the list who don't count.'_

Prince Arthur Lest Nolan (ruling prince)

Gender: M Age: 20 Race: Human (Earthmate)

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants, mother deceased

Siblings: Frey Nolan (twin sister)

Tax Class: _hell if I know_ Farmer, Clergy

' _As the town ruler, you can place yourself as tax exempt. But you also earn income from farming, so it would be acceptable to list your class as a farmer and keep the same tax levels you had previously. You also qualify as clergy since you swore service to Lady Ventuswill and have the ring as proof, so that must be on there.'_

Princess Frey Nolan

Gender: F Age: 20 Race: Human (Earthmate)

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants, mother deceased

Siblings: Arthur Lest Nolan (twin brother)

Tax Class: Craftsman _that's what she was_

' _She's not a ruler and sages only count as clergy if they have proof of a divine sponsor, so craftsman is the only option for her right now.'_

Thomson household

Jones Thomson

Gender: M Age: 41 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Jim and Caroline Thomson (both deceased)

Siblings: none

Spouse: Nancy Thomson

Children: 1, Alice Thomson

Tax class: Head of household, 2 Healers 1 Child

' _It's like this because healers pay a lower tax rate. But they require extra insurance funds and need to be reviewed for performance and healing fees often to keep such a status. Jones should turn in two copies of their review papers when taxes are due, one which is placed in the castle records and one which is sent in with this review.'_

Nancy Thomson

Gender: F Age: 37 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citzen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants (father deceased)

Siblings: 2, not inhabitants

Spouse: Jones Thomson

Children: 1, Alice Thomson

Alice Thomson

Gender: F Age: less than one year Race: Human

Parents: Jones and Nancy Thomson

Siblings: none

_'Alice won't need to be listed for these records on her own until she is two years old as of the Spring 15 deadline. Right now, she's only listed with her parents.'_

Xiang household

Xiang Lin Fa

Gender: F Age: 38 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants

Siblings: not inhabitants

Spouse: Xiang Yang Fan

Children: 1, Xiang Xiao Pai

Tax Class: Head of household, Innkeeper

' _It's a cultural trait of the eastern nations to list the surname first. Since all members of this household trace back to that continent, we follow that in these records for them.'_

Xiang Yang Fan

Gender: M Age: 40 Race: Human

Norad citizen: _No?_ Selphia citizen: _No?_ No, spouse of citizen

Parents: not inhabitants

Siblings: not inhabitants

Spouse: Xiang Lin Fa

Children: 1, Xiang Xiao Pai

_'I asked Lin Fa and she wasn't sure, so we need to contact the capitol and Yang Fan in order to clear this up. For now, list him as spouse of citizen. For the final copy, you'll want to make sure there's a non-citizen resident certificate for him and note its existence here if he can't prove his citizenship.'_

Xiang Xiao Pai

Gender: F Age: 22 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Xiang Lin Fa and Yang Fan

Siblings: none

Tax Class: Innkeeper _that can't be right_ Worker

' _I certainly hope she hasn't been misclassed as an innkeeper since that's a much higher tax bracket than the worker that she should be classed as. I'll contact the tax collectors and see about that. If she has, then she really needs to be compensated for being overtaxed.'_

Leon Karnak

Gender: M Age: 23/1249 Race: Human (??? Earthmate)

Norad citizen: ??? Selphia citizen: ??? _did they exist in his original age?_

Parents: (both deceased, unregistered)

Siblings: none

Tax Class: _he could possibly qualify under elder, clergy, and civil servant, all of which seem to be various degrees of tax exempt_ Civil Servant, Clergy

' _The guardians are tough to classify correctly. Civil servant is the most definite one for Leon due to his work as the librarian. We'll need to clarify with Ventuswill if she has dismissed Leon as her priest when the position was abolished. If not, he does qualify as clergy due to a grandfather clause in outdated positions. Elder would be a trickier argument since they were unaware of the passage of time in the ether sea. I'd leave it out and count him as his waking age of 23. As for whether or not Leon counts as a Norad citizen, the Selphia region wasn't under Norad rule in his original age. But he was accepted to the canon list of Norad saints, which should retroactively make him a citizen.'_

Amber Yokmir

Gender: F Age: 18/1037 Race: Human (??? Earthmate)

Norad citizen: ??? Selphia citizen: ???

Parents: (both deceased, unregistered)

Siblings: N/A

Tax Class: _Worker/elder? Seems weird to call her elder._ Worker

' _Give Amber the same citizenship status as Leon. Worker is best fit for her.'_

Pico Amaretto

Gender: F Age: 10/??? Race: Ghost

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: native

Parents: ???

Siblings: Dolce Amaretto (haunting sister)

Tax Class: _I did this for completion sake as I don't think we can tax ghosts._ Child

' _Correct, we can't tax a ghost and so we don't need to put Pico in the legal town registry. But she's around town enough that it's fine to keep a record of her too. Put her class as child so that she's tax exempt for certain.'_

Esquire Dolce Amaretto

Gender: F Age: 19/735 Race: Human (??? Earthmate)

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Anthony and Grace Amaretto (both deceased)

Siblings: 1 elder brother, 1 younger brother, 2 younger sisters (all deceased), Pico Amaretto (haunting sister)

Nobility: ??? Squire (second generation)

Tax Class: _She was named a priestess after becoming a guardian, not sure about clergy, worker/elder? Plus she was a child of the first Dragon Knight, so does she get nobility ranking as well?_ Servant, Clergy

_'If Ventuswill named her and did not dismiss her, then she still counts as clergy. Servant and clergy because a nanny counts as a household servant. And you are correct in that you don't need the names of the siblings if deceased, just the parents. As for nobility, yes, see my notes on Kiel. Check the records to see if nobility in their family goes back further to find the generational number and if she has a different title. Though I do believe this would be the first time I've seen a nobility title on a servant, doubly odd since the Thomson household has no titles.'_

Dylas Leland

Gender: M Age: 18/400 Race: Human (Earthmate)

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Steven and Coris Leland (both deceased)

Siblings: 2 younger sisters (both deceased)

Tax Class: _worker/elder?_ Apprentice

_'Since we've been made aware that all of the guardians will become earthmates upon defeating their hell gates, go ahead and put Human (Earthmate) for all of their race lines. Also, I asked Porcoline if he means to claim Dylas as an apprentice for this year's taxes and he said yes. Dylas will be classed as such on the registry, similar to Clorica and Vishnal._

_Also, I just noticed that the guardian's ages are going to be strange no matter how we look at it. I was considering that their age would change upon their birthdays. But then I realized, Amber will only be 18 for one season while Dylas here will be 18 for nearly two years due to when they became a guardian in relation to their birth dates. If Amber's birth date is even accurate, given she's a changeling. It may be best to go back and ask them how old they consider themselves to be, minus the time they spent in the ether sea.'_

Illuminata Lillus

Gender: F Age: 196 Race: Elf

Norad citizen: Immigrant Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants

Siblings: not inhabitants

Spouse: Divorced

Children: 1, Vernan Nalci (emigrant)

Tax Class: Merchant

Blossom Kenton

Gender: F Age: 87 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Silvas and Winter Hills (deceased)

Siblings: none

Spouse: Bruce Kenton (deceased)

Children: none

Tax Class: Elder, Merchant

Bado Mirshien

Gender: M Age: 76 Race: Dwarf

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants (both deceased)

Siblings: none

Tax Class: Craftsman

_'He's close, but not an elder by dwarven standards yet. I didn't realize he was that old.'_

Volkanon Black

Gender: M Age: 71 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Wilhelm and Casey Black (both deceased)

Siblings: 2 older brothers (both deceased)

Spouse: Dawn Black (deceased)

Children: 3, Sebastian Black (emigrant), Tomas Black (deceased), Natasha Black (emigrant)

Tax Class: Elder, Clergy _is that right?_

_'Normally a butler would be classed as a servant. However, Volkanon directly serves Lady Ventuswill and thus is classed as clergy instead.'_

Lord Porcoline Tulle De Sainte-Couquille

Gender: M Age: 49 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Marshallen Tulle and Christina De Sainte-Couquille (both deceased)

Siblings: 2, not inhabitants

Nobility: Lord (twentieth generation)

Tax Class: Noble, Worker

Margaret Muse

Gender: F Age: 38 Race: Elf

Norad citizen: Immigrant Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants

Siblings: 1 older sister (not inhabitant)

Tax Class: Merchant

_'She manages the restaurant, so she qualifies as the owner even though Porcoline owns the building. The tax class is correct.'_

Dragon Knight Forte Greenwind

Gender: F Age: 25 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Dragon Knight Kevion and Lady Estelle Greenwind

Siblings: Esquire Kiel Greenwind (younger brother)

Nobility: Dragon Knight (thirteenth generation)

Tax Class: Noble, Knight

Vishnal Nielson

Gender: M Age: 23 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: not inhabitants

Siblings: 5 younger brothers, 4 younger sisters, not inhabitants

Tax Class: Apprentice

_'Huh. I had heard there was a family somewhere in Norad with ten children but no particular traits for long life like earthmates, which I didn't believe at the time. Looks like that was true.'_

Doug Geisel

Gender: M Age: 23 Race: Dwarf

Norad citizen: ??? Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: _There's no information in last year's registry about his family, though I now know that they're all deceased save for Sven who doesn't get listed here as his cousin._

Tax Class: Worker

_'I had to check since that area has been pulled back and forth between Sechs and Norad for centuries. At the time he was born, Medritarc was considered Norad territory, so he does count as being born a Norad citizen. The family information is for the census data and they will let one or two incomplete data sets pass even for a town as small as ours. But it would look good if you could get that information from him, even just on numbers.'_

Clorica Westerly

Gender: F Age: 21 Race: Human

Norad Citizen: native Selphia citizen: native

Parents: Jim and Opal Westerly (emigrants)

Siblings: 2 older brothers, 1 older sister (emigrants)

Tax Class: Apprentice

Prince Arthur Lest Norad

Gender: M Age: 20 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Immigrant

Parents: King Gregory and Queen Saria Norad (not inhabitants)

Siblings: 2 older brothers, 1 older sister (not inhabitants)

Nobility: Royalty (thirteenth generation)

Tax class: Merchant

' _Technically I can put myself as tax exempt too, but I prefer this as more accurate to what I do.'_

Esquire Kiel Greenwind

Gender: M Age: 20 Race: Human

Norad citizen: Native Selphia citizen: Native

Parents: Dragon Knight Kevion and Lady Estelle Greenwind

Siblings: Dragon Knight Forte Greenwind (older sister)

Nobility: Squire _how does that work?_

Tax Class: Craftsman

_'Kiel is the son of a high-ranking knight, so he has a birth noble title of squire even though he was never given a squire's training. Any child of such a knight, male or female, is given this title. But it's a token of heredity, not worth much even among the conservatives of nobility. A squire doesn't even get consideration as nobility in tax calculations.'_

Sven Geisel

Gender: M Age: 18 Race: Dwarf/Human

Norad citizen: ??? Selphia citizen: ???

Parents: N/A

Special Note: political refugee

_'It doesn't matter when he's classed as a refugee, but Telliarc was under Sechs control when Sven was born, so he would be considered a Sechs citizen. Because of the refugee status, we can't include him on the final town registry until an official treaty on this current state of conflict between Selphia and Sechs has been made, two years pass from that point, and he has broken no laws. He's kind of like Pico right now in that we can list him for local completion, but his name should not be on the official form.'_


	28. Nightmare Catfish

Spring 35

“Lest!”

There was a brief feeling of irritation at the call. Lest was at work on his farm, working on the carrots and onions. He was training a few to grow extra large crops while letting the rest grow normal ones. Growing an oversized crop was a show of skill, but one that could generate talk about the region. And the more people talked, the more they might be interested in coming to see Selphia for themselves. The best outcome would be those visitors deciding to stay.

Cutting off the irritation, he looked up to see Margaret standing in the central farm, trying to figure out where he was. “Over here!” he called back. “What is it?”

She hurried over, concern and fear becoming clear as she did. “There's something really bad going on at the inn! Something felt off, so I went inside and there was a pair of orcs in the lobby. I've dealt with them before, so I defeated them only for a third to pop in. Then I went looking for the gate and it was the most bizarre one I've ever seen. It was all back and white, sitting in Xiao's room with her trapped underneath it. And I couldn't touch the gate at all or pull her out from under it. I didn't see Forte when I ran out, so I came to find you knowing that you were usually here at this time.”

Xiao... she had said that she thought she was having Ambrosia's nightmares after agreeing to be her friend. And the description sounded like what the hell gate in the water ruins had been like. Was that the one connected to Amber? Wanting to check it out before getting her, he nodded and came over. “All right, I'll get my gear and check it out. You can either find Forte or come help there.”

“I'll look for her first,” Margaret said, then sprinted out of the farm. He hurried back into his room.

When he got into his room, Clorica was there putting away clean laundry. “Oh?” she asked. “You're back in early.”

“There's a problem with monsters at the inn,” he said, grabbing his cloak from the wardrobe she had open.

Her eyes widened. “Ah. Let me join you then.”

“Can you fight?” he asked.

Clorica nodded. “Of course, we have to be ready to defend our master or town.” She left the room, but met him out back with a heavy looking spear. It didn't seem like an appropriate weapon to bring to an indoors battle, but there wasn't time to question that.

As Margaret had said, there were orcs in the lobby. Once they were defeated, Lest had Clorica help him check the baths in case someone, monster or otherwise, was in there. Both were empty, so they headed up the central staircase where the guest rooms were. Spiders and very large black ants were there, attacking them on sight. In spite of the danger and noise, all of the guests were sound asleep. Just not peacefully.

“They're all having nightmares,” Clorica said. “I saw something terrible when my eyes slipped shut a moment. Lots of dead fairies.”

“They might not wake up until the gate is gone,” Lest said. “We're lucky you didn't get trapped in a nightmare just then.”

She shrugged. “Guess I spend enough time going back and forth over that line that I can resist better.”

There was a door shutting downstairs that brought them back to the lobby. Margaret was there, looking tired. “Sorry, I... couldn't find her. She's usually on patrol already.”

“That's weird, but we'll figure that out later,” Lest said. “We checked on the baths and guest rooms just in case; everyone's asleep. Let's go to the gate. Clorica, would you mind going back up to the guest rooms in case more monsters port in there?”

“I'll do so,” she said, heading back up the stairs. Margaret went with Lest to Xiao's room.

Behind the staff door, they ran into a larger than normal orc. Margaret only had her harp, but she used it to put a strengthening spell on Lest. Knowing it wouldn't last long, he gathered that energy to punch the orc into the wall and send it back. “Whoops, I don't know what went wrong with that spell setting,” Margaret said.

“That kind of spell can't last long on me,” he explained, opening the door that he sensed gate runes behind. It was partly open already.

As she had said, there was a black and white speckled gate in the room. Xiao had fallen out of bed, a light blanket still wrapped around her and the gate right above her. All of the runes within the gate were the corrupted ones, giving a sense of dread when he looked into it. A sparkle tumbled out of it, manifesting into a large black ant between them and the gate. But a fire spell quickly dispatched it; the monster had not come from deep within.

“Never seen a gate like this one before,” Margaret said, with some natural anxiety in response to the rune corruption.

“That's a hell gate,” Lest said going over to it. The Harvest Goddess had said he'd need to enter the others; it might be the only way to completely break it. For now, he could at least break the connection to Xiao. “I do need to deal with it, but I'm not sure the one it's really connected to is ready to face it. These monsters are nothing, there's some real horrors inside.”

He was able to find and break the connection to Xiao quickly. Perhaps it had been a small rune he'd missed when curing her of the Ambrosia dreams; perhaps that incident had been enough to allow the gate to appear near her when Amber was freed. The gate tried to connect to Margaret, but Lest didn't give it a chance to do so. As Xiao woke up startled, he was able to destroy the gate with a precise fireball. But not before it summoned one last monster: a giant ghostly catfish that looked big enough to swallow a young child whole. It held itself as if the air and walls were water, shooting beams of scalding water at them.

“Yeeek!” Xiao grabbed a battle axe (that she was keeping under her bed for some reason) and swiped at the catfish monster while trying to kick the blanket off her. “Still dreaming of it?”

“No, you're awake now,” Lest said, moving aside so he could use a wind blade spell to attack the catfish.

“At least we broke the gate,” Margaret said, quickly playing a spell that helped Xiao get her bearings. “If we beat this, you might not have any more nightmares.”

“All right, I do my best,” Xiao said. Although a bedroom wasn't the easiest place for three people and a giant catfish to battle.

Four, once Clorica showed up in the doorway and hurled her spear at it. With sparks of light energy, the spear pinned the catfish to the wall and set it flailing. A lamp and several books got knocked onto the ground. “It was quiet and I had a feeling you needed me,” she said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Lest said as he hit the catfish with paralysis. That and the spear allowed Xiao to lop off its head with her axe. It promptly dissolved in going back to the forest, leaving behind a regular sized catfish that fell on the dresser and flopped itself onto the floor. “You okay, Xiao?”

“Um, yes, it seems I'm fine,” she said, setting the head of the axe on the floor. “Finally beat it for real. In the dreams, it would always reform instead of returning.”

“You were great,” Margaret said, going over to hug her. “I don't know many people who could wake up from a nightmare and immediately jump into battle.”

“Ah, there was no choice,” she said, blushing. “Thank you for your help. I hope we did not disturb Momma or the guests in this confrontation.”

“We should check on them since they were in nightmares too,” Clorica said, coming into the room to retrieve her spear from the wall. Then she picked up the catfish and examined it.

“They're waking up now, I can tell,” Lest said. “Although they're unsettled too.”

“I think I should go prepare the baths early and put in a relaxing lavender salt,” Xiao said.

“Xiao? Are you okay?” Lin Fa came to the doorway, looking half asleep. But on seeing all of them there, she came alert quickly.

“I'm fine, what about you?” Xiao went over to her. “There was a nightmare catfish.”

“It came from what Lest called a hell gate,” Margaret said.

He nodded. “Yeah, the gate and nightmares shouldn't return to her, but we're going to need to be careful of it in spite of that.”

“I'm fine, but I don't remember a slumber party being planned,” Lin Fa said, raising an eyebrow. “Especially not with a guy over.”

“What, no, not that!” Xiao said, getting embarrassed and noticing that she was still in her pajamas.

“That's not it,” Lest said. “This gate that causes nightmares showed up near Xiao, probably late last night. We all came in to take care of it.”

Lin Fa accepted that. “I see. That explains what I woke up to.” She put a hand to her cheek. “The guests are sure to be unhappy. I'd better go make something nice and comforting for breakfast to try soothing everybody. Or put lavender salts in the baths.” She headed off to take care of that.

“We should get to work,” Xiao said.

Having thought over something, Margaret smiled. “You'll be fine. And hey, since she mentioned it, how about we get the other girls in town and have a slumber party over at my house tonight? That way you'll have cheerful company before getting some sleep.”

Xiao smiled. “Yes, that sounds fun.”

“Yeah, I'll try not to fall asleep too early this time,” Clorica said happily, still holding onto the catfish. “I'll make something tasty with this fellow. May as well take some measure of vengeance through dinner.” Xiao laughed, cheered up greatly by the suggestions.

“Great, then I'll spend the day getting things ready,” Margaret said. “But you're not invited Lest.”

“Fine by me,” Lest said, smiling. “As long as you make sure Xiao's well.”

They ended up staying long enough to help out at the inn, making sure the guests weren't too troubled and preparing a comforting breakfast and bath. Clorica and Lest then went back to the royal farms to get back to their normal work. “Well that was an exciting start to the day,” Clorica said while refreshing the seal spell she'd put on the fish; it wouldn't last well out of the water, but she'd want to keep it alive until it was time to cook it for the party. “But maybe too exciting.”

“I wouldn't want that kind of thing to happen again,” Lest said, noticing that both Volkanon and Vishnal were standing in the farm just outside of the entrance to the servant's wing.

The reason why became clear when Volkanon gave them a stern glare from across the farm. “What are you two doing sneaking back from the inn at this time of day?” he asked.

Clorica immediately stopped and turned pale. “Ah, it-it was nothing of the sort!” she said in a panic.

Both of them were jumping to conclusions, making Lest sigh. “There was an emergency at the inn with a gate that caused nightmares,” he said. “She happened to catch me getting my gear, so joined me to dispatch it before there was too much of disruption in town. The catfish proves it.”

“Oh, well I apologize for misunderstanding,” Volkanon said, embarrassed now. “It was just strange to not have you out in the field and then she wasn't around either.”

“We got a message that Sven would be meeting with Lady Ventuswill at nine hundred hours today,” Vishnal said, shifting the subject so this wasn't as awkward. “She wanted you and Arthur there when they spoke; he's already been made aware of this.”

Lest nodded. “All right, then I'd better get ready for that.”

Clorica went off with Volkanon to get back to their normal work while Vishnal followed Lest in case he was needed. “What is this meeting about, if it's okay for me to ask?' Vishnal asked. “Ventuswill seemed concerned about it. I won't say anything if you want; we're bound by honor to keep your secrets.”

Knowing that he would keep such honor, Lest told him once they were in his room. “Sven's from the Sechs Empire and he's asked me for sanctuary from them, offering his service in return. They put him through hell, pretty much, so I feel like I can trust him if we just accept him wholeheartedly. He's already told us some important things about them, although he wasn't in a position to know much.”

“I see. I'll go with your word.” Vishnal nodded when Lest glanced back at him. “You really have a knack for knowing people, so if you say you can trust someone, I feel like I can trust them too.”

“Mmhmm,” Lest said, then felt like this was a good time to be honest about something. “It's more than a knack, I have a deep empathy for what people around me feel because my innate element is love. You remember our cooking exam, when you said you felt oddly calm and focused? That was because I was influencing you on a runic level to stay calm.”

His eyes widened. “Oh, really? You can do that?”

“I can't make people do things,” Lest said. “But I can keep others calm to some degree, as long as they're not scared or angry when I start.” He put his cloak away, then added, “Although there is a bad side to it. When people are scared, lonely, sad, or angry near me, I get really uneasy and feel some of what they feel. The worst of it is when someone is filled with hate, direct at me for irrational reasons. I fainted and got really sick once because of that.”

“That does sound bad,” Vishnal said. “At least this is a good town so nobody would hate you right now.”

Hearing that made his stomach tighten. “Actually, there was someone who hated me here. I don't want to say who it is, even to you. I can tell there's a reason behind it, I just don't know what that reason is. But it managed to resolve itself recently, so being around them isn't as bad.”

“Well if you do need help, I'll do my best to do something discretely,” Vishnal said, although he seemed to recognize what he was talking about.

“Thanks, I might do that if leaving an issue alone isn't enough.” He shrugged, then headed out into the hall to check something in his office. “And being love aligned also has a tendency to set off crushes in people I use strong magic on. That gets tiring to deal with, having to remain calm and try to dissuade the person from acting on false feelings immediately. With what's been going on, it's happened a lot over this season. I think the only eligible girls in town that haven't been magically induced to love me have been Clorica and Forte, and then there was that mistaken incident just now with Clorica...”

Vishnal chuckled, but then Forte came into the office from the parlor as they were coming in from the hall. This might have been unremarkable save for timing, except that she was dressed differently today. No armor, just a simple long green dress with clover decorations stitched on. And her runes were in a strange state, leading her to beam and hug Lest promptly. “Good morning, prince! Isn't it a wonderful day?”

“Strike that, just Clorica now,” Lest said, making Vishnal have a tough time staying stoic. Then he tried to gently pry Forte off him. “It's been hectic so far on my part. Is something special going on? I've never seen you dressed up like this before.”

“No reason, I just feel wonderful today,” Forte said in a sing-song kind of voice that was entirely unlike her normal personality. “Kiel made me some pretty perfume last night and when I tried it on, I just felt like taking it easy and enjoying the wonderful spring weather. Oh, and this would be a romantic time to go see all the spring flowers.” She giggled in a girlish way.

In the meantime, Lest checked on Forte's runes and confirmed what she said. She had a perfume on today that was influencing her to be really giddy. But more importantly, there was an element of love to this perfume which could complicate things further. “It could be. Listen, Forte, I need to ask you something very important.”

“What is it?” she asked, anticipating something with the flowers.

“Who was the first man not related to you and not married to see you since you put on the perfume?” he asked instead.

“Oh, that might have,” she tilted her head, thinking. “I tried a dab of it on my neck after the party last night, so... it must have been Arthur, as he was walking around town doing some survey work with a clipboard. We talked for a bit, nothing much.”

Lest nodded. “Vishnal, go check on Arthur. If he's acting strangely, especially in concern to Forte, please bring him over to the clinic so we can sort things out. If it's not him, it has to be another man fitting my conditions.”

“Right away,” he said, leaving to check Porcoline's home first.

“Is something the matter with Arthur?” Forte asked, puzzled.

“There might be,” Lest said. There was a twinge in his mind reminding him that he had left off his farm chores abruptly, but this needed to be handled now. “And there’s been nightmares going around, so I want to take you to the clinic just to make sure we’re all clear.”

“Okay, sounds like a good idea,” she said.

When he got to the clinic with Forte, Jones was in the dining area talking with Sven. The doctor immediately did a double-take on seeing Forte without armor. “Ah, is something the matter?” he asked.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard yet, but there was a rash of nightmares at the inn this past night,” Lest said. “I’d like you to check over Forte, because there also seems to have been an incident with one of Kiel’s potions.”

“I don’t think he’d make a potion to cause nightmares,” Forte said. “He’s such a sweet boy, I just wish I could do housework better to help him out.”

“Would you come in back?” Dolce said, coming in from upstairs and picking up on something not being right.

“Okay, but I’m pretty sure everything’s going to be just fine.” She giggled. “I mean, just wonderful today.”

“What kind of potion are we dealing with?” Jones asked him before going back to check her.

“I haven’t heard from Kiel himself, but it seems to be a love potion in a perfume that’s influencing her to be really girly,” Lest said. “I sent Vishnal out to find who might have seen her first, since it had a lure to the first man who saw her.”

“Oh dear, this is going to be a headache,” Jones said, shaking his head. “At least it’s not one that’s made every young man fall for her. And what about the nightmares?”

“We already took care of it, but there was a hell gate causing nightmares at the inn. Nobody got hurt as far as I remember; it was an excuse to get her over here.”

“Good. As it’s a perfume, I can guess that the best thing is to wash it off and wait for the effect to fade off both of them. We just need to keep the affected couple occupied and watched so as to avoid any incidents. I’ll go make sure of that.” He headed back to check on Forte.

Since he was there, Lest went over to sit with Sven. “Sorry, this might delay when you and I can speak to Ventuswill.”

“It’s fine,” Sven said quietly. “Been a long morning?”

He nodded. “Very.”

When Jones came back, he confirmed that it was something they just had to wait out and carefully watch the affected couple. But they needed to confront Kiel about this as it could have led to a more serious situation than Forte simply wandering around and acting strangely. Sven actually came up with something that, while he got embarrassed to suggest it, seemed like it might work to get the point across to Kiel. They just needed to get a couple others in on the plan.

Not long after, Vishnal came in with Arthur, the latter looking unusually flustered with concern. “Where is Forte?” he demanded to know on seeing them.

Jones got up quickly to intercede him from going in back just yet. “We’re doing a few little things to make sure she’s okay,” he said, holding a hand up to Arthur. “But we really should leave this to the ladies right now.”

“All right, I heard something had gone on at the inn but hadn’t heard that she’d been involved,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You don’t seem quite yourself either,” Jones said. “Have you been getting enough sleep?”

“Mostly,” Arthur said, a little embarrassed. “But, well, I saw Forte last night and something just… I think I’m in love…”

While the doctor talked to Arthur, Lest got up and pulled Vishnal aside to give him a message. “You sure about this?” the butler asked quietly. Kiel was one of his friends, so he didn't like doing something to trouble him.

“Forte could’ve ended up in a bad situation, so we want to make sure that Kiel is more careful with this kind of thing in the future,” Lest whispered back. “Let Ventuswill know and then get Kiel over there.”

“Okay, I wouldn’t want bad things to happen to either of them,” he said, then slipped out the front door while most of the others in the room were distracted.

Mostly because Dolce and Nancy had brought Forte into the front room. “She’ll be fine now, just needs some time to recover,” Nancy said.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Arthur said, bowing his head.

“Arthur?” Forte asked, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“I came right away once I heard you’d been brought here,” he said, going over to her and momentarily forgetting anybody else was there. “Forte, I’m not sure how to say this, but when I saw you last night, you were just, absolutely dazzling like a divine muse come to give me inspiration. I couldn’t stop thinking about you but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up since we hadn’t spoken much together, but, well, I love you.”

She immediately turned love struck for him, her eyes shining. “Arthur, I had no idea, that you’d ever admire me like that.”

“Well now that I’ve said it I’m never going to deny it,” he claimed, caught up in the love potion’s binds. “I don’t know how you’ve escaped my notice for so long; it feels like we’ve been destined to be together for all of our lives.”

“I think this is really going to work,” Sven said, surprised even though he’d been the one to think of it.

“I just hope they understand later on why we’re doing this,” Lest said. Then he spoke a little louder, “Well, we have an appointment with Ventuswill. Are you ready to head over?”

“As ready as I can be,” Sven said, worried.

“Why don’t you two head over to the castle as well?” Jones suggested. “As much as we enjoy your company, we need to keep the clinic from being crowded.”

“Sure, anywhere’s fine as long as I’m with her,” Arthur said, smiling in an odd giddiness.

“Yes, that’s what I was just thinking,” Forte said, just as silly as he was.

Not long after the four of them left, Lest caught sight of Dolce leaving the clinic to follow after them. Jones must have asked her to come help out, since they definitely did not want Arthur and Forte alone and together right now. The two lovestruck fools talked with each other, their affections building off each other at an alarming rate. Thankfully, this was temporary and they would come to their senses in a few hours.

When they got to Ventuswill’s room, Volkanon was waiting with her. The master butler gave Lest a knowing nod; he must have been in on this too. “Well now, what’s with the crowd at this time of day?” Ventuswill asked in her regal voice.

“There’s been some complications,” Lest started to say.

Then Forte had to jump in by grabbing Arthur’s hand and saying, “We want to get married!”

“Y-yes, that’s why we’re here,” Arthur said.

“Hmm.” Although she looked serious, Lest could tell that she was delighted even if this was a complete mix-up that would not end with a wedding. “Are you being serious in this?”

“Yes,” they both said.

“And how long have you two been in love?” she asked.

“Since this morning,” Arthur admitted.

“Not that long ago,” Forte said, a little more careless. “But it’s fine because we realized we’re absolutely perfect for each other and we don’t ever want to be apart again.”

“Right, it’s never been like this with anyone else,” Arthur said.

“I’m not sure that such a rush is a good idea,” Ventuswill said. “After all, you must have done no proper courting to have come to this plan so quickly. Not even challenging her brother to prove that you’re worthy to marry his sister.”

“Do you think we should do that old-fashioned custom?” Arthur asked.

“He might be concerned about giving me away like this,” Forte said, really worried that Kiel might deny the marriage. “Arthur, I love you, but I couldn’t hurt my brother.”

“I don’t want to hurt your family either,” he said. “But if it means getting to be your spouse, I’d do anything to prove my worth.”

“Hello?” Kiel came in through the front door, followed by Clorica. “What’s going on?”

“Kiel, I challenge you to a duel so I may prove my worth to be your sister’s wife!” Arthur said promptly, facing him in determination.


	29. Love Potion

Spring 35

Kiel stopped in his tracks, staring at them in disbelief. There was Arthur and Forte standing close, she turning too so she could hold his hand again. Ventuswill was watching in hidden amusement with Volkanon, while Lest stayed near Sven (who was curious but shy about all the strangers to him). Although he kept a stern look, Lest felt bad for Kiel. “Huh?”

“He means exactly what he said,” Ventuswill said. “These two are in love and want to be married, but we’re concerned about how quickly this came together. So he must prove his worth to you for me to agree to marry them.”

“Uh, I didn’t know…” Kiel said, still confused.

However, Ventuswill cut him off. “Although, it seems a clumsy method for you both to have a duel when neither of you are decently capable of fighting.”

“You could have a duel of knowledge, which both of them are extremely capable of,” Lest suggested.

“That’s a splendid idea,” Ventuswill said. “We shall arrange it for later today so we have some time to gather questions. Do you agree to this?”

“Yes, that’s fine by me,” Arthur said, relieved and now confident in his challenge to Kiel.

“I’m not sure I understand, but if that’s what you want sis,” Kiel said. His emotions were nearly shut down in shock, so he probably wasn't sure what else to say.

“Thank you Kiel!” Forte said in delight. “It means so much to me.”

“Well this is an unusual day,” Volkanon said. “I’ll send off my students to gather questions through town to challenge these two with. In the meantime, Forte, Arthur, why don’t you two join me for some tea and maybe a little game?”

“Thank you, Volkanon, that sounds great,” Arthur said.

“Certainly,” Forte said, delighted as long as she got to be with Arthur. Dolce quietly followed after them, planning on asking to join them as an extra set of eyes (and Pico).

“Are they seriously thinking about getting married?” Kiel asked, unsure of how he should feel. “It seems so sudden.”

“It is far too sudden,” Lest said. “Especially with her showing up without armor today.”

“I thought she just wanted a change of pace,” Kiel said.

“You gave her something the night before, didn’t you Kiel?” Ventuswill asked, some sharpness in her words.

“Well, yes,” he said. “She wanted to try being more feminine for a while, so I made some perfume for her to try.”

“What kind of perfume did you give her?” Ventuswill asked.

“It was called Girliness and I didn’t think it’d be much trouble. Or that much of an influence, really.”

“I don’t know if it’s the recipe or a slip-up, but the perfume is working like a love potion,” Lest told him. “Done in such a way that the first unmarried and unrelated man who saw her after she tried it on would fall madly in love with her. It has influenced her to be more feminine, but this is far too drastic to be healthy.”

“I think you’re lucky that it was Arthur and not someone more dangerous,” Ventuswill said. “Or someone that would have convinced her to run off in secret. It will wear off in a few hours, but we need to keep those two watched or they might do something they’ll regret later on.”

“I didn’t think the perfume was supposed to do that,” Kiel said, turning pink on embarrassment. “And things seemed fine with it.”

“What kind of check did you perform on it?” Lest asked.

“A check on color, viscosity, and aroma, although the last had been described vaguely,” he said.

“Not a rune check?” Lest asked. “That would have told you that it had an altered quality.” When Kiel rubbed his head at that, he added, “Do you know how to check an item's runes?”

“No, all my magic was self-taught and I couldn't find a clear reference on that,” he admitted.

“You should really invest time in learning to perform a rune check,” Ventuswill said. “Lest can do so but I doubt he can explain it well to someone who can’t do it naturally like he can. You're best off asking Leon or a more modern magic teacher. We don't want you to continue with your alchemy until you have this skill and can prevent such mishaps as what happened just now.”

“Sorry Kiel, but this was a relatively benign mistake and far worse things could happen,” Lest said.

“All right, I'll get that done soon,” Kiel said. It hurt him to hear all this, but that only made him more determined to prevent it from happening again “I'm sorry.”

Ventuswill nodded. “Good.”

“How long are they going to be like that?” he asked.

“Another few hours, which is why we have Volkanon, Dolce, and Pico staying with them,” Ventuswill said. “But you are going through this duel. We're hoping to time it right so that the affliction wears off afterwards.”

“All right, I'll go talk to Leon today,” Kiel said, then bowed. “Thanks for looking after her.”

“She'll be fine with Volkanon,” Lest said, waving to him as he left.

“I hope that's the last of this morning's unexpected business,” Ventuswill said, then roared. Sven tensed, but her call was to close off all the doorways into the room with thick screens, giving them privacy. Once it was, she smiled. “Although I have to admit, it's also an unexpected entertainment. It could have been a heartbreaking incident, but we simply have to hold this meeting without Arthur and hope the peace sustains itself today. Now then, Sven, as we have closed off my room, you're allowed to speak freely. I swear on my honor that neither Lest nor I will speak of what goes on during our talk unless you speak of it first. Anything you'd like to say at first?”

After seeing Lest nod to Ventuswill's promise, Sven eased some of his worries. “Thank you, but, I was wondering, requiring the duel and learning a new skill is all you're going to ask of him after what happened?”

Ventuswill nodded. “There's no need for anything further. Kiel is an honest and caring man, so knowing that he could have put his sister in serious danger is punishment and incentive enough for him to take more caution in the future. Plus it seems this was a simple mistake in the alchemy process, maybe even so small as he thought he could replace an ingredient. I sense no intent to harm in him.” She shifted her wings closer to her body. “Now, I understand that you have asked for sanctuary in our town. Would you explain your story?”

“Your benevolence to Kiel convinces me that I'm fine in being honest,” Sven said, sincerely impressed in it. Then he told them about how he was kidnapped from Medritarc and placed inside the Executioner armor to act as a weapon of war even though he was only thirteen when the dwarven towns were destroyed. When he got to how he ended up in Yokmir Forest, he said, “Lest somehow knew my mind wasn't the same as the Executioner’s and he's been treating me like his other subjects, even finding someone willing and eager to help remake the armor in a form I can control rather than be controlled by. I was desperate when I first asked for Selphia's protection, but now I really mean what I said. I'd be proud to serve Selphia and Prince Lest instead. Being here, I'm starting to have hope for a good future again, something I have no chance for back in Sechs. I'll give you no reason to doubt or regret taking me in.”

Ventuswill looked at him for a moment, then smiled and actually dropped her usual regal air she had when dealing with anyone other than Lest and the guardians. “It makes me really happy to know that someone like you feels that way after only being here for a few hours.”

It surprised Sven, but he smiled back in response. “It is a wonderful place.”

“Very well, we accept your offer,” she said. “We will give you a few days to settle in and learn about the town some more, then you'll be trained to be a knight of Selphia.”

He was caught speechless for a second. “I, I'm not sure what makes me worthy of such a title.”

“If you wish to protect Prince Lest, you'll need it,” Ventuswill said. “Also a lot of luck and patience since he keeps jumping right into danger in order to help others, even you. Now I would send you out on short patrols with your superior in my dragon knight, but that's Forte and she's not going to be in her right mind for much of today. Since she's not available, go ahead and patrol the town for her. Dispatch any monsters or gates that show up within the city walls and down on the air field. If you run into a dispute or something you're not certain of, please bring the issue to me, Lest, or my butler Volkanon to settle. And since you're going to be a knight, a house will be provided to you without charge; we can arrange that this evening with Lest and Volkanon. Do you agree to this?”

Sven bowed. “Yes, my lady. Erm, that is appropriate?”

She nodded. “Yes, that's fine.”

“Then I'll head on out, although I think I'll be staying with Doug and Blossom at first as they invited me to share their home. Thank you so much, both of you.”

“Glad to have you around,” Lest said, holding out his hand to keep Sven back a moment. “But I was just wondering, what's the situation in the empire like right now? If you were there recently.”

He thought on that for a moment. “I wasn't in a position to see a lot of everyday life. But what I did see is that there's a lot of distrust and fear in the people. There were rumors of rebels in the empire to where even a single accusation would end up with someone imprisoned. The most recent time I was there was this past winter. People were really suffering in the towns I saw, with only the military households having heat or maintenance. I'm no expert, but I think it's because of the emperor. When I saw him then, he was paranoid of his soldiers and spoke of his own people with contempt. But he really wanted those rune spheres, even ordering the Executioner to kill any earthmate it ran across. He apparently had several schemes to keep you from getting here, which obviously failed.”

“That's really rotten that he'd leave his own people out in the cold like that,” Lest said.

“Right, someone like that doesn't deserve to be a leader,” Venti said. “If he wants the rune spheres, he's out of luck. They're immovable now that they're fused into the springs. The one at the water spring is most integrated, so once the others are back in place, they have no chance to get them.”

“That's good to know, but he's desperate enough that he'll still try to fight,” Sven said.

“We've been preparing for that,” Lest said. Then he looked up to Ventuswill. “I'll let him out and inform Volkanon of his new status, but could we keep up the screens for a little bit?”

“All right,” she said, so Lest brought Sven into the butler's area.

Volkanon was with Dolce, Arthur, and Forte in his office; they had set up a mahjong game in order to waste a few hours while they waited on the enchantment to fade. But once Lest waved to him, the butler excused himself to come out into the hall. “Sven, this is Volkanon, Lady Ventuswill's butler and master to the two others serving here,” Lest said. “Volkanon, this would be Sven. He's a,” he had to remember the term Jones used, “diplomatic refugee we're taking in, also going to be a knight in training once Forte's back at work.”

Volkanon smiled and shook Sven's hand (to the latter's surprise). “Excellent, welcome to Selphia, Sven! As a fellow servant of the divine dragon, feel free to ask me for any assistance you need in settling in.”

“Thank you, sir,” Sven said, trying not to stammer. “I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment, but I hope to become worthy of your welcome.”

“Do you need anything right now?” Lest asked of both of them. “I had something more I wanted to discuss with Ventuswill privately.”

“We're fine, they shouldn't be any trouble,” Volkanon said.

“Not right now,” Sven said.

“Good, then I hope it stays calm,” Lest said, then headed back into Venti's room, shutting the screen behind him.

“It's wonderful when things work out so nicely,” Venti said, her runes humming in delight. “I can't ever resist taking in a troubled soul and doing whatever I can to help them find happiness.”

“It could be a while before he can find peace, but I'm glad to give him a secure place to do so,” Lest said.

She nodded. “Then what's on your mind? You seem to have had a busy morning.”

“No kidding,” he said. “It's about something he said, his town of Medritarc. Doug's also from that town.”

“Is he?” Venti asked, becoming concerned.

“He mentioned it to me once when we were talking about the marketplace,” Lest told her. “He didn't say it had been destroyed at the time, but he also mentioned the dwarven town they traded with. Plus, he and Sven are cousins. They might be lucky to be alive right now.”

Venti rubbed her nose with her wingtip. “I wonder if that explains the feelings he hides. Certainly the sorrow, but I can't be sure on the hate. Are you doing okay around Doug? I noticed when his feelings took another focus on you.”

“It's not that bad because I can tell he does have a reason behind it,” lest said. “Now that Sven's here, he's been rethinking things and I hardly felt it yesterday when he apologized to me.”

“That's good, but do you think he could be a danger to the town? He's not spoken of his hometown being destroyed and there's other suspicious factors about him.”

She was testing him with these questions. Lest considered it before replying. “I'm not sure. There's a good chance he could be one. Yet, I can't dismiss what I've noticed of him around Blossom. They're not relatives, yet he cares deeply about her like one in spite of barely knowing her a year. He'll work hard without question if it's something for her. That tells me that he has a good heart. I would like to give Doug a chance just as much as Sven. However, I'm not really the one who can talk to him about how he feels and what he may plan to do. I wouldn't want to ask Blossom because they both need each other and I'd hate to break that trust.”

“Right, we shouldn't involve her in these discussions,” Venti said.

“I've seen him hanging out with Kiel and Vishnal, though,” Lest said. “But Kiel is so honest that I don't think he could handle the situation without being blunt and possibly driving Doug off. On the other hand, Vishnal's job requires discretion. He might be able to get Doug to confess more about his past and why he's so angry being here.”

“Hmm, it would be a tough thing on him,” Venti said. “Vishnal is still naive in some ways and this may cause a conflict in him on his duty to us as his masters and his duty to Doug as his friend.”

“What do you think we can do?” Lest asked.

“I told Vishnal that we're concerned about Doug some time ago, but not exactly what we're concerned about,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Let them talk things out. We'll want to keep an eye on them because it could get emotional.”

Lest laughed. “I had a feeling you were already on top of this.”

“Of course, if it concerns my town, it concerns me.” Then she turned to worry again. “But what Sven has said today, among other things I've heard on the wind, gives me great concerns about what the Sechs Empire means to do to us. Their movements are erratic and by his testimony, things may be getting bad enough within the empire that it's in danger of collapse. At this time, it may be only the power behind the emperor that keeps it intact. He may not be able to take the rune spheres now, but he may already have something almost as powerful.”

“Really?” Lest asked, worried about this. “What?”

“Shards of rune spheres created by your family as they tried to perfect the process,” Venti said. “I have known of their existence all along. Although before you came, I had a hard time caring about what pieces were around and what might be done with them. Have Dolce and Dylas mentioned a fountain that used to be here to you?”

He nodded. “Yes, they both said there was one in the town plaza.”

She bowed her head. “At one time, it was called the Ivy Spill because it was built around a sculpture of ivy. But starting with Adaline, the earthmate who made Dolce a guardian, your family was trying to solve various problems by casting etherlink on minerals. Mostly various kinds of crystals, but a few gemstones as well. There were many failures and the pieces needed to be placed somewhere they couldn't be taken. While some were kept for study, other pieces were infused with the fountain until it began to shine with power. After this, it was known as the Shining Fountain.

“When it came to Dylas' original time, there was the fountain and at least four large but broken spheres that had been produced out of the research. An earthquake changed the shape of this cliff and badly damaged the north part of town. Since I couldn't move far or I'd get ill, we wrote to the dwarves of Telliarc to ask if they could assist in saving the cliff and the town. By the time they were done, Dylas was already a guardian. I didn't want anything reminding me of your family around, so I gave the dwarves the broken spheres and the fountain as payment for their work. As they accepted it without argument, it seemed like there would be no trouble.”

“So they had the large pieces and the fountain in Telliarc, which the Sechs entirely destroyed,” Lest said.

“The fountain was placed in their trading post at Medritarc, but that is correct,” Venti said. “I wasn't paying attention then and even if I was, it's very hard for me to cast my senses out that far. But that was part of Sven's story too, remember?”

Lest nodded. “Right, he'd been drinking from the fountain as a child and that gave the emperor some proof that led him to take things to war. It would seem reasonable that it was proof of the rune sphere fragments being in the fountain there. Maybe even being proof of the large ones with the dwarves of Telliarc? How powerful were the broken ones?”

“I'm sorry, I can't remember that,” she said. “I couldn't stay interested in their research when I kept losing my friends; you'd have better luck asking Frey that.”

“Sorry, I'll see what she says,” Lest said, feeling it'd be better to switch subjects. “So, do you want to watch the quizzing duel yourself?”

Venti chuckled, relived they didn't have to keep talking about rune spheres. “I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

Once the meeting about Sven was over, Lest had a couple hours to get back to his farm work. It was good to get that out of his mind before this match. He and Volkanon then set up the dueling area in the town plaza. While they were placing a folding screen, Leon came over with a playful swish in his tail. “Who's Forte's girly twin sister?” he asked.

“Knock it off, it is Forte,” Lest teased him.

He chuckled as he stopped nearby. “Yeah, I know. Kiel practically begged me to teach him rune sensing because of it.”

As expected. “Did you agree to it?”

Leon shrugged. “How could I not? I don't think it'll be hard because he has a good grasp on what runes are, he just needs to learn the sense for them. I gave him some reading to start with but told him we wouldn't start right off because I've still got to chase you around the countryside until you confess your true feelings to me.”

“And you told him exactly that?” Lest asked with a raised eyebrow. Volkanon gave a soft sigh and tried to ignore it.

He put his fan to his face and grinned. “You should've seen the look on his face; I don't think he even had a concept of one man falling in love with another before I said it.”

Lest nodded. “You are aware that the whole town is going to hear about that now?”

“Worth it,” Leon said without missing a beat. “Although honestly, it hardly registers any more. You were being overly cautious in asking for the time you did. But hey, better that then not.”

“Right,” Lest said. Then that was Leon's infatuation clear; the runes matched what he said. “Did you get in some questions for this duel?”

“Of course. Mostly in Kiel's favor I believe, but I'm hoping for a close match. It's going to be fun watching both of them.”

When the time came for the quiz, most of the residents had come to the plaza out of curiosity. Volkanon brought Arthur and Forte out, leaving her with Lest during the match. Vishnal came up with Kiel from the west side of town, talking with him in encouragement. Taking charge of the scene, Lest held up a hand to get the participants' attentions. “All right, are we ready for our duel of the pencils?”

There were some laughs, but the two men answered seriously that they were ready.

Volkanon brought out a pair of clipboards with pencils attached and handed them over while Lest explained. “We were considering doing an oral match, but to keep this from being too much about who happens to answer first, we're going to give you a written match instead. The exams are similar and you will be given half an hour to complete as many questions as you can. However, you'll need to remain here in the plaza and not ask anyone else for answers, so it's all based on what's in your head. Understood?” When they both agreed, Lest checked his pocket watch. “Okay then... your thirty minutes starts... now!”

Actually, it wasn't all that interesting with the two of them absorbed in answering the questions on paper. Lest spent much of the time keeping an eye on Forte as she was still blissfully unaware that anything might be wrong. But close to the end of the duel, that faded away. She got a serious look to her eyes, then glanced at the dress she was wearing and her cheeks turned pink. After a moment of tense thought, she came closer to him. “Lest, could we talk?” she said quietly.

“Sure,” he said, getting up from his seat on the plaza and going back over to Ventuswill's archway.

“Are they really going to compete to see if I'll get married?” she asked in embarrassment.

“We wouldn't let it go through if you decide against it,” he said. “Especially since you haven't been yourself today.”

“I don't understand what I've been thinking all day,” she said, fidgeting with the sleeve of the dress. “There's this dress and Arthur, and I've been ignoring everything I should be doing. I was happy, but it's completely not like me. I mean, not being happy, just everything else.”

He nodded. “It's fine. We're sure it was an unintentional mistake, but Kiel gave you a love potion perfume yesterday. That's why you've been feeling and acting so strange today.”

“Seriously? I didn't think anything was weird about it, although I haven't used perfume much before. I just...” she looked aside, then shook her head. “Can we stop this silly duel then?”

“We want to make sure Kiel takes the consequences of this accident seriously,” Lest said. “He's already arranged to learn to identify runes which should prevent something like this from happening again.”

“What about Arthur?” Like with those Lest had influenced, Forte still had some lingering feelings for Arthur. The intensity of love wasn't easy to shake off even if it was shallow.

“You're clear of the effects now, so he should be clear minded before the end of the match,” Lest said, checking his watch to make sure. “Plus we did make the tests with a few different questions. When Arthur runs into the ones only he has, it should make him think and keep this from staying an issue. But I'd be careful that you didn't say anything that might hurt his feelings. It will be a sensitive subject for you both for a couple weeks. And sorry about all this.”

“I think I understand,” she said. “I still feel terrible that I completely blew off my job.”

“It worked out,” Lest said, pointing out Sven half watching the match from the town gate and half making sure there was no monsters just outside. “That fellow over there is Sven and you're going to be training him to be a knight for Selphia starting tomorrow. He's keeping an eye out for monsters today.”

“Isn't he the extra person you brought in from Yokmir Forest with Amber?” she asked. “Huh, another knight.” That made her worry, but Forte's runes were immediately defensive. Lest made note of it, but didn't ask about it further.

A few minutes later, Lest called the end of the match. Arthur had gotten clear of the perfume's influence and was conflicted. Thankfully, Porcoline came over and chatted with him. Leaving the chef to that task, Lest went over the tests with Volkanon and they quietly discussed how to handle it.

The scores made it fortunately easy. Those who had been watching or passing by came in closer to hear what was going on. It made the three participants embarrassed, but they seemed like they would take it well. “Since Arthur was the one to challenge Kiel, I'll read off Kiel's scores first,” Lest said. “You did well on the magic and cooking questions, but had trouble with the geography questions as well as the section asking for an explanation of the political structure of Norad. Although, you did name all the component regions of Norad correctly. All in all, you got 27 out of 30 standard questions correct, but only one of the bonus questions correct.”

“There were bonus questions?” Kiel asked.

“I didn't see one on Norad's political structure,” Arthur said.

Lest nodded. “Right, a handful of them were unique to who was taking the test. So given two extra points for the bonus question, you got a score of 29, making that the score Arthur needs to beat. So then, Arthur... you had pretty much the opposite situation where you weren't good on the magic questions but good on the geography and finances. And you got none of the bonus questions right. Understand?”

He nodded; all of his bonus questions had been about Forte. “Right, I see.”

“However, you got all but one of the standard questions correct,” Lest said. “The one wrong one being that you missed dark and love as being major elements in magic. Thus you also have a score of 29, leaving us with a tie for this duel. How would the three of you like to settle this?”

Arthur accepted that and was about to weigh in when Kiel spoke up first. “Hey, I have to say to both of you first, I'm really sorry that this happened to you. I know where I slipped up in the process now to end up with a love potion and I really shouldn't have done that, much less let someone else use it. I only wanted to help out. But as it is, whatever you two want in this, I'll be okay with it. It should be up to you.”

“Um, it's okay Kiel,” Forte said. “It's kind of embarrassing right now, but I'm sure we'll all look back on this and laugh later on.”

“I suppose so,” Arthur said. “As long as you didn't mean any harm and it was an accident, I understand. I hope it's no trouble, but I have to decline this. I really can't accept someone's love if it was artificially induced in the first place. Nothing wrong with you, Forte, but we couldn't think clearly enough to realize something wasn't right with this.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Forte said. “It's all right.”

“In that case, seems we're canceling the wedding and keeping this duel recorded as a draw,” Lest said. But as he glanced over the crowd, he noticed Frey wasn't there and he hadn't seen her all day. Where was she?


	30. A Family History of Guilt

Spring 35

After making sure his daily tasks as prince were done, Lest looked around the castle for his sister. Frey turned up in the basement workshop, searching through several large piles of books. Her giant bottle was pulled open on hidden hinges, leaving the gate out in the open. “Freya, what've you been up to?” he asked, going to sit on the floor with her.

“Sorting books, you can help if you want,” she said, looking around at the piles. “This is what was in our house, any book that you hadn't already taken. With the rune spheres placed and the guardians free, we don't need to keep most of this so I was going to donate a bunch to the town library since they include documents related to local history.”

“Sure, that'd be great,” he said. “But don't some of these have spellwork in them?”

She nodded. “Yes, that's the big problem. Basic spells, fine, if they get out into the public, that's no biggie. I wouldn't even mind if some earthmate spells, traditions, and rituals are made public. You know, I really want to get the Book of Guidance fully translated out of the holy language. It would help earthmates like you who don't study the language, and especially those like Helena who have to learn the traditions after childhood.”

“Yeah, or the guardians here,” Lest said. “Dylas got turned into an earthmate and from the sounds of it, once we get the other three fully out of Storgane's influence, they should end up the same way.”

Frey brightened at that. “Awesome! So yeah, the Book of Guidance needs translating. I just keep getting caught up in other stuff I'm doing. We still have to talk about what you've seen and done at the rune springs so I know what's up.”

“Right. But first, how are you sorting the books?”

She got up and pulled a stack out of the gate to place by him. “Right, sorting so we can work while talking. Scan the books for spell structures, the sort that would instruct a person on how to cast the spell in question. If there's none, that's a donation, it goes in that area behind the green tape on the floor. But first, check the language. Stuff in common Norad is most of it, but if it's another language, put it in the smaller section. I have to ask whoever's in charge if they'll take 'em.”

“Leon's in charge of the library,” he told her. “He's good with languages as long as they've been around since his original time, so he'd be fine with that.” That gave him an idea. “He even knows the holy language, so it might not hurt to ask if he can translate the Book of Guidance.”

“Sweet! Yeah, that would help big time. I probably should ask some other sages, but pffft. They'll tell me not to do it, but they're all the older generations that wouldn't understand those coming in from the outside like Helena and the guardians.” She then pointed out another area marked off with yellow tape. “If the book does have instructions on spells, put it in that area... um, let me get some more tape so I know which ones you found. I have to see what spells the books have before I know it's okay to donate.”

“What kind of spells are you watching out for?” he asked, taking a book from the top of his stack while she went to mark off more areas for books. “Although I'm not sure I'd recognize them.”

“Probably not since you don't know them,” she said, putting tape on the floor. “I'll check all the books that are here, putting those with restricted spells in the red area to keep here. I'm all for sharing information freely, but there's spells that we don't want getting into public knowledge. Like etherlink is a big no, as well as the gate manipulation series including omnigate and gate reject.”

“And arjate?” Lest asked.

She immediately stopped and stared at him. “How do you even know that name?”

“I know that spell, although I don't know the other two,” he said. “The Harvest Goddess gave it to me, but to explain why means getting into what the rune springs are like first.”

On hearing who taught him, she got less worried and more curious, going over to crouch by him. “I hear that's a pretty nasty one to cast.”

Lest acted like he was squeezing clay in his hand to demonstrate. “Yeah, it's like being squashed up in a blob and reshaped. And I'm going to have to be casting it again in the future.”

Frey made a disgusted face. “Ick. Well if you know that, be sure there's someone around to take care of you. Don't go casting it and end up somewhere alone.”

“I know, but I'll have at least one person with me. Who invented the spell, if you know?”

“Darryl Zelphis invented that whole series,” she said. “You know, same ancestor who made etherlink and Karnak Tower. He created a whole bunch of spells, actually, some really common and others of this restricted sort we want to keep rare.”

“Why'd he make it? Arjate needs the caster to be in the Forest of Beginnings and nobody who'd need the spell should be there in the first place.” Ghosts and monsters had their own ways out.

She shrugged. “Don't recall that; I'd have to read back over Misa's writings to see if she says it anywhere. We lost nearly all of Darryl's own work.”

Before Lest could ask why that was, there were some soft clicks as Vishnal approached them. “Here you two are, are you interested in a snack and drinks?” he asked.

“Sure, that'd help with this task,” Lest said.

“Wait, didn't you just come by about lunch?” Frey asked, glancing at one of the windows near the ceiling of the basement. “What time is it?”

“Shortly after 1500 hours,” Vishnal said.

“Awe geez, I knew this was going to take me a while,” she said. “Didn't realize so much of the day had gone by. So you're staying here to help me finish this Leslie.”

Lest smiled. “Sure thing, I've got the rest of my work done.”

Vishnal asked about what drinks they wanted, then went back upstairs to get the refreshments. Frey went back to the stack she had. “Sorry to drag you into it, it's kind of tedious. But what I really want to do is get that forging license and I haven't heard back on when I can take that test.”

Thinking about it, he said, “I may have to bug Bado about it; he's the local blacksmith, so he should be the one giving it.”

“You'd better, because I mean to fix up your farm tools first thing,” Frey said. “I checked out the market this morning and managed to get some good materials I didn't have, so I'm just waiting on that test and making sure this forge lights up. But books first. So what have you been doing today?”

“Dealing with nightmare catfish and a love potion,” Lest said, making her laugh. “Oh, and I heard the girls around town are planning a slumber party tonight. You might not want to hide away all day.”

She grinned. “Actually, Clorica already invited me. I just have to make sure I quit this work in time to make it. What's with all the rest?”

While they sorted the books, Lest told her about the incidents of this morning and the duel this afternoon. He mentioned that they were making Sven a knight, but little else about his meeting. But he had to tell her what Venti had said. “Those broken spheres as well as the shards from the fountain are very likely with the Sechs empire now.”

“That's no good,” Frey said, frowning in worry. “They wouldn't have the power of a complete rune sphere, but they'd still be very powerful artifacts. I'm not sure what they could do with them because they could do just about anything with them.”

“Like cloak a heavy aerial warship in a cloud?” he wondered. “That's what their ship was doing when I arrived here.”

“That could be,” she said. “Wouldn't even need a big piece to do that as long as you got runes mostly aligned with wind and water. Basically, they're a well tapping into a deeper source of runes, a source of power rather than artifacts that actually do anything in particular. But I thought the empire was anti-magic.”

Lest shrugged. “Maybe they're against anyone but them having magic.”

“Could be.”

He lightly kicked her from where he was. “Well now that I told you something, you still owe me that long story you were talking about.”

“That's way longer than what you said,” Frey said, teasingly kicking him back. “But yeah, I was going to tell you about it, more on our family history.”

“Did you know much about Dylas?” Lest asked. “Because I could hardly find anything about him until I got here, then I heard from Pico that the reason we got kicked out of Selphia was because of him.”

“No, but that much could be guessed,” Frey said. “I'll get around to it. After all, this is a story of generations over a thousand years.”

…

It began with Storgane, the previous divine wind, along with the other three divine dragons of the time. They were different in those days, disdainful of morals. That disdain led them to be tyrannical in their rule over the land. Because of this, the mortals fought back for their own agency. This rebellion led the divine dragons to grow hateful of mortals. They believed only dragons deserved to live in our world. Tightening their grip on the world, it was inevitable that mortals were driven to start killing the divine dragons in spite of their being gods guiding the world.

Storgane was the last of the four left standing. His hatred of mortals twisted his heart and mind into insanity. Abandoning his duty of protecting the world through maintaining the ether sea, he knocked the rune springs in his territory out of place, throwing the flow of runes in the entire world out of balance. He meant this solely to prevent mortals from casting magic. Instead, this move threatened all existence. The other gods of the world worked desperately to help the world survive and adapt.

However, a few gods turned to the mortals to help save the world. One chose a clever and powerful magician, Darryl Zelphis, to bless as an earthmate so that he had the talents and abilities to destroy Storgane. Darryl accepted the mission and, before he was even twenty-one years of age, put an insane god to rest.

This was hardly the end of it. The rune springs were still out of place. Even with the adaptations that had been made, it slowed the flow of runes and magic in the world. However, nature was still set to bring about four new divine dragons to take over the duties of the previous tyrants. Focusing on his homeland, Darryl decided to work on fixing the rune springs. He called on one of his allies, Isaac Karnak, to track down the rebirth of the divine wind and see to it that the new dragon grew up in favor of mortals. Thus Isaac became the first Dragon Priest to the newly born Ventuswill.

Within a few decades, some serious problems came to light. The young divine dragons were not as powerful as they should be, having been born at the end of a tumultuous time. The divine earth even passed away when she tried to address a problem in her land. For Ventuswill, it was a struggle to maintain the mess Storgane had left behind. There wasn't a chance she could move the rune springs on her own. Hoping that she would grow more powerful in time, the mortals living around her continued their work.

Darryl expanded his research lab into a tower around the moved earth rune spring, studying it closely with his daughter Misa. One thing he discovered was that the ether sea expanded to beyond the world in which mortals live. While moving the rune springs had slowed the area within our world, the sea beyond the world still moved strongly. The springs acted as a current between this world and the beyond, including places such as the Forest of Beginnings. He came up with the theory that if a new connection was made into what was beyond, the ether sea within our world would be stimulated back to full strength. To do this, he created the etherlink spell.

His first version of etherlink required a cost that few were willing to pay: the sacrifice of a mortal life, of one who had a strong bond to one of the divine dragons. Misa was furious that he'd consider it and talked him into reworking it. But for what they wanted, they believed that they would need to pay a high price. Darryl's second version of etherlink still required sacrifice, but of a different sort. The person would be put into a deep sleep to put their self into the ether sea, using the living connection of body and spirit to act as a connection of the world and the ether. They also found someone willing to pay this price: Issac's great grandson Leon, the fourth Dragon Priest and one who loved Ventuswill as a lifelong friend. Thus Leon became the first guardian.

Not long after, Darryl passed away unexpectedly. This led to a huge problem: much of his writings and research had been stored in the tower he had built. The main door on the ground locked up entirely, while the doors at the top were guarded by Darryl's golems that would not budge for anyone. Misa and her daughter Maria worked for days on end to record all they knew of etherlink and Darryl's work before moving on with research. As time moved on, one thing became clear: this was a problem that could not be solved in one mortal's lifespan.

Many theories were tried, and failed to do anything. Ventuswill was strengthened physically, but the emotional stress of being separated from Leon counteracted what his sacrifice had done. The next major step forward was discovered around three hundred years after Darryl by Heather. When she had been a young woman, her mother Natalie had placed a second guardian in her friend Amber. Writings show that Natalie had brilliant insight and a tremendous ability to focus, but only in a single line of thought at one time. Heather could take her mother's insights, see the flaws, address them, and make functional ideas and spells with them. From Heather's work, the idea came to use something that lacked emotion but could still function as a current that could be made with etherlink. Her ideas and initial tests were all based on organic items such as vines and trees, but acting as a current was too great of a burden and killed the plants.

Late in life, Heather began exploring ideas for using inorganic items such as stones. She could not make them work and various others in our family tested or dismissed such work. But then Adaline was able to use etherlink to make a connection between our world and the ether sea beyond it through a quartz bead. It was a tiny connection, not enough to get a current to boost the rune springs. Even worse, Ventuswill was growing sicker and weaker during her life. Adaline attempted to follow the guardian ceremony with an older gentleman in hopes that it would not require a mortal youth.

This did not work and she eventually had to place the young woman Dolce as a guardian. Otherwise, Ventuswill would have passed away before she could make a crystal strong enough to act as a current booster. She felt a great deal of guilt in doing so, making sure to instruct her daughter to also research how to reawaken the guardians safely. Other generations had tried and begun to realize the difficulty in that task as well. For one thing, the bodies of the guardians were often warped into monsters within a few years after the ceremony. These monsters were strong and vicious, always returning to the rune springs instead of the Forest of Beginnings. Without their bodies, the spirits of the guardians would not be able to return to a normal life.

While getting them back was going slow in research, Adaline's methods with crystals were the most promising in boosting the rune springs to the point where Ventuswill, perhaps in concert with other gods, could set the springs back in balance. The creation of the rune spheres, as the project became known as, was a delicate process. A new connection in the crystal could only be made once a day and was not always successful. As the connections grew more numerous and dense, the risk of the sphere shattering increased. In time, Lisa was able to combine ways to reinforce the crystals to reduce the shattering risk along with a better organization of the connections, bonds, and runes to make the rune spheres more dense and potent.

But Lisa's daughter Sonja nearly led to the ruin of our family and the rune sphere research. Lisa had moved away in order to help her husband take care of his elderly parents in the distant village of Grelin. Her daughter Sonja remained in Ventuswill's homeland of Selphia. Sonja did not leave behind many writings, but accounts written by her husband Reynard remain. While Sonja studied etherlink and all the related research, she came to a very different conclusion that nothing would be solved unless the fourth rune spring was covered by a fourth guardian. Various records showed that Ventuswill was reclusive at the time in spite of living in a thriving town. However, Sonja still found someone with a strong love for her in a young man named Dylas. She convinced him to become a guardian.

Sonja never admitted to anything wrong, but whatever she did to convince Dylas had made Ventuswill furious. The divine wind banished Sonja and her descendants from the land of Selphia. While Sonja had to leave quickly, her husband Reynard attempted to help her by gathering up all the writings and research that our family had collected, bringing them to her and Lisa in Grelin. But not long after that, Sonja lost the love of the earth and was no longer an earthmate. She left her newly born child Nadia with Reynard and Lisa one morning and was never heard from again. Nadia learned from her grandmother and agreed to continue the research in Grelin.

When Nadia was a mother herself, she saw to the first successful creation of a rune sphere. But seeing it in person, she and her daughter realized just how powerful the working rune spheres were. They had created it, yet the strong natural current it had to the ether beyond the world was enough to overwhelm them. Locking it in a secure place, they resolved to keep its existence a mystery. It would be hard to keep it a complete secret, but they hoped allowing legends would detract from the truth and keep the real artifact safe. Even if they were banished from the land of Selphia, they swore that they would continue trying to correct the imbalance and give Ventuswill her full strength.

As the fourth rune sphere was nearing completion, it became vital to resolve the sacrifices of the guardians and give them back their lives. Research of other earthmates led to recordings of the talents that were bestowed with the blessings. Several of the gifts seemed promising to this. A heightened awareness of runes would allow the guardians' spirits to be located and help in the safe navigation of areas with corrupt runes. An empathy born of a love alignment would give extra knowledge to convince the guardians to work with the reversal, then to watch over them as they adjusted. A talent known as rune breaker would make it vastly easier to undo the enchantments safely and quickly. An innate knowledge of the natural flow of runes, known as chi observant, would make the disenchanting safer for the guardians and the earthmate. However, these important senses and talents were uncommon or rare to receive. It was believed improbable that any one earthmate could bear all this. The generation able to return to Selphia would need to befriend other earthmates who had the innate gifts and talents needed.

Then the improbable happened in that generation, when an unexpected boy in a pair of twins became a love-aligned rune breaker with a heightened awareness of runes and a blessing price in farming where becoming chi observant was much easier than other trades.

…

“I don't think Mom really realized it until the day she was teaching me about those traits,” Frey said, feeling proud to be able to tell him that part of it. “I kept telling her, like you were, every time she'd name one of them. Except being chi observant, we hadn't noticed that in you yet although you were already getting into farming. Then you came back that evening and started talking about chi without knowing what you were saying. Mom was really excited about that, I think she even made you those zucchini medallions you love the next day for lunch.”

“I don't remember that,” Lest said, although smiling at the memory of their mother. “Besides, heightened awareness of runes isn't all that uncommon. Most earthmates can identify runes without extra help.”

Shaking her head, she said, “That's just regular awareness. I mean how you can tell so much from just runes; I have to cast support spells to get on your level. Easy ones, but still, it's one less step in the process. Like you can just start checking the books to see if they have spell instructions, but I have to set a spell to focus my awareness. There's so much information with all the words inside, plus the emotional impressions of the writers until we get into those made by a printing press.”

“Well even that happens more often than the others,” he said.

“I'll give you that, plus heightened awareness and chi observant often show up together. It would've been a real headache to find a rune breaker, that's for certain. Your turn again: what was the whole process like out of theory?”

Lest grinned, but started telling her about how he'd seen the rune springs and guardians. Frey had been aware of the rune corruptions and stagnation, as it had been recorded in many sources. Although, it was interesting that he had already connected it to Storgane and had a dream in the ether sea confronting the mad god before heading out. Worrisome too as they had only suspected that the old god's spirit was still around. Perhaps it was connected to Rune Prana? But Lest wouldn't know about that yet.

When it came to etherlink, he described it as a braided rope between three entities: the guardians, the monsters, and etherlink itself. There were also smaller threads, as he said, from Storgane. Those threads were why three of the guardians and Sven had odd chains that still linked back into the ether sea of the beyond. When it came to Dylas, who didn't have the chains, he had originally come back with even more than the rest as he'd nearly given in to despair. That had let Storgane pull him into what Lest called a hell gate made of Dylas' nightmares, fears, and insecurities. Probably other emotions too that were trying to keep him from waking up. When he'd overcome the issue that summoned the hell gate (Lest wouldn't say exactly), it broke and all of those chains vanished from him.

“Ah, so that's why you were saying that you still need to know arjate,” Frey said. “Those hell gates need to be broken from the inside by the person they're connected to, and they need some way out.”

“As well as emotional support there to break it,” Lest said. “I sensed that the gate pulled on the corrupt runes in the water ruins of Syra Springs so I think that when the others feel ready to confront their hell gates, we might be able to summon the hell gate by using them.”

“That's pretty dangerous stuff you're proposing,” she said, thinking over it herself. “But the theory sounds plausible. Ordinary runes wouldn't be able to form a hell gate like that. In that case, I should teach you omnigate. It summons gates or monsters directly from the forest and if you can grasp it, it shouldn't be hard to modify it to tap into the corrupt runes. That way, you'll be ready when they are.”

“All right, and I'll tell them about this.” He had gone through his stack of books by then even though she'd given him a lot. “How're you taking the books out?”

“It's like pulling them out of a bag, except from the gate instead,” she said. “You just need to open the shortcut for books.”

“Why are you storing our family's treasures and heritage in a gate in a glass bottle?” Lest asked as he got up to check it out.

Frey laughed. “Geez, you make it sound so bad that way!”

“Well if the bottle breaks and damages the gate, are you going to lose everything?”

“No, the rest of my stuff will be shut off in a distant sealed cave instead,” she said.

Lest grinned. “Well that sounds just as bad.”

“Maybe,” she admitted. “It's my own invention, the mobile doorway! It's for when you want to move a lot of stuff, even furniture and other big pieces, but you don't have a big wagon or anything else to carry all that weight. Perfect for flying by dragon like I do. This gate doesn't open into the Forest of Beginnings. It opens in two places, with one being a cave near Grelin where I stored everything I wanted to move. Since I've got it sealed off and hidden with illusion spells, it's really safe until I get the time to pull everything out and arrange it all around the castle. Thus I just have to move the gate that is the door in order to take our stuff from Grelin to here in Selphia.”

“Most people can't move gates, so I assume that's the purpose of the bottle?” Lest asked, taking out some books to start a new sorting pile.

She nodded. “Yup, exactly that. I wanted something that looked nice and could strap on my back. The glass bottle lets the mystical beauty of the gate show. But see, there's also these latches so the bottle can open fully like this to release the gate. That's important for when I want to start moving furniture around, so I can go through the gate to get into the cave. Although, I have to bring a wind crystal for air since that cave is sealed off. And it's fine now when I own the only mobile doorway, but if I'm going to market this thing as a product or service, I need to make sure the caves are completely secure and have some way to lock off the gate so only certain people can pass through it.”

“A locking armband would be easy for you to make for it,” he said. “But yes, you'd need the caves secure against thieves.”

“Well someday when I can put all this away as complete for good, I can work on that,” Frey said. “And then when you got Dylas' hell gate broken, that let him become an earthmate and use a miracle to move the rune spring to its proper place.” She paused, scratching her head. “But we've also got to do something about the nest of hate spirits underneath the castle. That's probably connected to Ventuswill being bound by Storgane, but she doesn't have the chains they do.”

“She does, but they're not visible,” Lest said. “It's all in their emotions as Storgane is still trying to put them into despair. The power of any of them, even Sven, would be enough for Storgane to completely stop the ether sea in our world. We need to help the others work through their hidden despair so that they can break through it. While it won't solve all their problems, it will help them a great deal personally. Then we can get them to shift the other rune springs around.”

She was starting to have an idea. A fun idea. “In that case, it may help to start eliminating the hate spirits around. Records in these books show that they are made of corrupt runes and killing them will immediately send those runes back to the forest to be purified. And you're the best for doing that.”

Lest looked uneasy at that, with good reason. “Yes, but I'm also one of the worst. Their hate is old and unreasonable so it doesn't hurt as much, but it still feels bad to be around them. Love is strong against hate, but hate is also strong against love. I mean, I've killed a couple before, but I had a spirit-killing dagger that was returned to its proper owner. While this is a warm community, there's not enough bonds of love around to tip the scales in my favor against the hate spirits.”

Perfect. She started to grin. “Then it seems you need to start playing matchmaker, for lovers and for friends.”

After the sun went down, Frey stopped sorting through the books in order to prepare for the girls' pajama party. She headed over with Clorica who had brought an odd assortment of snacks. The chocolate and powdered sugar coated pretzel mix was normal, as were the assorted sweet dumplings. But not the fried catfish bites.

“It's good, but it's not exactly party snacks,” Frey said as she was eating some.

“This is revenge of the tastiest sort,” Xiao said happily.

“Oh yes, get back at the fishies,” Amber said, clapping her hands.

Margaret laughed. “That's true. A weird sort of monster gate showed up at the inn this morning and we had to save Xiao from it. Ah, but it was really cool! We got her up, but there was still a huge catfish monster-ghost-something hanging around.”

Hearing that, Amber paled. “Giant catfish?” she asked in a trembling voice.

“It's dead now, don't worry,” Clorica said, giving her a hug.

“They eat fairies,” Amber said with a sniffle, hugging her back. Seeing that, Frey figured the weird gate had to be the hell gate, specifically Amber's.

“I didn't get to the cool part,” Margaret said, leaning forward. “As I said, after we got her up and she saw it, she immediately grabbed a battle axe from under her bed and attacked the thing. Then Clorica came in and nailed it right to the wall with her spear so Xiao could chop its head off. The monster went back to the forest, but somehow we got a large,” she glanced at Amber, “but not a giant catfish. That's why we're eating it tonight.”

“I see, that makes more sense,” Frey said. “It's darn good catfish, thanks for making it Clorica.”

“Yeah, I love it this way,” Xiao said.

“It is pretty good, for fried fish,” Dolce said, sitting in their circle but not seeming sure of how to join in.

Clorica smiled. “Thanks, glad you like it.”

“That is an impressive fighting attitude, Xiao,” Forte said with a smile. “Although I have to wonder why you kept a battle axe under your bed. That doesn't seem safe.”

Xiao shook her head. “No, that's for safety. I lack a proper place to put a weapon and it seems not a good thing to be in the public area of the inn. So it stays in my room but if I place it out in the open, I'm sure to crash into it somehow. Under the bed is safe because I can't trip on it there.”

“Oh, that could be,” Forte said. “You should get a weapon rack, then. They can be made to hang on the wall so it won't be a tripping hazard.”

“Maybe,” Xiao said with a shrug. “I consider it, but I get used to it under the bed.”

Frey grinned. “That sounds like you're a Viking, always ready for battle even when it'd bed time.”

Xiao laughed. “Yeah, could be. Maybe I should get a spiked helmet and fur cape.”

“Oo, that'd look great,” Margaret said, delighted at the image.

“Though Forte keeps this town plenty safe for everyone,” Xiao added.

“Um, thanks,” Forte said, turning a little pink. “I wish I hadn't been so distracted today.”

“Not much you could have done about that, so don't worry about it,” Margaret said. “I don't think anybody in town would argue against you having a day off every now and then.”

“Yes, you work hard every day, all day long,” Clorica said. “It's an admirable work ethic, but even that can go overboard.”

“That's just how I was raised, nothing special,” Forte said.

“But you patrol around town in that full armor and heavy dress, no matter what the weather?” Frey asked. “That's really impressive, I wear a lot in flight gear when I work with dragons, but none of it's made of metal.” Although the leather could be heavy, it wasn't as much as the scale and plate armor that Forte had. Wearing metal armor around dragons, especially the fire breeds, was a dangerous prospect.

“You get used to it after a while, so I hardly notice until I'm not wearing the armor,” Forte said.

“I can see that,” Dolce said, taking off her top hat. “I'm still surprised at how little women wear today. I'm used to corsets and petticoats under durable dresses, then vests, jackets, shawls, or belts over that, and gloves, collars, and stockings to avoid any exposed skin outside your face. And then this hat is pretty simple compared to the silk flower burdened hats some of my neighbors wore when going out on a walk. You have to put your hair up in a bun and pin the hat in place for some of them because they wouldn't stay put otherwise.”

“This is not a little amount of clothes,” Amber insisted, even though she seemed to only be wearing her cute yellow pajama gown and a pair of socks. “I usually wouldn't wear anything outside of play, but I'm supposed to be civilized now.”

Some of the others in the room, especially Forte, were staring at Amber for saying that. Frey just smiled. “Wow, what a difference a few centuries make.” That at least broke the unease into laughs.

“It's more complicated then that, but the statement is generally true,” Dolce said.

“Oh-ho-ho, let's have a no pajama party!” Pico suggested.

“No!” several of them immediately said. Not even Frey was going to go that far.

“Why do we wear different clothes at night?” Amber asked, authentically puzzled by it.

It took a while for them to come together with an answer that satisfied her, as she genuinely had no concept of decency when it came to being clothed. Even with that oddity, it was still a fun night getting to know the other girls in town. They all ended up looking forward to having another party in the future.


	31. The Sign of the Bucket (part one)

Spring 44

This was going to be a good day. Leon wasn't sure why he thought that, but it had come to him when he woke up and nothing would argue against it. Especially not when he stepped outside to see the dazzling dawn nature presented. While he watched with a contented smile, a pair of chirping runeys popped into existence and began chasing each other through the air. And when the runeys came to play, it was certain to be a great day. He brought a chair and the book he was reading outside to enjoy it as much as possible.

A clatter of wheels got his attention as someone came down the road. Since no one else lived on this street, people turned here if they wanted in the library. Frey and Vishnal were coming over, the latter pulling along a heavily loaded cart with many books while the former had a clipboard with several fluttering pages. “Good morning, Leon!” Frey called, waving to him.

He nodded. “Morning, you two. What's with the cart?”

“I've been going through my family's library and want to donate some of the books to this library,” she replied. “Since a lot of it does have to do with Selphia's history but I don't need all of these resources now that all of the rune spheres are in place.”

Her family's library? That could be very interesting to look through. Raising an eyebrow, he said, “And that's some of it?”

“Right, not even a quarter of it,” Frey said. “There's some I want to keep around, but this is what I've already sorted through. Most of it's in common Norad, but there's a few other languages too.”

“That's fine, but I'll need information about the books and authors in order to put it in the catalog,” Leon said, getting up to open the door for Vishnal. “Here, we can put them in one of the side rooms for now; one of them is empty because I resorted the books there already.”

“I've got all the catalog basics on the list,” she said, tapping her clipboard. Some runeys followed them in out of curiosity. “Oh yeah, about the languages, I heard you know the holy words of earthmates. Is that true?”

“ _Certainly true, my pampered princess,_ ” he told her in that tongue as a joke.

She gave him an amused smile. “ _Watch your tongue, apostate priest.”_

That was a clear dare; this match was on. “S _tiffly proper, are we? I wouldn't expect that of a girl who dresses like a man._ ” Although she was more girly today, in a snug white top and pink shorts with a white feathered overskirt (both bottom pieces far shorter than any girl in his age would dare wear).

Still, she knew what he meant. “ _I wrestle dragons for fun while you've got your nose stuck in a book on a sunny day like a turtle in its shell_.”

He smirked as he walked around the cart to lead them to the empty room. “ _I bet only the primal ones like you because you smell and think like them._ ”

“ _T_ _hat's better than smelling like wet fur and sweat after you've been running around.”_

“ _Are you coming on to me, you wicked little minx?”_

“ _Not a chance, you vain silver tongued bastard.”_

“ _That sounds like you are, pretty puritan,”_ he said, unable to resist winking at her.

“Err, do I need to intervene?” Vishnal asked, looking like he might defend the princess' honor if need be.

They both looked at him, then laughed. “That was fun, I could never find anyone willing to do that with me,” Frey said.

“You've got a nice grasp of the words to keep up with me,” Leon said with a wave of his fan. “Then what did you want?”

She stopped for a second. “Dang, you made me forget what I was going to ask! _Godforsaken jerk._ ”

“Whenever you remember, _airheaded hypocrite._ ”

Leaving the insult match be, she handed over the clipboard. “A lot of what's in this group was written outside my family: histories, adventure journals, geology, runology, and other subjects. I'm not handing over the spell books or my family journals quite yet, since I need to review all of them in case they have spells that really should be restricted, like etherlink itself.”

“Right, don't want those spells running about free,” Leon said, checking over her list. Thankfully, she had everything he needed to make the catalog cards. “Then you have stuff written by all your ancestors working on this?”

“Almost all of them,” she said. “There's only two pieces written by Darryl and they're both letters in one of Misa's collections. And the other big annoying hole is Sonja, the one who made Dylas a guardian. It would help a whole lot to know what the hell she was thinking. But most everyone left behind something, even if only a few research journals.”

“Interesting,” he said. She mentioned Darryl and Misa; did their family really go back that far? “I might read those if you donate them.”

“Go ahead _you're still a jerk._ ”

Leon laughed. “I had a feeling this would be a great day _made even better with a vicious spiked tongue.”_

“ _Are you the one coming onto me now?”_ she asked and dared him.

* * *

 

“Where is Pico?” Dolce mumbled, glancing around the room. She could only see a pair of runeys investigating the crib.

Normally the ghost would prattle and try to get her attention while Dolce was sewing. She could be distracted with some little things, but she usually kept close. Now she didn’t seem to be in the same room. Or even the same house, Dolce couldn’t quite figure out where she was. Pico could be an absolute pest, but she’d been at her side since she was a baby. If the ghost went too far from her, their connection would be cut off and Pico would be forced to the Forest of Beginnings. It would completely throw off everything again if she could never see Pico again; she’d not completely gotten her bearings after being woken after centuries of sleep.

“At least we get some quiet,” Dolce muttered. That was a nice way to think of it.

Nearby, Alice stretched an arm out clumsily, her eyes still sleepy from her nap. One of the runeys cooed; they usually liked babies. Alice's eyes went to look at it, probably the first she'd seen of them.

“You doing good?” Dolce asked the baby, smiling and stroking her forehead. “Good thing you're awake; I'm ready to make sure this outfit works before showing your mother and father.” She took the baby out of her crib and put the clothes on her. It was a pale blue dress with ruffles and lace, but without buttons that could present a danger. Thankfully, Nancy had shown her a new invention in velcro strips that could latch a piece of clothing together safely. The dress fit well, so she added the matching bonnet and booties before taking her downstairs.

Fortunately, both Nancy and Jones were outside enjoying the nice weather. It was a little cool when the breeze picked up, but otherwise the spring sun was sending warm beams over Selphia. A few clouds were in the sky, but they were the sort that were fluffy and nice to admire. Along the streets, many beds of flowers were sporting vibrant colors that playful runeys were out to dance with. It was so bright and cheerful, making Dolce feel a little out of place yet again. Bright and cheerful just never suited her, although she had no trouble making such clothing for those that did suit such joy.

“Good afternoon, Dolce!” Nancy said cheerfully. She caused a bit of discord in Dolce’s thoughts because she sent such conflicting signs. She wore dresses most days, but favored those with tight tops and low necklines that made her bust rather prominent. In other days, that was a style only women with loose morals would dare go out in. Yet Nancy was nearly the sweetest and kindest person that Dolce had met, loyally devoted to her husband and patiently gentle with her baby. A good woman who looked bad? It didn’t sit well with Dolce, but she wasn’t sure if she should say anything since no one else seemed to have a problem with it.

“It’s a good day to be out,” Jones said, nodding. He looked professional save maybe for the messy hair, but that didn’t really bother Dolce. It did come as a surprise that he was comfortable holding Alice out in public and in expressing his emotions, neither of which any man around Dolce in her childhood would have been able to do without being pushed into it. But that at least she liked; the stern detached men of her age could be intimidating.

“It does seem to be,” Dolce said, turning to them so they could see Alice. “Here, I finished the outfit I was making for Alice.”

Nancy immediately squealed and took Alice's hands. “Oh my gosh, this is so adorable.”

Smiling, Dolce said, “It has hidden folds so that as she grows, the dress and bonnet can be made larger so it lasts for a long time.”

“Clever and beautiful, that's some magnificent work Dolce,” Jones said proudly.

Proud of her? It was weird, but did make her happy. “Well, it was a common sewing trick for children's clothes when I learned. We didn't have the resources to make new clothes every time a child grew.”

Nancy took Alice from her. “It's still a great thing so the work's not wasted on a few uses. Look, she’d be absolutely darling at special occasions.”

Jones laughed a little. “Then we’ll have to hope one comes up.”

“Oh, we can always ask for a family portrait done with her in this,” Nancy said, making Jones look a little nervous at the thought of getting a formal portrait done.

“Anybody should have clothes for a special occasion, even a child,” Dolce said. Nancy and Jones looked at her in surprise, which made her uncomfortable. “Special clothes for a special event.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet of you,” Nancy said, a little too nicely for what she’d said. When Dolce gave her a puzzled look, she pointed to just behind her. “The sign.”

And floating right behind her was a wooden sign that someone had scrawled on with black charcoal. It said, ‘she thinks that you’re the sweetest nicest most romanticest couple she’s ever met.’ When no one seemed to be holding the sign, Dolce knew immediately who was.

“Pico,” she said with a stern scowl.

The ghost girl laughed and took off down the street with the bobbing sign as the only visible clue she was there. Dolce took off after her immediately, all plans for this afternoon flying out of her head in her anger and embarrassment. Sure, she did think that. But she wasn’t about to say just anything that popped into her mind. That wasn’t how a proper young lady was. But Dolce could never be proper because Pico was such a thoughtless impulsive weight on an invisible chain.

There was a shriek from the plaza, but only Forte and Sven were there when Dolce came running up the steps. There wasn’t even a sign floating around; Pico managed to hide her presence with the runeys flying about. “Where is she?” she called angrily.

“Who do you mean?” Sven asked, a radish runey sitting on his shoulder. “There was a, well, a sign that rushed up here and vanished.”

“Tha-tha,” Forte stammered, staring at a spot where the sign must have stopped with a pale face.

“Pico, stop fooling around,” Dolce said, going to that spot. When she didn’t respond, she turned to the other two. “I’m sorry if she bothers you. Normally she’s not quite so obnoxious.”

“P-Pico is that girl that’s always with you, right?” Forte said, trying to get a grip on her nerves. “Flying about and being, um, half-transparent?”

“She’s a ghost, that’s just how she is,” Dolce said.

“Well she’s around in the daylight, so she can’t be a normal ghost, more like these runeys,” Forte said, not much calmer.

What did she say to calm Forte down? She knew how she’d calm a child down, but she found children easier to deal with than adults. “She’s definitely not normal,” she settled on. “Although scary depends on what you find frightening.”

“You’re worried about my armor?” Sven asked out of nowhere, accompanied by Forte turning paler.

“Pico, cut it out,” Dolce hissed, glancing aside at the sign near her. It did say something about Sven going around with strange machines and partial armor, but she knew he was a nervous person and that Forte needed to calm down or she’d faint. She looked back to Sven and said, “Sometimes. I don’t know how much of that is intact when it does support your life.”

“Enough of it is operational that it’s not too bad walking around or being in a short battle,” he said, touching the tube that was below his nose. “Besides, they're going to do some work on it to make sure it stays operational. Helena’s supposed to come back in a couple hours to start the replacements. I hope she’s right about the armor’s mind.”

“We are looking forward to getting him proper armor as well before long,” Forte said, forcing herself to join the topic to ignore the whole ‘Pico is a ghost’ issue.

“I’m sure it’ll be safer all around,” Dolce said. Although she didn’t know how well Helena would do, it’d be hard to make something less safe than the chewed up armor she'd first seen him in.

Then Pico popped up with the sign again, writing on it in Dolce’s view this time. She was tempted to grab her before she could finish, but the first few words made her pause. 'lady forte is so awesome and brave! and really lucky that she could decide what she wanted to be instead of what other people expect of a woman’

“Erm,” Forte said, blushing and trying really hard not to freak out.

“They do have a good point,” Sven said, although Dolce barely heard him because she took off after Pico. Sure, it was a nice thing to say, but Pico could have just said it herself instead of attributing it to her. If she didn’t stop that ghost, she might reveal something more embarrassing.

* * *

 

Being a waiter for Porcoline forced Dylas to keep on his toes. The man loved to eat as much as he loved to cook. If Dylas didn’t keep an eye on him and the waiting customers, the meals would come out slower. Other people would be kept waiting because Porco could barely keep his own patience in tasting a good-looking dish (and every dish looked good to him). At least he was so easily distracted that he wasn't angry with Dylas taking the plates immediately. Actually, Dylas couldn’t think of seeing Porcoline angry yet. Maybe it just wasn’t long enough, being only two weeks since he’d come.

Then again, the work and the cooking lessons gave him very little time to think. That was a blessing in disguise. It had taken several days to get into the hectic activity, but now it almost felt good to be hurrying about with purpose. As the lunch rush died off, Dylas moved from waiting tables to washing dishes. If the activity was keeping his mind occupied and out of dark moods, he didn’t want to be stopping yet.

It was a day for runeys and it hadn't taken them long to find him. It had been that way for Dylas all his life, with runeys taking an unusual amount of interest in him. While he still wasn't sure why and wasn't about to say so out loud, he did like the little spirits. There were three of them hanging around him now; he dabbed one with some soap foam to watch it twirl around trying to look at the bubbles. They were so innocent and happy.

The bell over the door jangled, making him glance back in case it was a customer. Instead, it was the two ladies who handled the mail deliveries, bringing in a wooden crate stamped with XYF. He’d learned just yesterday that they were married to each other, something that had shocked him. Who would dare marry two women? Then again, they were both good people from what he'd seen, Nem more lady like while Helena was quite a tomboy. Did that make it any more acceptable? Dylas wasn’t sure. To stave off any related thoughts, he turned back to the dish washing.

“Hello, we’ve got a big delivery in,” Nem called cheerily.

“Oo, what would be in this delightful crate?” Porcoline said, coming out of the kitchen to see. The runeys with Dylas seemed torn between seeing this or staying with him.

“You can get a glimpse, but I can open it up for you if you want,” Helena said, taking a crowbar from the cart. When Porco nodded his approval, she pried the lid of the crate off easily. Dylas tried to watch them without being seen watching by using a shiny reflective pan overhead. Through that, he saw her take out a small silver bucket with a thin handle, about the size of a large soup mug.

“Incredible!” Porco said, taking one for himself in delight. “These are the most delightful adorable buckets I’ve ever seen.”

“They are adorable,” Nem said, almost giggling. “Payment’s taken care of, so we just need you to sign for their arrival.”

“I have been thinking about something like this, but I didn’t order these,” Porco said. “I’ll go ahead and sign. There’s not many people in town, so it shouldn’t take long to figure out who it belongs to.”

Helena nodded. “All right, we’ll leave the cart with you so it can be taken where it belongs. We’ll be coming back this evening, so we can pick it back up then.”

“Oh, looking for a romantic dinner here?” Porco asked in glee. “I’d be delighted to help.”

The two women laughed. “Well it’s not in the plans,” Nem said.

“We’re gonna be fixing up Sven’s support machinery,” Helena said. “No telling how long that will take since I have to work with Dr. Jones on it.”

Nem took her arm. “We could always come in late if that’s an option.”

Porco laughed. “Well I wouldn’t mind staying open a few hours later if that helps. So stop by when you’re done, all right? You can even bring the others if romance isn't on the table tonight.”

“Sure, sounds great,” Helena said. “Pardon us, but we need to hurry back to get your other deliveries as well as other mailings. Later!”

“Someone is so lucky in getting these,” Porco said after they left, putting the bucket he’d been examining on the crate. “Dylas! Would you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?” he asked, putting a plate in the drying rack then rinsing his hands of the soap suds.

“I can’t be sure, but I believe these were meant to be delivered to the Bell Inn. Please go down to Lin Fa and tell her that the buckets have arrived.”

Lin Fa… the Bell Inn was easy to remember since it was one of the larger buildings in Selphia. But did he mean the mother or daughter there? Dylas wasn’t all that good with names and didn’t feel confident in getting it right. “All right.”

“And be sure to express your message with passion!” Porco said, twirling on the spot.

Dylas paused in drying his hands and stared at him. “What?”

“Just what I said,” he replied. “It’s an ordinary chore on a runey day, so make things extraordinary in the delivery! Like, THE BUCKETS ARE HEREEEE! That would be suitable. Or talk of how darling and adorable they are.”

“How can a bucket be adorable?” Dylas asked, going over to the crate. His ears hurt from Porcoline’s enthusiastic yelling, enough that his tail swished in annoyance. Which further annoyed him because it was still weird to feel hair brushing against the back of his pants and know that it was his own tail (which he shouldn’t have). In contrast, the runeys twittered in delight.

“Well just take a look at it,” Porco said, pointing out the one on top. “They're so shiny and small, and just so cute that it’s really hard not to take them all out and put them to use immediately.”

The buckets were shiny and small, but Dylas didn’t see how that made them cute, much less adorable. “If you say so,” he said, then headed out the front door to reach the inn. He was going to just go straight there, but the runeys got excited about something nearby. This brought his eye to a message written in black charcoal on the wall next to the door. ‘The food here is tasty and wonderful, and the staff are such a delight to watch working and hear singing.’

Dylas paused a moment, wondering what to do about the message. It was true. With Porcoline in full view even when working, there was always some entertainment going on even if the guests were at a loss of what to talk about. And Margaret was often in to play the piano, all kinds of music. Even some that made him think of Lest… he shook his head. That wasn’t right. He should stop thinking about that. Rather, about the message. It wasn’t bad, so he decided to leave it be. He went down the steps and went only a few paces before a sign raced right by him.

Caught in shock, Dylas stopped in his tracks and stared at the sign as it startled Amber, Leon, and some visitors in front of the marketplace. “What the he…?” he started to say, but then someone turned the corner too fast and crashed right into his back. Both of them tumbled onto the ground.

It hurt, but he soon realized that it was a girl who ran into him. Better he got hurt than a girl. Except that in her daze, she grabbed hold of his tail. Dylas squirmed out from under her. “Hey, watch it.”

“Oh, s-sorry,” Dolce said, her face bright red as she realized it and let go of him. But she did look at his face and soon put her hand there, making him tense. Just as he was wondering why she had to invade his personal space, she said, “You’re bleeding. Hang on, let me clear that up for you.”

“Th-thanks,” he said, trying not to blush at having a girl so close… and touching his face. It didn’t mean anything, she was probably grossed out by the blood and wanted to make it stop.

“Are you bleeding anywhere else?” she asked, soon finding that he’d scraped his hands on the ground and taking care of that too. Even bandaging up a portion of it. Some runeys with her cooed in sympathy.

He felt awkward about the whole thing. Just, what was he supposed to do? Think of her like a doctor and let her take care of the wounds? Or try to flirt with her like other guys would? Dylas didn't feel comfortable with that last thought. It'd be like flirting with one of his half-sisters, that is, when they would have been old enough to be flirted with. Although that time was centuries past and he'd missed it.

All of a sudden, the buckets seemed like a good excuse. “This might sound weird, but did you happen to order a whole crate of little buckets?” The runeys made a cheerful sound that was like they were echoing 'buckets!'

Having got over her embarrassment, she gave him a cold look. “No, what would anyone do with a crate of little buckets?” Her runey friends promptly echoed buckets as well, making all of them giggle.

“I have no idea,” Dylas said, trying hard not to smile at the runey antics. “They showed up just now and someone had to order them.”

“Weird.” Right then, the sign appeared behind Dolce. It held no message, but that oddity was quickly replaced with the bigger oddity of letters writing themselves on it. ‘she thinks that you look so pretty and sad that she wants to give you a big hug and tell you that everything will be okay.’

“What?!” Dylas snapped, pulling his hand back (thankfully she was done with the bandaging). “I’m not… that’s not…”

Dolly immediately turned around, saw the message, and then tried to snatch the sign up. It hopped just out of reach with a girlish giggle. “PICO! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!” The giggle turned into a laugh as the sign took off down the road again and Dolce chased after.

“I’m not pretty,” Dylas grumbled. But, did she really think he was? Or was it just Pico being trouble? He’d seen enough of the ghost girl’s antics to not fully trust the message. Still, there was a heart-warming feeling that someone else wanted to reassure him. Maybe in this time, this place wasn’t so bad.

But he still had the favor to run. Dylas went down the street, slower in trying to avoid another scene with ghostly sign tricks. “Pico was the one who wrote on the flower shop wall?” Amber asked, her words bright and eager. A few runeys were with her and Leon as well. “That was so sweet.”

“She shouldn’t be doing that,” Dolce said, venom in her words. “Or this.”

Leon, on the other hand, was enjoying this far too much. “Must be a pain to have,” he said, then paused as something new was written on the sign. Then he laughed.

“What makes Leon a hottie?” Amber asked in confusion, to Dolce’s embarrassment and anger.

“I prefer to think of myself as foxy, but I’ll take it,” Leon said, smugly putting his fan to his chin. “Now don’t go crashing into Dylas again, you hear?”

“After I punish Pico, I’m coming back for you,” Dolce growled at him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Should I look forward to it?”

“Why would you?” Amber asked, still confused. Some of the runeys echoed her confusion.

“Don’t be dirty in front of Amber,” Dylas said. Amber seemed like she should be seventeen or so, but her mind was still in a child’s innocence. He didn’t like seeing children or those like children exposed to the harsher elements of the world. “And do any of you recall ordering buckets?” The runeys with him echoed 'buckets!' again, though he didn't mind them.

“That’s quite an about face,” Leon said.

“Are they cute and adorable buckets?” Amber asked with big excited eyes.

“Apparently,” Dylas said, relieved to find the owner. But why so many buckets?

“Whee, just what… um…” she looked puzzled again, then at a runey. “Um, who wanted them again?” The runey shook itself, as it couldn't know.

“Then you didn’t order them?” Dylas asked, disappointed.

“No, I just remember someone in the flower shop mentioning cute buckets,” Amber said. “And I thought, that’d be the best idea! You could put flowers in them, or pretty rocks, or honey, or a runey, or anything cute to be twice as cute!”

“Honey is cute?” Dolce asked, skeptical of the idea.

Right then, Pico’s sign reappeared, saying, ‘sorry to leave my noble steed but I gotta run bye bye!’

“CUT THAT OUT!” Dylas yelled before Dolce could even start. He grabbed hold of the sign, apparently Pico too from the extra presence it had. Then he hurled it over the trees into the royal farm. Unfortunately, Leon had seen it and was in hysterics, his hand clutching his stomach in laughter. And Pico’s scream was in delight as well.

“That’s just what you deserve!” Dolce yelled, taking off to the back entrance of the farm. Her runeys chased after happily.

“I thought she was being nice and fun,” Amber said, unsure of how to take the others’ reactions.

“You don’t joke about some things,” Dylas said, his tail flicking in anger again.

Leon managed to get a hold of himself long enough to smile in a worrisome way. “She meant me,” he said. “She called me noble steed the day we met when I had to pack her around on my back as she insisted. But I do have to admit, it’d fit a unicorn like you better.”

“Do you want me to rearrange your face?” Dylas asked in warning.

“I’ll have to give it some thought,” Leon said.

On the other hand, Amber was enthralled. “Oh wow, are you a unicorn Dylas? That’s so amazing!”

“That was Thunderbolt,” he said in embarrassment, not wanting to yell at Amber. “I’m not a unicorn.”

“Whatever you say, brony,” Leon said.

“Now that is just plain stupid,” Dylas said, shaking his head and making his way past the two to get to the inn.

He still heard Amber ask, “What’s a brony?”

And Leon reply, “I just made it up based off some modern slang I heard from some merchant boy. I hope I got it right, it’d be embarrassing if…”

“Surprised you aren’t embarrassed to act like that,” Dylas grumbled. In a few moments, he entered the inn with a relief that he’d be away from them, for now.

Only the mother was in the lobby area of the inn right now, the silver-haired woman busily writing in a notebook. She did pause to look up at him and smile. “Hello Dylas. Looks like you've got some little friends with you.”

“Hello… Lin Fa,” he said, hoping he had it right.

He must have as she said, “May I help you with anything? Oh, I was just about to send in the meal lists for dinner, I’m pretty sure they’re done.”

“I can take it, but that’s not why I came,” he said, going to the other side of the desk. “The mail women brought us a crate full of little buckets.”

She brightened in recognition. “Oh, are they cute buckets?”

What was with buckets and cuteness today? “Porco says they’re adorable,” he said, not wanting it to seem like his opinion. They were just little buckets.

Lin Fa laughed in a way that he could label cute and attractive. But she already had a grown daughter, so that kind of thing shouldn’t be said. “Wonderful! Could you go tell Kiel that they’re here?”

“Kiel?” Dylas asked, both trying to recall the person (was it a guy or a girl?) and wondering why she asked.

She tried to indicate size with her hands. “They’re small ones, right? We don’t have a use for small buckets here. But he was looking for information on where to find cute little buckets the other day. I tried asking around, but haven't got a letter back. I wonder if it’s for his alchemy?”

Well they did appear silver. If they were silver, they might be useful to an alchemist. And knowing Kiel was a guy and an alchemist narrowed it down to one person. “No clue, but I’ll let him know.”

“Thanks, and sorry for the trouble,” she said. Then she gave him a questioning look when he didn’t leave.

“The meal orders?” he asked.

“Oh, right!” she said, searching the counter until she found them. “Thanks again; Porco must be happy to have such a reliable help around.”

“He’s happy at anything,” Dylas said, wondering again what life would be like to someone who could be that happy with so little to be happy about. The runeys never had trouble with being happy, but they were one of the biggest mysteries in the world.

* * *

 

Lest and Vishnal were talking with Ventuswill about the upcoming cooking contest when a sign cartwheeled in from the farm entrance and vanished. It was a puzzle until Dolce came rushing after, a mix of anger and embarrassment in her runes. Some gleeful runeys were following her around, trying to find the sign too. Just before Lest could say it, Venti asked, “Pico causing trouble again?”

“As always,” Dolce growled.

The sign soon popped up behind Dolce, saying that, ‘sorry prince she doesn’t love you anymore but she does think you’re an angel in disguise’.

“That’s perfectly okay,” Lest said, relieved actually. That left just Dylas and Amber to sort out, although he suspected from the lack of Amber's attention that her infatuation had faded too. He simply hadn't run into Dylas enough to know if he was clear or not.

Putting that out of his mind for now, Lest looked back to the agitated Dolce. “She’s writing the most ridiculous things today and then made me chase her all over the farms. Sorry, I tried to avoid running over anything, but she might not have been so careful.”

“I think it’s okay,” Lest said. If there was major damage to his crops, he would know it already. But he figured he’d better go see if anything needed healing before he went to sleep tonight. Runeys tended to help out too, although one never knew what they were going to do on a farm when they started using magic.

“She only does it because she loves you,” Venti said cheerfully. She was starting to loosen up around more people. Not everyone, but she skipped the regal mask when the guardians or the two young butlers were around.

“If only I could teach her some tact,” Dolce said, looking around for Pico.

Unfortunately, she missed the sign reappearing, now saying, ‘and she thinks vishnal looks like a sweet stud in that uniform!’

“Huh?” Vishnal asked, his mind flustered at the opinion.

Once Dolce spun around, her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Pico, I’m going to murder you!”

“She’s already,” Lest started to say.

“AGAIN!” she yelled as she rushed out after the bouncing sign.

“That’s, uh, not the point of it,” Vishnal said, with a silly grin on his face.

Venti chuckled. “Pico tends to say whatever would shock people the most when she’s in a mood like this. I wouldn’t take it seriously, even if there might be a bit of truth to it.”

“One of those people?” Vishnal asked, calming down although the message stayed in his mind.

“I’m dreading the day that Leon, Pico, and my sister team up on some prank,” Lest said. The runeys with him today giggled. “And I feel really sorry for whoever gets caught up in it.”

“But it would be so entertaining,” Venti said eagerly.

They went back to talking about the contest. A few minutes later, another person came into the room. This time it was Dylas, bearing a slow building annoyance while some runeys tried to cheer him up. Thinking he might find some way to talk with him alone later, Lest asked him, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Dylas said, his tail twitching. “I’m trying to find whoever ordered a whole crate of little buckets and got directed to Vishnal.” His runey friends echoed 'buckets!' in an adorable fashion.

“I didn’t, but Lest was wondering about it,” Vishnal said.

“Are they cute buckets?” Lest asked.

Dylas clenched a fist, but controlled himself otherwise. “I guess, if you consider a small size enough to make something cute. What do you need so many of them for?”

“I don’t need them,” he said. “Illuminata and Blossom were trying to figure out how to get them.”

“Are you kidding me?” Dylas grumbled, then sighed. “All right, I’ll keep looking for whoever owns these buckets.”

“I’d ask Blossom first,” Lest suggested. “I saw her ask Illuminata about the buckets.”

“Sure,” he said, turning to leave. But first he waved to Venti. “See ya later.”

“Right, see you later,” she said in delight. Once he was gone, she yawned.

“I think we’ve covered everything, so you could take a nap now if you wanted,” Lest said.

“Thank you, just wake me up if I’m needed,” Venti said, closing her eyes. She was fast asleep in moments; some runeys decided to nap on her too.

For a moment, Vishnal let his worry slip onto his face. “You’ve put the rune spheres in place, but she naps just as much as before.”

“She doesn’t have to make the ether sea flow into our world now, but she does still have to monitor it when it’s going faster than she’s used to,” Lest said. “Maybe more, I don’t know the exacts of her work. And she’s not really stronger than before as the springs aren't all back in place.”

“I wish there was more I could do to help,” Vishnal said. “Guess we’ll just keep doing as we’re doing and hope it works out in time.”

“Yeah, patience is probably best right now,” he agreed. It did trouble him that her energy was still so low. At least she was happy now.


	32. The Sign of the Bucket (part two)

Spring 44

It was a great day. Not even breaking a few plates trying to put them away could bother Xiao for long. All around her, people were feeling cheerful and with good reason. Runeys had sprouted up all over Selphia today. It was hard to feel down when small vegetable fairies were watching everything with childish awe and laughing at the slightest provocation. After cleaning up the broken pieces, Xiao went into the lobby and started straightening up the sitting area.

As she glanced out the window, she spotted Dolce running by towards the observation area. That seemed odd; the quiet girl didn't seem like the athletic type or one who would rush about, not like Frey or Amber. Maybe it was just the nice weather and runeys that made her want to run. Smiling at the thought, Xiao checked over the cushions and made sure they were neat. She got done and saw Dolce out the window again, this time leaning on the stone wall of the flower beds outside of the inn. She looked really tired, so Xiao went to get some sparkling juice from the inn's pantry, then headed out.

Dolce was still leaning there when she got outside. The runeys with her were chirping and watching her in concern. Smiling, Xiao went over and offered her the drink. “He-o Do'ce, would you like a drink?”

“Huh?” She seemed confused, making Xiao self-conscious of her speech. It wasn't that she tried to be unclear, but it happened unless she focused on the words.

She tried again. “I saw you from the window and you seemed tired, so I thought some juice water would help you out, yes?”

“Do I...” she paused, having not quite caught her breath yet from running, “...have to pay?”

“No, it's fine,” Xiao said. “You seem like you could use it.”

“Thanks,” she said, taking the chilled can from her. Dolce looked at it for a moment, then figured out how to pull the tab to get it open. After taking a sip, she seemed pleasantly surprised. “That's... nice. Fizzy and sweet.”

“Um, I do not think that is one of the sweeter drinks,” Xiao said. “Not like the cola sodas. But it is nice, I like those very much. What is it that you are doing?”

“Uh,” she took another drink, then said, “running.”

“I could see that,” she said when it seemed like she wouldn't add anything more.

“No,” Dolce said, still sounding winded. “A running sign. I've been chasing a running sign all over town. Have you seen it?”

“Um, it seems I have not,” Xiao said, trying to work the idea out. “Signs are only useful when they hold still so they can be read, are they not?”

That actually made her smile. “Heh, that's right.” She took a deep breath, another drink, then explained, “Actually, it's Pico being invisible while carrying a sign about. There are a few ghosts who can interact with the world through writing; sometimes it's the only way they have of expressing themselves. Pico just uses the ghost writing as another way to be a big pest. She's even been writing on buildings, like that message there.”

Feeling another surge of happiness at the sweet compliment that had appeared by the inn door this morning, Xiao smiled. “Oh yes, that was very nice of her. While it would be good if she didn't write or draw anything rude later on, it was a good thing to read today. A runey day is always a good day!”

“I'll agree with you on the runeys, though she shouldn't be making graffiti just anywhere,” Dolce said. “Or writing stuff on her sign to embarrass me.”

“All right, so how can I help?” Xiao asked. Dolce was an impressive person to know so much about ghosts; maybe she knew more interesting things from being a dragon priestess, like the stone near the windmill said.

That seemed to make her embarrassed. “I didn't ask for help,” she said, a little sharply.

“Yes, it seems I wasn't asked,” she said. “But I would still like to help if I can.”

“Oh,” she said, looking down. Meanwhile, a sign was slowly creeping up just out of Dolce's sight, almost in the fashion of a stalker. “Um, you already helped, with the drink. Thanks again.”

“Sure, anytime,” Xiao said. “And it seems the sign you were talking about is behind you now.”

“What?” Dolce asked, turning around as black letters were writing themselves on the sign.

It said, 'theres so many kind helpful people in this town she was thinking just now'.

While it was a nice message again, Dolce still got mad. “There you are, you little coward.” There was a girlish laugh as the sign bolted past them, causing Dolce to run after it again.

“Oh dear, I hope she doesn't wear herself ragged,” Xiao thought aloud. She considered going after the sign to catch Pico if should could. But if she did that, she would most likely trip and fall on her face while running. Hopefully the drink was help enough.

She headed back into the inn, but stopped on seeing white letters writing themselves on the dark wood door frame. 'She has some trouble saying what she means, but Dolce is a kindhearted girl who just wants some friends.'

“Well I would like to be friends with her too,” Xiao said before heading in. It took her a few minutes to realize that something wasn't quite right with that last message.

* * *

 

Was it all right if he just went into Ventuswill's chamber and asked her a few questions? To Doug, it seemed like there were some things that the divine dragon might be able to answer best. If she didn't lie to him in answering, as there was no way to tell if a dragon was lying. He paced around the plaza for a short while, trying to work up the nerve to go in and ask. But not even the playful runeys chirping around him could get him to go in there. With a sigh, he headed back to the store to see if Granny needed some help.

He was nearly there when one of the guardians came out of the store with a really annoyed look on his face. From the wild mane of blue hair and black ears, Doug was able to figure out that it was Dylas. He hadn't talked much to them, but seeing him today gave Doug a thought. Maybe they could answer his questions? Obviously not all of them and he'd have to be really careful asking. But according to the books, they were supposed to be really close to Ventuswill. They should know her well.

“Hey man, what's eating you?” Doug asked, figuring that he'd try a friendly angle to start with.

“None of your damn business,” Dylas said. Then the runeys with him gave a pleading cry that almost sounded like they were trying to ask, 'buckets?' After a moment of grumbling, Dylas turned to him. “Unless you've happened to order a crate of small silver buckets that got delivered to the restaurant on accident.” The runeys happily called out 'buckets!' with him; it must have been some game to them.

“Uh, no, I don't think so,” he said, then thought of something kind of funny. “We order regular sized regular buckets regularly, not silver. That seems more like Kiel's kind of thing, you should ask him.”

Dylas was not impressed with the joke, but the runeys were. “Already did. He talked my ears off before giving me an answer.”

That made Doug laugh. “Sounds right. He's a pretty cool guy as long as you know that he tends to start rumors, so you got to be careful what you say around him.” Though that also made him useful in certain things.

“Hmph.” Dylas gave him an odd look, then asked, “So who the hell are you again?”

“I'm Doug,” he said, knowing how it was to be the new guy in town (and there were lots of new people around now). “I help out Granny in the store, so I'm usually around here. And I remember who you were,” but trying to make him smile, he grinned and said, “right Dill?”

“That's not funny,” he said, looking angry.

“Aw come on, lighten up, Dylas,” Doug said, starting to head for the door. “Keep that foul temper and lack of humor and you'll end up going over the edge.”

Unfortunately, that had the complete opposite effect of what he wanted. “Don't you fucking joke about that!” Dylas just about screamed. All Doug had to act on was reflex, but that was just enough to let him dart out of the way so that Dylas punched the stone flowerbed instead of him. He cussed again at that, then walked off towards the restaurant while holding his already bandaged hand.

“Sheesh, that wasn't something to break someone's nose over,” he said. Then his eyes fell on the part of the flowerbed that Dylas had hit. There were cracks in the stone now that made him shudder. “Or my skull, damn.”

* * *

 

Frey was waiting on some more time to pass, poking some runeys to play with them. Bado had finally given her today to take her forging exam. Why? She'd turned the request in over a week ago. Even if he was doing his own work, the test should only take a couple of hours. She sat on the fence near the blacksmith shop, planning on going in a few minutes early and bugging the dwarf.

And who should walk by but Leon, carrying a fishing pole and likely headed for the lake. Frey smiled, but then put on a neutral face. “ _Pretty jackass.”_

Without even looking at her, he replied, “ _Reckless hotheaded vixen.”_

She snorted. “ _Trying to bait me or are you off to play with your pole?”_

“ _Would you rather come play with me, sweet sinner?”_

She was thinking up another line when a sign flew between them and disappeared. Frey raised an eyebrow at that while Leon braced himself and turned around. In seconds, he caught Dolce who was almost out of breath; she nearly toppled right out of his grasp in a manner that should be impossible. “Let me go,” she growled.

“Chill down, you're going to faint if you keep this up,” Leon said. “At least she's giving you a good workout today.”

“I don't think she means anything good by this,” Dolce said, getting back to her feet but seeming wobbly. “What are you up to?”

“Just having a friendly match of wits with the princess,” he said.

“Yes, we are most probably not using inappropriate sexual humor in doing so,” Frey said in a deadpan tone. “After all, we both hold very respectable positions of honor and need to be excellent examples to the community.”

“That's not stopped him,” Dolce said, then realized that if Frey said it, she meant herself in the same manner.

“My position is technically nonexistent, so you haven't seen me at work,” Leon said with a wink.

“You mean librarians are nonexistent?” Frey asked in a mock shock, making her eyes wide.

Happily, that made Dolce giggle. She tried to compose herself, only for Leon to make a goofy grin and make her laugh again. “S-stop it!”

“Sorry, I have some trouble stopping myself in certain situations,” Leon said apologetically, but then immediately tickled her. The runeys found it hilarious.

“I-if I faint it-it's your fault now!” she said, laughing and having to support herself on his shoulder.

“Well we wouldn't want that,” he said, agreeing to stop.

While Dolce was catching her breath, the sign appeared again. It was blank, but soon letters in black charcoal appeared. 'dolly is a nice person will you be her friend?'

“Sure thing,” Frey said, hopping off the fence. When Dolce looked at her blankly, then at the sign, Frey darted over and hugged her before she could get mad. “My friend now!”

“Um, okay,” Dolce said, blushing a little.

“Aw, no sexually inappropriate humor with her?” Leon asked, lowering his ears and trying to look disappointed, but his ears soon perked back up amused.

“Not yet,” Frey said, letting her go.

“I could do without that,” Dolce said. “I get enough from Pico.”

The sign quickly changed to, 'not enough love for me!'

“You're still going to get it!” Dolce said, pursuing the sign up the stairs and into the town plaza.

However, Pico then appeared close to them. “Ah, my sweet lady, you look so adorable when angry.”

“Weren't you holding that sign?” Frey asked, looking over at the plaza.

“Yeah, I hurled it over that way since my work today is done,” Pico said, satisfied with whatever she had planned. “She wouldn't go out and make friends, so I thought I'd make her start.”

“You helped make it a most amusing day, so job well done,” Leon said in approval.

“You can't force people to make friends, but friends start by accident more often than not,” Frey said.

“Maybe, but somebody has to make accidents happen more often than not,” Pico said with a mischievous grin.

“Pico, where are you?” Dolce yelled, not quite as angry.

“She should be able to tell, right?” Frey asked. A bond like that normally let the partners know where each other were at all times.

“It's a day for runeys, so I can hide a little from her,” Pico said. “I love days like today!”

“Pico, I'm sorry I got mad at you,” Dolce called, sounding upset. “I didn't want to drive you off and lose you forever.”

“Aw, you know I only exist for you,” Pico said, delighted as she took off for the plaza.

“That can't be the end of it,” Frey said, hurrying down the street but stopping before getting into the plaza to be hidden some. Leon followed her over.

Dolce was hugging Pico. “Thank goodness, there you are.”

“I'll never leave you, Dolly!” the ghost cried happily.

“Thank you,” she said warmly, then clenched Pico's hat. “For that, and for falling for my trap. You're not escaping my punishment.”

“Aw, no!” Pico squealed, struggling for show.

“I'm gonna have to recruit them for a prank some time,” Frey said.

“Right, that'll be a hell of a fun time,” Leon said with a grin.

The bells in the castle tolled the hour. “Oh, time for the forging exam!” Frey said excitedly, going over to the blacksmith's. “Later gater!”

“Later goofball,” Leon said, waving to her.

Frey flung the door open and slammed it shut behind her, bounding into the shop. “I'm here!”

“Oh right, your forging exam,” Bado said after a puzzled moment. “Been a while since someone's requested one, or even seemed interested.”

“I have a general blessing price for crafting and my next project really needs forging work done,” she said, looking for a place to set her bag. “Do you mind if I demonstrate with a hoe? I need to replace my brother's farming tools.”

“No, that's acceptable,” he said, leading her back into the forge. “Do you need some iron to work with?”

“Ffft, no,” Frey said, setting her bag on a preparation table. “Lest is an earthmate farmer; he needs tools that are suitable for farming magic. I bought some steel, gold, and ash wood to work with.”

He looked surprised, and impressed. “Huh, really? You already work with steel and gold?”

“I could work with platinum, but nobody at the market has had any yet,” she said, taking out her materials. “Gold will have to do. The magical qualities are right, but it's too soft to actually use as a tool, thus it needs to be worked in with the steel for physical and magical strength. Then the ash wood for the handle because it not only has strength and tolerates magic, but will enhance the particular set of spells he uses.”

“Okay, so you're just looking for permission,” Bado said, now amused. “All right then, show me what you've got.”

“Right-o!” Frey glanced around at the hammers and tools he had for working. Some of it wasn't of high quality either, only useful for working with scrap metal and iron. Maybe bronze if the blacksmith was skilled enough to overcome the poor working tool. Thinking it was part of the test, Frey went right for a quality hammer and tongs that was better suited for the steel and gold. Then she checked over the forge settings before going to work.

* * *

 

Pico was sullen and whiny, with a talisman on her hat as punishment for her prank with the sign today. Dolce found that she had trouble looking at anybody while dragging the ghost back to the clinic. Hopefully they didn’t take what the signs had said seriously. Maybe she did think those things, but those kind of thoughts were best kept to one’s self. She didn’t know these people all that well and they could very well turn out to be creeps or hypocrites. They could still think of her as a death-obsessed girl they didn’t want to associate with.

As they came up to the clinic, Dolce noticed a small group in front of it. Jones, Nancy with Alice, Sven, and the two mail women were all there. One of the last took off into town while the rest went inside. Pico decided that would be a good time to be extra loud with her whines. “I’ll suffer through anything to express your love to the world and get it in kind, but does it have to be the talisman?”

“Yes, because you were really embarrassing today,” she hissed.

“I just want people to know how wonderful you are, Dolly,” she said.

“Hush.”

Nancy still heard and chuckled. “Oh, Dolce, good timing. Would you mind watching Alice? I need to help them on this operation, though it should go well with the runeys hanging around.”

“That’s no problem,” she said, then tugged at Pico. “You keep away from them and quiet because this is a delicate operation.”

“Okay, I swear it on my heart that I won’t trouble them tonight,” Pico said, her wording assuring Dolce that she was completely serious this time. She went ahead and took the talisman off before following Nancy inside to take Alice.

One of the usual clinic beds was pulled out into the dining and living room so that an operating table and its equipment could be set up in back. Jones was already pulling the screens closed while Nancy went into the kitchen to check on her oven. “I’ve got some apple pies in the oven, but leave them unless the timer goes off and I can’t come in here,” she said, placing Alice in a infant chair at the counter. “One of them is for you for making such wonderful clothes for us.”

“I didn’t need anything in exchange,” Dolce said, but was very pleased to hear that she’d have some fresh pie. She didn't have the license to make her own.

“But you deserve something so nice for your excellent work,” Nancy said. “Now, Alice should stay asleep for this, but she might wake for a diaper change; you know where that’s handled.”

“I know,” she said.

“Thanks for the pie!” Pico said.

“You can’t eat it because you can’t eat anything,” Dolce pointed out.

She just grinned. “But I can smell it and it smells so yummy. And it’s one of your favorite things in the world, so that makes me happy to have you happy and everything’s well with the world that way.”

Dolce felt her face get warm. “Why do you have to keep talking like that in front of other people?”

“Because it’s true.”

Nancy laughed and hugged Dolce, surprising her. “You’re just too cute, Dolce! There must be a warm kind heart in there somewhere. I hope my daughter grows up into a young lady like you.”

“You don’t want that,” she said, but couldn’t help smiling. They really were the nicest sweetest couple ever, even if they could be just as embarrassing as Pico.

* * *

 

In his task to find the real owner of the buckets, Dylas ended up back to the Sainte Coquille manor. The company of runeys made it tolerable, if just barely. He went into the east entrance to come into Arthur’s office. Fortunately, he was there at work as usual. “Arthur.”

The blond haired man gave his usual smile, something he seemed to do with anyone who came to speak with him. “Good afternoon, Dylas. Are you okay? You seem tired.”

“You’re the one who keeps working all hours of the night,” he grumbled. “The buckets.”

“Did they come already?” he asked, brightening.

While part of his mind went ‘finally’, another part said that with how this day had been going, it couldn’t be ‘finally’. “Yes. Got delivered to the kitchen.”

Arthur nodded. “Good, that’s where I told them to send it when I ordered them.”

This wasn’t a mistake? “What?” he asked in disbelief. Although he probably should have seen this coming by the time he got sent off to find Nancy.

“Porco was going on and on about an idea of his to put desserts into small buckets for a cute presentation,” Arthur explained. “And I’ve been trying to think of something to do to thank him for his generosity to me, only Margaret handles all the ingredient orders and only asks me about availability and possible deals. Then I recalled seeing a wandering merchant who had food grade quality buckets available and had to track him down to get a shipment of them. But they are the most adorable things, for being buckets, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t know,” he said, tired of this whole ordeal with the buckets. “Porco’s enthralled with them.”

“That’s good, I’ll have to talk to him about them later,” Arthur said. “I’m expecting someone soon, so could you please tell him that he can go ahead and use them?”

“Fine,” Dylas said, heading into the restaurant.

“Thanks, and take care of yourself,” Arthur called after him.

Finally back in the kitchen, Dylas found that someone, probably Margaret, had moved the crate out of the way. Porco was working at food prep for dinner. Dylas went up to the counter and made his fist thump on it. “Porco, those buckets…”

“Come on, at least a little passion?” he said, looking back expectantly.

“I’ve had to run all over town trying to find who owns them,” Dylas said, wanting to glare but not finding it in him to glare at Porco. It wouldn’t be effective, more than likely.

“That’s a wonderful work ethic, but a bit of enthusiasm will make it all pop!” Porco said. “For me, please?”

Dylas sighed, then closed his eyes. “The buckets have arrived,” he sang, for lack of wanting to yell. The runeys spontaneously sang along with him.

Porcoline laughed in delight. “Wonderful, that’s a dashing way to deliver a message. Especially with that charming little chorus! Please be sure that Lin Fa knows.”

“No, the buckets are yours,” Dylas said, not singing it (and hoping he wouldn’t ask for it to be sung). “Arthur ordered them for you as a gift, only he had to figure out who had them and he asked Blossom at the general store if she knew. She didn’t and asked Illuminata and Amber if they knew, then Amber mentioned it to Lest and Vishnal heard about it from him, then Vishnal asked Nancy for who knows what reason, and she asked Kiel about it, he asked Bado and Lin Fa about it, then Lin Fa must have mentioned it at random to you. Those adorable buckets are of food grade quality and are all yours to do whatever you want with.”

“Oh my, this is a wonderful day of helpfulness and kindness indeed,” Poroc said in glee. “It is the most heart-warming thing to know that everyone in town is willing to help out each other. And so many of the buckets, it gives so many opportunities and ideas! I should change the dessert of the evening to buckets of flan! Oh, and you can have the first one, since it must have been quite a task to keep all those people straight when you’ve only been here two weeks. Your work ethic is inspiring, something to make a thinking individual awe struck.”

“I’m not really into sweets,” Dylas said, embarrassed at the zealous praise. It didn’t seem fitting for the task.

But Porco still gave him one of the bucket of flans that afternoon, even cutting back on the sweetness of that batch for him. It wasn’t bad then, a pudding-like dessert with a strong taste of pumpkin. Even if the buckets were small, Dylas thought it was a bit much for one dessert. Porco then taught him the sealing spell which would keep the food fresh and safe until he wanted to eat the rest of it. Knowing that spell was important in working in a restaurant, in case a customer wanted to bring leftovers back home or to get a delivery.

During dinner, Arthur came in to eat and talk with Porco about the buckets. This led to another enthusiastic and embarrassing scene that Dylas had to wonder how they put up with it. He was starting to understand that this was just Porco being Porco as the man seemed to have no shame at all. On the other hand, Arthur was very tolerant about being hugged in front of others and expressing his thanks openly. It was something Dylas wasn’t used to seeing men being like, for either of them. Yet those in the room took it as completely normal. Something big must have shifted in the past four hundred years. He wasn’t sure if he could adapt to it, if he wanted to.

Dinner was quite busy. It seemed like everyone in town came, although the doctor's family, the post women, and Sven were late in coming. However, the restaurant was still filled as people were chatting and having a good time. Dylas sat at the tables with them, as a waiter wasn't needed right now. He felt like he was on the edge of a circle everyone else was in, a warm inviting place that he wasn't sure if he belonged to or not. Silently, he wished he did belong. There was happiness here, in the idle chatter of friends about runeys and cooing talk of how cute the infant girl was in her new dress, happiness that he really wanted to know. But how to get in? Any way he could think of seemed embarrassing and might make the rest laugh at him.

A few of the conversations paused, letting one rise up to central attention. “Then what kind of love rituals do you know of?” Frey asked Kiel.

Love rituals? That got a lot of attention, even more than just being the main active exchange. “There used to be one about a part of Yokmir Caves close to town,” Kiel said.

“Oh, that one was wonderful,” Nancy said fondly. “You carved your names on the outside, then took the hand of your beloved and walked down a long cave with them, to touch a special wall at the end. Then you walked all the way back and if you could do this the whole way without breaking your grasp, then good fortune would come into your relationship.”

“How many people tried to disrupt the couples into breaking hold?” Leon asked, as if he'd do so.

“There were always a few jokers around town who tried, until they were in love themselves,” Nancy said. “There was another ritual too, that families would go carve their names on the wall in the cave. Isn't that the sweetest thought? If your relationship worked out, you'd be back there with your child to add your names again. But there was a cave-in last year that made us lose the entrance. A lot of people got hurt in that; Arthur was involved in that one, weren't you?”

He nodded. “Right, when I was on an anonymous survey of the area. I happened to be in the cave because someone mentioned that the support beams didn't look safe there.”

“Ouch, that's not the kind of thing you want to get first hand evidence of,” Frey said, even wincing at the thought.

“Certainly not,” Kiel said. “I can't think of any other local traditions which are actively followed, only older ones that can't be done for one reason or another. Like, that tradition used to be about Leon Karnak Tower, not the cave here, but then that was really dangerous to complete. But there's others that are in various parts of Norad, even as far out as Grelin.”

“Like the inverse messenger of love?” Frey asked, getting some laughs from Blossom, Illuminata, Helena, and Nem.

Kiel nodded. “Yeah, if you can find someone willing to do that one.”

“Why, what's the deal with that one?” Leon asked. “If you're talking inverse, you'd think the ritual wasn't good for couples.”

“No, it refers to the messenger not being the normal kind,” Kiel said, eager to share the story. “Normally those who serve the goddess of love that this ritual is sacred to are women; the inverse messenger is a man who is dressed up convincingly like a woman in order to hear a divine spirit who only speaks to women otherwise. It can happen during a special occasion sometime in mid-spring, when the messenger offers himself as an oracle for love for that day only. If you can catch the messenger alone and get him to kiss you, it's said that you'll have great fortune in love for the following year.”

“It sounds interesting, but good luck finding someone willing to act in that role,” Arthur said.

“Oh yes, but it's a lot of fun,” Blossom said happily. “We had that ritual occur once when I was young.”

“Did it work?” Xiao asked, leaning on the table in curiosity.

“Sure did,” Illuminata said. “There were a lot more marriages than normal that particular year, I think it was ten total. And you even got married the following spring right before that year was up, didn't you?”

Blossom nodded. “Yes, that's when my husband and I had our wedding. And that year was really important to bringing us together, full of wonderful memories.”

“We got married the autumn after the ritual occurred at one of the trader forts,” Helena said.

“Wow, so it really does work?” Kiel asked, intrigued.

“It's hard to say if it's a true magic or if it's an extra push to get people more daring,” Illuminata said. “Whichever it is, it does seem effective provided you get a guy willing and able to fulfill the role.”

“I could give it a whirl if you want to see for yourself,” Leon said, almost seriously but his ears were a dead giveaway that he found the offer amusing. “We have a special occasion coming up in the cooking contest, right?”

“Leon, you have to be convincing as a girl and you would not be,” Frey said.

Leon pouted. “What, you don't think I'm pretty enough?”

“You've got completely the wrong body to do that,” Illuminata said, grinning at the jest.

“You know who the messenger was for us?” Nem said, her eyes bright. “It was Lest.”

What? Dylas very nearly said that aloud, but caught himself in time. Lest had... dressed up like a girl and gone around kissing people to give them luck in love? How crazy was that? And did he really look convincing? He found himself with a weird but strong curiosity to know.

Fortunately, Forte expressed similar shock when she said, “Are you serious?”

“What, you don't think I'd look good in a dress?” Lest asked, causing a number of people there to laugh. “Yeah, that was me. Did it on a lark, but ended up glad I did for their sake.”

“Are you going to do it again this year?” Frey asked him, as if it was a completely normal thing for a sister to ask her brother.

“I dunno, but it would be the right time of year, and a service to the community,” Lest said.

“Aw, please?” Clorica asked. “I never got to see you last time.”

“What last time, that he dressed like a girl?” Arthur asked, puzzled and curious in this exchange.

“Yeah, I was wearing a skirt when I dropped into town,” Lest said. “Actually, you saw me like that in the capitol that morning, if you remember.”

“Wait, you mean that earthmate girl I saw on the day I was supposed to leave, that was you?” he asked. “Then that was a really convincing illusion. But don't illusions fail on you?”

“Magical ones, but that's not the only way,” Lest said.

When the impromptu gathering started breaking up, Dylas didn't feel like going back to the kitchen to wash dishes or work on tomorrow's prep work. He went outside and walked over to the marketplace, trying to clear his head in the night air. There was a lot going on in there, much of it new and confusing. A couple days ago, it had really hit him that his initial attraction to Lest was false in parts. As much as he had wanted to end his suffering, there had always been a deep desire that someone stop him from his self-destructive path. Someone, anyone... and Lest was the first to really reach out to him knowing he was in that much pain and saying that he could be free of it. Wanting to free him of it. Then the love runes used to disenchant him had further clouded Dylas' mind and he thought it was real.

Even after realizing Lest was a man, he'd been thinking the love was real on some level. He'd even started to think that what he'd been taught about relationships was wrong because of how he felt and it might be worth trying. Then he'd thought over it in a sleepless part of the night and realized the false part of it, and the desire to be saved that he had denied having. That made him wonder, was it really love? Or was it just that desperation for a loving light in the darkness of his depression?

“Hey Dylas?”

He tensed, especially on realizing that it was Lest who'd followed him out into the marketplace. “I don't want to talk to you!” he called back, embarrassed about if he got to talking and accidentally let slip what he was thinking.

“You sure about that?” Lest asked, although he kept his distance. “It might help to talk to somebody.”

“It's none of your concern,” Dylas said.

Lest shrugged. “I'm concerned anyhow. You can find me if you change your mind. Good night.” Then he left for the entrance to the royal farms.

Once he was out of hearing, Dylas leaned against one of the counters and sighed. He was already messing things up again. But somehow, that door wasn't closed yet.


	33. Cooking Contest Preparations

Spring 47

When doing his research on the cooking contest, Lest quickly found there was clear divide in skill levels in Selphia. There were several people reputed to be very good: Porcoline of course, along with Kiel, Volkanon, and Clorica. Then there were those who had their fans but weren’t as great: Nancy, Blossom, Xiao, Illuminata, and recently Dylas. There were those that he couldn’t be sure of, like Jones or the other guardians, while the unfortunate Forte and Vishnal were reputed to be terrible in the kitchen. A cooking contest would be fun and enjoyed by all, even visitors. But Lest didn’t think it was a good idea to put everyone in the same category when it came to judging.

After thinking about it, he set up three categories for the contest. One category was open to residents and visitors alike, open to any kind of entry. With some fliers sent out with the mail ship, that could get more visitors to come. The other two categories were for residents only. The entrée category was a contest to make a main dish of a meal, with the wording gearing it towards the in-between and uncertain groups. The dessert category was a contest to make a dessert, with the wording gearing it towards the great chefs. To make things fair, he asked for three volunteer judges for each category, the main rule being that a judge could not enter the category they were judging.

Lest was going to be a judge for the open category and the entrée category because he wanted to enter the dessert category. Even though that brought him into competition with people he knew were excellent chefs, cooking was something he loved and he felt confident enough to try. He was even going to do something really special. He would have liked to use apples from the royal garden for this, but the apple trees weren't yet ready to produce as they were still in flower. Fortunately, Arthur said he could get some good apples in for him.

He came by early one morning to pick them up as they’d come on a night delivery. The farm had sent over a full bushel. “It’s a breed said to be good for eating raw, making jam and jelly, and cooking where you don’t mind some softness and sweetness,” Arthur said. “The farm has a high reputation and Margaret likes them, so it should be an excellent quality.”

“That’s good,” Lest said, taking one out. It broke the sealing spell on the basket, but he meant to use them today. After a smell and a check of its runes, he nodded. “These should work great. Thanks for getting them and the nutmeg for me.”

Arthur smiled. “It’s no trouble. Is this for the cooking contest?”

“Yeah, I’m going to be in the dessert category.”

“Then you’ve got some serious competition going on,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I know Porco’s entering, and Kiel. Probably some others, but once word got around about which one Porco entered, I’ve heard some people choose to go to the entrée or open contest instead.”

“I meant for that to happen,” Lest said. “It just pushes me to make sure I do really well.”

“Good luck then.”

“Are you going to enter?” he asked, curious.

Arthur shook his head. “No, I really only know how to make simple things, and some pickles. I’ve always had people to cook for me, so never thought to learn any further.”

To tease him, Lest said, “Yeah, you probably don’t have much room up there to start learning recipes as you know so much else. I tried to read that book you were quoting by memory the other day and I couldn’t get far into it without falling asleep with a headache.”

Arthur chuckled. “Perhaps. No one can be good at everything.”

Lest took his ingredients back to the castle, but there was no kitchen in the royal wing. Instead, he had to go to the servant wing and borrow the kitchen there. Volkanon had been fine with him using it when he asked after getting his license. After all, Lest lived there too. He did have to work with two of the butlers in competition with him, but he trusted that there’d be no trouble between them. Besides, his chosen recipe would take quite some time to put together. Unless they also had dishes that would need to set for a while, he didn’t think they’d interfere with each other.

He did find Volkanon in the kitchen, preparing lunch and doing some paperwork at the same time. “Good morning, Lest,” he said. “Starting your contest work early?”

Searching for the right kind of pot to start with, he nodded. “Yes, I have a lot of work to get done for this cake, starting with some fresh jam.”

“Ah, but the extra work would be worth it to a connoisseur, no matter how difficult it is,” Volkanon said in approval.

Lest couldn’t help but smile. “The jam’s the easy part, well one of them. Actually putting the thing together right is the hard part. I used to get help from my sister or a friend the few other times I’ve made this, but Frey said she’d be busy today.”

“Can you manage it on your own?” he asked. “I’d offer to help, but if you’re in the dessert category, I’m putting my own dessert in. Clorica is too; I think she has a time-consuming recipe too, so she should be in here before long to start herself.”

“It’d be nice to have some extra help, and I can take care of the actual cooking part on my own,” Lest said. He then braced himself, as Volkanon called for Vishnal with an impressive bellow. Sometimes he could hear the master butler calling for one of the others from the royal half of the castle.

He was there less than a minute later. “Yes sir?”

“What were you doing?”

“Dusting and cleaning down here; I'll be able to start arranging things for tomorrow soon.”

Volkanon was in approval of that. “Good, although it's still early. Would you mind helping Lest with his contest piece? You still have to do your own.”

“That’s fine, I’ll be glad to help,” Vishnal said, actually a bit relieved. Maybe it was because he’d be cooking around him. “What do you need help with?”

“Right now, washing, peeling, and cutting up most of these apples for jam,” Lest said. “Once that’s done, I can monitor the jam on my own, but I’d need the most help putting the cake together.”

“Sure, I can work around that. Are you going to need a cake dish?”

“Oh yes, the display one should have a nice one,” he said. “The second one for the judges will be fine just on a platter with a sealing spell.”

They worked on preparing the apples, Lest setting a couple aside for later use. Vishnal asked to borrow one too. “I’ve got a curry recipe that calls for an apple which I was thinking of using.”

“Sure, these should work fine,” Lest said. He’d purposely gotten more apples than he needed because it’d be trouble if he ran out of jam. “Is it one you’ve made before?”

Vishnal looked over an apple he had, then set it aside for his use. “Yes, it’s not much different than the basic recipe I’ve been using to study. It’s fairly simple, but I’ll be happy if I can turn in a basic average dish for a competition.”

Once they had the pot heavy with the cut apples, Lest set it on the stove to cook and put together a spice ball in cheesecloth to set inside. It would take a few hours to cook down, so he took the apple peels and cores down to the fertilizer bin on his farms, then brought some of his work into the kitchen while he monitored and occasionally stirred the jam. Meanwhile, Vishnal started work on his contest dish, going slowly but very focused on getting the cuts even. Lest decided to leave him be and not talk, to keep from distracting him. Besides, he was right there and should be able to tell if something went wrong during the cooking process.

“Something smells delicious,” Clorica said as she came into the kitchen, a large basket in her hand. Seeing that Lest was sitting at a table and Vishnal was at the stove mixing his curried apple rice, she stared at the latter for a second.

He noticed and shook his head. “Er, it’s probably the apple jam the prince is making.”

“Oh, homemade apple jam,” she said happily, coming over to peek. “Although your's smells just about done too, and nice.”

“It’s got apples too,” Vishnal said.

Clorica laughed. “Nice, although I’m not going to be a judge. That’s too bad. Although what are you doing for the contest, Lest? I don’t think jam counts for this one.”

“It doesn’t,” he said. “I know because I approved the rules. I’m making a jam stack cake. Could use any jam, but I’d like to control what flavor and consistency it has because the jam’s an important component.”

“I’m not familiar with that kind of cake, but I approve of using apple jam,” she said, setting her basket on the work table and pulling out a coconut. “I’m making a coconut cake.”

That was a serious entry also taking a lot of work, Lest thought. He hadn’t made a coconut cake himself, but he’d seen recipes. If she didn’t take many shortcuts, there was a lot to get done. “That’ll be impressive. The jam stack cake is made up of lots of layers of crepes and jam, left to sit for a full day.”

“That sounds delicious,” Clorica said.

“Crepes are meant to be thin, though,” Vishnal said, turning off the heat to his curry and placing the mix in a bowl.

Lest nodded. “That’s why I said lots of layers, and why I’d like your help. Especially if I’m going to be making two this time. I need to be making the crepes, but also need to get them stacked neatly.”

“I could handle stacking,” Vishnal said. “There, looks like I got it this time.”

“Oo, I want to taste a spoonful,” Clorica said, leaving off her coconuts for a moment to go to his side.

That surprised him, but he took two spoons and handed one to her. “You sure? You usually hesitate before trying my cooking.”

“I have a good feeling this time,” she said, taking a bit to try. On tasting it, she bounced in place. “And I was right! You should make this for our lunch some time.”

“I have before,” he said, testing it himself. “It just turned out like it should this time.”

“You’re getting better. Lest, you should try it.”

He shook his head. “Tomorrow, I’m judging the other two categories.”

Clorica got worried. “Oh? Well just be careful if Forte enters. She tries her best, I know she does, but she has a special gift at being a terrible cook. More so then this guy.”

“I’m getting better,” Vishnal said.

“That’s true and that is almost what makes her cooking special.”

“I’ll watch out for that,” Lest said. “Also have to watch out for what my sister’s doing. She’s considering doing the last steps during the contest, which works for what she’s doing.”

“Is she giftedly terrible too?” Clorica asked.

“No, she’s giftedly terrifying at cooking,” he said. “Her stuff is edible, but her cooking style involves lots of flames. Sometimes even explosions, so I warned her not to do anything damaging this time around.”

“Maybe we should have some extra fire extinguishers on hand,” Vishnal suggested, serious about it.

“Wouldn’t hurt,” Lest said. Especially since it'd be magical fire if something went wrong.

* * *

 

“How did they ever think this was good to continue?” Leon wondered while he was reading over a history of Selphia.

It had, of course, a section about the guardians, even parts of his story. In some books, it was funny to read what people wrote of him. They gave him so much respect out of his sacrifice that they seemed to have dismissed the more fun things he'd done. Then again, they'd also missed the time when he and a friend took Ven on a trip to let her see the world beyond her small home region, only for Ven to collapse and nearly die. That he was grateful for being missed as it still caused a twinge of guilt in his heart.

“Some sources even correctly identify the unsendable monsters that appeared near the springs as being connected to us.” And that, he had a hard time reading through. He was currently sitting in the library in case anyone came in, so he was trying to skim such things if they started up. Leon didn't want someone to come in and find him upset. “And the rune spheres don't fully solve the issues, Lest and Frey said as much. I hope Ven can hold out until they figure out summoning the hell gates.” Although the idea gave him a small seed of terror. He'd spent a lot of time in the ether sea focused on supporting the other guardians, in part because it was a distraction from his own troubles. There would be no such distractions in the hell gate.

There was a phrase that went 'speak of the devil and he shall appear', which came into mind as the library door jangled and Leon looked up to see that it was Frey. He gave her a small wave and was going to go back to reading. But, she had other ideas. “Hey, Leon! I need your help.”

“I will be happy to oblige for our lovely princess,” he said, mocking seriousness. She stuck her tongue at him in response, making him chuckle. “But you do need to remember that this is a library.”

“Doesn't look like anybody's here but you and me,” Frey said, coming up to the desk and leaning on it. “I want you to take me to Leon Karnak.”

He raised an eyebrow, knowing what she meant but, “I'm right here, darling.”

“I mean the tower,” she said. “I need to set a teleport base there because at this stage, there's a lot of travel back and forth at that particular point that I want to be doing. Plus I want to see if I can talk to the fox guards because I think they know some vital clues. At least towards finally getting access to Darryl's writings.”

“You sure you going to be all right out there?” Leon asked, not entirely comfortable with bringing a girl along to a place he knew was that dangerous. Plus, “Your brother would probably kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

Frey grinned as if it were no trouble. “I've told you, I wrestle dragons for fun. I'll be perfectly all right out there, I just don't want to get lost on the way. Although you're right in that you don't want to tick off my brother due to me. It could be much worse than just killing you.”

“If you wrestle dragons for fun, I'd hate to see what he does for fun,” he said, twitching his ears.

“I think that's part of his contest plans coming up here soon,” she said, obviously enjoying this exchange. “Even if you don't go with me, I'm still going today.”

“All right, all right,” Leon said, putting a bookmark in place so he could set his reading aside. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was still early. “Hope you've got something packed for lunch even if we mean to teleport back, because it'll take a few hours just to get there.”

“That's fine,” she said, pleased to get him to agree. She excused herself to get her gear, so Leon went to the apartment to get his spear and enchanted arm guards, then locked up the library with a sign saying that he was out.

The walk over to the tower was pleasant enough. There was the lovely countryside, the nice weather, but it was mostly the company. Frey was light spirited and delightfully boisterous for a girl. Although she'd asked him to come along, she would have been perfectly safe on her own with her deadly skill in a half-magic half-dual-blade fighting style She'd catch onto his teasing and join in without missing a beat, seemingly as unlikely to be a sage as he was to be a priest. But, there were other things that made him a priest; must be the same with her.

“I think I see why your brother calls you Freya sometimes,” Leon said as they went back to walking after dispatching a gate and a bunch of monsters. “Between that bone crown thing you like wearing and your general slaughtering skills, you're quite the warrior princess.”

“Geez, you don't have to keep calling me that,” Frey said, annoyed.

Which made Leon tempted to call her that anyhow. “What, princess?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I think my brother did it to annoy me even though he said they don't expect anything princess-y out of me. He even tricked me into going along by getting Ventuswill to agree to it somehow and saying I could handle fireworks at any event they're wanted. Well, the fireworks almost makes it worth it, but I've got to get back at him some time.”

“Seems like it could be a great platform for messing with people,” Leon said. “Get folks who are expecting a meeting with a proper princess and they run into you in that armor, that'd be fun to see their reaction to.”

“Hmm, hadn't thought of it that way,” she said, starting to smile. “Still gonna prank my brother just because I can. Usually I just withhold information from him until he makes pancakes, but it needs to be something special this time.”

On making sure she was looking at him, Leon winked. “Hey, if you need any help, feel free to ask me. The guy's so unflappable that I've made it my goal to get him flustered somehow, no matter what I have to do for it.”

Frey laughed. “Wow, good luck with that! He lets everything roll right off him like water off a duck's back.”

Testing to see what would get her flustered, he smacked one fist into the other. “I know! I was trying my best to seduce him the first time we met and he kept all cool and tolerant.”

That just made her laugh harder, to where she stopped walking for a bit to hold her stomach. “I... I'm not surprised,” she finally said, pausing a moment to take a calming breath. “I haven’t seen him do anything like that, but he mentioned the effect to me and I know just about any love magic of a certain spell strength will do funny things to someone's head.”

Leon crossed his arms over his chest. “At least something good came out of it. I can call him lover boy out in public and he'll greet me nicely about it while other people get stunned for a moment. Sometimes he'll even play along if it's fun, although one time he completely shut me down from continuing.” It did make him curious, but Lest seemed to have no problem with Leon flirting with him around Dolce and Amber when they were still under heavy infatuation after awakening. But Dylas? Lest did not want any teasing going on around him. Dylas was oddly quiet this whole time, talking on rare occasion. Perhaps Lest was trying to keep him from being too uncomfortable when the magic still influenced him.

“If he gets stern, there's usually a good reason behind it,” Frey said. “But if you're going to trouble Lest, you have to be really careful about it. He can sense intent.”

“He's sensing a lot more than mere intent,” he said.

“I know,” she said. “However you think about it, you either have to be really good at screening your emotions, which can be tough to do without involving him, or play a trick through another person who won't suspect something fishy.”

“Hmm, if we can talk the two foxes into coming back with us, they might be able to get something past him,” Leon started to say, but then changed his mind as he did. “But they are straightforward to the point where they will say they're not allowed to do something which would be suspicious. Lest also can see runes, so it would need to be something that could blend into the area, maybe making a trap the most possible. Then the problem is, how am I going to see him react without him sensing me first?”

“You know, if you get enough people around, you can make an area noisy with runes,” Frey said.

“Oh yeah, and then he would only be able to pay attention to whoever was in front of him.” Might also work on her too, he silently considered. “Get an unknowing accomplice and we might be able to prank him good.”

“When did I get roped into pranking my brother?' Frey said, smiling.

“When you started talking about it with me,” Leon teased her.

“Okay, we'll figure something for a festival day. Seems like the best chance.”

They got to the tower and Leon could already tell that things had changed here. The power of the rune flow was expected, since it matched what he’d sensed at the other displaced springs. On the other hand, the corrupt runes were incredibly noisy. Sometimes he could even see that something strange was going on. The air would warp in unsettling ways and in spots he could almost see something like unnaturally colored leaves flowing in an invisible stream.

“How in the world did he climb up this place last time?” Frey immediately asked, looking all over. “The corrupt runes are everywhere.”

“Maybe he got lucky?” Leon suggested. “I wouldn't know since I wasn't in a state to think clearly or ask when I woke up.”

“They don’t seem to be coming from the rune spring itself,” she said, peering at the door as if she could see through it. “Although it’s hard to tell in this mess. But they are getting stirred up by it, hmmm…” then she seemed to see the door itself, with the earthmate script message on it. “Oh? That's his message then.” She walked up to it, so the corrupt runes must not have been in the way.

“That’s Darryl’s doing,” Leon said, following her. “I can understand the words, but not the meaning.”

“I had heard this was here.” Frey read over it, translating as she went along. This triggered a strange feeling that he was reliving an old memory, standing here listening to Maria translate it as a test from her mother Misa. “No normal strength shall move this gateway from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. Only a strength that can change the world shall pass this way to the Forest of Beginnings. The road of Rune Prana lies beyond, an endless road to those unworthy to walk it. To those worthy, the end is the place of all beginnings and endings, the mystery of all life.”

Feeling disoriented by the collision of past and present, Leon tried to keep the time straight. Frey looked nothing like Maria. Didn’t act like her either. Or maybe he was just telling himself that since the way they’d been joking around earlier was a way he wouldn’t do with Maria. But this girl was Maria’s descendant, maybe. Nothing said it was one continuous family line since Darryl. But it really wasn’t all that long ago to him that he’d been speaking with Maria and now he was possibly talking to her great… well there were too many possible generations in twelve centuries for him to even guess what to call them. More disorientation filled his head because the scale of time struck forcefully at his heart and there was no way to reach back to a time so far gone.

“In the end, you weren’t worth risking the path of Rune Prana for her. Does it hurt less or more than the thought that she might have spent her whole life alone trying to find the solution to free you of your burden? Or does it hurt that you don't know what's real and what's possibility and what's even there in front of you?”

“Leon, snap out of it!”

He nearly called out Maria’s name out of shock to hear the girl's voice through the narrator of his nightmares, but fortunately wasn’t able to. It was Frey gripping his arm tight to shake him awake. Which was good, because Frey didn’t look anything like Maria and calling the wrong name would’ve been embarrassing. “Sorry, I… it was reminding me…”

“You don’t look that good,” Frey said, sounding worried. “Come on, let's get back to town.”

A strong voice in him said yes, let's get the hell out of here. The chains on his wrists were sparking in a way that reminded him of shortly before Dylas' hell gate showed up. No matter how he might act, Leon knew he wasn't ready for that. But some part of his honor held strong too, leading him to ask in a shaky voice, “D-didn't you have something...?”

“I was, but I've got the teleport point, so it doesn't matter now,” she said. Then she teleported them to just outside of Selphia's southern gate. “You want me to help you with something?”

He grabbed his fan out of nervousness and put it to his face. “Ah, give me a minute, I'll be fine. I'll just, get back to the library and do something quiet.”

“Yeah, read or... oh!” Frey snapped her fingers. “That thing you keep making me forget to ask! I want the Book of Guidance translated out of the holy words so it can be republished in the common language.”

Fortunately, that was enough of a shock itself to jar the nightmares out of his head. “You want me to translate the Book of Guidance? Darryl and Misa wouldn't let me touch that text.”

Frey nodded. “Yeah, because not every earthmate is born as one and raised to understand the language. It gets really hard to teach the traditions when the main book for that is in words that most students don't understand. There are some spell instructions and incantations in it, but they're spells that wouldn't be a problem, in part because a lot of them might not work in translation. Years ago, when I first met Helena, I had the idea to translate it myself. But the work on the rune spheres, you guys, and Rune Prana took priority. The older sages might not agree with it, but they're the ones who gave me the authority to ask for the translation. I'll pay you myself for the work, although it seems you'll be wanting to study the book yourself in coming days.”

“That has always been a tantalizing book,” Leon said, having calmed down a great deal just listening to her. “Although not so much now that you're asking me to work on it.”

“The forbidden book is always the more interesting one, right?” Frey said, smiling. “So, will you take on the project?”

It didn't take much for him to agree. “Sure. It'd be an interesting way to pass the time.”

* * *

 

After lunch, Vishnal took some time to do some of his other chores while Lest kept working on the jam. He came back in time to help with putting together the two cakes. Lest would cook the crepes from the batter he prepared, then work with Vishnal to place it on a cardboard circle in the stack. Vishnal was then to spread an even thin layer of jam over the crepe, making sure it was smooth in time for Lest to put the next crepe on. Because they wanted to make sure the better looking cake was the display piece, the cardboard pieces would let them carefully shift the completed stack cakes onto whichever cake dish was decided on.

As they were almost done with the first cake, Frey barged in with a notebook. “Here you are!” she said, then immediately got distracted by the cake. “Oo, is this for tomorrow's contest?”

“No, I'm wasting all this time and effort on a bait and switch tactic,” Lest said as a joke. “Of course it is. What are you entering?”

“Stuffed peppers, my own version,” she said. “It's too bad there isn't a demonstration portion to this contest. I might do one anyhow if I can get an assistant.”

He shrugged. “Don't look at me. I've got to be a judge as well as the town's prince, so I'll be busy all day.”

“I might be able to help if I don't have something else I'm doing at that time,” Vishnal suggested.

“Sure about that?” Lest said. “I already told you that she's terrifying as a cook.”

Meanwhile, Frey came over and took hold of the sleeve of Vishnal's uniform, surprising him. “Hmmm, is this flame retardant? I don't want to set my assistant on fire again.”

“Actually, it is,” Vishnal said, showing worry at her words. “We do have to tend the fireplaces here regularly.”

“I'll think about it. Should grab a flame resistant pin in case I do demonstrate.” Then she let go of Vishnal to grab her notebook. “But I have something important to report! I've set a teleport marker at Karnak Tower to do some study there and made some good observations.”

“Did you go out there on your own?” Vishnal asked.

“Don't worry, if I can handle going out there on my own, she can too,” Lest said.

“Well I did take Leon with me thinking he could be a help finding the right paths,” Frey said, sitting down at the work table and opening up her notebook. “Although the path was clear enough and it might've been a mistake to take him back so soon. Just putting him in proximity to the rune spring started summoning his hell gate. I managed to block it and teleport him back to town, but he clearly wasn't feeling right for a little while.”

“Is he going to be all right on his own today?” Lest asked, more worried about that then his sister adventuring on her own.

“I'm pretty sure he'll be okay, but it might help to check on him in an hour or two,” Frey said. “I gave him something to keep plenty occupied with. Now you said Darryl's ghost was insistent that he'd not made a mistake, which indicates that he probably did. I still need to look into that, but I need the corruption around Karnak Tower reduced before it can be done safely. It may turn out that the mistake was creating Rune Prana in the first place.”

“What is Rune Prana?” Lest asked, pouring batter into his crepe pan.

“It's a road into the Forest of Beginnings that a mortal should be able to walk,” she answered.

“There's really a path like that in the tower?” Vishnal asked, making sure the jam was even.

“Yes, but we can't be sure if it got completed,” Frey said, writing in some more notes. “The trouble is, while mortals should be able to travel that road without dying, there's a huge door in the way that claims it will only open to one with the capacity to change the world and that if someone unworthy gets in, they will find the road to be endless. The door has been examined before, but we're not sure what the real requirement for opening it is. Now if the existence of Rune Prana was the only problem, it might not be a pressing issue due to the door. But with the other factors in play, the door is actually leaking energy from the Forest of Beginnings.”

“Is that why there seems to be strange leaves in the area?” Lest asked. “And it doesn't sound too bad, since the rune springs draw from the forest as well.”

While flipping pages, she said, “It is bad, and yes that energy is why you sense leaves too. See, it's been known that the Forest of Beginnings is a place of purifying. It restores energy to runes from those who had died, renewing them with life. The corrupt and stagnant runes should naturally flow to the forest, in order to be purified and returned with full energy. However, this road, incomplete or not, has put cracks between the normal world and the Forest of Beginnings. This allows unpurified runes to slip back into the normal world. They don't flow as they should and drain energy from runes around them. Because of that, the buildup of corrupt runes is strongest where the most cracks are. Eventually we should see about collapsing Rune Prana and sealing up those cracks to be healed naturally.”

“But you'd need to study Rune Prana anyhow to see the safest way to collapse it,” Lest said.

“Exactly, which is why I'd like to start with what should be the easier problem to address, the remainder of Storgane's curse. That should reduce the amount of corrupt runes around, giving us a clearer picture of Rune Prana. The curse is linked into the stagnant runes, the spirit chains, the hell gates, and the hate spirits, so destroying any of that will weaken all aspects of the curse. Still, there are some unknowns here, like how many of the hate spirits are around and how strong the main portion of the curse is. And it has its own problems. Causing the rune flow to be even stronger may put stress on the cracked areas around Karnak Tower and Rune Prana. But I think that can be corrected if the hate energy is turned to love, which would strengthen the division between the areas. You just happen to be a love-aligned earthmate, so you would be best at defeating the spirit fragments like that.”

“We've talked about that before, I need a stronger presence of love runes in the community,” Lest reminded her.

“You need to get people to love you?” Vishnal asked, trying to follow along.

“Well not exactly that,” Lest said.

Frey grinned. “He does need love to be very strong around here. Look, I'm light-aligned, but if I were to go to a place heavy with darkness, even just at night, some of my power is dampened and my strongest spells come out weaker. If I were in a place heavy with light or in the daylight, then I have a much easier time casting spells. His power is boosted by love and not just of the romantic sort. The community bonds here are quite tight, but if he thinks they could be stronger, then building stronger ties all around will let him do better.”

“And if I'm fighting a hate, even an old one, I'll need the backing of a strong community,” Lest said. “You saw what happened to me when I was fighting the hate spirits last time. Love can destroy hate, but hate can also destroy love.”

“I see, so you need to tip the scales in favor of love,” Vishnal said. He smiled. “But most of the people here like you. They might not turn down an offer of help from you.”

“And even if any kind of love helps out, it wouldn't hurt to play matchmaker a few times,” Frey said teasingly. “It'd give us an excuse to dress you like a gypsy girl!”

“Hey, we discounted that last time because I can't support the illusion spells to show a lot of skin,” Lest said, while Vishnal was trying not to laugh at the idea.

“Then are you going to be the inverse messenger of love?”

“You just want to get me in a dress tomorrow, don't you?” Lest said with a smile.

“Well it worked really well last time,” she pointed out.

“If Volkanon hears about this, he's going to have a heart attack,” Vishnal said jokingly.

Lest chuckled. “Well we better be prepared then. Yes, I'll be doing the rite during the contest.”


	34. Messenger of Love (part one)

Spring 48

It was the day of the cooking contest and Frey was excited. There was a lot of fun to be had, some jokes in mind, some plans to act on, and messing with Lest. However, he usually worked on his farms first thing in the morning even on a festival day. Frey decided to take a short walk outside, to see how the decorations had fared overnight and if there was anything small she could occupy herself with. There was a cool wind but not a cloud in the sky. Before long, it would be a warm wonderful spring day.

She came across Leon doing some suspicious things around the festival decorations. Fortunately, he hadn't gone through with his offer a few days ago, instead dressing in his ceremonial (but still shirtless) priest attire. “Up to no good this early?” Frey called teasingly.

“What else would I be doing?” he asked back. “And you?”

She skipped a little, patting the bag at her side. “What else? This is going to be a fun day!”

He smirked. “Good to hear. Think we can accomplish our goal with Lest?”

“Sure, although my goal might be different than yours,” Frey said with a grin. “See ya!”

“Keep it interesting,” Leon replied, waving.

Back in the castle, Frey stopped by the center area to check with Ventuswill. “Good morning!” she said on seeing that the dragon was awake. “How are things looking?”

“They're just about done setting up in the plaza, so the entries should start coming in shortly. Plus there's what you two have up your sleeves.” Venti giggled. “I'm looking forward to this day.”

Frey grinned. “Great, I am too! How's Volkanon doing with it now?”

“He's still not thrilled about it, but I think he's accepted that he's not going to stop this from happening,” she said. “Be sure to have Lest show off for me before things get going.”

“I'm sure he will; I'm off to help him out, see ya!” She waved even though she wasn't going far.

That amused Ventuswill. “See ya! Oh, and Doomgale wanted me to teach her how to speak like humans better. I might teach her a few other things, do you mind?”

“No, that'll be great,” Frey said. “Good to know you two are getting along.”

“She's an ambitious little ball of energy,” Venti said fondly. “As much as I like humans, elves, dwarves, and all, it's still nice to be speaking to another dragon again. What about your other dragon? I don't see him around often.”

“He's not fond of places busy with humans,” she said. “We actually scare him, although he acts tough like he isn't. He's warmed up to me after a lot of effort.”

“I can understand that,” she said. “Maybe when the rune springs are all in place, I'll have the energy to fly over and visit with him too.” She glanced over at the royal wing. “Lest is coming in, you'd better head off.”

“Sure, I'll let Flareson know you think of him too,” Frey said. She headed off into the royal wing and spotted her brother setting his tools away. “Yoohoo, Leslie!” she called down the hall.

“Heya Freya!” he said, waving her into the bedroom. Once in there, they found Clorica already there setting up a light breakfast. “I've got to wash up first; would you set the clothes in the bathroom?”

“Sure, but first, you gotta see it,” Frey said, taking the dress out of her bag. It was a bright yellow with lots of ribbon rosettes in many colors; they were on the collar and chest area, the edges of the short puffed sleeves, and in a cluster pattern along the skirt's lower quarter below the knee. She'd also brought a dark green belt that looked like a vine with leaves and a larger silk rose in red. “Ta-da!”

“Wow, that's pretty,” Clorica said, looking like she might consider wearing it if she didn't have to wear her uniform.

“When were you planning on wearing that one?” Lest asked.

“I thought it'd be cute for a party or for a change of pace,” she said. “Would've worn it today, but it'd be so much more fun on you.”

“I think the chances are good you mostly bought it for me to wear,” he countered, making her laugh. It was a little true. “Put it in there, my hands are dirty.”

“All right,” Frey said, going in to hang it away from the shower booth. He already had some of the other pieces needed to make this convincing in there, so she put the belt in as well to leave the choice in other accessories to him.

Once he was in the shower with the door closed, Clorica asked, “Does he do this often? He showed up in a skirt, but that was for... some other reason.”

“Trying to shake off some pursuers, I remember that from his letters,” Frey said. “Nah, he mostly does this on special occasions or when we want to play a really good prank on somebody. It wouldn't be nearly as fun for us if he cross-dressed often, because people would start expecting it.”

She nodded. “I see, like anybody else who wears costumes.” Then she smiled. “It'll certainly make things more memorable.”

“Just wait until he gets into the act, it's going to be loads of fun,” Frey said. “Oh hey, do you know about hate spirits in this area?”

“Hate spirits?”

“Right, like what he fought in the orchard that one time.”

Her eyes brightened in recognition. “Oh right, that time. I have seen one before that, back when I was just starting my training. Volkanon sent me down to the second level of the basement to find something.” She put her hand to her cheek. “I don't remember what it was now, but I had trouble finding it and wondered if it was in the third basement. So I headed down and found that level to be disordered and abandoned. Not just that, but something didn't feel right in the very air. Then one of them came out of the wall and looked at me. It was just like a dragon's skull, all black except for red eyes, and I felt like it despised me entirely.” Shivering at the memory, she added, “I ran back up as fast as I could and still get nervous around the entrance to that basement level. Volkanon tells me that they only show up down there unless drawn out, and they are best left alone.”

“Yeah, they'd be capable of casting curses even if they are remnants of a curse themselves,” Frey said. “I should go down there with Lest sometime and check them out in person. They're something we need to get rid of.”

“Be careful doing that,” Clorica said.

They talked some more until Lest came out of the bathroom wearing the dress, belt, a cherry grass flower cluster in his hair, and even stockings and white shoes. The underclothes he had chosen gave him a more feminine profile in the dress. While not that busty, they'd figured last year that it was easier to pull off a convincing look this way. “You have the make-up with you?”

“Of course,” Frey said, handing the kit to him. “Need my help?”

“Maybe with the finer things,” he said, using a vanity desk in the room to start on the powder foundation.

“Looks pretty good already,” Clorica said, having fun.

“Well I've naturally got a gender neutral kind of look, so we just have to put in a few more hints of femininity here,” Lest said, playful now that he was dressed up cute.

“And use makeup that's easy touch up so he doesn't show shadows later in the day,” Frey added.

“I shaved really well,” he said with a smile. “But yes, just in case. And wait until you can see our Dad; he's far better than me.”

At eight o'clock, they entered Ventuswill's chamber again. Volkanon happened to be in there and immediately face palmed when he saw that Lest had gone for doing the ritual. On the other hand, Venti was pleased. “Good morning!” she said, leaning over and nudging Lest. “Oh my, don't you look too adorable? I could just eat you right up.”

“Thanks Lady Ventuswill,” Lest said happily, patting her snout. “Although I'd rather stick around for the ritual.”

She chuckled. “Of course. It's all for the sake of Selphia's happiness and future.”

“I won't deny that it's fun too, but yes, that's why,” Lest said.

“I admire the drive to help Selphia flourish,” Volkanon said. “But I'm still not sure this is proper decorum for a prince.”

He shrugged. “Well I'm not a proper traditional prince in the first place. As long as most people in Selphia don't mind, I don't think it'll be a big problem.”

“Most everyone is out in the plaza unless they're still cooking,” Ventuswill said. “You can go find out. Besides, I still approve of him as the prince and my word as the divine wind is final.”

“Geez, just abuse your position,” Lest said jokingly.

“You should do your prayer as the messenger first,” Frey reminded him.

“Right, the thing that makes this work.” He clasped his hands at his chest and closed his eyes in a silent prayer.

“People know about it now,” Clorica said. “Most of the guys weren’t brave enough to really do it, or it just wouldn’t work in Leon’s case.”

“I hope that other regions don’t look down on us for it,” Volkanon said.

While Clorica was trying to assure Volkanon that it was not that big of a deal, Frey noticed something around Lest. Last year not much had happened during the prayer part. This year, his runes became charged with energy. She had thought this was mainly psychological, a little push towards what people were thinking about doing anyhow. But could there be a real version of this ritual, with a real divine blessing? The couples who had married as a result of Lest’s last performance had been headed in that direction already. What was going to happen this year?

Ventuswill noticed too. When Lest came out of the prayer, she said, “This seems to be working remarkably well.”

“Yeah, you could be a real living love charm now,” Frey said, excited at the thought.

“I felt something shift,” he said, looking at his hand, most likely at the runes. Then he grinned. “Let’s go see what comes of this.”

“Yeah, let’s go!” Frey said, heading out the main door with him.

And Ventuswill was right. A lot of their neighbors were out here already. Close to the entrance of the servants’ wing, there was a long table and several display cases for the contest entries. Booths for various activities had been set up here in the plaza to add more things to see and do than just in the regular marketplace. Because it was the height of the flower viewing season, petals blew through on the wind and flowers were everywhere. There were even guided tours out into Yokmir Woods available now that Ambrosia was no longer a worry. Local escorts were still required in case of monsters, but several had volunteered for the role today.

Xiao happened to see them first. “Aa, Lest?!” she called, getting attention through the plaza, “You actually went for the ritual?”

Laughing, Lest gave a curtsy. “Yes, I have come to ye as a messenger of the goddess of love! I may know some secrets to finding love for today, but you’ll have to try catching me alone to see if there’s a secret for you. But I’ll only know them today, so good luck to any seekers of love.”

“You’re so lovely today,” Lin Fa said, starting to laugh. And it seemed like Volkanon would be in a small minority of those who didn’t approve.

* * *

 

After some jesting around with people in the plaza, Lest headed back inside the castle to pick up his two cakes to enter in the contest. This was where the first person caught him. Surprisingly, it was Amber, giving him a hug from behind as he walked into the kitchen. “Gotcha!”

He gave a momentary gasp; she had a surprising strength for her slender frame. Then he patted her hand. “Yes, you did. Good job, Amber.”

She laughed and skipped to his side. “But what are you doing wearing a dress today? Dolly said that only girls wear dresses, although you look a lot like a girl right now. Are you a girl?”

“No, I’m a guy,” he said. “Don’t you remember the story from the other night, about the messenger of love?”

“Oh yeah!” she said, causing her antenna to lift off her hair. “So you’re going to help people find their true love?”

“I hope so,” Lest said. “What about you? Are you hoping to find your true love?”

“Um, maybe?” Amber clasped her hands together, then twirled around. “I mean, you’re a shining prince but you turned out to probably not be my shining prince, but you could help me find my fairy tale prince?”

“I might,” Lest said, feeling a prod in his mind. It was strange, but this year was different from last. There were odd ideas floating in his mind but he was pretty sure he wasn’t ill or imagining things. “You may find the story different than you imagine, the challenge harder than it looks. But if you follow your heart and don’t give up, you might find your true love in a prince no one else recognizes. You can be the sunshine for someone waiting for the end of night.”

“Yeah, that’d be great!” Amber said, happy with that.

She nearly ran off, but he managed to grab her hand in time. “I’d better make sure you have a blessing of love,” he said, then kissed her hand. “Don’t go scaring your guy.”

“I wouldn’t scare anybody,” she said, then took off.

Lest chuckled, then picked up his display cake in its crystal glass holder. While it needed some care, the judging cake was in an easier to carry and more secure holder. His shoes were flat so he shouldn’t have trouble getting to the table outside. He still had to watch the crystal holder carefully.

Vishnal spotted him in the hall and came over. “Let me get one of those,” he said. “You probably need two hands on the crystal.”

“Yeah, that’d be easier, thanks,” Lest said, handing him the judging cake so he could secure the other one.

Unfortunately, Volkanon was in the main hall once they came from the kitchen, so there was no real chance to chat with Vishnal there. But Vishnal did say, “You turned out surprisingly well for a girl. I mean, I can tell you’re you, but you also look like you really should be a girl.”

“That’s what I was going for,” Lest said. “Now I just have to make a game of pulling off my official duties and this messenger ritual.”

“We can help you on the official stuff at least,” Vishnal said.

His stack cake was the first entry of the day in the dessert category, although a few dishes were already in for the other two. It was still early as the deadline was ten-thirty. While he was signing the last line of his entry form, Frey came back with Leon not far behind her. Seeing them, Lest had a sense of mischief from them. It didn’t surprise him, but if the two of them were working together, it could be tricky to avoid stepping into whatever they had in mind.

“Looking cute today, lover boy,” Leon said with a wink once he was sure Lest was looking his way. “Trying to steal some kisses around town?”

“From those who come looking,” Lest said. “What are you two doing together?”

“We’re dating,” both of them said, then stared at each other in shock.

Behind the registration counter, Dolce raised an eyebrow at them. Lest had a hard time not grinning at their simultaneous attempt at a joke. Instead, he straightened up. “Really? I don’t know if I can approve. I mean, in you two we’ve got trouble plus trouble and that can only end up in loads of disturbances to the peace.”

“I think your math’s off as usual,” Frey said, setting a box of her stuffed peppers on the table and trying not to look embarrassed.

“Have you got a warning label on those?” Lest asked, not seeing one immediately.

“The name should say everything,” she said, pointing out that she was calling them ‘Dragonfire Stuffed Peppers’.

“They might think you just cooked them with Flareson,” he pointed out.

“Aw, do you have to ruin a perfectly good opportunity?” Leon asked. He didn’t seem to have an entry for this.

“Having tried what she thinks isn’t spicy, I’d rather spare an unsuspecting soul the torment,” Lest said.

“Fine, if you’re going to play my conscious, I’ll mark it spicy,” Frey said.

“Hey guys,” Kiel said, bringing two containers with him. “How’s the contest looking?”

Lest pointed his pen towards Frey and Leon. “Looks good, but I just found out that these two are dating.”

“Really?” Kiel asked with a smile. “That’s great!”

“Well it’s,” Leon started to say it was just a joke, not real.

“They both said it at the same time, so it must have some merit,” Dolce said, putting Lest's display cake in the dessert case nearby.

Leon stepped over to Lest and prodded his shoulder. “You may have won the opening round, but this war is far from over.”

“Coordinate with your sweetheart better and you might have a chance,” Lest said.

He then went off to check on the booth activities and see if anyone would try to get him to follow them elsewhere. There were some people he did want to speak with today. But maybe someone would surprise him too.

* * *

 

Blossom was looking forward to the festivities, but Doug thought this would be boring aside from a possible chance at eating various foods from this contest. He wasn’t interested in cooking or going to look at flowers. At best, he might find something interesting in the sales booths and the weather was nice. He was currently waiting on Blossom to finish up her entry for the entrée contest. Doug thought she could do well in the dessert contest, but as she said, there were too many known greats in town entering that part.

The door jangled. As the store was open for the morning, Doug went to the counter and saw who it was, Prince Lest. Except that he was wearing a flowery dress today and looked so much like a girl that Doug was left wondering if he’d mistaken a girl for the prince. “Welcome, can I help you?” he said, trying to figure the puzzle out.

His voice was Lest’s, almost enough to convince him. “Hello, I was just wondering if you had some of those clothes cleaning pens still in. Leon’s declared a prank war and I’ll probably need it today as a result. And a few other items, I should at least mount one counterattack.”

“Yeah, there should be several left,” Doug said, looking over at the display box. “And… you’re really Lest?”

He smiled as he went to get the cleaning pen. “Yes, I’m being the messenger of love today. Are you interested in finding your true love?”

“Not enough to go kissing you for,” he said, feeling part disgusted, part curious, and part embarrassed that Lest managed to look attractive as a girl.

“I’m the one who goes around kissing others,” Lest said. “Though if you don’t want to, that’s fine. Just remember, holding hate will continue to hurt you while holding love will eventually heal you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Doug asked sharply.

“It’s just general advice to go with my role,” he said, coming over with two of the cleaning pens.

Doug gave him the price on the pens and sold them to him without saying anything more than needed. It was just silly feel good advice that didn’t amount to much beyond sounding nice. At least he’d run into Lest early in the day. Now he had another reason to stick with the store all day in hopes some tourists or residents would need to buy something. It would help him avoid Lest.

Not long after Lest left, another person came in. It was one of the guardians, the butterfly girl. As someone who had that strong of a bond to Ventuswill, Doug wasn't how to feel about her. But as a resident of the nearby florist shop, he knew that her name was Amber. He put on the ‘be nice to customers’ smile and nodded. “Hey Amber, welcome.”

“Hi Doug!” she said cheerily, flying right to him.

Feeling unnerved by that, he asked, “Well, looking for anything today?”

She smiled broadly. “Yeah, you!” Then she launched forward and hugged him.

Not only was he startled into a fright, he ended up hit in the face with her chest and knocked over, making her crash land on him. “Ow, hey watch it!” he said once he managed to get her pushed off some.

“Whoops, were you not ready for a hug tackle?” Amber said, looking at him in worry.

“Why would you hug tackle someone in the first place?” Doug asked, trying to push her away further. This was so undignified.

“Because I like them,” she said with apparent sincerity. “I used to have hug wars with my fairy friends all the time. You should try it!”

“No thanks,” he said. Finally, she got the hint and hopped off him, letting him get back up and make sure his clothes were straight. He hoped no one had seen that.

Unfortunately, there was a laugh behind him. Blossom had seen it. “Better to have a hugging war than any other kind of war,” she said in amusement.

“I’d rather no wars whatsoever,” Doug said, embarrassed and trying not to show it.

“Hey Doug, you should come out with me and see the festivities outside!” Amber said, eager and hopeful. “There’s lots and lots of flowers and decorations, and the food in the contest looks so yummy. They’re going to let people sample them at lunch, but you gotta be there to try!”

That did sound good. The trying free samples of contest dishes part, not hanging out with this fairy girl part. “I’m all right without it, since I’ll be looking after the store today.”

Amber pouted. “Aw, why be a bore inside when there’s so much fun and a great spring day out there? Besides, I wanted to have fun with you. Blossom said you didn’t have a lot of friends here so I want to be your friend.”

“It’s no big deal,” he said. He had a few friends, as well as some possible plans if Sven was up to it. And if he could somehow get a ride on an airship at a later date.

“Go ahead and have some fun,” Granny said warmly. “We’ll be okay with shorter hours today. It’s more of a waste to not take advantage of your youth.”

From that point, it didn’t matter how much he argued against them. The combination of Blossom and Amber urging him to go out and have fun was too much and Doug eventually gave in. ‘What am I getting myself into?’ he wondered as Amber grabbed his hand and pulled him outside.

* * *

 

The judging was being done in the hallway of the servant’s area. As it was time to review the entree category, Lest came in from chatting with people to test the dishes. His role as the messenger was going nicely. Besides Amber, he’d managed to meet up with Margaret, Kiel, Arthur, Forte, Clorica, and Vishnal just in the first couple of hours. He’d learned interesting things from them too, like some already had their eye on someone else but had yet to speak up about it. Lest hoped that his words and this power as a living love charm encouraged them to be bolder.

Past the messenger role, his sister and Leon were definitely up to something. They were following after him. While they kept out of the way if he was acting as the messenger thankfully, any time he got near the main street on the west side of town, they were just in sight watching for him. Lest sometimes wondered if it was worth tripping whatever trap they had in mind just to see what they were doing. He’d already checked over the dress and the accessories Frey had given him just in case.

But the servant hall seemed safe and he had judging to do. Porcoline and Dolce were both helping him out with the judging in this category. While it was easy to tell what Porco was thinking by the happy sounds he was making, this part of the judging was silent. They were tasting each dish and grading them on forms. After all were tried, they’d discuss what they thought and figure out a review to make as well as placements.

He now had the last entry on his list, which was a salad made of various greens, flower petals, rose hips, apples, and strawberries, then given a dressing of honey and orange juice, and finally topped with a garnish of candied rose petals. It was definitely colorful and interesting, although the unusual combination didn’t seem fully thought out. Noticing that the cook was Amber, it wouldn’t surprise him if she’d simply tossed together a bunch of salad items she liked individually to make this. Plus it didn’t seem much like an entrée that one would build a meal around, more like a different side dish. But he’d give her the benefit of the doubt because he couldn’t deny having the occasional meal simply be a salad of fresh garden greens.

After writing his notes, he checked on the other judges. Porcoline was wandering around, looking at all the dishes and deep in thought. Or maybe just savoring the memory of flavor; how long would he hold back on eating more? Dolce was standing partly in Clorica's office, reviewing her notes. Meanwhile, Pico was twirling around in place between all the tables. When she crossed eyes with Lest, the ghost grinned, then tilted her head over to Dolce before running off towards Venti's room. Porco saw that too and smiled, turning back to the spread of entries with what seemed an almost serious studious look. Lest chuckled softly, then headed over to where Dolce was.

“Your dress is entirely too bright,” she said on seeing him nearby.

“Compared to what you always wear, it is rather loud,” Lest said. “Still cute.”

“Can't believe you have no restraint in saying that,” she said.

“Times change,” he said, going into the office and waving an invitation to her. “Were you interested in finding love?”

She immediately tensed in discomfort, although her runes betrayed a wish to go along with it. “Not particularly,” she said. “My last relationship was broken off a couple of weeks before I became a guardian, so it really isn't all that long ago to me.”

“You don't seem too hurt about it,” he pointed out.

“He turned out to be a jerk,” Dolce said, a mild annoyance in her words. It was definitely something that was nearly healed.

Lest nodded. “It happens. You can remember the past, but don't get restrained by it.”

“What would you know about it?” she said defensively, bringing an arm up in front of her.

“I have my own past, just not so far in the past as you,” he said. “Are you interested in at least a fortune?”

She was torn for a moment, then Pico must have done something. Maybe sent her a thought. Dolce glowered out the door, but no one was technically watching. “I guess,” she said.

Lest smiled, stepped a little closer to her. “New bonds will form unexpectedly in coming days, leading to several friendships if you're willing to be open. Be assertive to blend old and new, as it may lead you to an unexpected place. While love may come towards you, you will need to go towards it even if it means being bold.”

“I wouldn't want to behave in an immoral manner,” Dolce said, indignant at the suggestion.

“I don't mean that,” he said. “Courtship rules have changed. I hope it works out for you.” He then took her hand and kissed it.

She seemed pleasantly surprised at that action. “I see, that's how you're keeping this respectful.”

“Of course, anything closer is being saved for one I love,” Lest said with a grin. “Come on, we'd better start talking about the contest before Porcoline goes finishing off everything.”

“Right,” Dolce said, heading back into the hall with him.


	35. Messenger of Love (part two)

Spring 48

It was a festival day, but the town still needed to be patrolled for safety. Sven had some chain mail now, a little loose on him but not enough to be dangerous. While he'd been given a long sword to use, it didn't feel right in his hands and he suspected it wasn't a good weapon. He was carrying the Executioner's scythe today. It was a better weapon that he was used to, even if handling it often reminded him of cruel scenes.

Trying to focus on the festivities and flowers, he spotted Lest on the main western street, looking around as if he suspected something. It was a mind-bending thing to see the prince dressed up to look like a girl, even to the point of some make-up that made him rather attractive (not that Sven would admit it out loud). But he had said it was for the good of the community, trying to forge new bonds among the residents. Once he got over the shock of it, Sven found he didn't mind the cross-dressing that much. He just wouldn't be doing it himself.

“Is something wrong?” Sven asked, approaching him.

“Sort of, but it doesn't necessarily need you or Forte,” Lest said. “My sister and Leon are out to prank me and this area is most suspect from their actions. Whatever they've got is well hidden. Or possibly a ruse to make me worry over nothing. That's a potential prank itself.”

That explained something he'd noticed earlier. “Is that it? I found a small catapult linked to a barely visible pressure plate on the pavement here, along with a piece of paper marked with some kind of rune. Like it was meant to get attention and whoever went to check the paper out would step on the pressure plate.”

Looking impressed, Lest turned to him. “Really? What did you do with it?”

Sven nodded. “I dismantled the device in case it troubled a visitor. But then the catapult turned out to be loaded with a strange egg shell. Its insides had been taken out while barely damaging the shell and something of magical power was inside. I couldn't identify it, so I took it to your office and made sure it was safely unloaded.”

Lest chuckled. “Nice, thank you. They probably meant for paper to attract my attention knowing my talents, with something amusing in the egg shell. I'll examine it soon.”

“And turn it on them?” Sven asked, smiling.

He put a finger to his lips. “Quite possibly, so keep that to yourself.” He then looked down the street and back at him. “Well you've caught me alone, interestingly enough. Are you interested in your fortune in love?”

His face got warm at that. “Um, I'm not sure I deserve it.”

“Love doesn't care what you deserve,” he said, leaning towards him. “Would you want to fall in love and be loved in return?”

“If they would accept me, yes,” he said, feeling like he'd be too embarrassed say it to anyone but Lest. Maybe Doug.

“Show trust to receive trust,” Lest said, his voice softer as if someone might still overhear them. “Show concern to receive concern. Show love to receive love. Remembering this will help you forge many bonds here, not just those of love. Your heart may be in a lot of pain right now due to what you lived through, but there will come a moment where you find peace with someone. Don't try to rationalize it, go with the flow and love will be yours.” Then he took Sven's hand and kissed it. “Good luck, Sven.”

“Um, thank you,” he said. Someone who could give him peace... he hoped he'd find that person soon.

Continuing on with his patrol, he came across an amusing scene. He was getting the hang of names, but he knew Vishnal and Kiel well because they were close friends of Doug. The three guys were in the plaza talking with each other, with the amusing part being Amber clinging to Doug from behind and resting her chin on his head. Just in a glance, he could tell that Doug was trying very hard to ignore her. “Hey Sven, still working today?” he asked.

“You nearly kept working today,” Amber said, giving him a poke on the shoulder.

Sven smiled. “Yes, but I'm still enjoying the festivities. Your date seems very clingy.”

“She's got his back,” Kiel said with a chuckle.

“Yup!” Amber beamed with delight.

“She's not really my date,” Doug said. “It's more like I'm getting dragged around by her.”

“Sounds like a date to me,” Vishnal said, enjoying the silliness.

“I don't think so,” Doug said, stubbornly not taking it even in silliness. “We're hanging around right now to see and taste the results of the contest. I heard there's a flower themed dessert in it.”

“What, really?” Amber asked, then darted off immediately to the dessert display case.

Sven and the others laughed. “Why'd you make yourself lose your date?” he asked.

“I'm sure she'll be back,” he said. “Actually, with you here and her not, there's been something I've been wanting to do for a few weeks.” His mood shifted quickly to something serious. “Would you want to come with me back to Medritarc for a few hours? Been meaning to go take care of the memorial but things kept getting in the way.”

Going back... the idea gave him a feeling of dread. Could he revisit that scene? But then if he said no, he'd have to explain why. “I, I haven't been there in years, it'd be...”

“I know, but need to respect family and old friends,” Doug said.

“Were you two from there?” Kiel asked, sad in sympathy. He must have known the town was gone, and it seemed Vishnal knew about it too. Just maybe not them being from there.

Doug tried to smile, but it was painfully fake. “Eh-heh, yeah, that's where we grew up, and why I never wanted to talk about it.”

“I'll go back with you,” Sven said, a little reluctant but one thought made up his mind. “If only to say goodbye to our parents, since I haven't had the chance too.”

“Good, although the main trouble is getting a ride on an airship over and back,” Doug said.

He nodded; it'd at least give him some time to let it sink in that he was going back. “Yeah, some visitors have worried about running into the warship, even though the air reports are clear.”

“The royal airship is back in flying shape,” Vishnal said. “I'd have to ask for permission to borrow it from Lest and for a day off, but I have the license to fly it.”

“Thanks, that'd help out a lot,” Doug said. “Just remember I can't go on a Tuesday or Thursday due to working at the store.”

“I'll check about it tomorrow since Lest is busy,” he said.

“Do you mind if I came too?” Kiel asked. “I'd like to be there for you guys, if that's okay.”

“Sure, I don't mind that,” Doug said, glancing at him.

“It's fine,” Sven said, knowing that Kiel was a nice guy. “Is that why you waited until Amber was distracted?”

“Yeah, she's so excitable that I didn't want to mention it around her,” Doug said.

“Speaking of her,” Kiel said, trying to subtly point towards the castle entrance.

This gave Doug time to notice that Amber was flying right for him and step aside before she crashed into him. “Aw, why'd you dodge my hug?” she asked, turning in mid-air.

“Because you knocked me over with the last one,” Doug said.

She immediately smiled. “You moved nicely! Come on, let's dance!” She then grabbed his arms and tried to pull him into dancing.

“Whoa, watch it!” Doug said as he got pulled in a part circle.

“So why's she latched on to him today?” Kiel asked.

“No clue,” Vishnal said, smiling at the scene.

Sven had some idea. “I haven't known her long, but I had to listen to her talking for several hours straight. She latches onto questions and won't give them up until she's satisfied with the answer or distracted with something else. Probably the same kind of thing here.”

* * *

 

It was almost time for the contest results to be announced. Dylas felt nervous even though he was sure he didn't stand a chance of winning. When the announcement had first come around, he hadn't planned on entering. He'd barely started learning, with every evening lesson being something new. But Porco had somehow talked him into entering something. It was only the third complete dish Dylas had put together, the first two being practice for this. Still, he hoped the judges had at least liked the cinnamon raisin bread he'd put into the general category.

While waiting around, he glanced into the castle windows and noticed that Lest was in his office, somehow alone in spite of the ritual going on today. He wondered if someone was going to go in after him, then if he should try that himself. He had a hard enough time making friends that he didn't want to even think of love. But, could this ritual really work, even for him?

No one seemed to be heading in the castle, so Dylas decided to try anyhow. Going in the parlor door, he was able to go straight into the office. He'd already seen Lest today, so he knew that he looked unexpectedly amazing as a girl... not that he'd say so, that'd sound perverted. Now that he was closer, he noticed something else. Frey had lent him a book that made him realize that he'd been seeing runes for much of his life, like how he saw extra shimmers around the old fountain or the radiance surrounding a loving couple. He didn't know a lot of them, but he did see that Lest's runes were really active today. Like expecting a sleepy Wooly and running into a hyper Shmooly instead.

“Is this ritual supposed to make you change like this?” Dylas asked.

Lest paused in examining a hair brush. “Hmm? Oh, hi Dylas. It's strange, but it didn't make me change so much last year. This year, it's like some new magic has awakened. I'm pretty sure it's temporary, just for today.” He set the brush down. “Like I kind of know what I'm going to say, but at the same time I don't know exactly what will come out. Like you,” he stared off at a wall for some reason.

“Are you okay?” Dylas asked, walking over to him.

“It's a benevolent possession, one I asked for. I'll be all right, but I'll definitely be giving second thoughts to doing this again even if I have no problem wearing a dress.”

“You don't?” he asked, his eyes wide. How could he have no problems? Wouldn't he have been teased horribly?

Lest smiled and looked back at him. “I learned from my father.”

His jaw dropped at that. “S-seriously?” And why did he keep thinking of complimenting him on it? That was too weird.

Nodding, he said, “Yes. But I don't do this often, it's more fun on rare occasions for me. Well you have me alone, so, mind if I kiss your hand for luck?”

“Um, ye-yeah, that's what's supposed to happen,” Dylas said, his face getting warm as he held out his hand.

Lest kissed his hand, and then the different runes vibrated through him briefly. “Your mind is often too noisy. Take heed of when things quiet down and pursue that quiet to better hear the voice of your heart. Nothing will change if you don't take a step towards making change. Start talking and listening, as it will open doors you don't expect.”

“Easier said than done and I can hardly say it,” Dylas said, although he still wondered about the activity of Lest's runes.

“Well you just did, so maybe it's easier than you think,” Lest said, as himself this time. Dylas felt pretty sure of that.

“You don't seem to have much trouble,” he said, not sure where he wanted to go with this. Asking Lest for help? But he was busy as the ruling prince, he would hardly agree to it.

“Why don't you start talking to me more often?” Lest said, as if he was reading his mind. “See what I do and if you can follow along. Oh, and since you are here, would you mind helping me with something special?”

Special? Dylas was curious. “Sure, what is it?” Then he became worried about what he might ask while wearing a dress; it could be something weird.

It was weird, but not in that way. Lest pointed out a small catapult that he had on a shelf. “Leon set this up as a prank outside trying to get me with it, but someone else managed to dismantle it without triggering the catapult. It's holding an eggshell that had been emptied and replaced with an enchanted powder that would have hit the target with lots of static. To make sure it got me, he put the trigger out of the way but near an odd rune marking that would have gotten my attention.”

“That sounds complicated for just a prank,” Dylas said, wondering why Leon would take all this time just to give Lest a shock.

“It's what he started with, so I might be seeing even more complicated pranks in the future,” Lest said. “Can you set up a minor static charge with your magic? You're good with lightning, so if you could get my hair with some static so it looks like I got hit, that'll help me counter him.”

“Then that's why you've got it set up there, to try making him walk into his own trap?” Dylas asked. Leon was important too, like a brother he'd not had. Even so, the thought made him grin. “Yeah, I think I can. Could I see it?”

Lest chuckled. “He's out in the plaza, so we don't have long. It's gonna be good.”

He'd practiced the lightning spell a few times, during which he messed up sometimes and just got a strong static charge in himself that tended to zap the next person or item he touched. Dylas managed to call on just the charge, then run his hand a few inches from Lest's hair. Immediately, it flew out towards his hand. He accidentally zapped Lest lightly, but he seemed fine with that as it added to the effect. Then Lest called on Vishnal, asking him to lure Leon into the office. On hearing it was a prank, he agreed with a smile and went back out while Lest and Dylas made sure the catapult was set. Dylas had to crouch down by the desk so he wasn't as obvious while Lest stepped over the trigger and went out into the parlor.

After hearing Leon's laugh in the parlor, Lest called over, “Then it was you.”

“I only regret that I wasn't there to see it,” Leon said.

“Yeah, I should have kept away once I noticed you two kept hanging out over there.” He came back into the office, not stepping on the trigger yet managing to do so without apparent effort.

“You aren't going to hold it against me now that I've got you alone?” Leon said, almost getting into the office.

“No, I won't hold back the ritual just for a prank. But get in here; people are more likely to see in there.”

“You just...” he stepped right onto the trigger and activated the catapult, causing the eggshell to smash to pieces on his arm. There was a loud snap and a blue flash, nothing painful but enough to surprise and cause fly away hairs. However, Leon had a lot more hair than Lest, thicker too. It fluffed right out into a huge mane, even in his tail. His eyes went wide as he recognized his own trap.

Unable to help himself, Dylas burst out laughing, getting up with his hand on the desk. “You walked right into that one,” Lest said, grinning.

Leon had his mouth open for a second, then pointed at Lest. “You are really going to get it now. Somehow.” It just made Dylas laugh harder and Lest start to laugh.

“Lest, we really need to,” Volkanon started calling loudly, but then he caught sight of Leon. “Good lord, what's going on here?”

Trying to smooth out the mess, Leon ran his hand down his head and got a series of crackles for his effort. “He's winning the prank war,” he said in a pouting voice.

“We turned him from a fox to a lion,” Lest said, disconnecting the tube from the trigger plate to the catapult. “Yes, we should get to announcing the winners.”

“Although you put it that way, it's almost an upgrade,” Leon said, snatching the brush Lest had left on the desk.

Back outside, Lest's hair was still a little messy but that was barely noticeable with Leon's fluffed up hair around. The general category was first and to his surprise, Dylas managed to get third place with two unfamiliar names taking the other spots. While he was looking over the white ribbon he'd gotten, Arthur surprised him by saying, “Great work, especially for not having your cooking license yet.”

“Yeah, seems like there were several nice looking dishes in that group,” Margaret said, giving him a hug.

Which startled him; he knew her because she was in the restaurant a lot, but it didn't seem like enough for a hug. “Thanks, I guess, but could you let me go?”

“Oh, sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you,” Margaret said with a smile, but did step back.

“I knew it, you're a natural,” Porco said, gripping his arm. “And those two ladies who placed ahead of you? I happen to know that they're regulars in cooking contests all over Norad, so they've done this for years. So have a couple others in that category, so that's really good for a beginner.”

“W-well it's not like you gave me a hard one to try,” Dylas said, embarrassed at all the attention. But still happy about it. “Once you explained what all the terms meant, that was simple. So it was mostly with your help.” It was even in the description, a quick bread that didn't need kneading, raising, or other processes he had yet to learn about.

“Then we'll see if we can get you a first place win next time around,” Porco said.

He could be recognized as good in more than just one thing. And it wasn't a question in his mind, but a hope. Dylas smiled; yeah, hope for the future. “I'll give it a try.”

* * *

 

Blossom had won in the entree category with a sausage spinach pie that had been really good, while Clorica won unexpectedly in the dessert category with her coconut cake. Still, Lest had third place with his jam stack cake which suited him fine. He ended up talking with the others in that category during the open tasting, exchanging recipes and compliments. It was all good.

To get the last few locals he'd yet to be caught by as an oracle, Lest left the sampling early and thought over where to head next. As a festive day, the rune flow was quite active and varied. He barely sensed Leon waiting for him in a doorway, so decided to give him a freebie and kept his eyes off that place. As a result, he got snatched and pulled into the parlor. “Gotcha.”

“Again,” Lest said.

Leon put his finger on Lest's lips. “I'll accept you as the prank winner today, but only because we got to hear Dylas laugh like that. That was worth looking like a pom pom flower for. Also if you manage to do your thing without us getting caught.”

“If we do, it's your doing for picking a public room like this,” Lest pointed out while bringing those thoughts to mind. They could get lucky, as the runes showed no one was walking towards the parlor just now. So he grabbed Leon's hand and kissed it. “It's admirable that you've been strong out of love for others, but the love of your life will be there for you when you're weak. There's no way to get back to what could have been even if you want to know what was. Don't lose what could be now for what once was, or because you think you must stay strong.”

“That seems general, and yet,” Leon frowned, skeptical of it. Some of it was due to the words striking chords he didn't want to accept.

“I'm an oracle today because I speak the words of the gods,” Lest said. “But it would take someone else to interpret them. Although it seems like most I've spoken to could tell how, or would know in the near future.”

“Is that so?” He let him go, apparently needing to think about that. Although he wasn't going to give up on his prankish goal. “Right, so you might have won today, but I'll get the better of you before long.”

“Starting rumors that we're dating not enough for you?” he said teasingly.

“Not in the least.”

* * *

 

This day had been a lot more fun than other days of studying and learning to work in a flower shop. Amber liked the part about growing flowers and learning more about them. After all, Lumie seemed like she might know even more about them than Heather had. But the parts about learning money, recording sales, keeping good manners, and even using special items to eat? That could get boring, hard to figure out what kind of sense that made.

But this contest festival was all fun! She got to make new friends, eat yummy food (there weren't many flowers, but lots of it was yummy), dance, sing, and see all kinds of interesting things. Like Lest wearing a dress, which was apparently really weird even if Amber thought he looked pretty. Or like someone who was selling a whole bunch of pretty shiny stones. That was really weird because who sold stones no matter how pretty they were? She could understand flowers since she felt they were valuable, but stones were stones. Apparently in civilized places, just about everything was sold and bought in some manner.

At least there was enough to do that she could put civilized living out of mind for a bit. That even included just sitting around as Doug had gotten tired from dancing. Amber gave him the vegetable smoothie he asked for. “Here you go. Thanks for helping me remember which paper money was which. I thought I had the cost figured out, but then there was that sneaky invisible tax fee that made it more than the number in my head. But I got the paying right and the right bits back.” She smiled, proud of that.

“You're welcome,” he said, slouched in the bench. “Did you really not use money before?”

“Nope, not once before I met Lumie,” Amber said, then took a sip of her fruit smoothie. It was just as delicious as it smelled: fruity, creamy, and sweet. “Fairies don't use money.”

“Then what did you do when you want to get something?' he asked, looking at her curiously.

“Go find it yourself,” she said with a nod. “It's important to be independent. Oh, but if another fairy had something you wanted, you had to get the other fairy to give it to you somehow. Usually I made friends with them and tried to impress them with dance and gifts so they gifted me back. It could take a while to get the gift I was trying to get, though.”

“Sounds like as much effort as getting a job and just buying the thing, except you'd need more luck with the fairies,” Doug said.

Amber shrugged. “I'm used to it.” Then she smiled. “Although you'd have to get lots better at dancing to live with fairies!”

That made him laugh. “Eh, I think I'll stick to what I know.”

“But dancing is fun, right?” She leaned in closer, wanting to know.

“I guess, once I got over the surprise of you pulling me into it,” he said. “Day's been more fun than I thought it would be.”

Yes, he was having fun! Amber grinned and hugged him. “Then we're friends now!”

“Hey, watch the drinks,” Doug said, tensing up. When she laughed, he relaxed and patted her head. “Seems like it. Never expected I'd be making friends with a fairy girl, though.”

“I'm supposed to be human, but I was raised like a fairy, so Lumie says that makes me a fae changling,” Amber said. Then she noticed Dylas walking towards them, on his own and apparently thinking hard on something. “Hi Dylas!” she called, bouncing back from Doug to wave at her brother guardian.

“Hey Amber,” he said, slowing but not stopping.

That's when she got the best idea, maybe ever. She'd stuck with Doug today to become friends with him because he needed friends. And she was friendly with Dylas because he needed friends too. Then, she should make them both friends. They'd be the best of friends! “You should stay and talk with us!” Amber insisted. Although the bench wasn't quite big enough for the three of them. Maybe she should fly somewhere so they could sit next to each other.

He seemed surprised at that. “Uh, well, I guess I could, for a little bit.” He turned to stand near the bench. “Not sure what, I mean,” he trailed off awkwardly, looking at the moat water.

“Anything's fine!” Amber said, beaming with the idea that this was going to work.

“I wouldn't know what to talk about either because I'm all worn out from hanging out with her all day,” Doug said, still slouching.

Dylas smirked while Amber shook her head. “It hasn't been all day yet!” she said

“Don't remind me,” he said.

“You're doing well if you kept up this long,” Dylas said. “But be good to her, all right?”

“We're just hanging out,” Doug said. “What, are you her big brother or something?”

“Sort of?” Dylas said, his tail twitching.

Amber giggled, clutching her drink close. “He's the little brother of the guardians, and I'm the big sister cause I was second.”

“Well she's technically the youngest since she was seventeen or eighteen when she became one,” Dylas said. “We were dreaming the whole while, so I don't think the time between counts. But we're still family.”

“I wouldn't know much about you guys,” Doug said, shrugging. “I only moved in last year.

“I don't know how old I am,” Amber said, not really caring.

“But they recorded your birth year on the memorial,” Dylas said, seeming puzzled.

“I don't know that either,” she said. “I think my old friends must have guessed. I didn't even have a birthday until Heather said I could share hers.”

Doug looked at her. “Oh? When's that?”

“Um,” she had to think about it. It was a round odd number, she remembered that. Thinking of that shape reminded her. “Oh yeah, Spring 65!”

“That's not too far off,” he said.

The thought made her smile. Fairies didn't celebrate birthdays, but Ven and her human friends had. Those had been fun days. “Hee, I should tell Lumie then. But is it right if you don't count the time as guardians?”

“What do you mean?” Dylas asked.

“Because it was sometime in summer that Natalie did that for me,” Amber said. “There's an extra season in there, so should my birthday be in, um, fall now?”

“You mean winter,” Doug said, making her pout. She didn't want a birthday in winter. “I think it'd be easier to stick with what you've got, since you'd either have to not count that time and be eighteen or whatever, or count all those years and be really old.”

“Um, it was year 1611 now, right?” Dylas asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “That means, um... she'd be one thousand thirty-some years old if you counted that time. I think.”

Amber's eyes went wide. “Wow, that's a big number! How'd you figure it so fast in your head?”

“I remember the dates from the memorial stone,” he said.

“How old would you be if it counted?” she asked, curious.

He shifted his balance, his cheeks turning a bit pink. “Um, well... it was a few days before my birthday, so I'm either nineteen now, or four hundred. I think I prefer the nineteen.”

“Don't blame you for that,” Doug said. “Since otherwise it makes you an old creaky dude.”

“Don't call me that, idiot,” Dylas said, narrowing his eyes. Doug laughed, making Amber happy. It was like watching Saffron and Leafy again, making a game of arguments. They really would be good friends.


	36. Job Training

Spring 50

'Dear Lest,

'How's your injuries healing? I'd think you'd be at the point where you could lose the cast now. I bet that's really driven you nuts, being restrained like that. Hope it all healed well so you have no troubles with it in fulfilling your mission. And have fun in leading your people.

'I met up with an old friend on the road. I told Art right off that I was surprised to see him still roaming the Norad lands, then he said he had the same reaction to running into me. While we were exchanging stories, he told me that the Norad knights had offered to take him back recently. But since they still haven't changed the policy that made him quit, he wouldn't take it. He's going to keep protecting the land in the way he's been doing all these years.

'While I was talking about you, I mentioned that you'd run into someone with the exact same pair of names. He recognized the high king's son as another one named after him. Interesting story there, maybe another time I can tell you about it. He doesn't think he's worthy of the honor twice over, but you know him, he speaks of a knight's pride when being the most humble man around.

'Art's joined me on my pilgrimage now. We've found Terrable so far. Now I know that we're pilgrims, so we should be respect, devout, and whatever. But Terrable was a jerk, probably the reason this kind of journey isn't popular these days. Possibly why those that try can't finish. He dislikes pilgrims, saying they're self-righteous posers, blind unthinking zealots, or pesky annoying petitioners. He especially dislikes those who come to ask for solutions to problems that have nothing to do with his realm of responsibility in resurrection and rebirth. He kept leaving but on the seventh time we found him, he said he'd listen he to us if we agreed to fight him.

'I think he was trying to intimidate us, not expecting us to agree to the fight without thinking on it long. Terrable did say that he would fight us at a reduced level of power so he wouldn't immediately destroy us, but he still thought it was too much for mortals. If he would have just asked, we would have told him that we have fought some pretty powerful dragons before, together and apart. Never a divine dragon, but it didn't matter. We managed to meet his challenge and win.

'Thankfully, Terrable kept his word and listened to us as we explained that we were simply pursuing a childhood dream for both of us, to meet and speak with all four divine dragons. No bigger reason than that, just to say that we had done it. He found that amusing, then talked with us about how silly religions can be but how they could help people all the same. At the end of it, he gave us each a silver charm with his mark on it to prove that we had met with his approval and told us to leave him be to do his work. Like I said, a jerk but neither of us want this to turn out to be an easy thing. This suits us fine.

'We're in Alverna now, asking around town about Feirsome as he's supposed to be living around here. Even though just about everyone has told us not to do it, we're still going to find him. Apparently he's never been heard to speak and is fond of blasting things to cinders (kind of like your sister at times). Not surprising since he's a god of destruction, but we're prepared. We plan to stay in town for a week, to the 55th, so this is your chance to write and actually get the letter to me. Already, I've been hearing that Frey's been through here. Do you know where she's currently at? If I have to, I can send you my letter to her to hang on to until she comes into Selphia.

'I'm doing well, living how I want, traveling around with a friend, remembering Joyce from time to time. But it makes me happy now. Art tells me she still has my heart and I still have hers, which is quite true. I feel like she watches over me, so I smile and look for an adventure that she'd enjoy too. Though she'd be watching you two as well; it must be quite exciting for her to see her family doing great things.

While I'm enjoying this pilgrimage, I'm also looking forward to seeing both of you again.

With love, Corrin Nolan'

Lest and Frey had started meeting up in the kitchen to eat breakfast, often joined by Volkanon, Clorica, and Vishnal. Usually business wasn't discussed. Instead, things like Clorica's birthday being today or this letter that arrived yesterday got discussed instead. The latter led to the funny moment of Frey saying, “Okay, so if Dad says 'living how I want', that means we need to start using feminine pronouns with hi... her. Geez, that's going to be hard.”

“She said before that she doesn't mind if we still call her Dad, so I guess she'd be okay either way?” Lest said, trying it out for himself. The other three at the table had varying degrees of 'what the hell?' in their expressions, from Volkanon's wide eyes to Clorica's squint of trying to follow them. “I think it'll be easier once she comes around to visit.”

Frey was trying hard not to laugh at the other three, although a smile crept on her face. “Right, it does tend to be easier when she's being that way.” Then she looked at Volkanon and asked, “What's with the looks?”

“Well Lest had mentioned something like that, but I wasn't sure how serious he was,” Volkanon said.

“I don't lie about important things to me,” Lest said. “Although if something never gets asked, it never gets answered.”

“So your father lives as a woman then?” Vishnal asked, not used to the idea even if he'd seen Lest cross-dressing before. But he didn't seem bothered by it beyond unfamiliarity.

“Yes, she's always seen herself as a woman and our mother is a lesbian,” Lest said. “But that kind of thing really doesn't go over well in Grelin because of conservative folks making up most of the population. Dad agreed to live as a man for her sake, as Mom wanted to keep the house and everything else she inherited as part of our family's work.”

“They did tell us about their situation when we were old enough,” Frey added. “Along with their plans to go live how they wanted once the two of us were able to come out here. Compared to them, we turned out practically normal even if they said we should live how we want and how we really are too.”

“Aw, they seem like they'd be sweet people,” Clorica said with a smile.

“They were so cute together when Dad got a chance to be how she liked,” Frey said, smiling back. “Eternal sweethearts, really.”

Lest noticed that Volkanon was coming up with some idea. It worried him, but there were lots of things he wanted to get done today. At some point, though, he might come at odds with the master butler, something he didn't want to end up doing. He started talking to Frey about writing back to their father, trying to steer the conversation into topics that wouldn't cause as much conflict or shock.

But the conflict that came out was one he didn't fully see coming. Towards the end of their meal, Vishnal asked him and Volkanon, “May I have a full day off and borrow the royal airship this Friday? I'm trying to help Doug and Sven visit their old hometown for a few hours.”

“I'm not sure about that,” Volkanon said.

“I'm fine with it,” Lest said. “Surprised Sven's willing to go back already, but that could be good.”

“He didn't seem sure, but he agreed to it,” Vishnal said.

“It's quite a lot he's asking, though,” Volkanon said. “If you were going with him, that'd be a different story since his duty is to serve you and Lady Ventuswill. Since you're not, he can't just take off on a trip with your property and some friends.”

Vishnal wasn't sure what to say, so Lest spoke firmly to Volkanon for him. “It's not like that. There are reasons that I can't go which I can't say. However, I can say that in doing this, he is still serving both of us indirectly. Vishnal, you're following up on a request that Ventuswill gave you several weeks ago, correct?”

He nodded. “Yes, but she told me not to speak openly about it until something changed. Things have changed, but not enough.”

“We've discussed about it too and just from what Vishnal says so far, I can tell this could be an important move,” Lest told Volkanon. “It may even become clear when they return. He should take them there.”

“If this is Ventuswill's request, then I'd be willing to go along with it,” Volkanon said. His armband immediately flickered with some lights before a gust of wind picked up a paper from a nearby stack and smacked him in the face with it.

“I believe that's wind dragon speak for 'yes it is, dammit,' with or without the swearing,” Frey said.

* * *

 

Spring 51

Back to learning. Amber thought there'd been a lot to learn when Natalie and Heather taught her things like planting, counting, reading, and writing. Now Lumie had lots more to teach her, like arranging flowers in a vase, using potions and powders to help plants out, taking a customer's orders and filling them out, and advising indecisive customers based on what their garden needed rather than what Amber liked.

“Some flowers will just grow anywhere, but others prefer certain conditions and won't look as nice if they grow outside of those,” Lumie was explaining after she had to correct Amber's suggestions. “The amount of light and shade, the acidity of the soil, the composition and density of the soil, the presence of other plants... all of this can help or hurt any plant. Plus you need to think about the look of the garden as a whole. Will the flower blend in too much and be overshadowed, or will it stick out like a sore thumb? You'd want something in between, a good part of a great whole.”

“How do you keep all that information in your head?” Amber asked, astonished. “I don't think anybody's head is big enough for that.”

Illuminata laughed, waving her over to a bookshelf. “It's not about the size of the brain, but the quality of it! Still, even I can't remember every little detail about every plant I've worked with, just the ones I sell and raise a lot. But here, I have collected notes from over my whole lifetime about what conditions each flower, shrub, and tree love best. There's quite a few on cacti too, but I haven't worked with them in a while and not long enough to have as good a collection on them. And those notes are right here, nothing else, all in alphabetical order.”

It was a lot of books, all crammed into a huge bookshelf that had shelves from the floor to nearly the ceiling (and there were even a few on the very top). Amber got dizzy just thinking of all that stuff to learn. “Wow, you must've had a long busy life!”

“Oh yeah, you could say that,” Lumie said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And I've been growing flowers this whole time. If you're not sure about one, feel free to find my notes on it to check.”

“Thanks,” Amber said, but something she said struck a chord with her. She'd lived that long too but had been awake the whole time. “Um, Lumie? If you've lived a really long time, um, what do you do about your friends that wilt away?”

It took her a second to get what she was asking, but then she looked sad for Amber. “Oh, you mean the ones that die? Well, that is a tough thing to learn how to deal with. A lot of elves simply don't and stay away from shorter lived beings, never making bonds with them. But I've always been fascinated by humans. They get so emotional and passionate even when they try to hide it and be logical. At the same time, they can be really logical and clever. Like the ones who write stories that never happen but seem like they could happen. Elves are supposed to be the hugely creative race, but we wouldn't have thought to write fictional novels if humans hadn't done so first. So even though it hurts when they pass away and I'm sad for a while, I still make friends with humans and treasure those who are. And they'll always be my most precious treasures, memories of friends deep in my heart.” She smiled, so it must have been worth going through the pain when they died.

“That sounds nice,” Amber said. A lot of the people from her old time were more valuable than any treasure to her.

Lumie nodded. “Yeah. And while I remember my friends, it's like they never fully left me even though they're gone from the world. Plus, I get to make new friends all the time, like you, and see where you all grow. Like Volkanon! I first met him as a little boy, quite the little mischief maker. We got to be friends and I've watched him grow up, become a butler, get married, watch his children grow up and move away to be married... and now he's considered a master of his trade, one of the absolute best in the land. It still amazes me even though I've watched others grow up just the same.” Then she gave Amber a hug. “I can't wait to see what comes of you now! It may seem hard at first, but you can make yourself a master too of whatever you're passionate about.”

Amber grinned and hugged her back. “All right, Lumie! I'll be sure to do my best.” Then she thought of another thing. “Were you ever married?”

“I was, to another elf, but it ended up not working out after a century,” Lumie said with a shrug. Apparently she didn't think much of her ex-husband but it didn't bother her. “I do have a son out in the world; he comes by to see me occasionally and I went out to his wedding a few... no, had to be twenty years ago. Gosh, it seems so long ago now that I think of it. I should write him, my son I mean. See what he's up to.”

There was a jangle as someone came into the shop. Amber wondered for a moment if it was Lumie's son out of coincidence: he had red hair almost like hers, just shorter. But then he took his straw hat off and she could see that he had rounded ears, the sign of a human. “Hello? I'm looking for Illuminata.”

“That'd be me,” Lumie said, going over to greet him. “Welcome to Carnation's! How can I help you?”

The man smiled as he shook her hand. “Actually, I'm here to help you on Lest's request. I'm Rylan, a flower-bound earthmate. He said you had an old rose that you were trying to bring back.”

“Yeah, the Rose of Ventuswill!” she said, now completely excited. “Wait a minute, I'll be back with it.” Then she bolted out into the greenhouse.

“You're the one who taught the prince how to talk to plants?” Amber asked. “I want to talk to plants!”

He chuckled. “It's not so much talking to them as listening to a living thing that knows no words nor thoughts. It's not an easy thing to do; you pretty much have to be able to hear them in the first place in order to learn what they're saying. I can't teach just anybody how to do it.”

“Aw, that's no fair,” Amber said. She really wanted to know what plants thought. Although, how did you know what they were thinking if they couldn't think in the first place?

“Sorry, although such gifts do come with downsides. I barely knew how to talk to people for much of my life until my wife helped me out. Since I couldn't hear people like I do plants, I never knew what to say or how to say it. On the other hand, Lest can hear everyone and I feel like it's much worse for him in the end.”

“What do you mean by that?” Amber asked. It really didn't make sense. “Anybody can hear each other.”

Rylan rubbed his head. “Well, maybe you can get Lest to tell you more if you get enough of his trust. Are you friends with him?'

She frowned. “I guess because he didn't agree to marry me after he rescued me. But I'm starting to think that might be okay. He's a good friend too.”

“Well you be a good friend to him too; he's had a rough time of things and even I didn't realize it fully until he was gone.”

“Sure thing!” Because she might be able to convince him to marry her after all if she could get him to like her enough. That was how that worked, right?

Lumie then came back in with a basket that had been in the greenhouse. “Here, I've been trying various things to get them going but I stopped after nothing seemed to work. There's still a few left. When I showed them to Lest, he said he wasn't sure of what to do.”

“He has more of knack for vegetables and trees,” Rylan said, taking a seemingly dead bush by its roots. “Roses are one of the tougher flowers to know. Particularly ones so old.” He closed his eyes and brought the rose bush to his chest, singing softly to it.

“What's the Rose of Ventuswill look like?” Amber asked Lumie.

She shrugged. “I'm not sure. That's why I wanted to try growing them.”

“It must be pretty and cute if it's named for Ven,” she said, smiling at the thought.

“I think so too.”

“Do you know how to make an Earthheart Elixir and an Elven Forest Fertilizer?” Rylan asked, looking at the rose now.

“Of course,” Lumie said, confident in it. “I'd have to write some friends back in the elven homeland to send me some ingredients, but past that it's a cinch for me.”

He set the rosebush back in the basket gently. “Good. I think between elvish methods and earthmate methods, we can get these roses to live and thrive. I'm only visiting for the day, but I'll teach Lest a few other songs he'll need to know to encourage them. Then we have to get a good spot for them; they should do best in spots that may be rough on other roses. Baby these ones too much and they won't bloom well; give them some adversity and they'll bloom like crazy.”

“I wouldn't have thought to try that,” Lumie said, thoughtful. “I was trying to be careful of them, I guess too careful.”

“Well you should still be careful since they are so old, but as I said, too much won't make them happy. They seem like independent hearts.”

That sounded so cool, Amber thought. She couldn't wait to see what they'd look like in bloom.

* * *

 

Spring 53

“The windmill here hasn't been used as a mill for many years,” Forte said. “The viewing telescopes were placed up there too, so it's now called the observatory. It's open to the public as well unless the wind are too powerful.”

“You have so many places that people can go in and out of freely,” Sven said, looking up the windmill from the base of the stairs. Hearing him, one would have thought that was an unusual thing. The things he didn't know or found strange were suspicious.

However, she had to bite down on that suspicion. Lady Ventuswill and Lest both trusted him. Technically, he was a political refugee and some things about him weren't being made open. Yet they'd asked her to train him to help protect the town. That caused some other worries she didn't want to talk about. “Not really, since the unused houses are locked up and still private,” she said to his comment. “We will need to start checking in on them to make sure no monsters or pests have been hiding inside. There's a regular schedule to that and a portion of them are coming up to that seasonal check.”

“It's nice to know people feel safe, but even the castle is wide open straight from the south gate,” he said.

“I don't believe this place was made with security as a high priority,” Forte said. It certainly didn't make her job easy some days. How long was she going to be able to keep it, though? She and others had to fight Central Norad bureaucracy in order to get her placed as a dragon knight, as the capitol had long been against accepting women as knights. It used to be because she was a placeholder for Kiel after their father passed away and Kiel kept turning down their offers since he'd been fifteen. However, now there was another young man in town who was far better trained than Kiel for being a knight, one who showed a desire to protect Selphia even if he didn't seem familiar with it. Was she going to be forced to put up her sword?

Only hearing her words, Sven put a hand to his chin. He had some simple chain mail armor now, but he still had those mysterious chains on his wrists. The chains were sparkling at the moment. Due to the sun? “Not that having a closed gate or other obstacles would matter as the empire has excellent warships. A small one could even land in town, and then...” he noticed the sparkling himself and gasped.

“What's the matter?” Fore asked, glancing around in case Kiel or one of the earthmates was around. They might know.

“Th-the voices of the fallen,” Sven mumbled, right before a shower of black and white sparks was emitted from the chains. They flowed away from Sven and swirled up into a strange uncolored gate, something that matched Lest's description of the hell gate that had appeared in the inn.

Taking her sword even before her mind identified this peculiar gate, Forte was ready for battle when a shield much like what Kiel had on his alchemy lab appeared. It cut them off from going into the windmill or up the stairs back into town. Sven fumbled trying to get his scythe unfolded, even though during practice he could do so with grace. Six sparks flew out of the gate, one producing a metal monster (machine?) she'd never seen the likes of. The other five all brought one of the most unnerving monsters around (at least of those that weren't ghosts): false humans, with bodies that blurred the lines between orcs and humans. Their empty white eyes and clawed hands betrayed their true nature.

These unarmed false humans didn't come to attack, though. They shivered on the spot, wailing in an unnerving way and gripping their ragged clothes.. Floating above the gate, the machine monster hissed before it began speaking. “Time for another band of prisoners to die! How long will they last before you mercilessly strike them down? These are your orders, you must fight unless you wish to enter the gateway to despair.”

Sven immediately dropped his scythe in a panic; his chains were growing new links, trying to reach the gate. “N-no, it's over, I'm not doing that anymore!”

Thinking quickly, Forte ran for the gate and the machine monster above it. One of the false humans lashed out at her desperately, cutting off its own hand on her sword. It looked so much like a real human... no, kick that thought out of mind. The machine monster was clearly a leader, so dispatching that might dispatch the false humans without having to fight them. With her father's sword, she was able to strike the machine just in range, knocking it down towards the ground. She cut through its propeller shaft before it could get back up.

That was enough to cause the false humans to stop wailing and warp into more monstrous forms, with lumpy green skin and protruding bone spikes. “Sven! They're monsters, get with it!”

“Y-yes sir,” he said, still frightened. But the change and shout was enough to snap him out of it. He got his scythe and cut down the toughened false humans while she kept striking the machine until it vanished like any other monster. The gate threw more of the green-skin false humans out, but by that point they could both work on destroying the gate.

When the battle was over, the shield around the area broke. Sven was still pale, clutching his scythe close to his chest and looking warily for a reforming gate. Maybe he wouldn't be replacing her yet, not like this. If he got over it, he would be a threat to her tenuous position. Right now, Forte couldn't help but see a scared child there in him. “You all right?” she asked.

“It's gone from here, but it's still waiting,” he said, stepping back. “He knows my despair. I don't want to go in it. But it's going to appear again, maybe hurt someone, I should... get rid of it...”

“We just did,” Forte said, puzzled.

He shook his head. “No, it's connected to these chains, and my heart I think. It won't be fully gone until I can get rid of the chains like Dylas did. But just then, it was like being back in the arena being ordered to fight those prisoners from the war. I didn't want to, but the armor had a mind of its own that only followed orders and I watched them die at my own hands and this...” he looked at the scythe with horror even if he'd just been clinging to it for protection moments before.

Meanwhile, Forte was thinking. Prisoners from the war? Norad was being threatened with another war with the Sechs Empire, but the last war was won about four years ago. Sven was younger than Kiel. Then someone had made a child kill off helpless prisoners with the aide of a strange armor? That was a chilling thought. Yet if she helped him with this, she might end up helping him replace her.

Even so, she would be terrible to not help him. “You won't have to do anything like that again by staying here in Selphia,” Forte said, hoping to reassure him. “We fight to protect others and make sure no one can harm someone like that.” He started to calm down, but was anxious enough that she didn't think he'd be up to another battle. “If you want, you can stop for the day. I could walk you back to the general store.”

“Th-thanks, I'm not sure I'd keep calm if other monsters showed up,” he said, closing his eyes in relief. But some thought made him look back to her. “Oh, but, you were great there. You kept a cool head when I couldn't, and saw the solution right off.”

She wasn't sure if she should feel flattered by that, since it wasn't a hard concept. Kill off the leader in a pack of monsters to make the rest easier to dispatch. “That's just how I was trained to be,” Forte said. “You can't get slowed in thinking when it comes to battle; train yourself to react appropriately to threats as the battle will move too fast otherwise.”

“I mostly had the armor reacting for me, I'll have to learn,” Sven said. “Um, Forte? Could I call you master?”

She stiffened at the request. “Wh-what? I still have a long ways to go before I could be considered a master.”

“Well you're a lot better than me,” he said. Which was wrong; she'd seen him using his unusual weapon to take out a whole crowd of monsters before, much faster than she'd be capable of doing with her long sword. “And you're in charge of my training.” He smiled sheepishly at that. “You're a lot better than my last master because you just lecture me on mistakes, much more reasonable.” His smile disappeared into an unease over bad memories; Sven was an easy person to read in that way.

“You can just stick to addressing me as sir,” Forte said. It was nice he had confidence in her, but she didn't want him calling her master and it getting to her head.

“Yes sir, as you want,” Sven said, giving her a salute. “Although, I'm not so sure now's a good time to go back to the general store. They can get busy in the afternoon.”

“Let's go stop in at Porcoline's, he won't mind someone resting there to sort through thoughts,” Forte said. “Or maybe Arthur's office if you want somewhere quieter, not sure how he is on that.”

They decided to try Arthur's office first, partly because that was the closer door to where they were. While he always seemed busy, Arthur managed to keep his office perfectly neat. Not even the stacks of folders and papers were out of alignment on his desk. The antique globe and some statues (including one of a large turnip for some reason) were kept polished and dust free, while the plants were healthy and green. It was something of a wonder that he managed this while doing a huge amount of work in trading and being the prince's adviser.

Luckily, both Porcoline and Arthur were there when Forte and Sven entered. “Good afternoon,” Arthur said in greeting.

“You're here just in time,” Porco said, a playful look on his face. “Arthur's going to take a short break from his work, so why don't you join him for some snacks and talk? Right?” He looked down at Arthur at his desk with a warm smile.

“When you put it like that, I don't have much of a choice if I don't wish to be rude,” Arthur said, smiling back. He got up from the desk and glanced at the clock. “Please, we can sit at the table over here.”

“Sure, that's sort of what we were doing here,” Forte said, an unfamiliar feeling trying to creep into her. At least, it had been unfamiliar until the love potion incident. That particular day was still hazy in her mind, save for the giddy sense of being over the moon with happiness because Arthur was paying attention to her. It hadn't been real love and she knew it. Yet every time she saw him now, there was that feeling of being shy, curious, and hopeful for him to talk with her. It just had never seemed proper, but there was what Lest had said the other day as a messenger of love.

“I'll go grab some more snacks, but there should be plenty of tea to go around,” Porco said, heading into the restaurant area.

“What were you coming in here for?” Arthur asked as he sat down with them around a small table near the entrance of the office. The seats were comfortable, although not quite enough for sinking into and relaxing fully, like her brother did when deep in reading books.

“We had to destroy one of the hell gates just outside of here,” Forte said as Sven twiddled his fingers, noticed, and tried to stop fidgeting. “Have you heard about them? They're connected to the guardians who still have those spirit chains, and Sven here too. It wasn't like any other gate I've encountered, quite disturbing really. He really needed to rest after that.”

“I've heard,” Arthur said, sympathetic to them both. He took over pouring hot water in cups for them to make the tea. “Just the name alone is foreboding. Although in my opinion, Sven, I think you'll be left alone now that most of the Executioner has been broken down. None of them should recognize you without it.”

“Thanks, I think,” he said.

“What do you mean by the Executioner?” Forte asked.

Arthur raised his eyebrows while Sven said, “Um, that was the name of the machine armor I was wearing. It was one of the best weapons the Sechs Empire made before the last war, but for some reason they weren't satisfied with activating it with a golem stone. But mine was the only fully functioning one made because the project was deemed too inefficient and costly. Not because it killed most human hosts that were put in it until I survived the first day.”

“We didn't know much about it, but we knew it could be devastating,” Arthur said.

Made before the last war... that made her angry. “How could anyone even think of doing something like that? And if what that hell gate monster said was right, such a terrible waste on top of that.”

“Um, they weren't thinking of people as people,” Sven said, looking down at his lap. Porcoline then disrupted them a bit in bringing in a basket of crackers, sliced cheese, sliced sausage, and cookies. Once he was gone, Sven asked, “You were supposed to be at that one meeting, right? Where they decided to let me stay. Do you think that was okay for Selphia? I don't want to put the people here in danger; nearly everyone has been nice to me so far.”

From the brief embarrassed look in Arthur's eyes, Forte guessed it was that incident that made him miss a meeting. But he covered that over and said, “It has been a risk on our part to take in a refugee from the empire when they're trying to provoke us into a war.” He put on a pleasant smile to say, “But I would have still agreed to let you stay. The worth in helping someone is greater than such risk. And as I said, if they've even noticed you missing, they're more likely to demand the return of the Executioner, not you yourself. Not that we'd give over either at this stage. Central Norad has recognized them sending it into our lands as an act of aggression and is using it to convince other nations to stop all trade and assistance to Sechs.”

He'd probably thought that the news would relieve some of Sven's anxieties, that he wasn't at risk of being returned. It was news to Forte that he was from the empire, as she'd simply been told he was a political refugee (although that made it very likely he was from there). However, that news made him even more anxious. “Am I starting another war? Because the last one got started in part because of my kidnapping, I don't want to fight like that again.”

“It wouldn't be your fault, in either case,” Arthur said quickly. “Emperor Ethelberd has been known to be ambitious and aggressive; he'll take any excuse he can get to advance his agenda. We're hoping this won't lead to war, rather that the pressure gets Ethelberd to back off out of caution or the situation gets his people to demand change so his attention isn't on Norad lands. Politics on a national level rarely get shifted due to one person alone.”

“I hope it comes out okay,” Sven said. “And sorry if I'm being a drag, I've just got a lot on my mind.”

Arthur nodded. It was impressive how smoothly he was handling the situation. “I'm sure of it. We could speak of lighter things if that helps. Oh wait, I know what we need.” He left the couch to get something from one of the bookshelves.

“I had no idea that's what your situation was,” Forte said, unsure of how to work around this. Had he fought in the last war too? It sounded cruel, that he was younger than her brother but he'd already been in a war and fought in a cruel-sounding arena.

“Um, I hope you don't hate me for it, having worked with your nation's enemies,” Sven said.

“No, I wasn't even thinking of that,” she said. “I hope you can find a peaceful life here.”

“Thanks, I hope so too,” he said.

Arthur came back with something surprising, and absolutely adorable. It was a Wooly doll that had real Wooly fur on it to be fluffy and huggable. For some reason, it also had a pair of glasses on, ones that seemed like they'd belong to a child with their small size and round green frame. “Here, I don't think we could talk about something serious with this little guy around,” he said, placing the doll on an unoccupied corner of the table.

It worked in the sense that Sven immediately smiled at it. “Guess not, but why does it have glasses on?”

“Well doesn't that make it the cutest doll around?” Arthur said with a really happy smile and affectionate tone. Forte had a brief thought that they were both cute, the Wooly doll for being a Wooly and Arthur for gushing about it without embarrassment. “Woolies are so adorable as they are and this doll captures that completely. But once I had it, I thought it could be even cuter with some glasses and these happen to be the smallest in my collection. Still a little big for it, but it's irresistible enough that I leave them on the doll.”

“You have a collection of eyeglasses?” Forte asked, partly to hold off an agreeing that it was that adorable. She didn't think she could say that without getting embarrassed.

He nodded. “Yes, I know it might sound odd, but I guess a lot of collections start the same way. I had one I was hanging onto and found a couple others that seemed interesting, then before I knew it, I had collection going.” He looked at her, then took a box from a nearby shelf. “Actually, I think... yeah, this pair I have here might look nice on you, Forte.”

“Wh-what?” Forte said, a little flustered at the idea. There were at least a dozen eyeglasses in the box he had open that she could see. “I don't need them and I was never much into fashion.” Plus she really shouldn't be so pleased that he said it. He might not feel the same way she did, only talking with them out of polite social graces.

“I need them, but plenty of people wear them for looks,” Arthur said, holding out a pair that were oval shaped and silver in frame. “This has the same kind of color as your armor, so why not give them a try?”

“If it's just a try, I suppose it wouldn't hurt,” she said, taking them. She had to remove her helmet first as it fit snugly on her head, not allowing the frame to fit over her ears. It didn't trouble her vision at all as not even a speck of dust was on the lenses.

Sven was amused at the sight. “If you ignore the armor, you look like a school teacher with those on.”

“I don't think glasses alone make a teacher,” Forte said, but curious about it. “Is there a mirror around?”

“Uh, yes, in the box,” Arthur said, his cheeks a little pink. “I think you look lovely in them.”

Why was he getting embarrassed? She was the one wearing them for the first time. Finding the mirror on the bottom of the lid, she angled it to have a good look at herself. It was a little strange seeing herself without the helmet on, her blond hair tied up and now with a pair of eyeglasses on her face. Like a vision of what might have been if she'd grown up differently, maybe even as a school teacher.

“It's nice, but I don't think I'd make it a habit,” she said.


	37. Medritarc Memorial

Spring 54

While it might have been his day off, Vishnal still got up early to get in some studying. There was a lot for him to learn: cooking of course, cultural studies so he didn't offend a guest, social rules to a formal party (be it a ball, masquerade, garden party, tea party, or any other variant), a dabble of music and art, philosophy, protective spells (including figuring out the rare few that would actually work on Prince Lest), and battle tactics. That was a sampling of the books in the shelf nearby he kept for study. Then there was refining his laundry techniques, which was what Volkanon was focusing him on now. While he had the folding arts well enough, he needed to reduce the time it took as well as keep practicing with the fitted bed sheets.

It wasn't long that he got distracted from deciding which book to read. On his floor was a small dead mole, carefully dissected with its innards arranged in a neat line. On the sill of a window that he'd left open overnight for the nice spring breeze, a brown paw cat perched to watch over the southeast field outside Vishnal's window. Maple looked back at him for a moment to see if he noticed.

Although it wasn't a pleasant thing to wake up to, he smiled and gently said, “Good morning Maple, thanks for the gift. Is it for the snacks I've left you?”

Satisfied with that, the paw cat jumped back outside. Vishnal disposed of the carcass outside and made sure the spot it had been and his hands were well cleaned before taking up an hour of studying. He told the others about it at breakfast, figuring none of them were too squeamish for that kind of thing.

“You know,” Frey said, “They say that if a female paw cat starts being friendly with you out of nowhere, there's a high chance she'll be having kittens in a few weeks.”

Vishnal laughed. “She already has, there's five of them out in the barn.”

Clorica's eyes went wide. “Really? Why haven't you mentioned it before? I bet they're cute.”

“They are, though still really clumsy,” Vishnal said.

“A mother cat and kittens is nice around a farm,” Lest said, thinking. “Especially since we've got the barn fixed up now for some helpful monsters. There's cluckadoodles running wild all over the southern countryside. If we make sure the paw cats and cluckadoodles don't mess with each other, the clucks give eggs and hunt damaging insects, while the cats hunt down other pests like that mole.”

“You can find buffamoos too if you go further south, over near Rouge's Spring,” Clorica said. “And some bees or hornets in Yokmir Forest if you know where to look. It'd be even better now that Ambrosia's not a huge risk over there.”

“I figured the bees had to be from the forest,” Lest said. “They're finding my plants, but a hive here would be reassuring.”

Frey poked him. “For you, maybe for Illuminata too. You just make sure nobody in town is allergic to the stings or too afraid of them.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, although it seemed like it had slipped his mind with the thought of getting helpful monsters around.

“I don't believe we have anyone allergic to stinging insects, although you'd have to check with Jones to make sure,” Volkanon said. “And there's enough people with home gardens that they'd be thankful for a group of honey bees nearby too.”

“I'm not quite ready for them, but it's a thought,” Lest said with a smile. “Oh yeah, and before you head out today Vishnal, there's something I need to tell you about privately.”

“Sure thing,” he said.

After breakfast, they went to his office and shut the door. Lest brought out a glass ball that seemed hollow at first glance. “This is something my sister's using in her studies,” Lest explained. “Can you cast something to identify runes with?”

He nodded. “Of course.” Once he cast it, the ball had changed. There seemed to be a gray blob of liquid floating inside, with sickly looking runes. “What's wrong with those?”

“These are corrupted runes, these ones taken from Darryl's Tower.” That puzzled Vishnal, but Lest quickly cleared it up. “I mean, Leon Karnak Tower. I've been thinking of it as Darryl's Tower for a little while, mostly because we have Leon here and the more my sister tells me about it, the more I want to distance it from Leon. Anyhow, runes are purified in the Forest of Beginnings, but these runes somehow slipped out before being purified. I want you to observe the area around Medritarc quietly to see if there are corrupted runes there. Whether there are or not could be a clue towards how they're getting back in impure forms.”

“That shouldn't be trouble since the spell doesn't require a vocal cue,” Vishnal said.

“Good, then there's something else about this that you might need to be capable of. I have a report from yesterday that Sven's hell gate showed up in town, possibly in response to something he was thinking at the time. Which means bringing him out to his old hometown might trigger it again. In that case, I want you to be aware of how to handle things.”

“He might be the strongest fighter of the four of us, but he would have the most trouble,” he said as he thought about it.

Lest set the orb holding the corrupt rune back in the bag it had been in. “Right. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the hell gate will try to pull him into it. Do not let this happen. Yes, the gate does need to be destroyed from the inside to be gone for good and he is aware of that. But I'm the only one in Selphia who can get him out if he goes in. Well, Ventuswill probably could too, but we don't want to push the limits of her powers with the rune springs still out of place. If he gets up the nerve to want to challenge it, that's great but persuade him to hold off until you all get back so I can go in with him.”

He then went on to explain more about how to handle the situation and make sure that the gate could be destroyed temporarily if it appeared on their trip. It was a big responsibility he was leaving on his shoulders. Listening carefully and asking any questions that were in mind, Vishnal felt determined not to let Lest down with this trust.

* * *

 

It looked to be a good day for flying: a light wind, few clouds in the sky, no bad conditions reported for the airspace they were going to move through. Kiel knew this trip was going to be a solemn one, but he couldn't help but feel a little excited for it. After all, he hadn't left the Selphia region on an airship in a long time, or ever without one of his family along. He'd borrowed a library book about airship navigation and the symbols used to help Vishnal out, as well as prepared a nice picnic lunch for them all. It was for the best that the two of them did as much of the work for the trip as possible, since Doug and Sven would have a lot on their minds.

“Have everything ready?” Forte asked him that morning, about an hour before they planned on leaving. He needed to be down on the airfield soon to help Vishnal get the ship ready to go.

Kiel showed off the list he'd made, everything but the flight preparations themselves crossed off. “Almost, we just have to get the ship going.”

“Good that you're prepared,” she said, although still worried. “Be careful out there.”

“It'll be fine, we're not really doing that much,” he said. “At worst there'd be some ghosts hanging around the old town, but I know how to deal with them and Doug has his miner's anti-spirit dagger.”

“Erm, well still, I hope you're safe,” Forte said.

Kiel smiled. “You're glad you won't be dealing with that, right?”

“Don't tease me about that,” she said. “Although you would be better out there for that problem. Just don't wander off on your own; the others would be better with other monsters.”

While he felt annoyed at her being overprotective like this, he tried not to show it. She was only like that because she cared about him. “I'll stick with the other guys. And I'm bringing along a bunch of my potions just in case. Better to be over-prepared than not.”

Forte finally smiled back. “Yes, that's for the best. I hope it's a good trip.”

“Thanks, I hope it's a good day for you too,” Kiel said, giving her a hug. “See you this evening.”

“Right, see you then.”

On the airfield, Vishnal was already going through preflight checks with the ship tied to the anchor post. Kiel helped him with topping off the kerosene tanks for the balloon heaters and then filling the balloons with air. While they were waiting on the last and making sure Kiel knew a sufficient amount of navigation symbols, Doug and Sven arrived. The trader's fort had been a mixed population so they were honoring human traditions with a floral wreath from Illuminata's shop and dwarven traditions with a few bottles of beer. Doug was back to being quiet and uneasy, like when he'd first come to Selphia. Not entirely quiet, as Sven was agitated, maybe even afraid. It seemed like an odd mood for visiting a memorial, but he still wanted to come.

Hopefully that odd mood wasn't a bad sign for today. But even as he thought it, Kiel recalled the astronomical horoscope in the farmer's almanac today for his particular birth sign. Something that seems out of place will become more important than it seems...

* * *

 

Amber didn't have to work today, so she flew around town wondering what to do. It had been a while since she'd visited the forest, so that could be good. On the other hand, she had lots of friends in town, from her very oldest friend in Ven to newer ones like Xiao and Clorica. She could go play with them. That is, if they weren't working. That was a downside to living in civilization: it seemed like everybody worked and it wasn't considered polite to disrupt someone who was working.

While flying around, she spotted an airship with its balloon filled up for a journey. Where were they going? She started to fly down and noticed that Doug and Sven were getting on the ship. That made Amber even more curious to know where it was going. Deciding to be sneaky, she flew down to the ship, trying to move quickly to beside the side of the ship. Some peeks over the side didn't find a lot of cover, but there was a dresser kind of object near the big wheel that had machines on it. That was... radio equipment, right? The machine that could hear invisible waves and make sounds from them. She slipped over the side and hid there.

She listened to the conversation between the two she'd seen as well as Vishnal and Kiel. They were going to someplace with a funny sounding name, being all too serious in talking. While being serious as important occasionally, it was better to be light and happy. Amber grinned as she waited for an opportune moment, then bounced up from behind the radio stand. “Boom!”

'Waah!” Vishnal yelped although he kept hold on the big wheel. He smiled some in relief on seeing her. “Oh, it's you Amber.”

“Hee hee, I gotcha good,” she said.

“Amber, what are you doing here?” Doug asked, surprised as the rest.

“I wanted to see the airship fly from really up close,” she said, spreading her arms out. “So here I am!”

“Well that makes you a stowaway and stowaways are supposed to be thrown off the side,” Doug said.

“Um, not unless we're pirates,” Vishnal said.

Kiel laughed. “Yeah, and it wouldn't do much good with Amber since she could fly back on.”

“But I want to see it fly from on board,” Amber said.

“Since you can fly, I guess you could stick around during take off and head back into town before we get too far,” Vishnal said.

“Okay, but where're you guys going?” she asked, leaning on the radio stand.

“We're on a serious trip here, so you can't be joking around too much,” Doug said.

“We're going to visit a memorial in their old hometown,” Kiel said.

A memorial meant a grave. That wasn't easy to smile about, but it gave her an idea. “Oh... well could I come? If I promise to be good and mostly quiet.”

“What do you want to come along for?” Doug asked, surprised.

“I want to see how other people remember friends who've passed away,” she explained. “Cause fairies are supposed to smile and sing after a friend gets wilted or smashed, or munched up, but then I never felt right doing that. Please?”

“That sounds like a good reason,” Sven said, although his words were quiet.

“I guess, but you'd better be respectful when we're there,” Doug said.

“How do you remember people?” she asked. It made them nervous, but once they started explaining, she learned some interesting things.

* * *

 

Porco's plan for lunch today was soup and appetizers. Lots and lots of appetizers. “You should try all of them,” he suggested.

Just the thought of trying to eat all of the different things made Dylas feel queasy. “I'm not that hungry,” he said, trying to get out of it.

“Just a tiny bite will do,” Porcoline said (although his definition of a tiny bite was more of a full snack to Dylas). “It's an important step to becoming a chef: try many different kinds of food so you're familiar with many different flavors and styles. Never be afraid to try a new food, as it might just become a new favorite.”

That made sense, although he tried to work around it by taking tastes from mixing bowls or spoons so he didn't have to eat a lot. Some of it was surprisingly good, like the tuna spread and the carrot gelatin salad (but it had one of his favorite foods in it anyhow). Then he got to a stuffed olive and could barely get it down because it assaulted his mouth with a fiery burn. His eyes watered up and blurred his vision; he couldn't even get a drink of milk to get rid of the heat at first because he had to blow his nose.

“What the hell was in that?” Dylas asked once it got down to a full mouth tingle.

“That was this set, was it?” Porcoline asked, pointing to a section on the divided serving platter. “That's the blend with jalapeno peppers. They were pretty mild for jalapenos.”

“That was not mild,” he said, starting to feel restless. Maybe he'd feel better if he took a quick jog outside of town.

“But still a valuable lesson in what you should avoid,” he replied. “There's a few folks in town that love a spicy heat, so I set them up with these two appetizers.”

Not a good lesson; Dylas could've told him that he had sensitive tastes for spicy things like hot peppers. The heat and busy nature of the kitchen was too much for him after the stuffed olive, so he went over to Arthur's office for a little while. But it seemed like he'd walked in at a bad time, as Arthur was talking with Forte and both of them were startled when he did. “Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt,” he said, embarrassed and looking away.

“It's okay, I just wasn't expecting someone else to come in just now,” Arthur said, getting over the surprise but now worried. “You all right?”

Was his face still messy? He took a handkerchief and rubbed his over his eyes. “Nothing big, just Porco gave me a stuffed olive to try without telling me it was stuffed with jalapenos. That hurt.”

“I think I'll be careful if he offers me those,” Arthur said in sympathy.

“Those are usually really good, though I guess not if you don't like hot spices,” Forte said. Then she held up a lunch pail she had. “Oh, I made some lunch if you two want to share. My brother's not around today, so I made some egg salad for sandwiches, but it made a lot more than I could eat.”

“That sounds delightful,” Arthur said, apparently liking that choice.

Dylas wasn't sure about it. Egg salad sandwiches were something that his mother hadn't liked and never made. Still, trying various foods was going to be important and it sounded like a safer choice than jalapeno stuffed olives. “I wouldn't want much, but maybe half a sandwich.”

“Sure, I think they turned out well today,” Forte said, taking out the sandwiches she had. There were three, but he could take half and she took the other half and a whole.

When he had it in hand, Dylas had a gut feeling that something wasn't right here. The sandwich looked perfectly innocent and healthy, a yellow and white mix between two soft slices of wheat bread. Yet he still wondered if he was going to regret trying this too. Since he couldn't figure out what could be wrong with it, he went ahead and ate it. “This is pretty good,” Dylas told Forte, liking the creamy textured salad.

“Oh good, some days I'm glad just to make something edible,” Forte said, which was also ominous.

Half an hour later, all three of them were in the clinic for food poisoning.

* * *

 

On landing the airship outside of Medritarc, Kiel got off the ship first to tie it down to an anchor post so Vishnal could shut down the propeller engines and set the heaters to their lowest setting. Amber had been oddly serious since they'd told her the nature of this trip; she was at the edge of the ship looking over the town. Doug felt like pacing around, but that seemed to bother Sven. How was this going to turn out? Even here, Doug still felt nervous about it.

When Doug had come out here in the past, whoever came with him from Sechs would always stay back and let him go to the memorial stone alone. He'd been grateful because he could get emotional out here, furious, sad, or anything in between. He'd wonder why he survived alone, or how he would enact his revenge. Never what would come after that act, just getting there. Today, he also had to worry about what the truth of the tragedy was, how his cousin was going to react, and what his friends would do. He knew without asking that they would at least walk over with them.

“Do you want to eat an early lunch or wait until later?” Vishnal asked once the ship was shut down.

“Let's just go,” Doug said, not sure if he could eat now. Or even later, there was too much else to worry about. Maybe when they were on their way back to Selphia.

“Yeah, let's go,” Sven said quietly.

The town was a short walk from the airfield, although it hardly looked like town now. It was still smashed to piles of rubble on the ground with none of the old structures left standing. Not only that, but nature was reclaiming the land with an abundance of grasses, bushes, and flowers growing where stone houses and streets once stood. There were even a few saplings of trees that were taller that he was. Even the memorial of Medritarc was covered in trumpeter vines and tall grasses. Before anything else, they cleared the dark stone pillar of the plants trying to hide the marker.

It was a smoothed flint obelisk, eight feet tall with four sides. Even with that size, there wasn't enough space to carve in all the names of those who had died either in the prolonged siege or in the godly attacks that ended it swiftly. Instead, the side facing the air field stated, 'In Memory of Those Lost in the Siege of Medritarc and Telliarc, Summer 84 Year 1603 to Autumn 27 Year 1605. You are loved and greatly missed.'

At a loss for words, Doug didn't say much as they set the wreath and poured some of the beer on the memorial. None of them said much, making him wonder what they were thinking. Maybe about what he was thinking. He wanted to keep that to himself, but not being sure of the truth of the matter kept bothering him until he couldn't keep quiet any more. “Damn, I wish I knew what really happened here,” he said, standing up from where he'd been crouching.

“Um, weren't you here?” Sven said, seeming as pale as when he'd come out of the armor. He'd been slowly gaining normal color to his skin from working out in the sun, but his nerves were getting to him today.

“I didn't see it because I was in the trade tunnel, that's why I'm still here now,” Doug said. “The Sechs soldiers who captured me at the time didn't know what happened either, just that a massive down burst of wind crushed the whole town in one fell swoop, without warning. The only clue we had was a hostile spirit hanging around that said it was a servant of the divine wind.”

“But that's Ventuswill,” Kiel said, puzzled. “Why would she have something out...?”

“I don't know, but I was going to kill her for it!” Doug said, not caring for a moment who heard it. “That's why I moved into Selphia in the first place; the empire had trained me to take her out even though I was brought in as a prisoner. But then lots of things have been happening lately that make me doubt that it really was her. Like how she reacted to the return of you Amber, and the other three, that didn't work with what I thought. A goddess who cares that much for individual mortals seems really unlikely to go destroy another inhabited town.”

“She really wouldn't,” Amber said, sounding unsure of things and upset. She wasn't even looking at him, just at her feet.

“Um, there's also the fact that she couldn't do this,” Vishnal said. “I hate saying this, but even if she is a goddess, she's not as powerful as others. But she would be reluctant to kill anyone; she cares too much about mortals to do that.”

“Right, and she's never been able to leave the lands of Selphia without growing terribly ill,” Kiel added. “I'm pretty sure that's why Leon became the first guardian over a thousand years ago. In spite of that, she's lived a really long time for one of the divine dragons. She wouldn't be able to fly or cast a spell this far from her home at her age even if she was as strong as she should be.”

Then those doubts were real. This wasn't something Ventuswill was capable of doing, either in means or intent. “Yeah, I started realizing that after Lest did his miracle that one day,” Doug said. “I'm such an idiot for believing the guys that were out to destroy my home. Maybe they did, but I don't know what went on anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do now... I swore I'd get revenge on the one who did this, but now I'm back to not knowing who could have done this.”

“I did,” Sven said, his voice strangely emotionless.

“You couldn't have done it,” Doug said. But even as he said it, he was reminded of things Sven had said. He'd known both towns were destroyed by a wind that could only be called on by a god, saying it was due to some super weapon the empire had and was bragging about. However, the Sechs had never used such a weapon again when they could have smashed Selphia just like this if they still had it. People said that the Executioner armor was one of the strongest weapons the empire had in its hands. And Sven had been possessed by the old divine wind when he'd been freed.

“These towns started attacking the Sechs Empire because I had been taken there against my will,” Sven said with almost no emotions. How could he be like that? “The emperor confirmed the power of the Sparkling Fountain due to the level of runes in me, leading him to attack back. I was the start of that war and with Selphia taking me in now, the empire might start another war because of me. I was horrified and called on any god to help me escape the Executioner to deny that. And, I was answered by the divine wind dragon Storgane. He thought I was worthless, but he used my despair, the armor's power, and something in the fountain to wipe out these towns with a deadly wind. Then we got lost in the mountains for five years and all I could think about was that day I killed almost everyone I knew and loved.”

That was the name of the previous divine wind, the one that was supposed to be dead. But he couldn't consider that mystery right now, not with Sven how he was. “That wasn't your doing because you weren't in control of the armor,” Doug said.

“I was still right here watching it done with my own hands,” Sven said, still in that unnerving monotone despite the terrible things he was saying. Before Doug could even see him put his hands on the battle scythe, Sven had it out of its clasp and unfolded in front of him. “I couldn't stop it then, couldn't stop it before, couldn't stop it ever, so it must be my doing and my fate to destroy everything before me.”

“Sven!” Doug shouted, trying to get some sense in him. But his cousin had already dashed over to him with shocking speed, a violet afterglow following him as he brought the scythe up to cut him down. He barely got his sword drawn to block the attack. “Snap out of it!”

His face an emotionless blank, Sven kicked him over onto the ground and immediately started another attack. Doug wouldn't have been able to block that in time, but he still brought up his arm reflexively. A magical shield of a silver sheen appeared between them, breaking Sven's attack without hurting either of them. That seemed like Kiel's work. Then Vishnal somehow appeared behind Sven and slashed at his neck with both of his swords. Doug's heart was racing between thinking he was going to die and then thinking Vishnal had killed Sven.

However, Vishnal's blades hadn't even touched Sven, not a hair on his head cut. The blankness in his eyes was replaced by a look of pure terror and guilt. “N-no, I won't kill you!” Sven said in a panic, then bolted into the ruins.

“Beware the runes!” Vishnal called, already sprinting after him.

“Are you okay?” Kiel said in worry, coming to his side and offering a hand up. Amber came over too, frightened and crying.

Doug took the assistance, feeling shaken in that brief fight. “Didn't get hurt,” he replied, wanting to go running after them too but his legs were weak. “Shit, what happened there? It was like he was possessed by that armor again even though it's scrap metal now.”

“I don't know, but I don't think he really was out to kill you either,” Kiel said, grabbing a bag that Vishnal had left behind. “What about you Amber?”

“That was scary,” she said. “S-sorry, I don't fight. But, um, are you going to hurt Ven?”

Doug shook his head, though he wished again that she hadn't come. “No, I promise I won't. If she had nothing to do with this, there's no reason to.”

It at least made her smile. “Good, I thought you were a good person and you are. I know Sven is too, since he wants to protect people. That didn't seem like him. We should go find them and make sure he's okay.”

“Ready to go after them?” Kiel asked

“Yeah, let's go,” Doug said, taking the bag he'd brought for the offerings. They hurried towards the town, Doug trying to keep with Kiel's pace and Amber flying overhead to see if she could spot them.

Before they got past what had been the front gate, Kiel grabbed his arm. “Whoa, watch it,” he said.

“What?” Doug asked, slowing some.

“There's a lot of bad looking runes in the air here,” he said in worry, touching his forehead as if to refresh a spell. “It might be dangerous, but at least the sun's out. That should help. We can go, but if I tell you to avoid a spot, it's because of the runes.”

“All right, then you lead the way,” Doug said. He wouldn't be able to tell bad runes from good, much less see them.

It shouldn't have been hard to find Sven and Vishnal in the ruins. They were both tall guys who'd be easily seen among the crushed buildings. However, the slower pace he and Kiel had taken had been just enough for them to lose them. It took a bright flare spell from Vishnal and some overhead guidance from Amber to let them find the two of them, down in the tunnel that led to Telliarc.

Sven had dropped his scythe and was leaning against the tunnel wall with his arms wrapped around himself. Vishnal was a bit further down the tunnel, apparently keeping watch for trouble. Leaving that to him, Doug went over to his cousin. “Sven, it wasn't your doing. You didn't want to kill anyone, which is a lot better than what I was up to.”

“S-sorry, Doug,” Sven said in a completely different voice than he'd had a little bit ago, overly emotional. But that at least was more like him. “They said the armor's mind was dead, but it was back with me for a moment. Maybe it'll always be with me if I have the machinery, but I can't even breathe without that.”

“That was Storgane's influence, not the Executioner's,” Vishnal said, like it was a fact he didn't question.

“It felt like him,” Amber agreed.

That didn't encourage Sven much. “Whichever one it was, I couldn't stop it from taking over.”

“Then we've just got to find some way to make sure these crazy spirits can't take control of you,” Doug said. Then he looked over at Kiel. “That can be done, right?”

He nodded. “I'm sure it can. You do have an abnormally nonexistent magic defense, so boosting that with armor should make up for it.”

“Do you have to put it like that?” Doug asked, a little annoyed but it wouldn't be the first time Kiel blurted out something without thinking how it'd make someone else feel.

“Oh, sorry, that's just, that'd be a good thing to try,” Kiel said, his cheeks turning pink at realizing it.

“If that's the problem and a possible solution, I'll do what I have to,” Sven said without much energy.

Kiel smiled, trying to make up for his comment. “I can help pester Bado until he agrees to make it right. Or you could ask Frey. I hear she's got a blessing price that's crafting in general, so she should know how to counteract spirits with armor or accessories.”

“We should get out of here,” Vishnal said suddenly, coming back to them. “There's some spirits down the hall...” he stopped while looking up the stairs.

Doug looked up there himself in time to see a familiar looking creature, a ghostly dragon head with eyes of burning hatred. It laughed cruelly as the air itself began to shake. Instead of leaving, they were forced to head further in the tunnel as a mound of rubble was thrown onto the stairs. Darkness grew as they were trapped underground.


	38. The Executioner

Sven Geisel...

How can you have faith in them?

You can't.

You can't have faith in yourself.

You'll lose control again.

They can't understand it.

You have no choice.

Be the Executioner.

Let me come back to you.

* * *

 

When Sven had heard about the guardians the day he'd been freed, Leon had said, “It was dark due to Storgane's presence, a place where it's easy to lose hope. But as long as we kept some hope and happy memory, no matter how small, there was always a bit of light with us.”

It was the same for him. Sven was trapped in a monstrous shell that had no morals. All it knew was how to follow orders. No matter how grisly or insane those orders were, the Executioner would follow through with them. As its unwilling passenger, sometimes the best he could do was shut off his conscious and try to dream of better times. Holidays with his parents, stories he'd gotten lost in, days spent playing with friends when he could run around... there were bad memories in those, but he got adept in manipulating most dreams to avoid them.

One memory shone brightly for him no matter how bad things seemed. His hometown had a famous landmark in the Shining Fountain, a dazzling centerpiece. Within the white stone structure, there were glints of strange fragments. They made the water cascading down the spiral of sculpted leaves sparkle by day and shine by night. People said that the water held in the bottom pool was blessed, making anyone who drank of it healthier.

While he had been weak and sickly from the time that he had been born, many adults around town would say that he may have only survived as long as he had because he'd been drinking at least a glass of that water every day. It might not have been miraculous enough to save him. Still, he often spent afternoons sitting by the Shining Fountain, watching the sparkling water tumble down. That was soothing.

One day he'd been there, Doug had said, “Sven, someday we're going to go out on an adventure of our own, just like in the stories. We'll go out to fight monsters, find lost treasures, maybe even rescue some princesses so that we can become kings.”

He smiled at the thought. “You could, but you really think I could get that strong when I grow up?”

“Sure, I'll bet you'll be the strongest warrior around when you start working out,” his cousin said, like he really did believe it. That made him start to believe it and they spent the afternoon happily talking about places they'd try to see and if they could get to be kings by being adventurers.

* * *

 

There was a day in late summer when he'd been recovering from a long fever. He had no energy and his limbs felt stiff. Still, his mother coaxed him out of bed to go see a traveling doctor. The summer heat was all around him, but he thought the fever's heat had been more oppressive. He was given a chair like the elders in town, not made to sit on the ground like the young children or stand with the ones around his age. While the other kids had browned skin from being outside all season, his skin was pale and his eyes were tormented by the brightness of the sun. Summer and winter were never kind seasons to him. He felt like most who looked at him only felt pity for him, for being so weak and strange. A human child in a dwarven family; the scandal was still gossiped about.

This was a different kind of event for the town as the doctor's talk was more of a show. He had a lot of colorful helpers who entertained the crowd. When he spoke of the services he offered, including some special medicines from secret formulas that were more effective than more common potions, he talked a lot about the amazing results that came of them. Sven might've only been eleven, but even he thought there was something odd in how he presented things without really explaining them.

His parents had realized that too and weren't sure about asking the doctor if he could help. But they had already tried many things trying to get him healthy. Aside from the water of the Sparkling Fountain, very little of it helped. After the show was over, they asked for the doctor to examine Sven. He didn't remember much of it because the first thing the doctor had done was put him to sleep. When he woke back up, his father was angrily berating the doctor while his mother helped him back to their home.

That evening, the heat receded with the sun. He went to sit outside on the porch. “Are my mom and dad embarrassed of me? I know they wouldn't say it to me, but they got kicked out of the old town because of me.”

“Come on, don't blame yourself for that,” Doug said. “You haven't met the old dwarves there; they won't change their minds for anything. Besides, your parents work really hard to give you a good life. They love you and each other more than anything else in the world.”

That cheered him up, but then a pair of horses with one rider passed in front of their house. It wasn't that unusual, not with merchants and travelers coming from the roads and the air. What came next was, when another man in armor jumped onto the porch and knocked Doug aside before grabbing Sven. He screamed, but was then passed off to the man on the horse to gallop down the street and out of the town gates while the town guard was becoming alert of the trouble. He couldn't even fight back because the hypnosis sleep hadn't been that restful. The soldier ran his horse right up the ramp of an airship. Leaving his partner in the kidnapping behind, he called for the ramp to be pulled and the airship to take off.

After he'd been put into a tiny barred room below deck, he met the one behind the crime: the showy doctor from this afternoon. Shouts and cries elsewhere in the hall suggested that he wasn't the only captive. A woman who had been part of his show was with him. No longer looking friendly or enthusiastic, the false doctor said, “This one is young and frail, you sure about this?”

“He has a potent store of runes, but his body is currently too weak to make use of them,” the woman said. “Adolescence could correct that issue to some extent. Yet the amount and quality of the runes he bears are rare for a human boy. Or a dwarven one, for that matter.”

“It's his messed up heritage that makes him weak,” the doctor said, as if he wasn't even there. Sven brought his knees to his chest and hid his head there, trying to ignore them.

“No, half breeds and their descendants are just as healthy as full blooded members of most races,” the woman said in a cold manner that only cared about it as a fact. “Dwarf and human should present no special health issues to mixed individuals. Although his case is unusual as his blood and runes should read as half each born from half breeds, instead of this full blood human with minor dwarf traces. Nevertheless, it is more likely some other condition undermines his strength.”

“I didn't ask for an analysis. Then if this boy has a rare amount of runes, how are we going to bring that out in him? It wouldn't be useful to the project to use him as is.”

“Give him the immunization and booster schedule for imperial soldiers, including the controlled adolescent transition. That should correct the issue far better than leaving it to nature.”

It seemed like he was living a nightmare to him then. It would barely compare to what this pair had in store for him.

* * *

 

For the next three seasons, he was poked with lots of needles, given an exact diet of unfamiliar foods, and forced to start an exercise regimen meant to train soldiers. He collapsed from exhaustion many days because he was too weak and being forced to grow up according to his trainer's ideals. It was so hard that he could barely think. Yet once he managed to get through one day of this harsh routine, things got a lot easier. He was still pushed around and yelled at, but the exercises were no longer wearing him out. It surprised him how strong he was getting so fast. While he couldn't lift large weights as easily as the other trainees, he could lift ones that he wouldn't have been able to budge before his kidnapping.

He would love to show his family his incredible improvement. But he didn't have much of a chance to escape this place in the Sechs Empire. Every night, they locked him into his room that had bars on the window and door. Before they let him out, they made sure he wore a collar that would give a painful jolt if he disobeyed his trainer. He wasn't even sure where he was in the empire's lands, or which direction home was. They wouldn't let him read to find out.

Most days he wore ragged castoffs from the actual recruits in this training base. But one day, he was hastily given a proper uniform and told to change into immediately. There was a special visitor who had asked specifically to see him. Sven did as asked on the spot, because otherwise the trainer would shock him. With instructions to keep quiet unless asked something (and then to keep his answers as short as possible), he was brought to meet with the leader of this powerful nation.

Emperor Ethelberd was an old man, his long hair as gray as steel. There was a look to his eyes that reminded Sven of the woman in charge of the project he was in. To the two of them, everyone around them was something to be studied and used. “This one is on the scrawny side for a soldier,” he said critically.

“We're having to give him twice the amount of boosters to get him to this state, my lord,” the trainer said. “Was as flimsy as a leaf when he came in.”

“Not that it matters, with what those two have going,” the emperor said, putting his hand on Sven's shoulder. It unnerved him, like he was suddenly under a spotlight for close inspection. “And this is the one those dwarves have been picking a fight with us about?”

“Wouldn't know that myself,” the trainer said.

“Yes, he's the one taken from Medritarc,” a man who'd come in with the emperor said. That surprised Sven; the others back home would start a battle trying to get him back? It was even more surprising to hear the man continue with, “The airship had to take off hastily, so both Medritarc and Telliarc have been leading attacks on our lands because of him.”

“Ridiculous,” the emperor said. “Boy, have you ever drank from the Sparkling Fountain?”

Confused at why they'd asked that but intimidated by his trainer fiddling with the choker's controller, Sven nodded. “Yes sir. I was given a glass of that water every day trying to improve my health.”

“Every day?” the man with him asked.

The emperor glared at him for asking. “Why did you not think to ask that before? Or from the moment your team found the level of runic power he has? He may have ingested small particles, or the water itself was infused with enough to build up to that level in a child. Check again. If he's proof of the authenticity of those records about the fountain being moved from Selphia to Medritarc, then he's proof that they must have the stones as well. Dwarves wouldn't give up that kind of thing easily.”

Only a few days after that meeting, Sven heard from some graduating trainees that they were getting sent out to besiege Medritarc and Telliarc, all on some proof they'd gotten from him because he drank from the fountain.

* * *

 

There came a day when the training base released Sven back to the doctors. The jolt choker had been left on him, given over to the lab's staff to keep control of him. When they brought him in for an examination, the first thing he saw on entering the room was the remains of another subject. Some of the staff were taking the dead body of a young man out of a monstrous suit of metal. It was horrifying to see, and horrifying again to realize that they meant to do that to him. But they had the choker's controller, so he tried to erase the image out of his mind while silently following the instructions he was given.

However, the staff here removed the collar when they shut him in for the night. The door wasn't as sturdy as the one back at the training base either. Sven waited an hour after things went quiet, then kicked at the door like he'd been trained. Without any further effort, it broke right open. He ran out into the hall and glanced both ways. One end led to another hall, while the other had a large window that showed a brown sky. If there wasn't a door out by the window, he might be able to break it too.

The sight that met him at the window stopped that plan of escape immediately. There was a strange overcast sky, lit up by bright lights below rather than the moon above. Below that, the ground was far below the window. A forest and lake looked tiny, while a sprawling town spewing great columns of smoke looked smaller than a child's toy. Where was he to be so high in the sky?

A fierce yowl startled him; a red bipedal cat was rushing at him. What was that monster doing here? He fought it off, getting clawed and knocked into the wall a couple of times. But he was stronger and tougher now. Sven beat it, then hurried to find some way out of here. However, fighting the Sechs Cat had alerted the security forces of this place. They sent more monsters and a couple of soldiers to recapture him. After finding a knife in one of the labs, he gave them enough trouble that when the soldiers finally got him, they tied his hands and ankles together and kept a guard over him all night.

The next day, the fake doctor hypnotized him again so they could install him into the armor.

* * *

 

“This way,” the woman researcher said.

Now he had no control over where he went or what he did. Sven wasn't even sure if he had his own body anymore. He couldn't open his eyes, but he could see what the armor saw through its eyeshield. While he could hear what it heard, he could only smell and feel machinery. He could think about things, but he wasn't sure if the armor thought or not. If it did, all it thought about was the incomplete and active orders it had.

“We'll definitely be winning that sweet grant with this,” the false doctor said in delight. “It's exactly what he asked for. We'll be living a good life now.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” the woman researcher said. “The grant money will go into further research into bioanimate armor. We need to determine if it is the boy's rune qualities or his controlled growth that made him survive its activation. It had better be the latter. If it's the former, then we're in a serious pickle as that vastly limits the pool of hosts we have and we'll have to find some way to reduce the armor's dependency on that level of runes.”

“You aren't thinking strategically. But we'll work that out later.”

When the emperor heard of the high death toll of the hosts (there had been thirty taken by the doctor's shows; Sven was the only one left) as well as the monetary costs of building the mechanized armor, he deemed the armor too inefficient financially to start even a small scale production of them. No matter what proofs the researchers had in how powerful and tough the armor was, it wasn't enough to sway his interests. They were sent back to the lab to work on a project assigned to them with a smaller budget than before. The two researchers started arguing and the false doctor killed his partner, yelling that it was because of her skeptical attitude.

That triggered one of the armor's orders; she had instructed it that should this betrayal happen, the false doctor's orders were to be ignored and the man killed. Thus the armor promptly killed him. Then it stayed right where it was as it had no further orders, only the knowledge that Emperor Ethelberd was also authorized to give orders. Sven was horrified at being left with two bodies and tried to give his own orders to the armor. However, it wouldn't listen to him. It took the emperor coming and telling him to take orders from certain generals to release him from the scene.

* * *

 

“What's it called?”

“Bioanimate Armor Model C.”

“That's a mouthful while not being intimidating. Let's bill it as the Executioner. And get it a battle scythe instead of that sword, that's an instant upgrade in style.”

The emperor had said that he had some ideas of how to use the armor, but had sent it to a battle arena for the time being. Sven hated it. For some reason, the people here in the Sechs Empire found battles entertaining. Especially when people died. When arena combatants were matched with the Executioner, they usually died. Their weapons could not damage the metal shell; their armor was often shattered by the machine-powered strength behind its given scythe. When the scythe broke in one particularly fierce battle, a fan forged an enhanced scythe that he felt was more fitting. It had a blade as white as bleached bones.

The worst days were something this bloodthirsty crowd loved. Prisoners captured in the war between Sechs and Norad sometimes got sent here, whether they were soldiers of the kingdom or ordinary citizens. While the soldiers were often matched with him, there were matches where the arena manager placed a prisoner acknowledged as a skilled fighter with a group of unarmed citizens and made them fight the Executioner. No one ever won those against it.

Not wanting to watch those matches, Sven tried to shut his attention off and think on better things. Maybe his childhood days, maybe the old dreams of being adventuring kings, maybe the new dreams of someone actually winning against the Executioner by enough to break it and free him. Or finding some way to get out himself. He could often think of what he'd do if that happen: help break the siege on his hometown, get back with his family. Maybe he'd go be an adventurer. But more and more often, he found the dreams of not fighting at all more enticing.

He just couldn't figure out how to make the important stage of getting out of the Executioner happen.

* * *

 

“I think my husband is a part of the rebel party. He says he just goes out to drink with his friends, but I know he's got a mistress and she seems to have seduced him into the rebellion.” That was the wife of the arena manager. She had said that she loved him when they parted earlier.

“My wife's been acting suspiciously. She started questioning some of the recent changes from the government and while she backpedaled, it may have been just for show. And she keeps harassing me when I come home. From the unexplained things I've seen around the house, I think she's been hosting meetings for the rebel party.” That was the arena manager. He had said that he loved her too when they parted.

The next day, both were arrested. A few of the arena guards talked about it while the Executioner silently waited. “I didn't think either of them were with the rebels; they both acted like loyal citizens. But they were arrested, so they probably were. I heard they argued like banshees in the courthouse when they got sight of each other.”

The empire was a cold hostile place.

* * *

 

“This siege has dragged on far too long. I am not accepting the excuse that they've dug themselves in too well; their supplies must be dwindling. Executioner, destroy the towns of Medritarc and Telliarc. Eliminate all who live there.”

'No, don't do it! Stop taking these orders from everyone else. Don't destroy them!'

Sven had even lost control of his voice. “Orders acknowledged.”

They transported him by airship. 'This can't happen. Let them break you, even if it kills me. Just so that I don't have to watch them die. Please, don't... Please, if any god can hear me, help me. Don't let this happen.'

Miraculously, someone answered him. 'You want the help of a god?'

'Yes, please! Help me.'

Terribly, an evil god had answered him. 'Why should I? You're a mortal. You're unfit to walk the surface of this world along with all the tiny lives around you. But I like that thing you have, the metal golem. I'll take that.”

When the Executioner broke through the gate protecting Medritarc and got to the fountain, it called down a hand of god in the form of a hellish winter wind to crush the whole town flat. Only a single soul survived, a guard down in an underground tunnel. He took the handle of the scythe to the head and died instantly. Strange black spirits emerged from the armor during the attack, hateful things that seemed to appreciate all the death here.

Sven knew the tunnel led to Telliarc, but he'd never gone down it himself. Instead, the armor walked over the surface to reach another entrance to the underground town. The Executioner had to fight through a company of dwarven warriors to get to a point to unleash the powerful massacre again. No one lived fighting against it yet again. Everyone died.

'Feh, these shards are only enough for small scale attacks. I'd have to find the completed stones. But this weapon seems useful. Fine, go back to your mad mortal master. I can return to use it any time I like.' Then the god departed, leaving a wake of despair and hate behind.

The armor took the orders literally and left Telliarc for the Maya Mountain Range to walk back to its usual place in the arena. But neither the Executioner nor Sven knew how to navigate the narrow paths and slopes to get into Sechs territory. They wandered there for years.

At least the Executioner couldn't kill anybody out there.

* * *

 

Sometimes in his dreams, Sven heard songs of hope. There weren't any words or music, just feelings. All the same, they were songs. He knew the music in his heart when he heard them. Those were soothing dreams where he found peace temporarily. While he would have liked to sing along, the Executioner had stolen his voice and the last thing he wanted was for that thing to disrupt this secret refuge.

“Isn't that the Executioner?”

“Didn't it get destroyed by the Norad forces?”

“What's it doing walking around freely? I thought it was another golem.”

“Unauthorized personnel are not allowed into the arena at this time.”

“You dope, that's the Executioner. Are you going to try stopping it?”

The arena was strangely quiet now. The Executioner took up its usual position and waited. While a few soldiers looked in curiously, weeks passed with little activity. Sven tried to appreciate the stillness, but being back in this place reminded him of the battles that occurred here. Had they been canceled? That would be good, but the people in the streets had seemed afraid, poor, and neglected.

He saw more of that when one of the soldiers came by with a special charm that the Executioner recognized as someone authorized to give orders. It was led to an airship to get up to the floating capitol. While the armor couldn't have the interest to look around, Sven did and saw how the houses were tattered, the public machines were broken, and the people were thin. They watched the solider and the mechanical armor warily, but did not leave the warm dry spots they huddled in. If they had warm dry spots to stay; a few were trying to restart a fire in an alley to stay warm. Others hadn't made it through last night and hadn't been moved yet.

While the soldiers looked healthy, they were a lot quieter and more withdrawn than he'd seen before. When they got to the floating capitol, it seemed like everyone had vanished. The monsters had turned feral, even attacking the two of them. Instead of human guards, full machine guards patrolled around and made sure the solider had that charm.

Emperor Ethelberd was different too. He yelled at the soldier for a couple minutes about stealing the charm to sneak in here. After begging for recognition, the soldier had to point out that he had brought the Executioner back from where it had returned. The Emperor cast a spell, sending a snake of black orbs to chase the soldier from the room. Since the armor set the emperor's orders as highest priority, it stayed there.

After making sure no other spies had gotten in, Ethelberd came to examine the armor. “What happened to you after breaking the siege? And what took you so long to get back?”

“I returned to my post in the arena through the mountains,” the armor replied. Some of the words meant nothing to it, but it knew the structure was necessary.

“You are limited in comprehension like the golems,” Ethelberd said, dismissive of the work of others. “But the unexpected capacity for magic you showed back there was impressive, could be very useful. I should try to remove that boy from you; he still lives, right?”

“He is dependent on me and cannot leave,” the armor said.

Can't leave? There really was nothing he could do? Sven felt a cold grip of despair on his heart. But, the armor wasn't that bright. It could easily be mistaken. There had to be a way out, somehow... if he gave up hope, he might as well go insane.

“Figures,” Ethelberd said. “What a waste, although I won't have to worry about him failing or betraying me. I might as well make use of you, but I don't want to babysit you to make sure you stay working instead of just waiting around like a useless statue. I'm sending you back to Norad. You are to kill every earthmate you come across. But first of all, you need to intercept and kill a delivery boy. A loathsome young earthmate known as Arthur Lest Nolan is taking some powerful magical artifacts, the rune spheres, from the tribal village of Grelin to the rural princedom of Selphia. I want those rune spheres. You're not the only one with these orders, but I need as many barriers as I can get to stop him from getting to Selphia and fulfilling his plans.”

* * *

 

After some clarifications to make sure the armor would follow its orders, it was sent by airship to the very capitol of Norad. Sven was trying to keep asleep so he could hear the songs he heard in dreams. Otherwise, he would think over the armor's words that he couldn't escape, all the seasons he saw pass in the mountains, all the battles in the arena, the day everyone he had known as a child was crushed by wind... hope, he had to keep hope of escape. Even if the only escape he could find was in dreams.

The first earthmate the Executioner ran across was a girl in the capitol. Sven only became aware of her when he was startled awake in being shook violently. There was even the unfamiliar feeling of pain in his own body. When he looked, she was running away, a staff in hand. Spells often worked best against the Executioner, but the prisoners who would know magic had been tormented and exhausted before they even entered the arena. They could barely cast anything. But, that earthmate girl had defeated the Executioner? On her own? Knights of Norad were starting to circle around him, but it was hard to say if they'd been in the fight as he'd just woken up. Since they were intent on capturing it but were not earthmates, the Executioner fled the city to find the girl.

A few days later, the Executioner got orders from someone bearing the charm of authority. Nolan had managed to get to Selphia and was now the prince there. It was to assassinate the prince and locate the rune spheres that had gotten scattered in the emperor's last barrier in a warship. When it started to walk in the direction of Selphia, the charm bearer quickly got it to get on an airship instead, letting it off at a Sechs building close to a road through the Maya Mountains. It still wandered around the countryside for days as no one had thought to give it a map.

The next earthmate the Executioner found was the new prince. It was just after it had finally found one of the rune spheres being held by a highly skilled black orc. Unfortunately for the monster, the Executioner was stronger than its skills and its scythe had been forged in the empire. Somehow, the armor immediately recognized the young man in the green cloak as the prince. Assassinating the prince had been given as an order before retrieving the rune spheres, so it went to attack immediately. But through a mix of a paralysis spell and some luck, the prince managed to get the sphere and escape.

The prince escaped again when the Executioner found him and a strange fox man in a cave full of lava. And the third time, after the armor had defeated a monster in the shape of a woman with butterfly wings, the prince and his companions somehow killed the Executioner without killing Sven. By the campfire that night, the prince told him, “I knew you were trapped in there from the first time I encountered that armor and wanted to help free you. We still have to get you out of there safely, but we'll need to talk to another one of my friends to arrange that.”

How could he repay someone who heard his pleas and understood his suffering when he couldn't say a word?

* * *

 

Spring 54

The three hate spirits that surrounded them in the tunnel were dispatched quicker than Sven expected. Doug changed out his sword for the spirit dagger and killed the one that had trapped them in one hit. Meanwhile, Kiel had cast something over his scythe that let him take down one in front of them just as quickly. Amber might have said she couldn't fight, but perhaps reflexively, she cast a cloud of pink pollen over the third spirit, immobilizing it in sleep so Sven could destroy it too. Fragments of sunlight spilled through the rubble, but it looked dangerous to try digging through it. Especially with one chunk of concrete prominently stuck on the bottom step and the tunnel roof; it was bigger than any of them.

“Where does this tunnel lead?” Vishnal asked, somehow remaining calm in spite of the danger they were still in.

“It's a defense and trading tunnel between the two towns,” Doug said. “This whole area was once considered part of Telliarc, but then humans started moving in here and it was split into two towns. If you don't know what way you're going down here, you'll end up in one of many dead ends, a lot of them set up with traps that could still be active.”

“It's so dark down there,” Amber said, uncomfortable with being trapped underground.

“Would there be another exit from Telliarc?” Vishnal said, undaunted by that information. Sven wondered how he could be so calm and brave. He wanted to panic himself, but then was afraid it might open himself up to one of those hate spirits if others were lurking around.

“Yeah, but it's a dangerous proposal to go into haunted mines,” Doug said, unnerved himself. “Especially of a dwarven town that fell in battle. I mean, I know my way through the tunnel and I'm pretty sure there's a way to the surface not far from their end of the trade post. But who knows what we'll run into between here and there.”

“As dangerous as trying to dig our way out of that without proper mining tools?”

“Couldn't one of you use escape magic?” Sven asked. That be the easiest and fastest way out.

“I don't know if that'd be a good idea here,” Vishnal said.

“Yeah, there were a lot of strange looking runes in the ruins and they're only thicker down here,” Kiel said. “I can't tell if they'd interfere with the escape spell. If they're the corrupted runes like those around Karnak Tower, we really don't want to mess with them even in trying to cast a spell to get through them.”

Vishnal shook his head. “They're not the corrupted ones. Frey's been studying them, so I've seen those before. Still, they won't be safe to make contact with.”

“Maybe it's the feelings remaining from such a violent sudden death,” Sven said, feeling sick to realize and say it. “Isn't that how a lot of haunted places start?”

“Why don't we stay here for a bit and have lunch?” Kiel suggested.

“What, in the haunted tunnel we're trapped in?” Doug asked, unsure about that.

Kiel shrugged. “Well, why not? There's some sunlight coming through the rubble and at least two of us can keep an eye out for those spirits. Plus we're going to be walking for a long while to get to the surface and then back to the airship. Might as well get the energy to do that.”

“And we wouldn't want to start off doing so right after what's happened,” Vishnal said. “It'd be a good idea to calm down for a little while and gather our courage for what's to come.”

“Yeah, have fun in scary situations, that would work,” Amber said, though she wasn't smiling.

“It'll be okay, we'll stick together,” Kiel said, smiling for her.

They had sensible reasons and Sven felt glad to have some sensible reason around. It was reassuring after the crazy magical influences that kept pulling at him. While it seemed like a time to panic, instead they sat down together and shared a meal. Vishnal even lightened the situation by talking animatedly about a paw cat on the royal farm that he'd befriended. Things didn't seem as frightening when they were talking about a cute little hunter who went after mice and moles.

As they cleaned up after the meal, Kiel brought out a strange bracelet. It was made of a tube with a thick clear liquid inside. When he caused something in it to snap, it emitted a bright white light that illuminated the tunnel while he wore it on his wrist. He gave a second one to Doug so they had two light sources to keep the darkness away. “I've got a few others for back-up, but the light will last twelve hours before I need to recharge them.”

“Whoa, those are amazing,” Amber said in fascination.

“Want one too?” he asked, taking out another to offer her.

That made her smile finally. “Sure!”

“Why'd you bring several when we were only planning on staying until mid-afternoon?” Doug asked, slipping the light bracelet on.

“My Dad always said to be prepared for anything when you go out on an adventure,” Kiel said, making sure his bag was securely closed.

That had been a good thing for him to learn, since it felt safer to walk through the lit tunnel. The side tunnels were spooky as they were swallowed up in darkness, but Doug was confident that he remembered the safe passage through. While they didn't see evidence of the traps, Sven remembered them as being deadly, from hidden pits in the floor to spear and fire throwing mechanisms in the walls. The trading posts were generous services to other races in the eyes of traditional dwarves, Doug said at one point. The community would greedily guard any treasure they viewed as their own.

It took an hour to walk the distance between towns, during which they talked about anything but the siege and following massacre. But it stayed on Sven's mind. After seeing the eroded remains of a terrible day, it made those memories terribly fresh. He couldn't stay like this, though. He had to do something to gain more control of himself so he didn't end up actually doing something terrible. Like attacking someone nearby again, or getting possessed, or summoning up his hell gate just because of a moment of insecurity. Better armor might protect against external threats, but something else needed to be done about the internal ones. Maybe even destroying his hell gate? That would mean facing his nightmares.

However, he'd nearly killed Doug a short while ago. While they had forgiven him already, maybe even forgotten it partly, Sven thought that was more terrifying than thinking over the past. He could have lost the last family he had and it really would be his doing. That could be the worst nightmare of all, something worth going into a hell gate in order to prevent.


	39. Ghost Town

Spring 54

It started with an innocent sounding invitation to lunch. At least, on the surface. Lest could sense another intention behind it when Volkanon asked him. However, the last thing he wanted to do was get Volkanon disgruntled with him. While he was the prince speaking to his butler, Lest had seen enough of what Volkanon could do to know that it was a really bad idea to cross him. There was also the idea that he didn't want someone taking care of his home and workplace to dislike him, not just due to the empathy but also due to the potential for chores getting poorly done on intent. So the best thing was to accept this invitation and deal with whatever came.

Fortunately, it was something he'd expected to come. “I don't mean to insult you or your family, but I do have to worry about the lack of a proper male role model you had growing up,” Volkanon said.

Lest had to smile. “Oh, is that what this is about?”

“Well I don't want you to end up disgracing yourself from a social flub,” he said.

“I thought Dad was good even if most of her masculinity was an act,” Lest said. “There were some of my teachers, though the main one I studied with was a woman. There was my namesake Art, but Gramps wasn't around often. I guess there were also the two men who ran the tavern that I stayed in when I visited North Oaken as a teen.” Though Volkanon would have a problem with them since they were a couple. Lest thought they were great friends to have. Once they'd learned of his empathy, they'd taught him about what made people tick through many stories.

“Still, you grew up around a lot of feminine influences,” Volkanon said. “That usually doesn't help a young man.”

“I haven't had a problem with it,” Lest said. “They respected me for who I was and I learned how to respect others for who they are. Dad even said that it's not much different in being a respectable man or woman because the same manners are expected of both. If anything, I have no qualms in admitting to liking something traditionally feminine because I don't see a reason for restricting what I do just because I'm a man.”

“That can be a problem since it's unusual,” Volkanon said.

He shrugged. “Some of it seems artificial in nature. Like flowers. Why shouldn't a man like flowers? Don't you like them?”

“I do, but I'm allergic to them and so I can't handle them myself,” he admitted.

Lest felt bad for him. “Is it just the touch or do you have bad allergies?”

“Allergies, and there isn't much of a pattern in which ones do or don't,” Volkanon said.

“That's troublesome. Also, why do people think liking sweets is a feminine trait? Is it just because women are supposed to be sweet?” Lest shook his head. “That's silly, and what I mean by artificial reasons. Fortunately that's pretty old and dying out. Although people still get surprised when my sister orders red meat in a restaurant. That's just as silly. I know men are traditionally hunters, but why would that keep a girl from liking to eat meat? Or hunt and fish herself, those are necessary tasks if you're living in solitary areas.”

“I can agree with you on that as being silly and artificial,” Volkanon said. “But dressing as a girl even if you keep it to rare occasions? That's the kind of thing that can start bad rumors about you, like you were interested in men instead.”

“Well I have dated a couple other guys,” Lest admitted. “Girls too, so it isn't that I'm only interested in other men.”

“Oh brother,” Volkanon grumbled, putting a hand over his face.

“I'm sorry, but that's how I am,” Lest said. “I'm just a lot more careful in telling a guy that he's attractive or something like that. That's definitely not expected and can cause a lot more trouble than flirting with a girl.”

“I appreciate the honesty, but this isn't something I've had to deal with myself,” he said, then paused as he heard footsteps outside the office. Volkanon held up a hand and Lest nodded. This wasn't exactly the kind of conversation he wanted someone to walk in on unexpectedly.

It turned out to be Illuminata. “Hey Volks, have you seen Amber around?” she asked. “Or you Lest? Normally she'd at least drop by around lunch time.”

“Haven't seen her today, sorry,” Lest said.

“She ended up as a stowaway on the airship when Doug and the others took off for Medritarc,” Volkanon said. “Vishnal reported it to me over the radio before they got out of transmission range. They said they'd make sure she was safe.”

Illuminata smiled. “I see, gone off on an adventure with the boys. All right, when are they getting back in?”

“About an hour or so, they didn't plan on being there long,” Volkanon said.

Hearing this concerned Lest. He hoped that this trip would pull Doug out of doubt and whatever hate he had for Ventuswill. But if Amber was around, he might not talk about it. Or if he did, she could react badly when she'd been trying to be his friend. What were they doing now?

* * *

 

The tunnel had not been a problem since Doug remembered the correct path. But at the end of the tunnel where trades were handled, there was a large skeleton dragon waiting on them. It barely fit into the room, crouched down due to the ceiling and not even able to get out. An orb within its rib cage shone as it roared and tried to snap at them. Sven shivered at the sight; it was kind of like he imagined Storgane being sometimes.

Standing on the other side of the gateway was enough to keep them out of reach. “Think we can run past that fast enough?” Doug asked.

“I don't know,” Vishnal said, glancing at Kiel. Amber could certainly fly through fast enough and Vishnal could easily run by it. Sven felt sure he could. But Kiel and Doug might not.

“What is that anyhow?” Sven asked, not sure why the old town would have a dragon guarding it. Regular dragons were disliked by dwarves as each side stole treasure from the other.

“It's a Skelefang,” Kiel said. “From what I've read, it might not be that tough to beat if we work together. You'll only knock the bones away if you attack it now, but keep doing that and eventually the orb will be vulnerable. Then you need to make your most powerful strike to destroy it as it can unleash its strongest spells in that state, even regenerate the bones. Sven, you'd have the strongest single attack of all of us, so if the rest of us can get the bones off, you should be able to send it back to the forest.”

“You need to knock its bones off?” Amber asked. “Um, I think I can do something to help. There's been a spell in my mind but I didn't want to try it; this monster isn't natural and shouldn't be here.”

“It probably came because this is a ghost town,” Kiel said, not as afraid when he could explain it.

For a moment, Sven didn't want to attack for fear of losing control. But getting the Skelefang out of the way was the reasonable course of action. “O-okay. I'll charge up for it.”

“Then get ready, on the count of three we'll attack,” Kiel said. “Three... two.. one... go!”

Doug used the spirit dagger in order to throw a sparkling orb that wrecked the Skelefang's jaw, but that was simply the quickest attack. Vishnal rushed in with a spin attack using both of his blades, knocking off quite a few. Behind them, Kiel used an exploding fireball to blow apart the rib cage. While they were attacking, Amber darted out towards the ceiling and the base of the Skelefang's tail. Then she unleashed an unearthly wail that rattled the old doors, broke a few pieces of furniture, and shattered the remainder of the skeletal cover. She might have been able to blast away the entire skeleton if she'd attacked alone. However, a faint energy came over the rest of them, protecting them from her spell as her allies.

Ready with Downsplit, Sven dashed to the middle of the room where the orb descended after the skeleton was gone. This skill unleashed a single powerful attack, the one that had cleaved Ambrosia. But cutting through this orb was like attacking gelatin. It wobbled, split, but didn't get destroyed. After repeating the skill, the fourth attack finally caused it to collapse in a wet spatter before it vanished into light.

“Wow, that was amazing,” Kiel said, coming over to him. “But are you okay? Using high powered rune skills in succession like that would drain your energy like crazy.”

“I'm fine, I don't feel tired from it,” Sven said, surprised to hear that it should cost more energy. He'd only experienced such attack strings when the Executioner ran across a golem since little else could withstand one Downsplit. “What about you Amber?”

“I'm okay,” she said, descending near them with a smile. “Hee, glad to know it accounts for my friends and won't hurt you. Still kind of scary, though.”

“No kidding,” Doug said, pointing to the stone table that was now rubble. “Good thing we're okay, although now we're a bit lost because I've only gone past this area once and that was just a short ways.”

“The most sensible thing would be to simply go up, wouldn't it?” Vishnal suggested.

“Maybe, and if the engravings on the walls include directions, that would be even better,” Doug said.

At they were discussing getting out, Sven started to feel like someone was touching the back of his neck. But the other four were right in front of him. Who was it? Then the feeling became familiar, another mind close to his own. “Halt, what business do you surface dwellers have to do here?” a stern female voice came from his mouth.

“Sven?” Doug asked, startled. The others were staring at him.

“Ah, it's a ghost of one of the Telliarc guard, I think,” Sven said.

Then it changed over to the ghost's voice. “Correct, but answer my question now.”

“We got trapped in the other end of the tunnel,” Doug explained, nervous but managing to keep himself together. “The best way back to our airship is to come over here to get back to the surface. We didn't mean to come here, just to visit and honor the memorial there.”

The ghost considered them as strangers, at least until she noticed something. “Hmm, well you did beat the Skelefang. Wait, that weapon you have, what are you doing with my spirit dagger?”

Doug tensed. “Huh? Wait, then you're... our great grandmother Niam? I got this from Grandfather Conrad.”

“Oh, then you and this one must be the sons of his boys,” Niam said, easing back on her sternness. “Hah, I knew he was troublesome. And these are friends of yours?”

Sven decided to answer, “Yes, they've been helping us out.”

Kiel nodded. “Yeah, we know how rough it can be visiting a family grave, so we came to support them.”

“Well you seem to be fairly good people,” Niam said, but then made him point out Doug. “Though you seem awful clean for being a full-blooded dwarf. What kind of trade do you have?”

Doug must have been anxious, since his job at the general store would be held as a needed but not all that honorable position. However, Vishnal spoke up first. “He works with lightning, making it serve people rather than strike out violently.”

“Really?” Niam asked, impressed.

“That's cool!” Amber said. Thankfully, she stopped with that.

Taking the suggestion, Doug started bluffing extra confidence. “Yeah, making lights and power out of controlling the electricity that lightning is made of. But it's dangerous work, on the level of getting killed instantly for making a mistake. I have to wear protective gear like gloves, so my work ends up not roughening up my appearance like other dwarves.”

He might have been bluffing, but it seemed to convince her as a suitable trade. “Controlling lightning to make things light or dark as you like would be an amazing thing to see. Though my duty means I'm stuck here, so I couldn't go see such wonders. Still, you're family and friends of family, so it's acceptable to see you safely to the surface. Many troubled souls still wander these halls, not knowing they're dead and driven insane by a perception of being here alone. That Skelefang is a manifestation of their emotions and it will regenerate, teleporting from room to room when something living moves here. I died before them and other things keep me here, more sane than the rest of them.”

“Thanks, I only really knew how to get this far,” Doug said, smiling. “Is there anything we can do to free your soul, and the others?”

That made her uneasy. Kiel said, “If you're still guarding this place, it would ease your heart to have the rest of them at peace, wouldn't it? We'll do what we can, although we might have to return at a later date to do so.”

“Maybe that would set me free too, maybe not,” Niam said. “But it would do me a world of good to have the others at peace. People put up a memorial at the trade fort, but nothing was done here. Hardly any visitors have come, not even other dwarves. If you could get a war memorial made by another dwarf set up in the main hall, that would please them to know that they died in battle.”

“We know a dwarven blacksmith, but...” Doug hesitated on continuing that thought.

“Good, that should work out well,” she said. “And you should tell him to make this man some proper armor as he's a warrior. I shouldn't have been able to speak through him as easily as I have been.”

“But he was the one who made this armor,” Sven said.

“What?!” she asked in a fury, even making Sven's fists clench up.

“Well Bado can do really good work, when he wants too,” Kiel said, his rapid thoughts in defense of the blacksmith making his eyes twitch. “He made a sword for my father that never broke or dulled even though he fought monsters on a daily basis in defense of our hometown. Bado works mostly to get money these days, rarely producing a nice piece when he feels like it.”

It didn't convince Niam. “That will not do. A dwarven craftsman should have the pride to use all their talent for any job.”

“He did get struck by thelnar this spring, so he still has the talent, just not the motivation most days,” Vishnal said.

“Then if he does not have the motivation, I will get it to him even if I'm not haunting his place,” Niam said in a dangerous way. “Do you mind a small side trip here? He will make that memorial and he will put all his talent to it or he's going to really suffer the consequences of his laziness.”

Kiel didn't look happy with that threat, but then Vishnal whispered something to him that changed his mind. “Well I would like to see him succeed in more than making my sister mad at him,” he said, half to Vishnal. “All right, we'll do that.”

“It really isn't far off the path we need to go,” Niam said, leading them through Sven into Telliarc.

Even with a comparatively friendly ghost along, Sven could feel the unsettled and pained atmosphere of this place. There were some rats and other small monsters scurrying around, but no living intelligent beings. But signs of the town's former population were everywhere; engravings on the walls, furniture left intact in spite of the attack, even a few skeletons that were mostly together with the armor and weapons they had been using. Still, one didn't need to see runic energy to know that what was here was bad, many deaths left unsettled and unhonored.

Niam brought them to a room for the town guards that were posted in this part of Telliarc. She had him retrieve a strange brown bottle that Kiel identified as a melody bottle most often used by sirens. However it had come here, Niam was able to use it to record a message to Bado, then cork it up until it was ready to be delivered. She insisted that Doug keep it, so he placed it in his side bag.

But even being there a brief time seemed enough to stir up the other ghosts. “We'll have to hurry, the others don't like that scythe you have,” Niam said.

“It is the Executioner's weapon, the one that defeated them,” Sven said, barely keeping himself from saying that he had been there to see it.

“Not a wise idea to keep using a weapon with a bad history,” she said, leading his hand to double-headed battle axe sitting in a rack on the wall. “We don't have anything like that around, so go ahead and take this. It's standard issue for mine guards.”

“Thanks,” Sven said, although he wasn't sure how well he could use it. It had a different balance and heft compared to the scythe. But it'd probably work until he could get a new scythe, somehow.

“I don't know what the others were saying since you were born after I passed,” Niam said. “But hell, you're still family no matter what you look like, still a dwarf in my eyes. You're a warrior, so go defend whatever people you're living with now. That's how you keep a dwarf's honor.”

“That's what I mean to do,” he said, feeling really glad to hear her words.

“So why do dwarves live underground?” Amber asked, having been uncharacteristically quiet. Maybe she'd been thinking on this. “It's dark and all closed in.”

“Uh, sorry, she's kind of a fairy still learning about other cultures,” Doug said.

Niam laughed. “It may be overly troublesome to civilize a fairy, but I admire you all for trying.”

Amber smiled, although perhaps the tunnels kept her from laughing. “I want to be with my friends, so I'm trying really hard.”

“Well I can tell you a story about dwarves from the distant past, it should be short enough to fill the distance we have left,” Niam said, leading into an ancient tale of how dwarves were supposedly the children of an earth goddess.

She had to leave them once they reach the surface, but her words stuck with Sven. Possibly with Doug too, since while they were walking quickly back to the airship, he said, “You know, she wasn't so bad for a traditionalist. Still insistent on honor and defined roles, though.”

“It made sense to me,” Sven said. “You have a job you can do and you fulfill it the best way you can.”

“Isn't that the way a lot of people live?” Vishnal asked. “I think I remember reading that dwarven rules could be strict, but they do pick what kind of trade they want to enter.”

“Guess it doesn't sound so bad when you put it that way,” Doug admitted. “It's just when they get all hissy over a minor issue that shouldn't really make a difference, like appearance or if you get scars or not, that kind of thing kept me from associating with them.”

“It sounds like ants to me, but ants are happy when their system works, so I guess dwarves must be happy with it too,” Amber said.

“That's a weird way to put it,” Doug said, amused at it. “Fitting, I think.”

“So rules are good when the people living by them are happy,” Amber said, thinking over that.

When they got back to the Sky Siren, Vishnal asked Doug to call out over the radio since they were coming in later than planned. It was difficult to get a clear signal, plus they had to hope that someone was listening in on the channel they were using. After three calls in just trying to get an answer, Doug sighed quietly and leaned on the stand. Then the radio played a response. “This is NACC Outpost 18 to Sky Siren, are you flying tonight?”

“Getting ready to take off,” Doug said as Vishnal and Kiel were locking up the ramp. “We were trying to get a message through to our destination.”

“Is this one of the crew?”

“No, I'm a passenger,” he said, waving to the other two. “I'll pass you over to the pilot.”

“Thanks.”

Vishnal nodded and took the radio handset. “Hello, this is the Sky Siren's pilot, is there a report we need to know of?”

“Yes, a thunderstorm's built up rapidly in the north of our relay area. Where are you and what's your heading?”

“We're in the south section of your watch,” Vishnal said, double-checking the map display there. “At the Medritarc airfield, planning to head north-northeast to Selphia Town airfield.”

“Your flight may be rough, but leaving now should keep you ahead of the storm.” There was a muffled voice from someone else in the outpost room. “Oh, right, the Sechs warship has been spotted again by the post ship along Maya Mountain range. Patrol ships state that it hasn't gone further north and we doubt it will do so in this late afternoon. Still, radio the air patrol when you get close to the Selphia region and take their advice on getting through the area safely.”

“Roger, and could you pass on a message to Selphia Castle that our ship plans to be back around 1700 hours due to unavoidable delays?”

“Will do. Fly safe.”

“Thank you.” Vishnal set the handset back in this holder and shook his head. “I hope we get back without incident. The storm shouldn't be a problem unless we get delayed, but that warship has been unpredictable.”

“Anything we need to do because of the rough flight?” Doug asked.

He thought about it. “If you want, help us check the deck to make sure everything is secure. If the winds get too bad, I might have to ask you to go inside. We'll see how it goes.”

Sven spent part of the flight watching the northern horizon. It was an impressive sight, seeing the darkened clouds rolling along the sky. Within it, sparks repeatedly sent bright flashes and occasional rumbles. The winds were calm for much of the flight but as they got close, they picked up and started buffeting the ship. Reports from the radio stated that the storm was moving to the south quickly; it'd likely hit Selphia overnight, if not before the sun went down. By the time they reached Selphia's western border, the air patrol wanted to send one of their ships to guide them back to town. They even offered to send over another pilot used to flying in turbulent conditions, but Vishnal told them he'd be fine with the escort and navigation help. It meant that they rest of them had to go inside to keep out of the winds.

“I knew he had his license, but I didn't know he had the guts to fly near a storm,” Kiel said, sitting with them on a bench to watch the clouds through a window. He'd just come in from above deck.

“I wouldn't even do that on my own,” Amber said, sitting still and seeming a little afraid.

“We're not really in the dangerous area, right?” Doug said, not afraid but he was tense. “The thunderclouds are still several miles off and it's mostly the winds making it harder.”

Kiel shook his head. “I think the air tends to build static ahead of a moving storm too. But that may be closer to the storm itself. If there was danger of sparks, the patrol ships would have told us to land and wait it out.” A rumble of thunder filled the air, each one gaining volume as the storm approached.

“Are we gonna be okay?” Amber asked, looking at Kiel.

“We should be,” Kiel said, looking out the windows. “We should arrive ahead of the storm.

Doug then nudged him. “Hey Sven, you all right? You look like something's on your mind.”

“I'm okay,” he said. He felt nervous, but not nearly as much as he had back at Medritarc. “I was thinking about asking Prince Lest if he'd help me to challenge my hell gate tonight. It's going to keep being a danger until it's gone, to anyone near me. But I want to protect the town, not cause trouble.”

“You sure about that?” Kiel asked. “They sound like something terrible lies in them.”

“They're scary too,” Amber said, fiddling with the binding on her wrists.

“We can be there to help, if you want,” Doug said.

He smiled, glad for the concern. “Thanks, but I think only two of us can go in. Lest says it's a difficult spell to get out. But, monsters might come out; you'd fight the stuff of my nightmares.” He was worried about them doing that, but at least they'd be expecting it. “As for what's in the gate, well, I already lived through hell. It can't be any worse than being trapped in the Executioner.” Then he put a hand on Amber's shoulder. “No matter how scary it is inside, they won't go away unless we face them. So if it's keep running and keep having nightmares, or going further into one and possibly stopping them all, I'd rather try going further.”

“Maybe you won't stop them, we don't know,” she said.

“But it's better to try and know than to not try and never know, isn't it?” Kiel asked. “I mean if you can break the gate and end the nightmares.”

Sven nodded. “For the first time, I might be able to do something about what torments me. I was helpless for a long time...” Then there was a loud sound from outside. Not thunder, but the boom of a cannon. Out of the southern windows that they hadn't been watching, lights shone from a large warship emerging from a cloud.

* * *

 

Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.

Venti frowned and sent a signal that called Volkanon into the room. He came promptly, no surprise since he'd been just outside of her chamber. “Yes, my lady, what do you need?'

“Nothing I need, but I want to know why you're pacing about incessantly this afternoon,” she said. It was making her grumpy since she'd been thinking of taking a nap. But that tap tap tap of his footsteps was just enough to keep her awake. Usually, he was better about walking silently.

'Sorry about that,” he said, embarrassed that he was troubling her. “I've simply been worried about the group that went out of town today. They should have come back two hours ago, but we haven't even heard from them over the radio.”

“I see. I can't cast my awareness out that far, sorry. Perhaps they've simply been delayed; airships do have troubles from time to time.” Hopefully it wasn't anything bad. This was supposed to be helping.

“Not much we can do but trust them,” Volkanon said, partly to himself. “Although Amber snuck along with them; I hope Ellie isn't worrying too much.”

Amber? That changed things. “Is she with them?” When he nodded, she nodded back. “In that case, I can check on her no matter where she goes. Hang on a minute.” She closed her eyes and focused her attention on the charm she'd given Amber.

She didn't feel comfortable where she was, a tunnel where distant ends were dark and the earth was all around them. There wasn't much room for her to fly in, so she had to walk with the others. Thankfully, she and two of the guys had glowing bracelets that kept the area around them bright. None of them were injured although she wasn't the only nervous one there. Recent memories of hate spirits were there, but from what Venti could tell through the charm, there were no corrupt runes.

Opening her eyes, she looked down at the butler. “They're in a haunted area and ran into some trouble due to that. However, they seem fine where they are. They'll be some time longer, but they have a plan. I'll keep checking on them from time to time, but have faith in them. They'll be back.”

“At least we know now,” Volkanon said, still worried but maybe he wouldn't be pacing as much. “There's also the matter of what Lest and I spoke of earlier today. I'm still not sure how to take it.”

“How to take what?” Venti asked, honestly not sure what that worry was about.

“It's more of a personal matter, but I was trying to influence him not to blur gender lines as much as he does,” he said. “He sees no trouble in it no matter how I explain it to him and even admits to dating both girls and boys in the past. I know childhood influences people greatly, but he had unusual role models and the rest of upper society very likely won't accept him like that.”

“So, what's the trouble then?” Venti asked.

“Just what I said, he doesn't act normal,” Volkanon said.

She shook her head. “You mean he doesn't act normal by your view of normal. He's acting perfectly normal for him. Besides, the current upper society complains constantly when they have to work under me and has made a mess of my land. I don't give a hoot for what they think of someone who's actually happy to be prince here and does his best to balance his duties to the land, to me, to the people, and to his family's legacy.”

“I can understand that and it wouldn't be a problem if he ends up in love with a woman,” Volkanon said. “But what if he ends up in love with a man? That'd be...” he wasn't sure how to put it.

“That'd be fine as long as he was happy and it was an honest love,” Venti said. “Let me tell you about someone I watched long ago. She was a girl who never found anything interesting about boys, but found other girls to be very fascinating and fell in love time after time with them. But her parents were horrified by it. They told her it was unnatural and wrong. In fact, just about everyone told her that. Some even acted in outright disgust and tried to correct her to act in the way they saw as natural. And she was completely miserable, feeling unnatural and wrong because everyone told her she was. It eventually broke her so much that she killed her parents and claimed she was a demon meant to torment everyone around her. But when she was young enough that love meant little to her, she was a perfectly fine little girl who was well behaved and kind. It wasn't who she loved that ruined her, but how everyone else treated her for something she couldn't change that did.

“But then you just look in our town now at Nem and Helena. Even if they're away almost every day on their post run, they've been good members of the community who help out others and don't cause trouble. And they're very happy together, working as partners in job and life to the point where trying to separate them would make each of them much worse. It's because they have people who accept them and what's normal for them. Maybe they've had people tell them they're unnatural, but they also have plenty of people who support them. If things stay as they are, they're going to be just fine, nothing to worry over. With what I've seen, I'd rather people be happy following what's normal for them rather than what people tell them is normal.”

“When you put it that way, it's hard to disagree,” Volkanon said, although he still didn't seem comfortable with the idea yet.

“It may be hard to accept due to what you were taught in your childhood days,” she said. “But that's how I see things. Of course, it may be that I'm a dragon and have lived for centuries, thus I don't see the world the same way you mortals do. As long as he's not hurting anybody, let Lest be who Lest is. And it's too soon to worry about who he's with when he isn't with anybody yet.”

“That's true,” he said. “I'll give it some thought. Thanks for telling me about that, though.”

“I hope you find a suitable answer for yourself,” Venti said. She also hoped he stopped pacing; it was so annoying. But what of Amber and the others out in Medritarc? She should keep an eye on them.


	40. Hell Gate of Dark

Spring 54

After receiving a message that the Sky Siren didn't expect to come in until 1700 hours, Lest sent a message to Blossom, Illuminata, and Forte about it and that he intended to take the radio in the castle over to the restaurant. This let him and Volkanon monitor the airship exchanges while having dinner. Clorica joined them as well as the three women. The word spread around town quickly as he'd expected. Due to this, the restaurant was quite full but people were trying to keep quiet in case news came in over the radio.

It was almost at the seventeenth hour when they finally heard Kiel on the radio. He was still faint from the distance, but he could be heard. “This is Sky Siren coming in from the west, crossing into Selphia air space headed for Selphia air field. We were told to contact the local patrols on arriving. How're things going?”

“Thank goodness, they're almost here,” Blossom said, relieved to hear it.

“Are you going to respond to that?” Illuminata asked.

“Not yet,” Lest said, right as the NACC air patrol responded.

“Sky Siren, this is the scout ship Red Falcon.” This contact was much clearer. “You're coming in close to the storm, do you have the speed to get into the main field?”

“We should,” Kiel replied. “It has picked up speed and the wind is increasing, but we're doing fine so far.” There was a faint sound that seemed to be Vishnal saying something.

“What level pilot and navigator do you have? We've spotted you now and we could send over a crew capable of taking this turbulence.”

“This is my first time navigating, um,” Kiel paused to hear Vishnal. “Our pilot feels confident he can handle the ship with some extra navigation assistance. You really think I should go below deck?”

“Yeah,” Vishnal said, just barely audible now.

“Kiel is more likely to get knocked around up there by the wind since he's such a featherweight,” Leon said, hiding some worry for the group.

“Okay, steer towards Karnak Tower, that will bring you into quicker contact with us.”

“Roger Red Falcon,” Kiel said. Then there was some muffled talk that seemed to be Kiel handing off the radio handset to Vishnal.

Since they had the meet up with the scout ship arranged, Lest took the handset to the radio he had. “Sky Siren, this is Selphia checking in. Welcome back, took you guys long enough.”

“Thanks Prince,” Vishnal said. “We're fine, we just had an undead dragon and ghosts to deal with.”

Forte shivered across the table just hearing it; even Meg and Dolce seemed worried on hearing it. “Just that, huh?” Lest replied. “Everyone okay over there?”

“Yes, we're all fine now,” Vishnal replied.

“If you're making light of undead dragons, I suppose flying ahead of the storm wouldn't scare you,” the person on the Red Falcon's radio said.

Vishnal laughed. “We're not in the storm yet, so this isn't much trouble. Though Karnak Tower looks rather ominous by this light. Does it get that way in stormy weather?”

“That is new to us, actually,” the Red Falcon replied. “Never seen dark mist stream around it like that.”

Lest frowned, even though that was how he was used to seeing the tower. “That would be the presence of corrupt runes you're seeing,” he replied over the radio. “Although it must be particularly strong tonight if those without the ability to see runes can sense it like that.” Holding the handset away, he turned to his sister and asked, “Would you look into that tomorrow? Might be a bad idea with the storm coming in to go tonight.”

“Yeah, got it,” Frey said.

“What's making it react like that?” the Red Falcon asked.

He brought the handset back into a position he felt comfortable talking into. “That's under investigation right now, so I can't give a certain answer. It is dangerous, so even being on an airship, you should keep away from the tower when you can see the mist effect.”

“Don't need to tell me that twice,” the Red Falcon said. The discussion turned mundane for airship travel, save for maneuvering the two ships so the more experienced navigator could come on board to replace Kiel. “Sky Siren, can you move any faster? There's a cloud not moving with the wind that might be the warship.”

“Would be rough, but we can,” Vishnal said, right before a familiar boom of cannon fire came over the radio.

That made the whole restaurant go silent.

* * *

 

Amber screamed and Kiel felt his heart jump into his throat. This was not something he thought would happen, getting caught between a thunderstorm and a warship on an airship without weapons. While it had been a risk, it hadn't seemed possible. A warship would be obvious even this late in the day. But this one somehow had a cloak of clouds that let it sneak up on them and get terrifyingly close. Did the scout ship have weapons?

The airship shuddered as Vishnal increased their speed in an attempt to get out of range. “Aw man, why now?” Doug asked, looking around as if there might be something to defend themselves with.

“Is there anything we can do?” Sven asked, frightened as well.

“Can't you pop their balloons?” Amber asked, backing up against the northern windows even though that wouldn't help much.

“Pop?” Kiel asked, his thoughts kicking into high gear at the question.

On Norad airships, that would be difficult. The balloons were covered with a canvas material that had a powerful magic defense woven in. This kept an airship safe from spells and partly reduced the risk of sparks, lightning, and flames. What of Sechs airships? They didn't have the same canvas cover on their balloons. A spell or rune skill from a person on another ship might be able to take down a Sechs airship if they knew where to strike. And if they could make the casting distance.

Kiel went over to the southern windows and tried to gauge the distance. “Doug, Sven, how far do your distance attacks reach?” Amber seemed to have a good potential for magic, but she was most afraid and thus not as capable for this situation.

“My fireball spells can reach fifteen yards, and the dagger's shot can hit twenty-five,” Doug said.

“Not enough,” Kiel said. That was much too close to be flying to a warship with ramming spikes on it.

“I don't remember the exacts, but I know how to shift Bladestorm to a single blade for a considerable change to the distance it can fly,” Sven said. “It was used to hit a bird monster far overhead on several occasions.”

“Think you can hit the warship from here?” Kiel asked, pointing it out. “That and a spell should be enough to wreck the balloon and I'm pretty sure I can cast that far.” It'd be difficult, but he might be capable of it. One of them had to be capable because there wasn't a lot of time.

“Yeah, I could do that from the deck,” Sven said, calming down some as he had something he could do.

“Then let's go!” he said, hurrying towards the door. He heard Sven come after him.

“You be careful!” Doug called, staying below with Amber.

The trembling of the ship was even worse up on the deck where the wind shield wasn't capable of blocking all of the gusts coming from the approaching storm. Vishnal was clinging to the wheel while the navigator from Red Falcon was hanging onto the side railing. “What are you two doing out here?” the navigator called.

“We have to try something!” Kiel called back, trying to keep his footing while getting to the railing of the ship. He pointed out the forward section of the warship's balloon as Sven joined him. “Aim for the front so that if you're off, there's still a chance you'll hit it.”

“Okay,” Sven said, charging up energy while switching open the scythe in one hand. The dusky dim made the shine of the ethereal blade easier to see when he hurled it through the air at the warship's balloon. When it struck, blue sparks flew from the point of impact and a tear could be seen. The warship started dipping at the fore. However, its crew moved with unreal speed to shift the main cannon in an attempt to hit them.

Meanwhile, Kiel had been charging up an electric orb attack. It was a difficult spell that he'd only used in practice, not in a serious situation like this. But electricity was one of the most dangerous forces to an airship. He couldn't even charge it long safely on their own ship, so he used a few tricks he'd learned to pour more of his rune points into the spell to decrease the charge time and increase the potency. Just before it got too dangerous with draining his energy, Kiel released the orb. It shot through the air much faster than any other spell he'd ever cast and when it hit the damaged balloon, the warship rapidly got engulfed in flames. An explosion sealed the warship's fate, sending a shock wave through the air that knocked Kiel backwards while he was trying to brace himself after the huge rune point drop in his body.

“Kiel, you okay?!” Vishnal called from his post. Sven skidded in trying to get back to him. Still on the radio, Vishnal added, “He and Sven just blew up the warship.”

“Heh, it worked,” Kiel said, although his head hurt after hitting the deck.

“What happened?” Sven asked, glancing over him uncertainly. “You're pale.”

“It was a powerful spell,” he said, trying to make it seem not as bad by smiling. “That's it, I'll be okay.”

“He overdid it in casting that spell,” Sven called back. Then he looked down. “Think you can get inside?”

“I should,” he said. But when he tried to stand up, Kiel felt dizzy. Sven ended up picking him up and carrying him back inside.

“What happened to him?” Doug asked as they came in.

Sven told them while setting him on one of the benches. “You sure just some rest is all you need?”

“Should be,” Kiel said.

“I dunno, you don't look so good,” Amber said in worry. She must have gotten off this bench as she was already leaning over him. “I don't know healing spells, sorry. But you saved us, thank you.”

“Yeah, that was pretty awesome,” Doug said. “Hope that isn't too bad.”

The rest of the flight was untroubled, just rougher than normal due to the approaching storm. Knowing that keeping still would regenerate rune points faster, Kiel thought that he'd be able to at least get back home on his own. Then his head started to hurt worse and he could tell based on how drained he felt that his rune points weren't regenerating for some reason. Maybe he really had overextended himself this time. Or he'd hit the deck harder than he thought.

“Amber, would you fly into town and tell Jones we need him in the clinic?” Doug asked, causing Kiel to realize they were nearly home, if not flying over it.

“Yeah, I'll get him there,” she said, then ran out onto the deck.

“Sorry, don't mean to make you worry,” Kiel said.

“Nah, you don't have to be sorry,” Doug said, patting his hand in reassurance. “We wouldn't have gotten home safe without you. Heh, we wouldn't have made it through this trip at several points if you three weren't there with us.”

“Right, we owe you a lot,” Sven said.

“It's what friends do,” Kiel said.

* * *

 

In spite of the storm moving in quicker than expected, Vishnal got them back to town safely. The military scout ship even decided to land in Selphia instead of return to the temporary airfield the Central Norad knights were using as a base in the region. On the ground, Leon of all people met with them and used a teleporting spell to get Kiel to the clinic immediately. The winds made the wooden staircases up the cliff shiver as the rest of them climbed upwards. Doug felt some relief when they got solid earth under them, even if they were headed to the castle. All this time he'd been here, he'd only been inside the central area when the warship had first appeared. He hadn't wanted to look at Ventuswill until he felt ready for his main mission. Now that he was going to give it up, he found himself walking right into her chamber with his friends.

“Welcome back,” Ventuswill said in a regal yet friendly tone. “Was there something you needed?”

Sven came to the front of their group, having gathered his nerves enough to ask, “We came in to find Prince Lest, actually. I want to try challenging my hell gate if possible tonight.”

“He went to put the radio back,” Clorica said. “I'll go get him.”

That left them with Ventuswill and the old butler. The dragon seemed to be thinking aloud. “You aren't connected to the rune springs, so there's no specific place that would be best. And there's that storm, which means it may be best to use the castle basements.”

“There's some empty rooms in the first basement that would be usable,” Volkanon said.

Meanwhile, Vishnal had somehow gotten to Doug's side without his notice. “Did you want to talk with her tonight?” he asked softly.

After getting over the surprise, he shrugged. “I'm not sure if I should.”

“Don't be worried, she's actually quite kind,” he said, giving him an encouraging nudge.

Even to someone like him? Doug didn't think anyone could be that kind. Although, Vishnal seemed to be completely on his side even though he also had sworn loyalty and service to Ventuswill. If he could do that, maybe the dragon could be as forgiving? “Excuse me, Lady Ventuswill?”

She looked over at him and, for some reason, she smiled. “Hello Doug. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever come visit. What is it?”

If it hadn't been for the voice of authority, that might've come from a friendly neighbor. Hoping this wouldn't go badly, he said, “Well there's a big reason for that but, I've had a change of heart. I first came in here as a spy for the Sechs Empire with the mission to kill you.”

Doug felt an icy glare from Volkanon on saying it, one that seemed like it could be deadly itself. However, Ventuswill quickly rebuked the butler with a nudge of her wing. “What was your reason behind that?” she asked, taking it rationally.

Making a mental note to never tick off Volkanon after this, Doug said, “At the time, I had been convinced that you'd been behind the destruction of my old hometown of Medritarc, and the dwarven town of Telliarc nearby. But I started having doubts within a few days of moving here. The people here are so warm and friendly compared to how it is in the empire that it didn't seem right. I kept trying to excuse it, but then I started to not want to hurt Granny Blossom and caring about other people around. Like the guys who came with us, even Amber when she snuck on board. I don't think we could have gotten through today if they'd been there.”

“We were just doing what any friend would do,” Vishnal said with a smile.

“You managed to stop a demonic possession without properly preparing an exorcism,” Doug said, feeling like he was way understating what he'd managed to do.

“Um, I had some idea of how it worked in speaking with Lest about his work,” Vishnal said. “And I don't think it was a very strong bond if a novice like myself could get rid of it.”

“I really grateful you could,” Sven said. “You were pretty amazing today, between that and racing the storm on the airship, and knowing enough about dwarven customs to placate a traditionalist.”

“Yeah, I had no idea you knew that much,” Doug said. He was strangely well-prepared. How?

“It's part of my duty as a butler to accommodate different customs of a master or their guests,” Vishnal said. “I just focused on the dwarven studies ever since you first brought up the idea, just in case.”

“In case we'd run into the ghost of a dwarf?” Doug asked, his eyes widening.

For some reason, that made Ventuswill laugh. “You're blessed with some great friends, Doug,” she said. “What do you think of Selphia now that you've been living here for a while?”

“I really like it here,” he said. “Even surprised myself in thinking of it as home before Sven came back. But now that I know it was Storgane who wiped out the two towns and not you, I really don't want to work against you or Selphia anymore. I'm really sorry about it, and if I could do anything to make up for it, just say it.”

“Hmmm... you didn't actually attack me or anyone here, so it's fine.” She smiled again. “You're welcome to stay in your new home town as long as you like. I'm happy that you found the truth in the end.”

“Um, thanks,” Doug said, wondering for a moment if there was going to be a catch. Also feeling really glad to be accepted in spite of admitting why he'd come.

“But I wonder, have you cut off ties with the Sechs or informed them that you refuse to work with them?” Ventuswill asked.

“No, I only fully lost my faith in them on this trip,” he admitted.

“In that case, there is something that you alone might be capable of,” she said, seeming concerned at some thought. “It's a dangerous thing to ask and I have to think on it some. Would you come back at a later time to talk about it? I'll send you a message.”

He nodded. After all, he said he'd do whatever he could to make up for spying against them. “Sure, I'll be here.”

Then Clorica came back with Lest and Frey. “Good to see you guys again,” Lest said. “How's Kiel doing?”

“We don't know since Leon warped him to the clinic so we didn't have to carry him around the cliff,” Sven said.

There was a light laugh behind them, which Doug knew instantly belonged to Amber. “Hee hee, looks like I came here in time,” she said, flying in. “Kiel has to stay in the clinic tonight cause he banged his head hard, but Jones thinks he'll be okay.”

“I hope he will be,” Lest said. “Then Sven, did you want to challenge your hell gate tonight?”

“Yes, if we can,” Sven said.

“You should use an empty room in the basement so you can avoid the thunderstorm and the others can better keep control over where monsters end up,” Ventuswill said. “And we have important matters to discuss soon, so keep some time tomorrow for it.”

Lest nodded. “Sure thing.” Then he looked at them. “Well if you're ready, I'll take you downstairs. Frey, would you handle sealing up the room so monsters don't get out?”

“Yup, leave that to me,” she said.

“Um, I won't be so good there,” Amber said. “I'll go let Granny know you're okay.”

“Thanks, could you also tell her we'll be back soon provided this goes smoothly?” Doug asked. With that handled, he and Vishnal went down with Sven, Lest, and Frey to take care of the hell gate.

The basement area wasn't as nice as the ground level floor, being mostly stone structures with a few old rugs scattered around. One large room next to the stairs seemed to be a large workshop area, complete with its own forge, crafting table, and many piles of books. Another room was being used as storage space. Thankfully, the next one Lest checked was an empty room without even a rug inside. They shut the door and Frey went to work tracing a seal there.

“When we get in there, Storgane will try talking to you,” Lest said to Sven. “We'll probably end up facing the Executioner, plus I can't guarantee that I'll be with you when we go in. I'll track you down as quickly as I can, so keep up your courage until then.”

Sven seemed very serious as he nodded. “I will.”

He does seem like a dwarven warrior now, Doug thought proudly, ready to put his life on the line for the sake of making his community safer. Now if only he could live up to his heritage like that too. He wished that Vishnal's bluff about crafting with lightning was fully true. “There's your courage,” he said in encouragement.

Smiling sheepishly, Sven said, “Well I can't say I have no fear in this. But, it must be done or it will keep holding me back. Once I'm cut off from Storgane, then I can really begin training to protect others.”

“We're hoping for the best for you,” Vishnal said enthusiastically.

“Room's sealed off, we're ready to go,” Frey said, coming over to them.

Lest nodded, then held his hand out. “Good, then Sven, come over here with me. I need to cast through those chains and only the binding looks fully tangible.” Once they were in the corner of the room away from the rest, the prince took hold of both wrist binds and made the chains spark with energy. There were a few quiet seconds when he must have been gathering power, then Lest called out, “Omnigate!”

Gold chi lines immediately appeared on his skin, sparkling like light reflecting off a lake. Some emerged and formed several rings around Lest and Sven. While he wasn't as familiar with magic, Doug could feel the energy building up in the room like static, making the hairs on his skin stand on end. Then things got creepy as gray blobs bubbled up from the floor, drawn towards the spell. They caused Sven's chains to grow more visible and tangible, eventually leading to the swirling mass of a black and white gate. Just looking at it reminded Doug of terrible things: emerging from the tunnel to find his home town destroyed, the heckling he'd taken from imperial soldiers about being a dwarf, getting knocked down by Sven when he'd been temporarily possessed today, even things he'd only worried or thought about.

Sven and Lest had no hesitation about going right in there. Once they did, a group of spirit monsters came out in flickers of light. But the phantom version of the Executioner simply walked right out of the gate, its armor chewed up and full of holes. The only thing inside seemed to be the corrupt runes, a strange black smoke like what had been swirling around Karnak Tower earlier. All it had of the scythe was the handle, but it continued to wield that as its weapon.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, the battle there was embarrassing to Doug. Both the princess and the butler fought far more effectively than he did. About the only advantage he had was Niam's spirit dagger, allowing him to take out the smaller spirits in one hit and stun the Executioner phantom when he could hit it. On the other hand, Frey had light spells that made the spirits explode and damage any other monsters near them. Vishnal wasn't as aggressive with his double blades so he could heal the other two (usually when the Executioner knocked them around with the handle), but he was a great deal faster when he did attack. If he had the spirit dagger, he likely could have cleared the room on his own. Doug at least managed to get the last blow on the Executioner phantom; he hoped it wouldn't be haunting his cousin much longer.

Then a second wave of monsters came, more numerous but without the evil armor. This wouldn't be hard; hopefully Sven and Lest were doing well inside.

* * *

 

Although he'd summoned the gate and entered with Sven, they still got separated. Lest listened for the sounds of chains like he'd heard with Dylas, then hurried to find Sven. This brought him to a place with no plants at all, gray bricks as ground, electric lights on archways as walls, and brown clouds as a ceiling. With an intricate design drawn on the floor, it was grand enough to be a throne room even exposed as it was. And no throne at all, just a simple chair near an array of mysterious machines and two grand statues of the same powerful man.

Sven was standing near the Executioner armor, the latter being battered as it had been after the fight against Ambrosia. “Come back to me,” the Executioner demanded in its metallic voice.

All Sven did in response was keep singing quietly, keeping his attention off the armor. Lest went over to him, causing the Executioner to pull out its scythe (now with a ghostly blade). Before it could attack, Sven had an axe out ready to counter its move. Lest stopped a few feet from them. “Are you doing all right?' he asked.

“I can be the one ignoring the orders now,” Sven said, sounding pleased at that. As nervous as he could be, that was empowering enough that he wasn't afraid. “I'm not sure how to fight it, but I'll ignore it as long as I must.”

“You have to get past it,” Lest said, considering the situation and how to help Sven do that.

“He's dependent on me, as can be seen in his paralyzing fear and constant anxiety,” the armor said. “He'll be a danger to everyone, can't protect anyone.”

“That's right, he's as worthless as any of humanity without the Executioner covering for him,” another voice scowled.

Lest felt a sickening grip come around him in those words, given with an intense irrational hatred that was a lot more powerful than Storgane alone. It was frighteningly familiar too. Turning around and backing up towards Sven, he found himself looking at an old man that he'd never been able to describe because his hate was completely overwhelming. “Nngh, you...” he said, trying to break his gaze and feeling his knees weaken.

“Don't hurt the prince,” Sven snapped, putting his own fear out of mind to attack the old man. When he turned to smoke, the Executioner growled and dashed over to attack. With a desire to prove that he could protect, Sven easily dispatched his former self and caused the hell gate to shatter around them. Then he came over and took Lest's arm before he fully collapsed. “What he'd do to you? I didn't see anything.”

Still feeling unsteady and sick, Lest held onto his arm with both hands. “That man has nothing but hate inside him. Thanks. If he'd been there any longer, I would've fainted like when I really saw him. Who was he?”

“That was Emperor Ethelberd,” Sven said, puzzled. “As far as I know, he doesn't leave the empire much. Or his flying castle, where we were just now.”

A sense of calm came around them as they came to the meadow in the Forest of Beginnings. There were two trees now, the pearl blue one and now one with deep violet leaves. Still, a hatred like that wasn't easy for Lest to shake off. “Huh, then why... why was he in Grelin fifteen years ago? My old hometown, where a lot of earthmates live.”

“He hates earthmates, so it's strange that he'd be there,” Sven said.

Lest shook his head. “I wouldn't know why. That wasn't even him just now, just a shade in a nightmare. Still, we can't stay here.” A flicker of violet nearby drew his attention to a leaf whirling about in the air nearby. It wasn't even falling, just waiting there. Lest took it, wondering if there had been more behind his impulse to take the other.

“Are you going to be all right getting us out?”

“Probably not, but I wouldn't be well whatever happens,” Lest said.

“Well I'll keep protecting you, especially if you won't be well,” Sven said, violet lines beginning to emerge on his skin with a powerful growth of energy.

Him as well? Lest smiled. “Thanks, but why?”

“I owe you my life, it's the least I can do,” Sven said. “I'm ready to leave whenever you are.”

“Good,” Lest said, then cast arjate more to get it over with than because he was fully prepared. After running into that shade of Ethelberd, he was pretty sure he wasn't going to feel well no matter what.

The basement room was quiet when they returned. “That went faster than I thought,” Frey said, raising an eyebrow.

“That was all his determination,” Lest said, glancing over as a familiar presence touched his awareness. “I thought it might be you.”

“Who?” Sven said, still ready to be at Lest's defense.

She laughed warmly. “Relax, I'm the Harvest Goddess. It was decided that in honor of their sacrifice and devotion, the guardians would be blessed as earthmates once they fully cut ties with Storgane. Although you're not one of them, having been pulled in his captivity recently.”

“Um, he came to my desperate call, so it was no one's fault but my own,” Sven said. While he spoke, Vishnal came over to Lest, looking at him in concern.

She shook her head. “No. Rather, he took advantage of you when there was no way you could defend yourself. Then you managed the will to endure his torments and more. You didn't come out unscathed but you are working hard to reclaim your honor in spite of it all.” The Harvest Goddess smiled brightly. “So, I like you enough that I'm going to bless you anyhow, in hopes that you can give back a blessing to the world far better than the nightmare that the Executioner brought. We can't fix the rune springs with you, but there is something close by that you can take care of in swearing the oath. There's a colony of hate spirits deep under this castle that arose from Storgane's curse and Ventuswill's despair. She uses up a lot of energy simply keeping them contained so the town is safe. While you won't be able to get rid of the core of the curse here, you can eliminate a great deal of the existing spirits so that it's less of a burden on her to keep them in check until the solution can be put into action. Will you do this for her?”

“Yes, gladly,” Sven said.

“Excellent, but I'm afraid Lest got hit rather hard in that hell gate,” the Harvest Goddess said. “There is a living person with a powerful enough hate to be felt even through a memory of him. Frey, would you please recite the Earthmate's Pledge with Sven so he may learn it?”

“Sure thing,” Frey said, although she was worried about him too.

“I'll take care of Lest,” Vishnal said, offering a hand to him.

“Thanks,” Lest said, letting go of Sven to get out of the way with Vishnal. Even Doug, who didn't fully trust him yet, was worried. Lest felt that he must look as bad as he felt, at that was with the goddess keeping the effects of arjate at bay.

But he was able to keep alert long enough to watch Sven use a miracle to dispatch the hate spirits currently underneath the castle. That would be a great help to Venti. With that done, Sven was named an earthmate with a price as a defender, so he could carry out his will to protect others.


	41. Unintended Consequences

Spring 55

It had been a really bad night for Amber; she hadn't been able to sleep at all. Yesterday, a lot of bad things had happened. There were some good things but it was hard to think on them when there was so many other thoughts making her worry. Was Kiel really going to be okay? And Sven, how did he do in his hell gate? What kind of nightmare did he have to face? What kind of nightmare was she going to face? And that big scary ship, what if people had been on it? Had they all died? It wasn't good for people to die. It wasn't good to make people die. But Kiel and Sven were good people and they all might have died instead. Why did things like that happen?

As dawn came, Amber felt determined that she was going to find something to be happy about. Happiness was important, what everybody should be looking for. And if she wasn't happy, she wasn't much of a fairy. That would be especially bad now that she had her wings. She was going to have to find some way to throw out all the worrying questions and have fun.

“Did you have trouble sleeping again?” Lumie asked over breakfast.

“Yeah,” she admitted. “I even checked for bad things first, but lots of stuff happened yesterday. I probably should've stayed home instead of going, cause I think I got in the way more than helped.”

“Must have been a rough night for you to be talking like this,” she said. “What all happened on the trip?”

“I don't want to think about it, cause I want to find something to be happy about,” Amber said. “It'll be better when I'm happy.”

Lumie shrugged. “You might feel that way, but then those bad thoughts are going to keep lurking in your mind. You need to let them out sometimes and hope they escape for good when you talk about them.”

“Oh, that might work,” she said. Since Lumie was a good friend, Amber told her what happened on their trip to the ghost dwarf town. It helped in part because Lumie could explain some things and bring out the good parts of it.

Still, Amber took off outside once it was okay to do so, to take in some sun and find something fun to make things happy again. First she went to the castle farms to see if Lest was growing any flowers. With his earthmate talent, he could grow strong happy flowers like Heather. He was growing mostly vegetables and fruits, though, one of the fields being full of them. Some of them had pretty flowers, like a potato she found with nice white petals.

Lest himself was in the field with all the trees, sitting in the magical one in the center. “Hi Lest!” Amber said, hovering outside the branches so she didn't catch her hair in them.

“Oh, hi Amber,” he said with a tired smile.

“Are you okay?” she asked, wondering if he was sick. That wasn't nice. Why were so many bad things happening all close together?

“Not really, but hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow,” he said. “I had to call on Sven's hell gate last night and then get us both out when he broke it. Plus I came into contact with a powerful hate; it's still making my skin prickle.”

“Oh no, was it Storgane?” Amber asked. Maybe she should cheer Lest up. It might even cheer her up too.

Lest shook his head. “Not exactly. Storgane's hate is powerful, but it's very old and doesn't effect me this badly. The person holding that hate is alive and quite possibly insane from it, which really hurts me. Thankfully, Sven dealt with it and destroyed his gate. He even got turned into an earthmate like Dylas did.”

“That's good,” Amber said, trying to keep the idea of someone full of hate out of her mind. That wasn't good to think about. “I wanted to be an earthmate ever since Natalie told me about it because she and Heather grew great flowers.”

That did make him smile. “Then I've got good news for you. Once you break your hell gate, you should become one as well. And since you're so passionate about flowers, I'd be shocked if you got a blessing price that wasn't in the farming trade.”

“Yes, that'd be awesome!” Amber said, getting excited. She'd have to destroy her gate first, which was scary. But to be able to grow flowers like her earthmate friends, it might be worth it to go inside.

* * *

 

The clinic had been quiet today, especially compared to yesterday. Since it was, Dolce stepped out for a short walk around town to think. Maybe she'd go to the library to borrow a book or even just talk with Leon. Or she could see how Illuminata was doing with Amber. Amber was sort of like Pico in how both could be real annoyances in person. However, Dolce still found herself caring about them and worrying if she hadn't seen one or the other. Maybe it would be the same with Nancy and Jones... especially Nancy. She could be sweet and understanding, but overbearing at the same time. If only someone like her parents were around. They had been reasonable in their compassion.

“Dolce!”

“Hmm?” She turned around to see the blond haired boy coming up behind her. Kiel had bandage wraps tied around his head, but he seemed steady on his feet. “Did Jones say you could come out on your own, Kiel?”

He smiled. “Yeah, as long as I take things slow today. I was wondering, where's Pico?”

“Right here!” Pico declared, making herself visible while clamping onto Dolce's waist. “I'm always at Dolly's side!”

“She nearly always is,” Dolce said. “What do you want with her?”

“Well I kept thinking that I'd seen her before but couldn't figure it out,” he explained. “Then I remembered, she was the one who helped save me and my sister years ago.”

“Really?” Dolce asked, surprised to hear something like that. She looked down at Pico, who had let her go to hover closer to Kiel.

“Sometimes I could help people get out of the Mansion, if I found them before Marionetta did,” Pico said. “But it's been a long time of me doing that, so you'd have to remind me.”

“It was when I was seven,” he said. “Dad had brought me and Forte out to do some training near one of the entrances, but I was never that good with a sword. I ended up getting distracted and entering the mansion to find a ghost he'd told us about. Then you found me and tried to get me to leave, but the door had already shut. When I said I liked books, you brought me to the library where I found one that taught me the Escape spell. Then Forte came in looking for me. But you'd already gone somewhere else, so me and her had to find a spot where Escape would work so we could get back to Dad. I still have that book, actually.”

“Oh yeah, now I remember,” Pico said, clapping her hands. “Because you weren't scared at all and got so impressed at the library. Well the book's owner is long gone, as his ghost went with a whole bunch of others when the fire spring was given the rune sphere. Guess that means it's all yours now.”

Kiel seemed happy. “Good, it was really helpful! Ever since I figured out that it was you, Pico, I've been trying to think of a way to thank you because we really couldn't have gotten out of there if not for what you did. But I usually bake cakes or cookies to thank people with and you're a ghost, so you can't eat. I'm not sure what you could use.”

“Aw, well I'm glad you thought of trying to anyhow,” Pico said, right before she got a dangerous look on her face. That look usually said she had an embarrassing idea. “Oh, but you really want to thank me and make me happy?”

“Um, yeah, that's what I was trying for,” Kiel said, curious about what she was thinking.

“You can make Dolly a cake and she'll be happy, which always makes me happy!” she called, tumbling in delight.

“Why do you have to drag me into this?” Dolce asked in annoyance. Although, a cake? She'd heard that Kiel had made that cake at the welcoming party; it had been really good. But she didn't want to look like a glutton.

“Because I love you!” Pico said, hugging her again.

Dolce threw her into the wall of the clinic. “Hmph.”

“That could work,” Kiel said, somehow ignoring that while he was thinking on the suggestion. “Dolce... you know, you have a really pretty name.”

“Huh?” Was he trying to flirt with her? And why so out of the blue? Maybe because he'd hit his head yesterday; this could really complicate things.

“Dolce Amaretto,” Kiel said. “Dolce means sweet, which fits for a cake. And Amaretto is a particular village, but it's known for producing an almond oil that connoisseurs love. It's a bit bitter, so it's a funny mix of name meanings. Although amaretto works nicely with chocolate cake. Could even add in some oranges and orange peel to add some more sweetness as well as an extra dimension with citrus. That'd be quite a dessert.”

Then he wasn't trying to flirt with her, just commenting on her name and somehow turning it into a cake idea. Which sounded really amazing and made Dolce want to try that cake right away. But it'd make her sound terrible if she said it outright. Hoping Pico wasn't going to reveal that, Dolce said, “Yes... that sounds different.”

“That's pretty amazing that you could make up such a drool-worthy cake just based on someone's name,” Pico said.

Kiel laughed nervously. “Well that's just thinking aloud. I'd have to look up some recipes and see what kind of proportions should be in it. And getting the oil could be tough; I'd have to ask Porco and if he doesn't have it, then maybe Arthur could help me. It could be a little while, but do you want me to try it out as a thank you to Pico?”

“That would be the greatest gift of gratitude I could get from anybody that's not Dolly!” Pico declared.

“Um, sure, if she accepts it,” Dolce said. Although she was looking forward to it.

“Great! I'll look some stuff up later.” Kiel looked off to the east. “I'd better get over to the general store and see if Doug's given Bado that message. I'm kind of worried about what it contains.”

* * *

 

Trying to get more experience in talking to people and making friends, Dylas had been visiting Arthur between meal times if Porco didn't need extra help in the kitchen. And if Arthur didn't have clients or other people talking with him already. He seemed like a safe choice. They lived under the same roof and Arthur had a mild personality that didn't seek conflicts. Today, that ended up with Dylas pulling a heavily loaded cart in and out of a storage cave to a trader's ship, where Arthur was arranging a rather large exchange of goods and money. The ship's crew did have a couple of big guys to help out with moving stuff, but the exchange was so quick that the three of them could barely keep up.

Once the deal was done, Arthur and Dylas headed back up to town while the ship prepared to leave. “I thought people still slowed down on Sundays,” Dylas said, rubbing his shoulder.

“Most do, but they're headed for a market that's busiest on Mondays,” Arthur said. “This was a spur of the moment deal when they dropped in and we got to talking. But I'm grateful for your assistance.”

“Sure, wasn't hard,” he said.

As they approached the general store, they found Kiel, Doug, and Sven talking outside. On his own, Dylas would have walked on by. Not Arthur. He tapped the star-shaped notebook he was carrying, thinking out loud, “This would be a good time,” then went out of their way to go over to them. “Excuse me, Kiel? I was just wondering where you were yesterday.”

Dylas followed over, although he hung a few steps back in being unsure if he was meant to join in. Kiel waved to them in a friendly way, seeming happy in spite of having his head bandaged up. “Hi Arthur, Dylas. I was out with these guys. Doug wanted to take Sven to visit another town, so Vishnal and I went with them and Amber ended up coming too.”

That's why yesterday happened? Dylas felt a spark of anger. Why was it that whenever he crossed paths with this stupid dwarf lately, he ended up getting hurt in some fashion? Even if they didn't actually meet? At first it was hurting his knuckles when Doug got out of his punch, then it was getting tripped into a moat once. “Then it was your fault!” Dylas said, coming over and glaring at him.

“Wh-what was my fault, you stubborn horse?” Doug asked, clenching his fists this time like he might actually fight back.

Did he have to use that word? “Don't call me a horse!”

“Ah, please, let's not fight in town?” Sven asked. While there was uncertainty in his tone, something had changed greatly in his runes today. It was a hell of a lot more intimidating than Sven usually was, like a defender of the peace that Dylas really didn't want to cross.

“Hmph, you're getting lucky for now,” Dylas said, flicking his tail as he couldn't express his anger as he usually did.

“Well don't go throwing accusations around,” Doug said, glaring back at him but backing down just the same.

“In a fashion, it would be Doug's fault in part,” Arthur said, scratching his neck in unease. “But actually, Kiel? Next time you leave town for a few hours, would you please leave some lunch for your sister? So she doesn't go making her own meal and then deciding to share it again?”

Kiel's eyes widened and his face paled. “Oh my gosh, I'm really sorry guys! I hope it wasn't too bad.”

“We were in the clinic for most of the afternoon,” Arthur said, smiling sheepishly. “They seemed like perfectly harmless egg salad sandwiches.”

“I was hallucinating,” Dylas said. Really weird stuff too. It might've been an even more important but unpleasant lesson than the jalapeno stuffed olives: if his gut was telling him something was wrong with food, he should really listen to it and not eat the stuff.

“It was strange that you were worst off when you only had half of one,” Arthur said, looking at him.

“I didn't think I was forgetting anything,” Kiel said, embarrassed.

“Yikes, I could forgive you for getting mad because you ended up eating Forte's cooking,” Doug said. “Nobody deserves that.”

* * *

 

Forte had come into Bado's workshop, partly to check on what he was selling. She couldn't convince him to stop all of his ridiculous plans to make money, but she could at least keep an eye out for items that might be a danger to their user. “Are you sure these Blockbuster Gauntlets are usable?” she asked him. “They look unwieldy.”

“The extra weight puts power behind them,” Bado said. “Though the user needs a good strength to use them in the first place. But if you've got it, they'll be better.”

“I would think that at a good strength, a fist fighter wouldn't need the extra bulk,” she said. But it didn't seem worth it to argue it further with him. While he might eventually take these out of stock, there'd be another equally unwieldy weapon in it place.

Leaning on the counter, Bado asked, “Not going to argue it further?”

“There's not much of a point since you keep doing the same silly tactics over and over again,” Forte answered, turning around to look at him.

“It's not all the same,” he said. When she just shook her head, he actually looked concerned. “Something up?”

“Maybe I just don't feel like arguing with you today,” she said, looking down at the floor.

“I think something's up with you. Arguing with the boyfriend?”

That made her frown at him. “I'm not dating Arthur.”

He laughed at her. “I never said who.”

Sighing, she shook her head again. “You were thinking it. I'm more worried about Sven.”

“Your student?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I can hardly think of him like that when the main thing I'm teaching him is Selphia's laws and customs,” Forte said. “We use two different weapons and styles. I never even met anyone who used a scythe made for battle.”

“Good point,” he said with a nod. “Battle scythes are uncommon, but they more akin to axes then swords. And even then, you couldn't just give a scythe to an axe wielder and expect them to be good with it right off. It is a pretty intimidating weapon.” He rubbed his chin, thinking.

Talk on the weapon itself wasn't really helping her. “Right. There's already talk in the castle of having him knighted once he has a better knowledge of the area. As a regular knight of the region, but I'm worried that the fussier old knights back in the capitol might jump at the chance to put him in as Ventuswill's dragon knight rather than me. He's really nervous so it won't be right away, but if he calms down it could be a serious issue. I mean, he's even been blessed as an earthmate with the trade of defender.”

“You mean blessing price, although it is pretty much a trade,” Bado said.

“Same deal,” Forte said. “He's bound by his magic to protect Selphia and it gives him extra power to do that with. Doesn't that make him more fitting?”

“Why don't you ask Lady Ventuswill what she means to do with the two of you?” he suggested, which was actually reasonable. “Better to know for certain than to keep fretting about what might be.”

“I guess,” Forte said, but then the door opened, letting in Doug and Kiel. That put another twist to her heart after seeing him hurt badly yesterday when he'd gone on a trip without her. She'd convinced herself that he was old enough to do that, but there was still a part that felt responsible to his well being.

“Oh look, shop's actually kind of busy today,” Bado said as a joke. “What's up?”

“Hey Bado, I have a request to pass over to you,” Doug said, taking a brown glass bottle and handing it over. “It's from a lady dwarf.”

He raised his eyebrow as he took it. “Really? Kind of odd to deliver it by melody bottle...” he took the cork out of it.

Immediately, magic made the bottle grow a rope and bind itself to Bado's arm. The voice that came out of it made 'lady' seem like a misnomer, unless dwarven ladies were known for yelling and swearing like a sailor. “What the **** kind of dwarven blacksmith are you if that ****** piece of junk armor is what you give over to a warrior of your town? That **** doesn't account for his needs in protection; the most ******* of novices could even tell you that.” And it went on for several minutes like that. The verbal beat down part impressed Forte, but also made her uncomfortable because not even she got that aggressive at Bado. Certainly not with all the swearing. At the end of it, the request finally came out. “Even so, you're the **** blacksmith in the town that my kin are living in now and we need a war memorial put down here in Telliarc so that the souls that have been wandering lost all these years finally realize it and get put to rest. You're supposed to be good, even if you're a greedy lazy idiot, so get to work at it. This bottle is going to stick by your side until you get it done so that you keep at task. Don't ******* mess this up.”

“Ah, suppose I should have said it's the ghost of my great-grandmother Niam,” Doug said. “But it is important that memorial gets made.”

A message from a ghost? It made chills run down Forte's spine. Meanwhile, Bado tried tugging at the rope. Being magical in nature, it stuck there. “Uh-huh... yeah, war memorial for Telliarc, got it. She sounds like quite a firebrand.”

“So I hear,” Doug said, smiling a bit.

Bado sighed. “Well this is going to be a pain to make. I dropped by the town once, but I don't know much about it since none of my clan lived there. You mind telling me some things about the place, Doug? Like which clans lived there and if you know anything more about how that siege ended. It'll tick off somebody if I don't know as much as we can find out.”

“Uh, all right, I'll tell you what I know,” he said, although reluctant to agree to it.

“Mind giving us some space, guys?” Bado asked, waving to her and Kiel. “This could take a while.”

“All right, see you later,” Forte said.

“Bye!” Kiel said, leaving the shop with her. “She didn't seem to take that long when she was recording it. Maybe it was some ghost trick.”

Trying not to shudder visibly, Forte tried to shift the subject. “Well I hope this reprimand finally gets through to him.”

“The bottle will probably replay it at random, I feel bad for him,” Kiel said. Then he tugged at her arm. “Oh, Forte? You doing okay? I heard about yesterday.”

“Erk, well,” her cheeks got warm and she looked aside. “I followed the recipe exactly, I swear. And it looked so simple, the egg salad for sandwiches. They seemed okay at first.”

“Do you happen to have any of it left?” Kiel asked. “Sorry about saying so, but I've been wondering ever since I heard it from Arthur and Dylas... how do you get something hallucinogenic out of that recipe? I study alchemy and I know about shifting runic qualities around. But if you followed the recipe, that should be impossible.”

“I think there is, in the fridge?” Forte said, unsure if she'd tossed the last portion after coming back home from the clinic. “Just, um, don't eat it, please.”

“Sure, I'll just study it,” he said, starting back for their home.

But him mentioning Dylas reminded her of something. She followed after him to say, “Oh right, do you know Dylas all that well?”

“A little bit, why?” Kiel asked, looking over at her.

“The other day, I was checking on something in the family vault and came across a box with a notary seal and his name on it. It's a box I've seen before and was curious about, but since the seal is tied to him, it didn't stick in my mind because it couldn't be opened.”

There was a spark of recognition in him too. “Oh yeah, that box! We should give it to him.”

Forte nodded. “Yes, I would have done so. But he's not an easy person to talk to; I've barely gotten a response more than a few words out of him.”

“Well I think giving him a sealed box meant for him would help that,” Kiel said. “I can get it to him later today. Although, a notary seal? There might be some problems... but maybe not. We'll see.”

“And are you going to be okay running around town like that?” she asked. “After you drained yourself badly from that spell yesterday, you probably shouldn't be doing a lot.”

“I'll take it easy, promise,” he said. “Actually, the problem was that the shock wave from the explosion knocked me over and I hit my head on the deck, getting a concussion from it. Jones says that normally a person's runes will kick in and help heal them up from an injury like that. Because I did drain much of my rune point pool in that spell, my body couldn't do that. I'm probably going to have headaches for a few weeks while it heals, especially if I end up casting a lot. But he thinks I'll be fine and I've got the medicine to take.”

It was a small relief. “That's good, though I wish you didn't have to put yourself at risk like that. Though I understand, in that situation there wasn't much choice and something had to be done fast.”

“Yeah,” he said, stopping out of nowhere. “Hey Forte? Do you think Dad would've been proud of me for that? Even though I was using magic, I still had to protect my friends as best I could.”

“You took down an entire warship, I'm sure he would be,” Forte said, a little proud of him herself. But it also made her wonder again, was she becoming insufficient? She was supposed to protect the town, but now there were a number of others who could easily overshadow her. They could protect Selphia too, maybe better than her.

Was she still needed here?

* * *

 

The results were what might be expected. And yet, the expected results still didn't explain what happened. “This is a real mystery,” Kiel said, recasting his identifying spells in case he'd seen them wrong.

“Need some expert guidance?” a voice called out from past the lab screen.

He nearly dropped the flask in surprise, but then turned and found Illuminata standing in his small shop. “Oh, hi Illuminata,” Kiel said with a smile. “Well if you have some time, it's something that doesn't seem right. But did you need something from me?”

“I was going to challenge you with some specialty nutrients, but that can wait if you have a mystery on hand,” she said. “What's the problem?”

“Let me get you in here first,” he said, going to the door and offering her his hand. This allowed him to bring her into the lab. “When I was gone yesterday, Forte made some egg salad sandwiches, which put her, Arthur, and Dylas in the clinic. There was some left, so I examined it. There's nothing wrong with our eggs, bread, mayonnaise, or the other ingredients; I've got samples of all those over on the counter. The salad has a stomach bug in it, so it's not fit to eat. Otherwise, the eggs seem cooked just fine. It may have simply been cross-contamination so I need to disinfect our kitchen.” Which was part of his usual routine after Forte tried cooking.

“Sounds like you've got it all solved then,” Illuminata said, disappointed.

“Well no, that's not the mystery,” Kiel said. “The mystery is that Dylas had hallucinations from it. Sounds like he was the only one who did even if he only ate half a sandwich. I can't find anything in all this that would do that.”

“Wow, that's impressive,” she said, rubbing her chin. “What did she add to the mix? There's some mushrooms that can do that.”

He shook his head. “She followed the recipe, that much is obvious from the salad itself. I checked the runes and chi of the ingredients and dish, but it fits the results of Forte and Arthur, not Dylas.”

“Let me see,” she mumbled, touching her monocle and starting to examine each piece of the puzzle. She checked the egg salad three times. After some thought, she snapped her fingers. “Got it! Almost. We need to do some empirical tests and ask some questions. Let's go to Porco's!”

“Hang on, let me get something,” Kiel said, getting her back out of the shielded door. He got the sealed box from the table he’d left it on, then headed over with her.

It was early afternoon, so Porcoline, Dylas, and Margaret were cleaning up after lunch. Doug and Xiao were also there, sitting at a table and chatting. Smiling as she reviewed those there, Illuminata said, “All right, time to do some research! Porco, can I borrow your staff and buy a bottle of drinking wine?”

“Sounds like unusual research,” Porcoline said. “What kind of wine are you interested in?”

“Red wine will do,” she said. “I'm giving everybody here a glass in order to solve a mystery, except you're still in the kitchen so you probably shouldn't join us at this time. Oh, and Kiel probably shouldn't either, not with his head injury.”

“True, I'll go get the wine and some glasses for you,” Porco said.

“Everyone here is over eighteen years old, right?” Illuminata asked, looking over them. “And willing to participate?”

“I'm not normally a wine drinker, but sure, sounds good,” Doug said with a smile.

“If it's just one glass, I'll join,” Margaret said.

“That's not what I thought you were thinking, but if that's what we need to know,” Kiel said. He'd never had wine himself, although he'd used it to cook on occasion.

“Uh, sure,” Dylas said, although he seemed uncertain.

“I suppose a little wouldn't hurt for today,” Xiao said. “If it's to help solve a mystery. But it seems strange that doing that would solve something.”

Illuminata grinned and waved them over to a table with six chairs for her test. “It shall become clear in time. Until then, just think of it as some friendly socializing.”

“But first, there's something I need to give you Dylas,” Kiel said, offering the box.

“What's in there?” he asked, coming over from the kitchen.

He shrugged. “No clue. It's been sealed by a notary and locked in our family vault for centuries. I'm not even sure why our family has it, but looks like it's from your family.”

“Wow, that's really nice that they managed to send you something,” Meg said, happy for Dylas.

Dylas himself seemed unsure of it even as he took the box. “I guess, but,” he ran his hand along the seal, but nothing happened. “It's the right names, but it's not opening?”

“I was afraid that might happen,” Kiel said. “Notary seals often use the biological or runic signature of those meant to unseal it to keep them solid, both of which will shift with an earthmate blessing. Don't worry, though! Just ask Lest to undo the seal. His power as a rune breaker should be enough.”

“If that doesn't even work, the box might be old enough to simply cut open,” Doug suggested.

The bottle that Porcoline sold Illuminata had just enough to split between five wine glasses; she had him pour it to make sure no one messed with it. From his reading, Kiel was pretty sure it wouldn't do much more than be relaxing to them. Perhaps a little more to Xiao as she was smaller than the rest of them, but not enough to get drunk off of. As for the subject of the experiment, Dylas had started off being quiet and sipping at his until Doug teased him into drinking the rest of his glass in one go.

As most of them got finished, Leon came in. He smirked on seeing them. “Having a group date, are we?”

“Ha ha, I bet some of them wish,” Illuminata said with a big grin.

“No, we're doing an experiment,” Kiel said.

Xiao nodded. “Yes, that is all. Then what of this mystery, how does this help in some fashion?”

“It's a case of an inexplicably bad chef,” Illuminata said, standing up and looking over them in a dramatic fashion. “Except we already knew Forte is a disaster in the kitchen and it seems only her interference made an innocent sandwich go bad. Then there's the inexplicable part of Dylas having hallucinations as a result. Was there anything else suspicious that you ingested yesterday?”

“Porco's jalapeno stuffed olives,” Dylas said without hesitation. “My eyes were watering so bad.”

“Did not Leon eat a dozen of those yesterday?” Xiao asked, looking up at him. “I remember as we shared the meal and as it was I could only have two.”

Leon nodded. “Yeah, those were great, vinegar and fire in every bite.”

“And there were no other cases of hallucinations yesterday, not that we've heard of,” Illuminata said.

“I wasn't lying 'bout 'em,” Dylas said, hitting the table with his hand. “Stuff was changing colors on me and there was a weird musical play going on on the ceiling. Didn't make no sense.”

“I did have him trying a bunch of appetizers yesterday,” Porco said as he came over to their table. “But there was nothing only he ate, nothing that should have done that to a person.”

“It could just be that Forte's cooking is that bad,” Doug said.

“But she and Arthur ate them too,” Kiel said. “Also, she had one and a half sandwiches of the egg salad, while Arthur had one whole and Dylas had one half. It might be it was just that one half, but that seems unlikely.”

“I thought I shouldn't eat it, and I shouldn't've,” Dylas said. His speech was sounding off, Kiel noticed. Although he didn't talk a lot, he was usually clear unless he mumbled.

“Then you're the most suspicious part of the whole thing as the exception,” Illuminata said.

“I wasn't looking for weird stuff to happen,” Dylas said, sniffling and starting to cry. Kiel dug in his pocket and handed him a clean handkerchief to use.

“What kind of experiment were you doing?” Leon asked, his ears twisting down slightly.

“I bought some wine and gave everyone at this table a glass,” Illuminata said. “No messing with it, none at all because Porco was the one who handled the glasses and bottle.”

“Definitely not a set up,” Porco said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Can't be because I'm the one who brought the mystery up to her and followed her here,” Kiel said.

“Huh, disappointing to learn of this after I walk in at the end,” Leon said. “What's your answer?”

“The answer to how Forte's cooking only got one person so severely effected?” Illuminata said, straightening up proudly. “It's a simple answer, but it's something that I've only read in one source and needed to check in person to see if it could be the answer. And that is, Dylas is an earthmate with a blessing price in cooking. Everyone gets influenced by the innate runes in food and drinks, but he's more sensitive to it and will be influenced more strongly. Thus eating bad food is completely going to mess him up and one glass of wine will hit him like two.”

“I'm not touching her stuff again,” Dylas said.

“Or more,” Illuminata said.

“What the hell were you thinking doing that to him?!” Leon snapped, grabbing Illuminata's arm. His ears were twisted back in anger and the snarl on his face looked dangerous. Nearly everyone jumped back at that, Dylas nearly falling onto the floor if Kiel hadn't caught him; he wasn't looking well now.

“H-hey, it's just one glass of wine,” Illuminata said, trying to sound brave even though her face was pale. “It wouldn't be dangerous even knowing that.”

Leon actually growled before he said, “If you knew that, then why didn't you think to ask about his elemental alignment first? Because water aligned earthmates, which he is, are more sensitive or influenced by the runes of nearly all items as water absorbs so much. That does make even one glass potentially dangerous to him.”

“Meg, would you check on him?” Porco asked, now concerned too.

“Yeah, right away,” she said, going past Leon and Illuminata to get to him.

“Em all right,” Dylas said, trying to wave her off.

“You better hope he'll be fine,” Leon said in warning.

Fortunately for Illuminata, Margaret found that Dylas would be fine was long as he drank some water and got some sleep.

* * *

 

Things were quiet when Arthur finished the document he was working on, but the disturbance from the restaurant was still on his mind. Setting his pencil down, he left the office to check on things. Only Porcoline was in, doing some small tasks that Dylas usually handled. “Is everything all right over here?” Arthur asked, going over to the counter that blocked off the kitchen. “I heard some kind of argument but couldn't hear the specifics.”

“It's mostly fine,” Porco said, coming around with a stack of clean plates to put in the bin. “Illuminata came in with some experiment that sounded harmless, sharing some wine with several others. But then it turns out that Dylas' magic gives him a double whammy weakness to wine. Leon happened to come upon the end of it and he was furious.”

“Is Dylas going to be all right?” Arthur asked, worried about him. It would be terrible if he ended up badly off in the clinic for the second day in a row after a seemingly innocent thing.

“Might have a hangover tomorrow, but Meg says he's fine,” he said. “She and Leon went up to get him in bed.”

“Thank goodness,” he said. “Did Leon give Illuminata much trouble?”

Porco smiled. “He definitely scared the living daylights out of her, but he seemed satisfied with just that once he was sure Dylas wasn't in danger. For all that Leon teases and pokes at Dylas, he really does care about him as a big brother would.”

Arthur nodded, keeping his expression neutral. But there was a little thought in the back of his mind, about how his brothers wouldn't do that sort of thing for him. “Yes, it's probably helping them to continue supporting each other.”

“It has been a little while,” Porco said, looking over towards the stairs. “I hope he's not giving them too much trouble. But since you're over here, you get to help me decide on a side dish to tonight's dinner! I've got some beef cuts to do as salisbury steak. The gravy would go nicely with mashed potatoes, but also with egg noodles, plus some green beans steamed with caramelized onions. What do you think, the potatoes or the noodles?”

“Tough choice,” Arthur said, as either one was tempting him to make sure he set aside time to come get this meal fresh. Then again, any meal Porcoline made was a temptation to leave off work, aside from days when it was fish. “But I'm leaning towards the egg noodles.”

“Good, then that's what will be,” he said with a nod.

Then there were footsteps from the stairs as Margaret and Leon came down. Arthur was going to just say hello to them and go back to work, but they looked really concerned still. “Porco, we have to talk,” Margaret said, hurrying over. “You too Arthur.”

“Sure, what is it?” Arthur asked, staying by the counter. Porco paused in his dish drying to listen in.

“Well it's something I knew about but I thought he'd given it up,” Leon said. Sometimes he could use a serious tone and turn out to be joking, but this was different. His voice was quieter than it usually was.

“It's about Dylas,” Margaret said, stopping by the entrance to the kitchen area. “He's asleep now, but you really should keep an eye on him because he was talking about having suicidal thoughts.”


	42. Bartering Strategy

Spring 59

It was market day and Lest had found a trader who dealt in farm tools, accessories, and references. With Frey having redone most of his tools to more fitting forms, there wasn't a lot he needed. But he did want a bee-keeping hive and the trader had a full set of equipment: the hive itself with removable frames, gloves marked with runes to calm bees, even a case of containers for storing the harvested honey and wax. This wasn't something his sister could build, mostly because she didn't have instructions for it. It would be nice to have, but the price was a big investment for his finances. Perhaps he could ask Frey for a loan. Although, he didn't want to be too reliant on her; she was investing a lot of resources in the remaining problems with the rune springs.

Still, there were quite a few traders today. He might have something he could get some money with. But what, and would it be enough? He went back to the castle kitchen to check on the food stores he had. Recently, he'd been able to make some strawberry jam and pickles of various vegetables. But there wasn't a lot to make from selling these now. He knew from experience that preserved foods like this were best sold out of season, especially in winter. Those who were savvy in the kitchen could make these cheap just buying fresh from market.

Lest then recalled about the twinkle tree in the orchard. Specifically Kiel saying that the leaves could be used in alchemy and the glitta augite was extremely rare. If it was producing that already, it might be worth something. Some of the leaves might work, although he wasn't sure what kind of price to ask on them. Taking a produce bag, he went out to the orchard to check on the tree.

He'd grown to really like this particular tree. It might not seem like much at first glance, but its branches were full of dark green leaves that glittered when the sun caught them right. Up close, its bark was a beautiful deep brown with tan speckles, a nice slightly rough texture to the touch. The trunk split up into three portions with much of the branches higher up. But that structure made it easy to climb into. Sometimes when he wanted a quiet break, he'd found the twinkle tree a nice spot to sit and be absorbed in the contentment that the tree had.

Down here in front of it, Lest had second thoughts on trying to trade with its leaves. He put a hand on one part of its trunk and sang softly to it. Then he asked, “If it's okay, I had hoped to trade some of your leaves for a bee hive, to bring the bees closer to the farm. But you really are special; it wouldn't feel right to just take from you. Please, for the bees.” Then he closed his eyes. This was a magical tree, so just maybe...

There was a rustle above him, like a bird had just left the tree. Then a tumble, for which he looked up and stepped back in time to catch a falling branch. It wasn't all that big, maybe a foot and a half long with a few twigs sprouting from it. But it did have a nice cluster of leaves.

“Are you okay?” Lest asked, then sang a song of healing just in case. There was a sense from the tree of being pleased with his concern, stronger than similar sentiments he'd felt from other trees. Smiling, he ran his hand down the bark. “Thank you for your gift. I'll use it wisely.”

Of course, this led to another problem: he had no idea what kind of price to ask on this. Arthur seemed like his best resource, so he carefully put the branch into the produce bag. Then someone in the farms called out, “Lest? Are you out here?”

“I'm in the orchard!” he called back, slowly heading over.

It was Margaret; she came into the field along with Dylas. “Wow, you do have a nice one over here,” Margaret said as she looked over the trees. “It'd be a nice spot for a picnic.”

“Yeah, it would,” Lest said. “What did you need from me?”

“Go on, Dylas, ask him,” Margaret said, trying to encourage him.

“Don't be pushy,” Dylas said, annoyed but only mildly so. He held out an old box that seemed like it could store work boots, or maybe a few books. “Well it's, Kiel had this box for me that's under a notary seal. But I can't open it now since my magic changed. Can you get it open?”

Before taking it, Lest asked, “Do you have any idea what's in it? If it's something magical, I have to be really careful about it.”

“I'm not sure, but,” he shrugged, “I doubt it.”

“All right, give me a moment to make sure I do this safely,” he said, taking a moment to focus his own chi. He had to withdraw his rune breaking power as much as he could to see if there was anything magical inside, but that peek could only last a few seconds. Then he put his hand on the seal so that he would only break what was on the surface of the box.

There was a book, some small items, and some letters inside. They were old, definitely from Dylas' original time. Although he was lucky in getting this. Anything like this for Dolce would need to be under pristine conditions to keep that long; books from Amber and Leon's eras were almost out of the question. There weren't even many in his sister's collection, with the oldest books being copies to preserve the information in fragile resources. After half a minute, he bypassed the signature lock and undid the seal. The magic had instructions to inscribe dates, so he tried to avoid that in time for it to note 'Winter 46 1372 – Spring 59 1611' on the box.

Once it was done, he took his hand off. “There you go. It's got books and letters inside, and a few other small things. There's even some flowers in there.”

“Already?” Dylas asked, pulling on the top flap to try. It opened right up, revealing exactly what he said. Even the cluster of pressed toyherbs arranged on a card.

“Oh, there are flowers in there,” Margaret said, curious. “That's pretty amazing that they've been in there that long and still keep fresh colors.”

“Flowers,” Dylas mumbled, then closed the box up to make sure the items didn't get lost. His emotions were in strong conflict, wanting to read the letters but at the same time afraid to do so. “I'll look over them later.”

“You're welcome,” Lest said with a smile. “There's a lot of love and pride in there. Emotions get imprinted on paper along with words, especially when written by hand. It's like a kid's eager to show off something to someone they look up to.”

“You sure about that?” he asked, a mix of believing, doubting, and wanting to believe.

He nodded. “Yeah. Well the letters might not be written by a child, but someone's inner child was trying to get a word in.”

“If you say so,” Dylas said, but the statement did convince him to dismiss the fear.

“Thanks, he's been waffling about it for about a week,” Margaret said.

“Not that long,” he insisted.

Lest chuckled. “It's okay. Oh, is Arthur in his office today? I wanted to ask him about something.”

“Pretty sure he is,” she said. “Want to walk back over with us?”

“Sure.” It was mostly Lest and Margaret talking on the walk through the farm and down the street, as Dylas was preoccupied with the box's contents. He didn't even say a word to them when he went into the restaurant and headed upstairs with it. Then again, it was something personal. Best to let him review what was there first.

On entering Arthur's office, Margaret immediately said, “Arthur! You're eating lunch with us today!”

Across the room, Arthur paused at his desk. “Is it that time already?” He looked over at a clock, puzzled.

“No, but we'd like you to,” she said. “Just a forewarning. Lest here has some business with you, I'll be back by to get you later.” She waved to them, then went back into the restaurant.

“I suppose I should be grateful that they think of me,” Arthur said, putting his pen down and waving Lest over. “Go ahead, take a seat. Have you gotten an official word of acceptance from the capitol?”

“Not that I've seen, not yet,” he said, but declined to take a chair for the time being. “Actually, I wanted to pick your brain about the traders in the market today. One of them has a full set of gear for personal bee-keeping, which I'd love to get as it would help out my farm immensely. It's pretty costly, though; it'd be so for any farmer, even as useful as it is. I don't quite have the funds to buy it outright, but I was able to get this branch as a gift from the twinkle tree in the orchard when I mentioned it. It's a magical wood, I think about the right size to make a wand out of. Plus Kiel says the leaves can be useful in alchemy. I just don't know what kind of price to ask on it and if it can cover the hive set.”

That got his immediate interest; Arthur's runes quickened their pace while his thoughts started to figure this out. “I see. I know twinkle trees are rarities even in areas where they're native. However, the problem is that they are so rare that the raw materials can't have a reliable price point, or even a price range. Let me check on something.” He got up to search a bookshelf behind his desk. “Now remind me, what kind of value is a hive set to a farm? Not monetary value, but usability value.”

“It's the bees that are valuable,” Lest said. “They pollinate the plants and set them into the fruiting stages, plus seeds tend to come out stronger from plants frequented by bees. If you don't have bees around, you have to work pollination yourself and it is hellishly tedious even with some earthmate tricks to make it happen. I admit, my farms are visited by bees fairly often as they come in from Yokmir Forest. But that's not entirely reliable, as a windy or stormy day will encourage the bees to stick close to their hive rather than search out flowers. Having a hive on the farm means I've always got them around, plus they'll help out other gardens in town like Illuminata's. Then there's the products you can harvest from a hive, like honey and wax, which are useful resources.”

“I see, so not absolutely necessary, but a great asset,” Arthur said, now flipping through a guidebook. “Not even listed here, but if I could get a comparison of runic value on the woods, this is somewhere to start. Your sister's a crafter, so... let me copy down some numbers, then let's go ask her what she thinks of the twinkle wood and leaves. I know I saw at least one trader who deals in varied materials, so there might be a buyer today.”

Last he'd known, Frey was working in her basement workshop. He brought Arthur down there and found the door open. That was good, she'd close the door if she didn't want to be interrupted. They could hear her talking before they saw her. “Wait, no, not that one. Put it back.”

“Aw, come on,” Leon said. “This is written in Ath. How can you read it?”

“I can read it and it's my sappy little romance so you're not getting it,” Frey said insistently.

“How did you learn that language? It was losing ground when I learned it.”

“The older research journals were double scripted in Ath and Norad, with specific instructions only given halfway in each. Once we figured out a secure locking spell, the practice fell into disuse, but I've read the double script texts and learned that way. Then there's a few fully in Ath.”

“'A Recipe for Happiness' doesn't sound like research material.”

“It's not, but you're still not taking it from me.”

“Are we interrupting a date?” Lest asked as he came around the set of bookshelves to find the two looking over part of Frey's research library.

“No, but you can interrupt him trying to steal from my personal collection,” Frey said, too playfully as she wasn't mad now that he'd put the specific book back. “Besides, you're supposed to be translating the Book of Guidance.”

“I am, but I like a little variety,” Leon said, coming out to lean against the end of the shelf. “Even if it is a sappy little romance.”

“You have a copy of 'A Recipe for Happiness' in Ath?” Arthur asked, raising his eyebrows in interest.

Frey nodded and pulled it out to show him. “Yeah, it's been in the family collection for a long time. But that's not the only reason it stays.” She put it back.

“I believe I have a copy of the same book, script and all,” Arthur said, glancing over at Leon.

His ears pricked towards him in interest. “Really? Can you read it?”

Arthur smiled. “No, I got it to use as a bargaining chip if I was dealing with a rare book collector. Although once I had it, it became clear that it's a really hard to move item due to being in a different alphabet system. I only know the title from the card that came with it and I'm not sure if it was ever printed in Norad's alphabet. In the end, it's kind of worthless while being invaluable at the same time. I was always curious to know what the story actually is.”

“Ath's a hell of a lot easier to translate than the holy language once you know how to exchange the alphabet,” Leon said, glancing back at the copy Frey had. “Book that size, I might be able to work out in two or three weeks. More if I'm working with the Book of Guidance at the same time.”

“At that rate, it might be useful for both of us if you translated my copy and I worked out a deal for you with a publishing company, to see if there's interest in the market,” Arthur said. “I'd have to get it out of storage first.”

Leon grinned. “Sure, then I get to read her sappy little romance.”

“I don't care as long as it's not my copy you have,” Frey said. “What did you drop by here for? I doubt that.”

“Right, just an opportunity to try,” Arthur said. “We're trying to work out some deals for Lest to get equipment, but the main thing he has to trade is this branch of twinkle wood. Could you give me details on its runic qualities and usability in crafting, as compared to more commonly traded materials?”

“Oo, twinkle wood?” she asked, her eyes brightening as they went towards the bag Lest had.

“Don't mess with the tree,” Lest warned her. “It's my friend.”

“Sure, I promise,” she said, the way she nodded letting him know that it was a serious promise. With that, he let her take the branch to examine.

“Making friends with plants, huh?” Leon asked, amused. “Next thing we know, you'll be dating an apple tree.”

“It'd have to be a seriously amazing apple tree to outshine my twinkle tree,” Lest said, making Frey giggle.

“That's the one you rose with a miracle, right?” Arthur asked. “I suppose it isn't too surprising that you'd become attached to it.”

“In a way, I get attached to all my plants,” Lest said. “Though it's a really different kind of attachment because they don't feel the same way we do. More like how some people become attached to pets.”

“I can understand that,” Arthur said.

“As long as you don't get perverted about them,” Leon said with a shrug.

Frey then handed the branch in its bag back to Lest. “All right, it's highly malleable in terms of elements, so you could easily carve it into favoring any one you like. It would be excellent in wand or staff making as it would naturally extend the user's casting range and tolerate high levels of chi. Usable for other magical weapons in the same manner, although maybe not in this branch form. Accessories crafted with it could enhance the wearer's rune point pool, casting ability, spell range again, detection of runes and chi, or even a mix of those traits depending on other materials. The leaves would add rune and chi detection to a potion, but could also pull from the accessory or weapon traits in certain mixes. The detection abilities and enhancing rune points are probably the most valuable asset of the leaves, with the same going for the wood along with its elemental malleability.”

“Or the range extension if you're like me,” Lest said.

“Then where would you rank it along with these materials?” Arthur asked, handing over the notes he'd made.

Once they had Frey's opinion, they left the two to keep arguing, or whatever they were up to. Back in the marketplace, Arthur looked over the occupied stalls before picking one to start with. It was the one with the sunny cover where a pair of young women had an eclectic collection of items available for sale. Some of it was reasonable sale items, like gems, metals, and other stones to use in crafting. Also on the shelves, there were strange and varied materials that might seem to have no rhyme or reason to be together: pots of glue, little carved heads, fossils, teeth, scraps of fabric, bags of powder. Lest could see in the runes that they were all materials that monsters would leave behind when sent to the Forest of Beginnings. While the branch wasn't a monster drop, its usability in crafting made this a reasonable place to start trying to sell it.

“Oh, heelllooo Arthur!” the one with black hair said, grinning wide. “I was wondering where you'd gotten off to when you stopped showing up in the capitol's market.”

He smiled and went to shake her hand. “Hello Sakuya, Raven. Nice to run into you again. I'm living here in Selphia now, if you ever want to meet up some day. This would be Selphia's current prince, Lest.” He then introduced the two of them as traveling merchants based in the Sharence region.

“Well good to meet you, prince,” Sakuya said, eagerly shaking his hand. “You've really done a number on this place! It was such a dull place to do business, but now it's all bright and cheerful.”

“Thanks, that's what I wanted it to be,” Lest said. Raven was a little reluctant, but shook his hand too.

“I'm helping him with some dealings today and the thing we have I felt that you would be quite interested in,” Arthur said, indicating to Lest to show them the branch. “It was a gift from a twinkle tree, which is incredibly rare and quite powerful with magic as I hear it.”

“Oo, a rarity, how lovely,” Sakuya said, examining it closely.

“You an earthmate good with trees?” Raven asked.

Lest nodded. “Yeah, the tree has a strong sense and magic to it; the dryad's thoughts are more coherent to the human mind than most trees.”

“I could tell because it's powerful from being loved,” she said.

“Then it's something a master craftsman would love to handle, although not something anyone would go out looking for,” Sakuya said, rubbing her chin.

“The leaves would be valuable too, especially to alchemists since it can add some unusual and useful traits to alchemized items,” Arthur said.

“I see,” Sakuya said, her thoughts seeming to be weighing the values separate or together. At least, that's what made sense to Lest. As a trader and merchant, she'd be more interested in the monetary value rather than its usability. “It's just finding the market for them since the word might not be out there.”

“But craftsmen working in magical materials would pick out its value just on seeing it,” Arthur said. The two of them went back and forth for a while, soon tossing numbers between each other. Lest was fascinated in watching the exchange, as Arthur was throwing out some large numbers gauging how much she'd be willing to pay and Sakuya was throwing low to see how much he'd be willing to take. Thankfully, the low end started to approach the price on the beekeeping set. Lest would have been fine with an equal exchange.

Then Raven surprised them by jumping in with a number closer to what Arthur was giving. When the two of them looked at her, she shrugged. “I can tell it's above my skill level, but I'm curious to see what would come of giving it to Gaius.”

Arthur didn't even bother trying to barter her higher and took that price. “Having handled his work, I'm curious to know too,” he said, nodding to Raven as Lest handed over the branch. “Pleasure doing business with you two again.”

Her price actually gave him a windfall of money and the set, which meant he could start seeing about requesting particular seeds from other markets. But then Arthur surprised him in bartering with the tool merchant to lower the price on the set provided they bought a pair of fishing poles as well. That was nice, although since the poles seemed identical, Lest didn't see the point of getting two at first. The merchant sent along one of his assistants to help them get the pieces to the farm.

Once the assistant was gone, Arthur then offered him some gold in exchange for the second fishing pole. “Dylas talks about fishing more easily than other subjects, so I'm going to see if he'll want to buy this so he has a pole,” he explained. “Don't worry, I'll give him a fair price on it. It's more to gauge how his sense for money is in this age compared to when he came from.”

“That's a good thing to check,” Lest said. “And thanks a lot on helping me get this.”

“No problem, it was a nice exercise,” Arthur said, pleased like Frey was after having solved a difficult puzzle. “I'll be glad to help if anything like this comes up again. Sorry to take off, but I'd better be getting back since Meg was troubling me about lunch today. Good luck getting your bees.”

That was the next issue, as he had the hive and equipment but no bees. Hopefully they weren't too far into Yokmir Forest. He put on the gloves and checked over the calming runes. Much of it was based in scent and it seemed this pair could use treatment to increase that again. While it would work enough to work with bees familiar with him, luring wild bees by handling their queen would put him at risk for stings. That is, if he was relying only on the gloves. There were songs to calm them too.

But it would help to have as many sources to calm the bees as he could equip. He went back into his room to check on his charm box. Venti's charm was wind based, but that could still be useful. He also picked an anti-poison charm so that if he did get stung, the swelling wouldn't be as bad. As nothing else seemed particularly good for dealing with bees, he took the jasper charm as the corrupt runes were still around and a few other general protection charms.

His next stop was Carnation's Flower Shop, as there were some flowers that would help find the bees. The right ones he could even place the queen bee and an attendant on to keep them comfortable and relaxed while guiding the rest. But as he walked in, he knew this was a bad time to be here. The runes were tense from unspoken conflict, disappointment, and a barely held frustration. It was like his sister's firework powder boxes, just waiting for a stray spark to make things explode. Then again, perhaps he could find a way to control the explosion.

“Hey Lest, how's it going?” Illuminata said, trying to be casual when her posture was tense. She kept glancing at Amber, who was at the sales counter smiling but quite angry.

“Welcome,” Amber said, although not with her normal enthusiasm in trying not to break the smile.

“Hey there, things are going fine for the most part,” Lest replied, smiling back but not easing the tension. This wasn't a situation where his magical calming technique would work. “I'm looking for a particular sort of flower to help with something.”

“Need some assistance?” Illuminata said, quietly hinting to play along for the sake of instruction. “Amber can help you out.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she said, tilting her head.

While he knew what flowers would work for the task, he nodded and went along with it. “Yeah, I need to figure out what flower what would work best to attract bees but keep them calm at the same time.”

“Bees?” Amber asked in a dismissive way. “What would you want bees for?”

Recalling something that nearly always came up when Amber was talking about things she liked, he said, “They make honey from flower pollen, that's part of it. They'll also make my plants happier.”

“That'd be nice to have around, if you have a place for them to stay,” Illuminata said.

He nodded. “I bought a beekeeping set that came with a nice screened hive, so I've got everything but the bees now.”

The elf nodded, then tapped her assistant on the shoulder. “What kind of flowers do you think will help Lest catch bees?”

“I don't see why you'd want to catch them,” Amber said, bits of her anger slipping out. “They're annoying, going buzz buzz buzz all over, and then they're unpleasant to bite down on if you don't see them in a flower. And they're some mean ones that'll poke you real bad, which hurts an awful lot. Why don't you get red clover for butterflies instead? Butterflies are pretty and nice, and they'll make plants happy too.”

“Butterflies don't make honey,” Lest pointed out. Plus if he really wanted butterflies, he'd have to put in some plants to distract the caterpillars from eating leaves on his vegetables.

She actually frowned at that, her body tensing. “I'm sure they can be taught to do that too! There's no reason that stupid bees can make honey but butterflies can't.”

“Amber, Lest's the customer now so we have to go with his request to get bees,” Illuminata said. Her patience was wearing thin.

“I think that's stupid!” Amber said, stamping her foot down and making an unreasonably loud clatter with the spirit chains. This was followed by a hiss as a hell gate appeared right in the shop, snatched up Amber's chains, and pulled her into it before either he or Illuminata could reach her.

“Amber!” Illuminata called, but the hell gate had swallowed itself up and vanished. “Geez, this is all my fault.”

Opening up the servant call on his bracelet, Lest sent out orders for Forte and one of the butlers to meet him by the south gate. “I'm going into Yokmir Forest after her,” he said as he shut the bracelet. “It's best to summon the hell gate at the rune spring. You can come too, but we're going to run into Ambrosia.”

“Didn't you wipe that one out?” she asked, grabbing a pair of watering cans of all things before hurrying with him out of the store.

“Yeah, but that gate can call it back out,” Lest said. Hopefully they could destroy the hell gate. But if it came down to it, the important thing was getting Amber out.

* * *

 

'My big brother Dylas is my hero because he caught and killed a giant catfish that tried to eat me all up when I was really little. Then he went away to become a guardian out where nobody else could reach him to make sure Ventuswill and our town stayed safe. He is brave and good and I want to be exactly like him. - Braidy Leland, Age 7'

The message was accompanied by an unskilled drawing. Something that looked kind of like him and Braidy, the giant catfish looking particularly mean, a red bladed sword that was stick-like, and a sketchy version of Dragon Lake. Yet this hit him in his heart more than any fine piece of art had. Exactly like him? Dylas hoped she hadn't gone that way. Then again, her view of him was so unlike his own that it was hard to believe she meant him. What had happened to her?

That was answered in one of many letters he now had, things that Braidy, his other sister Lissa, his mother, and even his stepfather had written over the years. It was a wild tale; he'd hardly believe it if it came without their names. But he was assured by the childish drawing that his family would not write a lie for him, especially not meant to come into his hands in such a manner. Also in the box was a couple of family portraits, the pressed toyherbs, and a printed copy of his mother's scrapbook, as explained in a letter from his mother.

'Dear Dylas:

'I keep writing and rewriting this letter, trying to find the right words to reach you. But it just reminds me of how long it took me to realize you were slipping from my hands. I didn't think anything of how quiet and short-tempered you could be. I thought that was just you being a boy, getting into fights like boys do and trying to be tough before your time, but you'd always be that sweet child underneath that worked hard to help me out and brought simple flowers home to make me smile. Then I'll wonder if I had missed something I should have seen and how I could have missed my son being in pain like that.

'Still, if you're reading this letter, then perhaps my prayers have been answered and you've found the happiness you thought lost. I've been leaving offerings for the other three guardians, hoping that they can help you out of that darkness. I really want nothing more of this world than for you to be happy and thriving. There is nothing I can do about what happened, except be a little grateful someone stepped in so that you might have a second chance in the distant future.

'Please don't think of me as someone who is sad at thoughts of you. Maybe it's just me as your mother, but I always saw you as an amazing person capable of more than what others saw out of you. It may have been hard for you to find your place in life. Still, I'm sure that you can do great things and that hope makes me happy for you. I often think of times when you are happy, most often when I see little flowers like these toyherbs I've kept for you. You've always been in my heart, no matter what, my precious son. If I'm in your heart still, I hope it makes you happy even a little.

'When Lissa and Braidy got older, I had a chance to print of some copies of my scrapbook. I gave a copy to each of them when they got to be sixteen. And then, I thought to make this third copy for you, in hopes that I could speak to you one last time. Maybe it won't be of much use to you, just something to deliver this letter with. If you find someone who understands your heart and loves you in spite of any troubles to get there, you can give this book to her so that I can help her out a little too. Be sure you treat her just as kindly as you did me.

'This letter might never be perfect, even if I write it all over again in another year. I hope you understand my words. Life may always be a hard road for us, but we need to keep on walking ahead. May the light of happiness find you.

'With sincere love, Coris Leland'

Why had he expected the worst of this? He put the paper to his forehead. “Mom, I love you always, no matter what.”

There was a corkboard in the room which had some papers that were meaningless to him. Dylas removed a few in order to pin his little sister's picture there. Maybe that would remind him not to give up on everything again.


	43. Hell Gate of Wind

Spring 59

Lest and Illuminata got to the south gate first, so he turned to her. “I've called for a couple people, so we'll wait a bit. But did something happen between you two?”

She was saddened as she said, “Yeah, I was trying to get Amber to learn something important, but seems I was too hard on her. But she's a real tough one to teach. There are a lot of things she claims are too hard or boring when she first tries them out. She is a smart girl, you just have to know how to present lessons to her. Like I was trying to teach her how the math for national and regional taxes work and she gave up on that fast. But once I explained it in terms of flowers, she got it right off and could see how it figured into the tax additions. Still, there's a lot of basic ideas in society that she doesn't account for, which led to what happened yesterday.”

* * *

 

Spring 58

It was time for her weekly seed check, to make sure none had gone bad or dead. However, there had been less to get rid of this season. Her stock was changing more than it used to, thanks to Arthur's assistance in getting her contacts with other florists. It meant that she was starting to actually add new varieties to her store while reducing some of the overabundant ones that people here got tired of. Perhaps it was time to consider trying those cacti again now that she might find a good source for starts.

As she went through, she noticed that the numbers were off. Some of the seeds were missing. Not many, but it was a discrepancy when she'd never had such problems before. Well, rarely. There was a few times when a mouse got in and nibbled at a bulb or seed packet. But that generally happened in the winter season, not spring when there was plenty outside for the mice to find. Although she'd not replaced her shop paw cat since her last pet had died a couple years back. Illuminata wondered if she'd have to consider getting a new one.

It might also be a thief. The idea excited her at the same time it concerned her. At last, a real theft case to solve! But, it was theft of her own goods when she thought she'd prepared for such possibilities well. Illuminata searched around the shop for any potential clues. Nothing seemed out of place, no other flowers missing. Which was odd. If a thief was to be taking flowers, one would think they'd be after the grown expensive ones like the specialty roses or orchids. Not the seeds to what were fairly common and affordable ones like what was taken: one packet each of toyherb, moondrop, blue charm, and pink cat. She checked the garden and greenhouse in case of tools missing, which was where she noticed what else had been taken: the Rose of Ventuswill that she'd been soaking in Earthheart Elixir to pull out of dormancy.

“That flower thief is going to pay for this!” she said in a fury. That bush was irreplaceable. Not seeing any clues (this thief was strangely clean, although the scent of the elixir would be unmistakable on their hands), Illuminata left the shop and went to question anyone who might be nearby... “Xiao Pai!” she demanded, darting over to the girl who was standing by the garden fence. “Have you seen anyone suspicious coming out of the shop today?”

Flustered at the sudden questioning, Xiao looked over at the greenhouse. But she didn't smell like the elixir, so she couldn't be the thief. “I, I do not know what would be seen as suspicious. I had come to see about talking to Amber, but then Meg had something to ask. It seems I am unsure of it. But...”

“Well have you encountered anyone that smelled weird, like earthy moss and damp soil?” Illuminata asked, then caught a whiff of it in the air herself. She turned around to the west where it was strongest. “Wait, that's it, I've got the scent! But it was in the greenhouse and couldn't have been that way. The thief must be there! I'm gonna catch you, scoundrel!” She took off to the west, following the trail.

“Wa-wait!” Xiao called, trying to follow.

The elixir's scent was spread out, so it had been some time since the thief had passed this way. But drops of it ended up on the ground, leading the way to the lake. There, she found Amber watering a new flower patch near the edge of the rocky crevasse across from Obsidian Mansion. It included the rose bush. She could deduce what was happening here, although she'd hoped that working in the shop for a few weeks would make what was wrong with this obvious. Apparently she'd overestimated what was obvious for her again.

“Amber!” Illuminata said, going over to her.

Amber looked up at her and smiled broadly. “Oh, hi Lumie! Look, I got the planting done.”

Illuminata grabbed her arm tightly to make sure she got the point. “No, this isn't how it works!”

“Huh?” Shocked at her reaction, Amber's eyes went wide and she started crying.

But this was something she needed to learn. “You can't just take things from the shop without asking! That's stealing and it's very wrong. Everything must be accounted for. Even I make sure that anything personal I grow is paid for or grown with enough others to cover the loss. Plus you really should not have taken off with the rose bush without telling me. It's a very rare breed that I will never be able to replace if the specimens I have all fail. I was really angry and scared when I couldn't find it.”

“Um, but...” Amber mumbled.

“No buts!” Illuminata said.

“W-wait, Elly!” Xiao came running up to them, some dirt on her cheek. She must have tripped trying to keep up with her across town. “Um, I am sorry that I wasn't sure of what to say, but I think you should listen to Amber's side of the story. She must have good reason for it.”

She might, but she didn't need to learn to take anything she wanted and turn on the waterworks to get away with it. “I was going to ask about that,” Illuminata said. “Now why did you do the planting without me?”

“W-well you were so happy yesterday that the rose was ready to plant, but then today you got busy with the store,” Amber said, sniffling. “I thought you forgot about it, so I'd surprise you by getting it done right at the spot you'd said was sad and lonely without flowers a few days ago. But it wouldn't be right to leave the rose by itself, so I got some other flowers to go with it. I didn't think that was stealing because people buy the flowers from us so the flowers belong to us and we can plant them if we want.”

Illuminata had meant to grow this Rose of Ventuswill in her garden. While it might do well in poor conditions for other roses (like this rocky cliff edge), it was uncertain if it would survive long. She could keep it from being bothered by other people in her garden at least, until she had seen it grow herself. “The flowers in the shop belong to the shop, not us,” she said, hugging her. “I'll forgive you this time, but make sure you take really good care of this little garden now.”

“Okay,” Amber said, upset although she seemed to get it. But she was quiet for the rest of the day.

* * *

 

Spring 59

“What do you mean Amber's gone?” Leon asked as he ran across the plaza with Volkanon and Frey.

“That was quicker than saying that she got pulled into her hell gate and I need to get to the rune spring to call it back,” Lest said, waiting with Illuminata and Forte. He'd sent the butler after Leon mostly, but it was nice that Frey tagged along “Since it is her gate, Ambrosia's a threat again, so thank goodness you were still in the castle. We can't waste time, so we'll have to go with who's here.”

Leon nodded. “All right, let me get the rest of the party covered before we take off.” He used his fan to cast the protection prayer.

“I'll come along with you, if you don't mind,” Volkanon said, fiddling with his floating armband to send a message to the other two.

“What, you are?” Illuminata said, trying to lighten her tension with some teasing. But Lest was pretty sure that any of the others there could see her concern and anxiety.

“That's good, we should be okay,” Lest said.

“Except you won't be at the end of it, no matter if this succeeds or not,” Frey said, worried about him.

Leon finished up his prayer spell, then said, “If we have to, I can teleport with him back to town so we don't end up sticking around who knows where deeper in the forest. You're protected, so let's get going.”

Lately, Yokmir Forest had been peaceful enough that they were letting tourists through unaccompanied as long as they had some means of self-defense, in case the monsters in the caves wandered out. Lest was sure that any one of the group could handle themselves even in the caves. Volkanon was as powerful as his build suggested and Illuminata was managing some impressive magic with her watering can. But once the hell gate was summoned, Lest would prefer having the group together to handle things outside while he went in.

Since they didn't need to worry on the way, he asked, “What kind of culture do the fairies have? I might need to know to work with Amber.”

“It's anarchy with the strongest wits leading the way,” Leon said.

“Putting it simply, that's it,” Illuminata said. “They might seem pretty, but they freak out a lot of people once they're encountered. Fairies will laugh and sing at funerals, but then weep and apologize at weddings. When you know how they view the world, it makes sense to them. They put a higher value on independence and happiness than anything else. Put that together and they prioritize their own happiness above anyone else's. If a weaker fairy makes a stronger one unhappy, they see it as the right of the stronger one to kill off the weaker one to eliminate that unhappiness. The reverse is same, but the weaker fairies usually have to put up with the stronger one because they don't think to join up to defeat it.”

“Amber seems to like making other people happy,” Forte said. “Even if she often misses where she crosses the line.”

“That's why it surprised me too when she said she was a wingless fairy,” Leon said. “She was part of our family, not an individual who happened to be there. Even if she calls herself a fairy, she's got a human heart.”

Illuminata nodded. “Right, I see that in her too. But that set of morals is still set firm in her mind. Like a couple weeks back, she told me that her adopted fairy parent insisted on being called 'matron' in Norad, not 'mother'. Her matron controlled her life, not cared for her; I couldn't convince her of that. As for what reason they take children, it could be many. Some fairies see stealing children as getting a new toy to play with, or the parents angered them and so they steal what's most precious even though the fairy can't see what makes a child precious. Probably the main reason Amber isn't even worse is because she made friends with Lady Ventuswill very young and that corrected some of the unbalanced views.”

By the time they got to the rune spring, Lest felt like he had a decent idea of how fairies lived and believed. Hopefully it was enough to help Amber. Borrowing Amber's tin waterpot, he summoned the hell gate back with omnigate. It was an unpleasant sensation to cast it due to needing the corrupted runes to put this particular gate together, a slimy itch that kept to his skin only because the jasper charm kept it from seeping into his body further. The feeling left once the gate was there, but then he had to go through the jarring sensation of passing through in order to reach Amber.

Like with the other two, he ended up in a speckled hallway of shifting black and white. He could hear chains shifting, but also some angry singing trying to pretend happiness. Lest followed it until he crossed over in a flowery meadow surrounded by tall trees. On the ground, there was a ring of white mushrooms. Amber was in the middle of it along with a cluster of various fairies. Some were plain with leafy or floral coverings, but there were a few like the elemental fairies on Bado's fountain. Recalling what Leon had said about fairy rings, Lest stopped outside it and circled around until he was in Amber's sight.

“Silly, you aren't happy enough!” a red fairy said, laughing at her.

“I am happy, I'm always happy,” Amber insisted, twirling about even though she was tense and frustrated still. She looked much as she usually did, except not having her pink antenna or colorful wings. At least she was wearing the green dress still.

“Aw, you don't seem to value it enough,” a green fairy said. “You got tamed living with a society that lets men choose for themselves.”

“I did not!” She went back to singing trying to prove she was happy.

“What, you don't think men should be happy?” Lest asked the fairies.

“If you amuse us, sure, you could be happy,” a yellow fairy said, flying over to him but stopping at the fairy ring. “Come on, come play with us!”

“Sorry, I came to get Amber and help her out of here,” he said.

“It's okay Lest,” Amber said, defiant in tone. “I'm happy and I'm not going to let that dumb old dragon make me unhappy.”

“No, you're not happy and you won't do anything about the ones making you unhappy,” a fairy said, amused at it. “So you deserve to stay unhappy, which makes you a tamed dumb fairy even if you have wings now.”

“I am not,” she said. But her act at being happy was about to break.

The fairies weren't real. They were like the voices from Dylas' hell gate, things from her memories. Maybe she knew deep down that fairies were most often jerks but didn't want to admit it. Although if she didn't realize it and her mind still made them like this, it could be really hard to convince her of it. “You don't have to make yourself happy if you don't feel that way,” he said. “If you do, then all the sadness and anger will stay inside.”

“Poo, you're just like any other stuffy man,” a fairy said. “Happiness is best and we shall always be happy! But she fails because she got unhappy, so she has to do must work and entertain us a long time until she gets happy.”

“I'd rather find out why she's unhappy and help her get out of that,” Lest said.

“Really?” Amber asked. Her smile almost got dropped, but she made it stay.

He nodded. “Of course. I want to share happiness with my friends and not let one stay unhappy. That'll let everyone be happy, which I think is the most fun way of living.”

The fairies laughed at him, as he'd expected. “Silly, you can't share happiness because happiness is only inside,” the yellow one said. “Trying to live that way makes you dependent on the others being happy, which is a total drag and surefire way to get unhappy. You're better off smashing the ones who make you unhappy so you're no longer unhappy, or keeping far away if you're stupidly weak and can't smash them.”

“But smashing others is terrible,” Amber said.

“Right,” Lest said. “And I feel happy when I see a friend being happy. If that makes me dependent on them, then I don't care. The world's a scary place to live in alone. Even all of you live together rather than apart, don't you?”

“That's cause it's more entertaining to watch the others be stupid,” the red one said. “Like her now!”

“Hey, don't call her stupid,” Lest said in warning. “Amber, come over here please. We'll figure out how to break this hell gate once we get away from them.”

“You're stupid,” the red fairy said, coming a little closer. “You come here and fight me now if you don't like it.”

“No, I'm not entering your space for you to play with,” Lest said. “I'm also not going to fight you because Amber doesn't like seeing other fairies smashed.”

“Is that true?” the green one said. “You really are a stupid dependent girl.”

“Well aren't you scared of getting smashed or wilted?” Amber asked, serious now.

“Yeah, but I don't care about if it happens to the others,” the green fairy said.

The yellow one laughed. “It's funny sometimes when they get hugely smashed!”

“Well I do care!” Amber said, making a fist but not able to bring herself to hit the fairy. “And I like making other people happy too, and making sure everybody has lots of friends. It's more fun together with friends! And not just because they're there to make you happy, but because you're there to make them happy too.”

“That sounds like too much work,” the red fairy said

“Yeah, better just to be happy yourself than try to make others happy when they don't think like you,” a blue fairy said.

“It's not very fairy like to be like that,” the yellow one said.

“Then I'm really not a fairy, so stop calling me stupid!” Amber said, running over to Lest. She was able to cross the fairy ring easily. But if this one worked like a real one, he wouldn't be able to leave when he wanted.

“Boring, we're going to do something fun,” the green fairy said. They took the mushrooms and flew off elsewhere, all separate.

Glad they didn't have to fight them as Amber didn't know much about battle, Lest took her hand to make sure he didn't lose her. “I think you have a good thought there in being happy with friends,” he said, giving her the waterpot.

“I like it that way,” Amber said, taking it as a familiar item. “But most fairies thought I was weird like that and I don't know why they never noticed they had more fun dancing in a group.”

“It might be because you have a human heart, not a fairy heart,” Lest said.

“Maybe,” she said. “Oh, but maybe matron Saffron had a human heart too? Because she always thought of me and acted to make both of us happy, even if other fairies teased her about it. But she was strong and clever, so much so that none of them could trouble her.”

“There's no way I could be sure because I can't meet her,” Lest said. “But if that's what you believe, it may be so.”

She smiled, starting to be happy again. “Yeah, I'm sure she did.”

He nodded, but now to get to the other problem. “So what is wrong with you now? What's got you so mad today?”

“It's really okay to be mad for a bit if something's wrong?” Amber asked.

“Yes, as long as you don't let the anger last for long,” he said.

She thought about it. “Guess that's something I still have to learn. But I have to learn so much, and every time I think I've got it and do something with what I know, I end up making a mistake because there's something else that I have to learn that I didn't realize. Like about doing what customers want. What if they want something that's not right or smart?”

“You have to be sure of that to stop someone,” Lest said. “They may have reasons that make what they want smart for them. And sometimes you might be wrong too. I know I've thought other people were doing stupid things because I didn't fully understand why they were doing what they did.”

“Like why you want bees?” she asked.

“Yeah, because I've never seen a reference to butterflies making honey. Bees and hornets make lots of honey by teaching themselves. I'd rather go for the bees because their stings will hurt less than the hornets, and they sting much less often too.” It'd hurt less unless someone was allergic to bee stings, but Jones had assured him no one living in Selphia had such an allergy.

“Yeah, you wouldn't want a nest of hornets in town,” Amber said, disappointed in herself. “Are you mad at me?”

He shook his head. “No, it seemed like you were having a stressful day and people tend to lash out on days like that no matter what kind of being they are.”

“Is Lumie mad at me?” she asked, even more worried about that. “Because I kept disappointing her and thought I knew what stealing stuff meant, but apparently not.”

“No, she's really worried about you,” Lest said. “She came with me and several others to get you out of here. It sounds like she doesn't want to give up on you even if you are having trouble learning all the rules and such. Maybe they don't always say it, but I think a lot of people in town want to see you get better at getting along. You do make everyone smile and feel a little happier just by being around.”

“But you have to go along with all sorts of rules nobody talks about until you break them,” a voice like Amber's said. It was Ambrosia, having appeared where the fairy ring had been. “Rules that don't make sense.”

“Um, well they might not make sense because I don't know the stuff that makes them make sense,” Amber said. “And maybe they'd have trouble living with fairies like I have trouble living with them, because they don't know enough stuff. Doug said so! He said fairy trading sounded complicated when it's not, so maybe running a shop sounds complicated to me now, but it might not be once I learn the stuff I missed out on.”

“But it's going to take a long time, long enough that you might wilt,” Ambrosia said. “And it'll all be so frustrating that you'll have a hard time being happy. It would work better if you smashed up all the frustrating things so there was no reason to be unhappy.”

While Storgane was probably trying to get Amber to despair with those words, he only succeeded in redirecting her anger. “No it won't!” she shouted, throwing her arms down. “I don't want to see Selphia smashed or people killed! I want to make all the people around me happy, however I can. Maybe I'll mess up still, but I'll keep trying and learning so one day I stop messing up. Besides, you've made me way more unhappy than anybody in Selphia because you killed all my old fairy friends, and even Natalie! You're the real bad one, so you've got to go away and never come back!”

Ambrosia shrieked at this, then exploded into a bright light that shattered the hell gate around them. Lest had to clutch Amber's hand tighter to make sure they didn't lose each other. When the light cleared, they were back at the place he'd been before, with the two strange trees on an island surrounded by a lake. Now there was a third tree with sparkling green leaves, a pale green like in early spring. Out of habit, he took one passing by to go with the other two he had collected.

“Did I kill her?” Amber asked, spooked even though she had just told Ambrosia to never come back. Chi lines were starting to appear on her, a bright green.

“No, you returned her to the Forest of Beginnings like any other monster,” Lest said. “She'll be purified and return to the world in a more peaceful form. Maybe even as a normal butterfly or fairy.”

“I hope a butterfly,” Amber said, relieved to hear that. “Is this the Forest of Beginnings?”

“A part of it, but we shouldn't stay long. Ready to go back?”

She nodded. “Yeah. If it's all gone, I don't want to make Lumie worry any longer.”

“Good.” Lest cast arjate to shift them back to Yokmir Forest.

On arriving there, he noticed that Dolce and Dylas had managed to join them. It was quite a crowd, making his vision blur briefly although the Harvest Goddess was back in support of him. But of all the people there, Amber went to Illuminata first and hugged her. “Lumie, I'm sorry! But I'm gonna try hard to not mess up a lot.”

“It's all right, Amber, I'm just glad you got out safely,” Illuminata said in a warm motherly way, kind of surprising with how Lest encountered her most days. “If rather glowy.”

“What?” Amber held up her arms and noticed the chi lines for the first time, her eyes widening. “What is it?”

“It's a trait of the earthmates,” the Harvest Goddess said, getting Amber to notice her. “But there's something you need to do first to accept the blessings of the earth. Come over to the rune spring and recite the Earthmate's Pledge with Lest. It will be taken care of from there.”

“I don't know that, but okay,” Amber said, getting eager at the thought.

“Don't worry, it'll come to you,” Dylas said.

Lest nodded and went to the spring itself, waving her to follow. He was definitely feeling the effects of arjate now even with the goddess nearby, so he took a few deep breaths before saying, “The runes will guide you, so just repeat what I say. Ready?”

Amber beamed. There were some floral images in her runes already. “Ready!”

When she got to singing the pledge on her own, the rune spring shifted from underneath the cliff to much further to the east of Selphia on top of a hill. From the top of it, they could see the town in the distance, a pretty sight even from here. The hill was surrounded by Yokmir Forest, but somehow no trees were on it to disrupt the flow of the air. Instead, a group of tall rocks with holes cut through them were around. They were silent when they first arrived, but as Amber caused the wind rune spring to expand to what it should be, the wind flowing through the rocks started to hum in a shifting chorus.

“Things are still unstable with only two springs at full strength, but things are settling back into place nicely,” the Harvest Goddess said. Then she smiled. “Even you four; it's nice to see that you've been making good friends, enough that they'll chase one of you out here. Amber, we are glad to receive you as an earthmate. The price for your blessing is found in farming, particularly flowers. Lest will be able to help you. Tomorrow, though, he should rest for today. I will return again when the time is right.” Then she was gone.

Lest didn't collapse to his knees this time, but only because Volkanon had silently made his way over to take him by the arm and support him. Amber was thrilled, spinning around in place even though she had her wings back with the chains gone. “Wheee, I get to talk to the flowers now to help them grow big and bright to make everybody happy!”

While some of the others started talking with her, Leon came over to the two of them. “You look even paler than that first time,” he said. “I think I could take you both back, but it might be a little rough.”

“As much as I'd like to make sure he's okay, it'd be better to get him back home quickly,” Volkanon said. “I can do that myself.”

“Going home?” Amber said, stopping to face them. “I can do that for everybody! Watch!” Her chi lines brightened as she called a large gust of wind. She had a wind alignment with the connection to the divine wind, sharpening her connection to the air to the point that she could command it to teleport the entire group back to the town plaza of Selphia.

Still, Lest felt like he would prefer a normal teleport as this one had blown his hair into a mess and nearly made him lose grip on the shimmering green leaf. “Now that was such a blustery blow that it blustered us back home,” Illuminata said, her hat barely hanging on over her left ear due to being pinned in place. Those with looser hair, like Dylas and Amber, were now looking completely wind blown.

“Hee hee, I have lots more magic,” Amber said, although she was paling as her chi lines vanished. Then she collapsed from the effort.

While the others made sure she was okay, Volkanon excused them to walk with Lest back into the castle. He felt like he might not make it inside, but the butler kept some dignity for him in keeping him on his feet until out of public view. Then he picked him up to carry him the rest of the way. “Sorry about this, but don't want to push you any more,” Volkanon said.

“No, thanks for helping me in here,” Lest said, even hearing how tired he sounded. “I don't even know if I could have remained sitting if I fell out there.”

“I'll help you get changed, then bring Jones over to check on you,” he said. “You really do look worse than last time. But then, I can't deny now that you are giving your utmost in service of Lady Ventuswill and those who are dear to her. You have my gratitude, Lest; I'm glad I've come to serve you too.”

Perhaps because he was so tired, he smiled and replied, “Are you still gonna give me a hard time about doing what I like in my free time?”

“If you get out of hand, perhaps,” Volkanon said, but smiled back. “Although if you keep finding relevant excuses, I might keep out of it respectfully.”

“I'll keep respectful too,” Lest said, his eyes growing heavy. He couldn't keep awake much longer now that he was off his feet.


	44. Requisite Mysterious Girl

Spring 60

When Lest came into the kitchen to have breakfast with the others, there were only three in the room. “Where's Clorica?” he asked. “Usually I'd at least see her around.”

“I left her a note last night asking to take care of some things this morning,” Volkanon said, pulling out a chair for him. “She might be going slow as usual, although if it gets to be nine and she's still not back, I'm going to look around town for her.”

“Does she always sleepwalk to the extreme or is it a recent thing?” Frey asked, pausing while eating her eggs. “Because a couple nights ago, I happened to wake up in the middle of the night and she was mopping the hall outside my bedroom with totally asleep. And Doomgale says she's seen Clorica doing that on a previous night.”

“She's always slept more than normal, but that's a rare thing out of her,” Volkanon said.

At that, Vishnal frowned in worry. “Um, I'm not sure about that. I haven't had to mop the floors since about midwinter.”

“What?” Volkanon asked, surprised to hear this.

Vishnal nodded. “I've been keeping to the schedule you had me on, but every time I get to taking care of the floors, they're already spotless. Lately, all I've been doing is sweeping flower petals outside and taking care of muddy tracks on occasion. I just thought you or her were doing the mopping when I was busy with something else.”

That made Lest think. Clorica had been asleep or half-asleep as long as he'd known her. But, maybe that wasn't how she should be with all the sleep runes around her. “Do you think if we could keep her from doing that at night, she'd fall into a more regular sleep pattern? Because if her body keeps moving while she's supposed to be sleeping, then she's never really sleeping. If that makes sense.”

“I get what you're saying,” Volkanon said, considering it. “I'll have to talk with her about it when she gets back. Still, then the issue becomes how will we make sure she keeps to her bed at night?”

“You'd have to ask Jones if it's safe, but you might be able to get her paralyzed so her body can't move overnight,” Frey said. “If you've got the right kind of paralysis, the human body can heal from it naturally after several hours of sleep. It'd at least keep her still for that time.”

“Definitely have to ask Jones if it's possible to do safely,” Volkanon said. “What are you two planning for today?”

“I'm going to warp out to Darryl's Tower for a short time to try some new ideas on getting that door open,” Frey said.

“I thought you said you wanted it sealed shut,” Lest said.

She nodded. “Yeah, but I have to get in there to see the actual entrance to Rune Prana, that's what needs sealing.”

“Guess so,” he said. “Only thing in particular I had in mind was in the evening; I want to teach Amber some farming hymns and help her take care of the Rose of Ventuswill bush in doing so. I know we've usually been meeting up with all five of them, but I doubt that Dolce or Leon will end up with a price in farming.”

“No, no, you should bring them out there even if Amber's the main one learning there,” Frey said. “Maybe you don't see it, but there's still something the others can learn out of it.”

Lest smiled. “Guess you'd better come and teach too. I also still want to go after the bees, since that left my mind once Amber was taken.”

“I'm not sure if you should be doing something so involved, not after you spent half the day yesterday asleep,” Vishnal said.

“It won't be so bad,” he said with a shrug. “I already have an idea of where a wild hive is not too far out of town. The worst part is going to be coming back into Selphia and hoping nobody is disruptive while I'm trying to keep the bees calm.”

The air shifted, making Lest wonder if Venti was asking for their attention. A second later, the armbands Volkanon and Vishnal wore shifted colors in a message. “We need to get downstairs,” Volkanon said as both of them got out of their seats. “Seems you two should come as well.”

“All right, if you say so,” Frey said. They left their breakfast and headed down to Venti's chamber.

Ventuswill was watching for them, her tail shifting like a clock over her back. “Someone's coming in who needs help,” she said.

“Who is it?” Lest asked, but then he could hear footsteps rapidly approaching the door.

Sven came in, pulling along Clorica as she was asleep on her feet and carrying a dirty mop. Behind them, a silver-haired girl followed after with a puzzling air of... well being puzzling. Her runes didn't match her body and they were strongly blurred by her own power. But her mystery didn't get their attention as much as Sven's state did. His chainmail armor was in pieces, what parts of it remaining barely hanging on. In his runes, there was a powerful drive as if a single thought was pushing him forward. From the wounds, blood, and broken chi lines, he was barely hanging on to that driving thought. Neither Clorica nor the stranger were wounded at all.

“Sven?” Lest called, going over to him. But his healing spells weren't enough for this.

“We're back, I got her home,” Sven said in an emotionless tone. His chi faded rapidly and he collapsed from his wounds.

Volkanon knew some first aid, so he made sure Sven wasn't about to die while Vishnal sprinted off after Jones. The stranger seemed at a loss for what to do, but at least she didn't seem scared or panicked. Thinking it might be okay to leave her for last, Lest went to Clorica. “Hey Clorica. Wake up.” He put his hand near her and tried to disrupt the sleep runes.

It worked, as she opened her eyes partway. “Hmm? Oh, Prince Lest... g'morning.” She looked confused at the mop in her hands, especially at the dirt and twigs in the head of it. “What was I doing?”

“That's what we're trying to figure out,” Frey said, pointed over to Sven on the ground.

That shocked her into being fully awake. “Huh, Sven? What, what happened to him? Did the Sechs come?”

“We don't know right now,” Lest said, looking over at the other girl. “Sorry to interrogate you first thing, but what's your name? I'm Lest, and this is Clorica, and my sister Frey.” He held off on introducing the others just yet.

She set the large ribbon-decorated bag she had down and said something. But whatever it was, no sound came out. Her pale skin turned pink as she got embarrassed in it, rubbing her throat as if she wasn't entirely sure herself what was going on. Whoever she was, she seemed like she might be from a rich family, what with her fancy crimson dress with black lacing up the front and back.

“Someone steal your voice?” Frey asked, causing the girl to shrug, then nod. That was probably it.

“Was that... Wendy?” Clorica guessed.

Her face brightened into a smile as she nodded again. Wendy even clapped her hands together and twirled around. Then she covered her mouth with her hands as if hiding a laugh, but she couldn't even make that sound.

Clorica smiled back. “Good, I got it in one guess. But, where were we and what were we doing?”

Unable to really explain, Wendy shrugged. Then she pointed off to the west. They had come from that direction, at least.

“Obsidian Mansion?” Lest guessed. “The old haunted house across from Dragon Lake.” She nodded to that.

“What were we doing there?” Clorica asked, leaning on the mop. “Last thing I knew, I was in bed asleep here. Although I had the strangest dream, kind of like Obsidian Mansion.”

“What happened?” Lest asked. Maybe she was aware in part of what happened.

Clorica shrugged. “Hard to say, but the look was strong. Oh, and there was a ghost that had stolen my mop and kept making me chase it. It always kept just out of reach.”

“That is what happened,” Ventuswill said. Strangely, Wendy wasn't startled by her at all. “I saw it myself when I was just waking up. You were out on the town plaza mopping when a ghost snatched your mop. Fortunately, Sven was awake as well and he went after you both. I thought it'd be all right since the mansion has lost a lot of power.” Venti frowned. “Then I felt it close up again, likely due to a hell gate. I couldn't find you then and I was worried. Still, I figured Sven was still with you and you both could get out on your own.”

“What were you doing mopping the plaza?” Frey asked, puzzled as to why that would be done.

“We do that occasionally, but not with a regular mop,” Clorica said, not able to explain it herself. “I don't remember that at all.”

“Clorica,” Ventuswill said in a stern tone. “You've been muddling along with your sleep problems well enough, but this time you put yourself and Sven in danger because of it. This can't continue. You need to do something to prevent a scene like this happening again.”

“I'm not sure what to do,” Clorica said, upset over her words but realizing that this was a serious problem now.

* * *

 

Jones and Nancy were busy trying to save Sven's life after he'd been brought in with many wounds. After assuring them that she'd be fine, Dolce stayed in the living room with Alice. She would have liked to bring the baby upstairs, to avoid upsetting her or the patient. But someone needed to be here in case a visitor needed to buy medicine or receive some minor care. At least Alice was young enough that she couldn't move around herself and was easy to keep content.

She ended up thinking about her family, recalling her parents trying to keep the house clean and peaceful while caught up in their own busy lives. Her mother was around most often, but she would get called out of the house to act as Venti's priestess and have to leave in minutes. Being the oldest girl, it often fell to Dolce to keep the household on schedule when her mother was away and her father was off on patrol or training her older brother. But she didn't mind. She always had her parents' gratitude and love even if they had a formal way of living.

In contrast, things were very informal here. Jones and Nancy still acted like newlyweds even though they had been married twelve years already. If there was no one to take care of, they were often talking together affectionately. There wasn't a routine to the household, which was common with a baby around. It just seemed like they had never had a schedule other than that the clinic officially opened at nine and closed at eighteen. Chores upstairs were done as noticed and meals happened when there was time for them. While some of it was due to needing to work whenever needed, it was surprising that the house kept mostly in shape. Though they really did need Dolce's help at this time.

But their gratitude came in a different way. Jones was a bit aloof, but he always thanked her and praised her work from time to time (unlike her father who simply accepted what she did well if it was outside of his knowledge). Nancy was much different, so affectionate that she reminded Dolce of Pico uncomfortably much. At times, she would hug Dolce for doing something she was happy with. While Dolce thought it was a nice gesture, Nancy hugged too freely and often in her opinion. Sometimes she even had the same kind of loving tone for Dolce as she had for Alice, something that made Dolce feel unsettled. She was their servant at the moment, not part of the family.

Nancy didn't seem to care about that, or even acknowledge it. Dolce wasn't sure what to do about it. If she said something more, it might come out as rude. But if she didn't get her thoughts through to her, this might not stop when it was really inappropriate. Pico wasn't blurting it out at least. Well, not entirely as Dolce had to keep her from saying that she liked the hugs and such. She should still say something, not keep quiet thinking about this as she usually did. Well, nearly always did, she was always thinking...

“Everything okay out here?” Nancy asked, coming out from the clinic area with the silent girl Wendy.

“It's fine, there's been no visitors,” Dolce said. “Alice seems a little anxious, but is reassured enough with company.”

“That's good, it'll be okay,” she said, picking up her daughter and holding her close. “Dolly, could I ask you to help Wendy get a room at the inn and look around town? She's able to write, telling us that she's a traveling artist and collector who was looking for something in the mansion. But she doesn't have any plans for now, so she's staying in Selphia for some time.”

“Sure, that's fine,” Dolce said, thinking it'd be a nice distraction to walk around guiding someone. “But what happened to Sven? Those injuries didn't seem normal even for being inside that place.”

Worried as she always was over a patient, Nancy said, “It seems like the result of a power he gained as an earthmate. He's able to defend anyone with him absolutely at the cost of taking damage for them. Both Clorica and Wendy were in there with him and neither of them were touched by attacks.”

“Seems like he needs far better armor than what he had if that's what his power does,” Dolce said. Supposedly the chainmail he'd been wearing had been made by Bado, the dwarven blacksmith. But if he'd actually used any of that skill and knowledge, the armor shouldn't have been shredded to pieces like it had been.

“I hope he can get better protection himself, even if we are grateful for the protection he gave,” Nancy said.

“Yes. Wendy, do you have a notebook in case you need to answer any questions?” While Dolce didn't mind explaining some things, she'd only just met this girl.

Wendy nodded, showing a rather pretty red notebook that resembled the shape of a rose bloom. It even had a leafy pencil attached with a cord. On leaving the clinic, Dolce led her north to the inn. She wasn't sure what would interest an artist, but pointed out the library and explained about the royal farms surrounding the castle. Wendy seemed to like it well enough, showing her a note that she would like to make some drawings around Selphia when she got settled in.

At the inn, Lin Fa and Xiao Pai were at the front desk, busily at work with the documents for running the inn. Did they have an open room? “Excuse us,” Dolce said.

“Oh, hello Dolce,” Lin Fa said with a smile. Xiao waved, but soon was writing again. “Who's your friend here?”

“We just met today,” Dolce said, a bit embarrassed.

“But you were thinking you'd like her for a friend, right?” Pico asked.

“Quit it,” Dolce said while Lin Fa giggled and Wendy made a beaming smile. “That aside, this is Wendy, a traveling artist. Someone's stolen her voice from her, so I came to help her get a room to stay in here if possible.”

“My, that's a terrible thing to lose,” Lin Fa said, sad for her. “Sure, we'll be glad to let you stay with us while you try to get your voice back. You could stay in, hmmm...” she put her hand to her chin, thinking.

“The Bamboo Room seems to be open at this time due to the customer who canceled his reservation this morning,” Xiao said.

Lin Fa checked a notebook, then nodded. “Ah, yes, well good thing it worked out like that because we're booked full right now otherwise. How long do you plan on staying?”

“It cannot be certain if she's looking for a voice, yes?” Xiao asked. Although not really. She had a way of making statements into questions, but was earnest enough that Dolce liked talking to her.

Wendy wrote something down, then went to get something from her bag. Pico zipped around so she could read it and pass the message along to Dolce even though she couldn't see to read it. 'I'm not sure how long I'm staying here, but it could be a while. Also, I don't carry money with me because I don't need it most of the time, so I hope you accept an item as payment.' When Lin Fa was done reading, Wendy presented her with a stunningly beautiful bamboo fan. A delicate painting of a tree was on each panel, four of them depicting all four seasons.

“Oh my, this is quite a treasure,” Lin Fa said, shocked at the offer. “Are you sure about this? It looks rather old and hand crafted.”

After a nod, Wendy made another note in her notebook, stating, 'I don't know how long I'll be staying, so I hope that covers the costs. Plus my collection has grown rather unwieldy; I need to cut down on things anyhow.'

Lin Fa was really pleased in that. “For this, I think you could stay as long as you liked! Thank you very much. It would be lovely to decorate a wall with if given some protection. Come on upstairs and I'll show you where you'll be staying. Just remember to take your shoes off over here as is custom.”

Dolce was still getting used to that custom, in part because it only happened here at the inn. She'd gotten used to using the public baths as it was relaxing and could be nice to socialize with the other girls. However, she waited in the lobby while Lin Fa and Wendy went upstairs.

While they were gone, Kiel came into the inn. “Hey Dolce, I've been looking for you,” he said with a smile. “Remember how I was going to share a new cake with you and Pico? I finally got it all together, so why don't you come over to my place for lunch and dessert?”

“Sure, since it's out of thanks to her,” Dolce said. Although if she had as little restraint as Nancy had, she might've bounced around or even hugged Kiel for getting that lovely sounding cake done.

“Good, I was thinking we could make a little party out of it,” Kiel said, which worried her at first. “I tested some of the batter and it was rich then. It's good, it's just that most people wouldn't want a big slice of it. Since I made plenty of lunch too, we could invite over some friends of yours. And the other guardians if you want, since they're your family.”

Second family. But family none the less, more so than Jones, Nancy, and Alice even if she lived with them. “That would be...” she started to say it'd be okay, keeping enthusiasm out of it.

“Excellent, we'll love it!” Pico interrupted her with, flying over to Kiel and trying to hug him. But since he was a normal person, her arms passed right through him. “Oops, hope that doesn't bug you too much,” she said, not embarrassed although worried about hurting him.

“Nah, it was just a bit chilly for a moment,” Kiel said, still smiling. “Who do you want to invite over?”

“The other guardians if they want to,” Dolce said. “Frey too, I guess, since she's interesting to talk to.” Beyond that, she wasn't sure. There were plenty of nice people around, certain ones in mind but she knew they'd be busy. “Um, Xiao, would you have time to come over?”

“Maybe,” she said, looking at the paperwork she was filling out. “What's the occasion?”

“Pico saved me and Forte years ago, so I wanted to thank her but she can't eat cake,” Kiel said, not minding sharing what might have been a troubling story to other people. “But she said she was fine with Dolce getting the cake, so I worked on a recipe based off her name. Dolce's, not Pico's.”

Xiao smiled. “Wow, that is quite an honor to get a cake named after you.”

“It's based off my name, not named for me,” Dolce said, not sure if it was an honor. Maybe if she had done something great for Kiel rather than it being Pico who saved him and his sister.

“It would be nice to join you for lunch, but it is quite busy around here,” Xiao said, disappointed.

However, Lin Fa and Wendy had come back down. “Oh, are you going to eat with Kiel and Dolce?” Lin Fa asked.

“Well it seems they have invited me, but I am not sure if there is much time with the work,” Xiao said, reluctant to keep working if Dolce had it right.

“Aw, don't worry about getting that work done today,” her mother said warmly. “Go ahead and have some fun with your friends.”

“Okay, thank you,” Xiao said, happy.

Pico then clapped her hands. “Hey, let's bring Wendy over too! Want to come share some lunch and a cake with the most delightful name because it shares it with my wonderful Dolly?”

It seemed Wendy didn't have much restraint, or maybe it was lessened due to her stolen voice. She grinned wide and waved both hands eagerly, agreeing to the invitation. Since Kiel needed to find the others to invite over, Dolce gave Wendy a tour of the rest of town before heading back to the residential district to arrive at the Greenwind house. She kept thinking at points that this artist reminded her of someone. Dolce wasn't sure of who, or what seemed so familiar about this stranger. If she had the ears of an elf, that might explain it as some elves did live for centuries. But Wendy's ears were more human, only slightly pointed. Dolce didn't mention the feeling to her.

When they got there, Leon and Dylas were also arriving. Apparently Leon had only agreed to come if he could get Dylas to come. He actually seemed disappointed that he didn't have to drag Dylas over to join the party, having convinced him with words instead. Amber came mostly because the others were there, as she was happy that she could manage the fork without being clumsy. Frey had come, bringing Lest with her. Dolce was quietly glad for that; the twins were nice to be around, even if it was in different ways. Lastly, Forte stayed with them for the lunch, saying it was to keep things proper.

Dolce was glad for that, also that the rest had come to share the meal. It was fun to eat with friends. While these people were a lot different from those she used to know, it was more interesting to listen to them speak on a wider variety of subjects. Could she be like that? She'd have to change how she thought, which made her unsure even if this little party was an enjoyable thing. After all, one of the reasons she agreed to inviting others over was because her father's warnings, about not entering the house of an unwed man with just Pico along. This was even when she could tell that Kiel was likely no danger in that aspect at all.

Pico did most of the talking as usual. Dolce tried to relax and talk, especially once Kiel brought out the rich, velvety smooth, wonderfully flavored, and elegantly decorated cake he'd made. Even with that making her happy, it wasn't easy with the foreign expectations of this era's society. Thankfully, Xiao gave her a good opening. “I've been working hard at my knitting, to learn and better it. I have a guide to making a really cute sweater that I wish to complete with my own hands. But, I have a long way to go before I can even think to start it. I try to make hot pad for warm dishes, then it curls over and I try to make it into a hat instead. But then, it curved unevenly and it looks a mess.”

“Sounds like you need to work on making the weave even in length and tension,” Dolce said. “Though it can be hard at first to do that without an assistance tool.”

Xiao seemed surprised. “Oh, you knit too? Would you help me find the evenness? Momma doesn't knit and I get advice from Granny Blossom sometimes. But we're both so busy we can't get together often.”

“I get busy too helping out at the clinic, but I wouldn't mind helping if we had some time,” Dolce said.

“Hey, how about you start up a new sewing circle so that there's a regular time to meet?” Pico asked, floating over from joking with Leon. “We always had such fun at those!”

“Even though you were just watching most of the time?” Dolce asked.

“Yup, still fun!” Pico claimed. She probably thought it was fun because she thought nearly anything was fun as long as they were together.

“That would be much fun, yes,” Xiao said, eager at the idea. “I think even Blossom would agree and come if we invited her.”

“Oh, you mean knitting where you put yarns together to make colorful hats?” Amber asked. “Natalie did that! I want to learn too so I can have the pretty hats again.”

Amber wanted to knit? Wondering if she really had the patience for it, Dolce said, “I guess it wouldn't hurt to teach you both, especially if Blossom is there too.”

“I thought you never wore clothes back in your age, much less hats,” Leon said. Of course he had to bring that up as a friendly lunch.

“Well if it was fun, I didn't mind,” Amber said, much less bothered by the statement. “But I kept losing the hats she gave me. If I made some myself, I'll have to be more careful with them.”

“Amber, you sound almost responsible in that,” Dolce said, impressed. This was quite a change from the first morning they'd spent together.

Smiling proudly, Amber said, “I'm learning to be civilized!”

“And I'm learning how Dylas reacts to chocolate,” Leon said, teasingly poking him.

For a second strange reaction, Dylas just looked at him, not even angry at all. “Is that why you insisted on convincing me, after the incident with the wine?” he asked.

“Well it's less dangerous, for one thing,” Leon said.

“What incident with the wine?” Lest asked.

Dylas shrugged. “Illuminata gave me a glass of wine to prove that earthmates with a price in cooking are more influenced by the effects of foods and drinks, but then Leon said it's the same thing with water aligned earthmates to a wider variety of items.”

“Ouch, that's not a good combo to test with wine,” Frey said.

“Well I thought that since plenty of people become happy with chocolate, you'd be happy in an amusing way,” Leon said. “But it seems to have just mellowed you out immensely.”

Like normally Dylas would be defensive in being the subject of a conversation, but he had no trouble joining this one. “Well I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but this cake is pretty good. Doesn't get overbearing with sweetness although the richness and depth of flavors means I wouldn't want more than this at once.”

“Apparently made you eloquent too,” Leon said, impressed although he may have been exaggerating.

“Thanks, I'm glad you guys like it,” Kiel said, happy with the compliment.

“We'll have to find a time or two a week to meet up for a sewing circle,” Dolce said, since Xiao's thread of the conversation was nearly lost. “Although, we've been meeting up fairly often on those lessons about earthmates. If there was a more regular time for that, I'd know when we can hold the sewing circle.”

“Wouldn't hurt to start up a schedule,” Frey said. “Oh, but we did want to meet up this evening if you all could come. Sven might have to miss out unless he can come over to Dragon Lake for a bit, although it's an important thing.”

“I thought it was more important for Amber because it's about the farm hymns,” Lest said, fiddling with his fork in some nervousness.

“Oo, that could actually be interesting to see,” Leon said, even showing the interest in his ears. “The most primitive form of communion the earthmates have.”

“It's not that grandiose,” Lest said, now certainly embarrassed at getting put on the spot.

“Well it's true,” Frey said. “And that's why I thought the others should know even if they might not use it. Way back even before all of you were around, the earliest earthmates were all farmers. That's why all earthmate magic has a deep connection to the earth and the cycle of life, even if it's not obvious at first look. But it takes more than just farmers to make a community. People started specializing in particular plants. Extending that care and passion to monsters came naturally. Cooking might actually be the first non-farming price that came up if stories are true, then that extended into other crafting trades. Now we've got people like Sven and Helena whose price and powers don't have an immediate connection to farming. Earthmate magic has also changed so that it's closer to other forms of spellcasting and such. However, there's still a few holdouts like Lest who work primarily in the ancient ways and beliefs.”

“Definitely not that grandiose, just how I learned and felt most comfortable with,” Lest said. Even so, Dolce was curious and didn't want to miss out on this lesson.


	45. Hell Gate of Fire

Spring 60

When Dolce and the others came to find Lest, he was teaching Amber to sing a few songs. She couldn't understand the words, but in hearing them, she could sense a power lying in wait. These were magical songs, just not in the context of being fully used. While they were waiting on the two to finish that lesson, Leon explained some more about it. “They're using the holy words of earthmates.”

“What makes them holy?” Dolce asked. “There's some power in them, but there can be power in many words.”

“Sheer age, pretty much,” Leon said. “Like our princess was saying earlier, the first earthmates were farmers. They belonged to a long-lost civilization that didn't leave much behind. No monuments, hardly any ruins. But they did leave behind the legacy of earthmates, passing their language down as that is how they discovered their power.”

“That's good enough for now, Amber,” Lest said, then handed her a book. “Here, this is the hymnal that Rylan gave me to help with that rose. I can't read sheet music, so you might ask Margaret to help you figure out the songs I don't know.”

“Thanks, sounds fun!” Amber said, accepting the book. “But why've we got to sing to the plants? Do they like pretty music too?”

“I'm sure they do,” Lest said, happy at the question. “We don't have to sing to them; there's plenty of farmers that don't sing to their fields even among earthmates. But I like doing it. The way plants think and feel can't be put into words because they have no words. They won't understand what you say if you speak to them. But music has a way of conveying emotions that speech alone doesn't have. I sing my hopes and feelings to the plants and they understand as much as they can. Then I can hear what they feel, which comes into my singing. It's a really strong connection, I'm sure you'll agree once you feel it for yourself.”

“Yeah, that's like how we talked by singing instead of talking in the ether sea,” Amber said. Which was exactly what Dolce had just been thinking. Hearing it explained, even in another context, made her miss that kind of communication they used to have. She was fairly sure that the two guys were thinking the same thing, although without the musical connection she couldn't say for sure.

Over at Dragon Lake, they found where Amber had planted the Rose of Ventuswill bush two days ago. Dolce didn't recognize the particular breed but was curious to see what it would look like in bloom. The other flowers that had been planted were sprouting, some starting to put out tiny leaves while others were bits of green in the cleared ground. Around the small flowerbed, a group of rocks from around the lake had been placed as a wall to keep the flowers protected.

“These ones are at a fun stage,” Lest said as he knelt by the flowerbed with Amber. Waving his hands near the leafing ones, he added, “They're starting to take in sunlight while the energy reserves in the seeds are close to running out. But they're trying really hard out of a will to live.”

“Yeah, the sun's starting to move into them,” Amber said, eager at seeing something new to her even as she was familiar with flowers. “I always thought they were a bit sleepy when sprouting. Are they?”

“Activate the spell you know to see runes better, since you can already see their chi,” Lest said. “The runes will tell you what each plant is lacking or happy with.”

There was a sparkle of green lines on Amber's face, although it quickly vanished as the spell was simple. Dolce had to cast the spells to see the runes and chi. While she could see and interact with ghosts naturally, seeing those things was still new to her. She'd already figured out that chi, the flow of runes, acted similar to wind or water in movement. They tended to move in streams from one place to another, taking the easiest route they could manage. However, different runes flowed through or around things in different ways. Wind runes moved quickly and easily while earth runes did not like to move, going slowly when pushed.

Amber nodded after studying the runes for a bit. “Yeah, you're right, these ones with leaves are awake and eager to get lots of leaves. But these ones that aren't fully sprouted are sleepy. But they all seem worried too, so something's not right.”

“There aren't a lot of things plants need or want, so focus and you should be able to see it,” Lest said.

She considered it. “They have plenty of water in the ground around them and it doesn't seem like bugs are bothering them yet. Um...”

Before Amber could figure it out, Dylas spoke up. “Is it because the rose is all stressed out?”

“What?” Amber asked, getting really worried.

“Shh,” Lest said, holding out a hand to her. “Keep calm even if you are worried about it. You don't want to cause the rose further worry.”

“O-okay,” Amber said, taking a moment to sit quietly for a change.

“How'd you figure it out first?” Frey asked, having come up by Dylas' side.

And startling him in that, causing him to step aside. “I don't know, that's just what I noticed. It's nothing weird, I just notice things like that sometimes.” Dylas glanced over at Dolce, but she just raised an eyebrow. Only sometimes? Or not as he nervously added, “Okay, most of the time, it's been like that since before I can remember.”

“I never did get an answer out of you if you could read runes and chi,” Frey said, surprising him in sounding impressed. “But it sounds like you were doing it naturally even before getting the earth's blessings. That's great! It's just, how deeply can you read the runes?”

“I never asked anybody about it,” Dylas said, starting to blush. He looked at the ground as if trying to hide it.

At the flower bed, Lest chuckled. “You should have Frey test you for it. If you can read them well enough, then I can teach you how I cook since I work almost entirely by what the runes tell me.”

“Is it magic cooking?” Leon asked, curious about it.

“Sort of,” Lest said.

“It is magic when he reads the recipe once and throws everything together without measuring it,” Frey said. “And that's without a price in cooking, so it'll be interesting to see how far you could take that.”

“I see it now,” Amber said, still focused on the rose bush. “Um, it's coming out of a really long sleep so it feels weak now. But then it's making the sprouts worry if they'll be strong enough, so it could be bad for all of them.”

“That's right,” Lest said, turning back to the lesson at hand. “It's important to soothe them all so they're not worried, and it will help to make the rose feel stronger as it's having trouble putting out leaf buds. The songs we already worked with can do that. Which ones?”

Perhaps because it was her passion, it didn't take her long to answer, “The healing hymn first even if the bush isn't wounded. It might make it easier for it to make leaves then. Then the calming one for all of them until they stop worrying.”

Lest nodded. “Good, go for it.”

This all would be easier to get through if they could still sing with each other, Dolce thought, glancing across the way at the mansion. Her hell gate was staying in there and had hurt some people badly today. But there was a lot she could run into there and it'd be nice to feel reassured about her nervousness in facing it. The trouble was getting herself to say it.

* * *

 

Spring 61

Leon was having trouble getting to sleep tonight. The clock ticking on the wall said it was getting close to the next day. Outside his open window, a few stars twinkled over the houses around the library. He could even see one of the spires on Ven's castle from here lying on his bed. There was the rustle of trees and the call of birds, but also some soft sounds in his apartment from the modern devices around him. There was so much here that he couldn't have dreamed up.

Or, could he?

Selphia was a wonderful place, strange as it was to him. The people were warm and kind, well most of them. Even as he teased them often, they still tried to include him in things and asked how he was doing. Just today, Nancy had dropped by with her baby and fussed about him while Leon helped her find a book she wanted to read. She wanted to know that he was eating right and sleeping well. Eating was no problem, although he didn't tell her how often he spent long hours just thinking here in bed instead of sleeping. With such openness and warmth, even accepting those who would have been outcasts elsewhere, this community was a dream of peace, a hope of happiness.

Which he could have very well dreamed up to forget about the torments Storgane gave him.

After all, it wouldn't be the first time he was a recluse to delusions. For a while, he had convinced himself that he was eternally a small child when Ven wasn't much bigger than him. There was her beautiful field of flowers where there was no winter. That couldn't be true, but Leon wanted it to be true and made up a web of reasons that it was always spring and they could never leave that field. In that, he had been happy. Then there was a slip to his thoughts that put doubt to his illusion. Then winter came in a wicked snow storm and he remembered his sacrifice at the tower, his nightmares at the tower, feeling what it was to be a cannibal.

He might have even dreamed up the other guardians in desperation for company and validation that he was protecting someone.

Then, what was to keep some doubt here from breaking a much more complex delusion? If the love, promise, and warmth around him was there because he wanted it and couldn't reach it otherwise, what kept it all from being a dream? What if he fell asleep here and woke up back in the ether sea, finding that Selphia was the dream all along? What if... he was actually alone and the illusion of the other guardians had finally broke?

Leon gripped his pillow, putting his face near it and smelling the cotton fabric along with his own scent. While the cover had a smooth softness, the pillow itself had a giving firmness. Those were real sensations, he told himself. Even at his most delusional, he couldn't make up such sensual information. He would only know what he remembered or dreamed of, nothing so real. The pillow was evidence that this wasn't a dream. But was it solid evidence? Might he really be able to make up all this in his mind? If his illusion of the other guardians broke, he might have gotten so desperate to have them back that he built a peaceful loving community in his mind to have his guardian sisters and brother back in a way that would make them happy too.

His vision blurred for a moment as he nearly started crying. Leon gripped the pillow tighter, then sat up and tried to distract himself out of those miserable thoughts. If he couldn't get to sleep, maybe he should go work on the translations to keep his mind occupied. The Book of Guidance would definitely keep his mind off these questions, although he felt like Recipe for Happiness might counter this mood better.

Someone was singing with emotions rather than words.

For a moment, Leon felt an icy grip of fear that this was a delusion starting to break down. Was it one of the others trying to reach him? How could he ignore them? He was supposed to protect and support them, that was what he did. But as he got up and grabbed the open window, he got a reminder of reality when a splinter pricked him. Cursing quietly, he went to the bathroom to get it out. He got up to wrapping bandage tape to secure gauze and healing ointment on the wound when the song turned from worried emotions to something clearer. Something that was almost words.

 

You're not alone.

Things have changed, but you're not alone.

It's not easy to adjust, but you're not alone.

There's a lot that we left behind.

There's a lot we can never return to.

There's a lot we may never know.

But it's time to face the present.

Time to face yourself.

We're not alone.

 

With his bandaging done, he went back to the window. That was Dylas singing, he was sure of that. Sometimes Leon could imagine him with this song. He was having trouble sleeping out of worrying about them. He sat on his bed in a luxurious room that didn't seem to fit with him. With his clumsy way of talking, he was thinking over what he wanted to say to them and practicing it. But in trying to work it out in song, he somehow rekindled that connection.

“Dylas,” Leon murmured in song. It didn't take. He hummed the song that had gotten him contact at the rune springs. But here, his song wasn't carrying out the open window. And Dylas kept singing.

 

I once thought I was alone, without hope.

He didn't need to torture me as I had tortured myself.

I went to find forgetfulness and found I had only forgotten happiness.

I was nearly lost to darkness forever.

Then I heard you three.

I was weak and hopeless while you were strong and hopeful.

 

“You're not the weak one,” Leon said, the tears coming back. He rubbed them and went back to sit on his bed. Dylas was the one who went straight from the ether sea into the hell gate and won his freedom before he was fully awake. An entire moon cycle had passed for Leon here and he was still afraid of facing his.

 

You spoke of having a light in memory.

I only had light from you.

Depression had crushed me before.

I saw only darkness even before I crossed over.

But you helped me endure until I found my own hope.

I've seen my light now.

Now I want to live, thanks to your songs.

I won't let you stay alone.

I don't know if I can return what you've given me.

I barely know what to say when I can tell you're still suffering.

But I will try.

We won't be alone, we will be happy.

 

“What if...” this happiness was all a dream? Listening to Dylas sing from his heart, Leon started sobbing out of control. The fear was too powerful; even that splinter might just be an excuse to keep dreaming. Had he lost his light? He brought his knees up and hugged them, falling back to his usual song trying to get back to that memory. But his song wasn't connecting.

Then Amber's song joined in. “You sing so pretty! Maybe you should keep singing instead of talking to people.”

“Wh-what, you heard me?” Dylas sang back, stammering in surprise. “I wasn't even singing loud. Geez, how embarrassing.”

“It's okay, I'm happy we helped you,” Amber sang. “Sometimes things got really scary and sad if I tried to think alone, but it wasn't as scary when I was singing with the rest of you. Isn't that right?”

“You can't hear me,” Leon sang, a painful realization just as when he realized Ven couldn't hear him in the ether sea. It was even lonelier than before.

“Why are the others being quiet?” Amber asked, worried.

“I don't know,” Dylas said. “The sense of this has changed.”

“They can hear you but they can't join you right now,” Venti said. Then something of her voice changed, as if she were closer to him with the breeze coming in. “I can hear you, Leon. Come here.” Then she rebuked the other two for still being awake.

Leon grabbed a handkerchief to blow his nose and dry off his cheeks. But other than getting out of his pajamas and into his regular clothes, he didn't bother to clean up any nicer. If anyone else was outside... well he didn't care. Ven already knew. Although, usually it had been him reassuring her before. For being a goddess, she worried about an awful lot of things. He'd thought it was because she was young, but it seemed she was still like that over a thousand years later. If it really was that, and not just a dream.

After running into no one, Leon came into Ven's room. There was only a single light on, giving some illumination while not spreading into the halls where other people might be sleeping. She was lying on the floor so it was easy for her gaze to match his. “What's troubling you tonight, Leon?” she asked.

He'd been trying to come up with something dismissive to answer this question with on the way here. But faced with answering her to her face, hearing the love in her words which were motherly entirely... Leon put his arm around her neck. “This is real, right? This isn't a dream?”

“It's not a dream,” she said.

“How can I be sure?” he asked, crying again. “How is it that I'm the weak one? I know what's going to be in that hell gate and I'm already afraid of it.”

“What is?” she asked, seeking for a way to reassure him like he used to reassure her.

“Nothing.” The absolute worst kind of nothing out there...

* * *

 

Spring 62

'While we have heard reports of erratic behaviors such as taking off on dangerous adventures and dressing inappropriately, it seems that even the strangest actions thus far are tied in with a desire to improve your community and correct past wrongs and failures. You should beware of more dangerous liberal elements that may be attracted to such things, but if such fads among the youth can be turned to more constructive habits, you would be in a good position to lead this change. Yet take heed to not cross the older elements as they may shun you and your region as a result.'

Lest read over that part of the letter while Arthur was in to visit with him. “A lot of it looks like lofty filler to me,” Lest said. “But I think he's accepting me grudgingly because hardly anyone else is willing to take the position.”

Arthur shrugged. “He is trying to help you out in his own way, although I see where you're coming from. But he is stuck in his conservative views, at least when they suit him.”

From the runes, Lest could see a lot more depth to that statement that Arthur meant to reveal. He had an uneasy and formal relationship with his father, being made to wear different social masks of family closeness in different situations. But Arthur wasn't ready to talk about that yet. Instead, Lest tried to lighten his mood by joking, “Well I tend to use my liberal views when they suit what I want to do, so we're probably not all that different.”

It worked and he authentically laughed. “Perhaps, but you're a lot more willing to admit to that,” Arthur said with a more honest smile. “It's good that he's giving you a chance with the conflicting reports they must be receiving. There must be more good than bad in his view. Also, now that he's put his seal on approving you as the prince here, a wider variety of options should show up on your order tablet. You can develop the land through all the region now rather than just in town itself, including fixing up roads and bridges. There should even be an order to get a land surveyor to come from the capitol in order to update our maps. Actually, that would be very good as even the town maps are quite old.”

Lest nodded as he glanced back at the order tablet on his desk. “Right, but we know that the land is going to shift once we get the other two rune springs moved back to their proper location. It's here, but I'll probably hold off until that's done. There's something about a request box that looks interesting... oh, and I'm sorry I haven't been doing a lot of festivals and such; I just haven't been around town at times and right now I need to be available when the last two guardians need me.” He'd tried talking to Dolce and Leon, but Dolce was quiet as usual and Leon was really touchy about it. Something about the hell gates really hurt him before he even got into one.

“We're still working at getting attention from tourists, so a slow start isn't necessarily bad,” Arthur said. “I did notice you have the fishing contest announced. That's sure to help, as well as the spring harvest festival when we have two earthmate farmers in town now. You may not have heard of this, but there's a group of nobles that like to tour around at harvest festivals. I know Grelin's never been on their list, but I'm working to get them interested in visiting here.”

“Thanks, I've been working at my festival exhibits already,” Lest said with a smile. “It's the first time I could really have fun with it because the Grelin festivals were highly competitive. Though that's the natural result of getting that many people deeply passionate about farming together; I never stood a chance against the experience of the others.”

“That may be the other way around here, so might as well have fun at it,” he said, flipping through a folder he'd brought out when they started talking of festivals. “Ah, there it is. Actually, I have this suggestion on a summer festival, one for woolies. There's a farm in Norad that specializes in raising giant woolies with lots of wool.” He passed over a flier on the farm.

The word giant here wasn't a joke; these woolies were ten to fifteen feet high. But they still had the adorable gentle look of the regular woolies, even their peaceful personalities according to the flier. “Wow, never knew woolies could get so big. And then still be cute; woolies manage to look cute however they are, lucky things.”

Arthur was in complete agreement, happy even at the thought of it. “Oh yes, they're wonderful creatures. Anyhow, this farm has been lending out their giant woolies for shearing competitions for the past ten years. The festivals have been slow to catch on, but I've seen that communities that try them out tend to make them yearly events just on the first one. They even have a special form of shearing for competitors to use.”

“A special form?” Lest asked, puzzled and searching for it on the flier. “As far as I know, it involves knowing how close you can safely use the clippers near their skin.”

For a moment, he was a little concerned. “These giant woolies are used to being battled for their fur even though they won't harm the competitors as long as the competitors don't harm them. The farm will even give us special weapons guaranteed to take off the wool without harming the woolies at all.”

“So it's half shearing and half battle? That's even more interesting.” He finally found the section on that and it seemed true. They even had different shearing weapons for different styles, for short swords, long swords, dual swords, and more. Most people wouldn't be left out, although, “But that means you couldn't participate well because I know you don't fight.”

“True,” Arthur admitted. “But then, I'd be happy just getting to see those giant woolies up close. As long as they're not getting hurt, it'd be a great one to hold.”

“I'll be sure to check into this,” Lest said, wondering if the farm charged for lending the woolies or who would own the wool once sheared. Then there was a knock on the door frame to his office. He looked over at the open door to see Dolce there. “Hello, come on in. What's on your mind?”

Not one to waste words when she used them, Dolce said, “I want to summon my hell gate if you're capable of it today.”

Fortunately, he'd already done some thinking and research on it. “Not right away; I still have a few things to get done before lunch. But we can do so this afternoon. Have you gotten a few others together to handle the monsters that come out while we're inside?”

“Not yet,” she said.

Pico passed through the wall into the office. “She was worried about what's been happening to you every time you come out of them, so we had to ask you first.” Dolce glared at her for saying so.

“Thanks, but I expect it and this must be done,” Lest said. “Get who else you want to come. However, we need to wait until the post ship completes its route. We found that the rune spring will shift to Delirium Lava Caves. While Amber does have that mass teleport spell, I don't want to push her to use it for more than two people until she gets better accustomed to casting. I'll be sending Nem and Helena ahead to that location to fly us back. I'll get my business done in the meantime and try out some measures that Jones suggested to ease up on using that exit spell.”

“Good,” Dolce said, but didn't leave quite yet. “I talked to Sven about it. He said he was scared of it, but simply refused to let Storgane even talk to him to defeat his hell gate. I hope I can do something like that.”

“Whatever it takes, I'll help you get through it,” Lest said.

It embarrassed her so she turned away. “That's your job. See you later.” Then she left.

“Do you really have to take them inside the hell gates to destroy them?” Arthur asked, concerned about him. “Especially if the spell to get out takes a heavy toll on you.”

“The key to it all is those spirit chains still tied to them,” he said. “They need to be removed and the weak link in them is within the hell gates. So yes, it is needed.”

“I hope you can soften the effects then,” Arthur said, looking at him in worry. “I have noticed that you have a tendency to overdo things without heeding the repercussions on yourself. You do have a responsibility to the people now, to keep yourself in good condition. Maybe you should slow things down once this business with hell gates and all is done.”

“Getting that done just means my sister and I need to move on to the next stage of things,” Lest said. “The other parts don't deal as directly with things that are already dangerous. I might be able to slow down some.” Then he couldn't resist teasing him in saying, “Though it's funny you're the one saying that when you work from sunrise to sundown most days, and sometimes even past that.”

“I suppose I'm not the best one to complain about it,” Arthur said, taking it well.

At 1600, Lest got a light early supper with the idea that even if he came out not as bad, he'd want to take things easy after dealing with the gate. Volkanon sent Clorica along to take care of him; he wanted his students to see what Lest was dealing with in and Vishnal had already helped him after Sven's gate. For the past few days, Clorica had been going with their plan with the paralyzing potion at bed to keep her there. It was working as she was mostly alert. Dolce had brought along Leon, Dylas, and Frey, with Amber tagging along even if they had tried to talk her out of it.

“Is this house going to disappear like the ruins of Syra did?” Leon asked, glancing around at the old theater as they entered.

“Hard to say, since it is a magical location,” Frey said.

“I doubt it,” Dolce said. “There's still ghosts tied to this place. Some part of the mansion will remain while they're here.”

“Can we make them not tied here?” Clorica asked. “It seems like a bad fate to be stuck somewhere forever.”

“I mean to work on it when I get time to visit,” Dolce said.

“Is everyone ready?” Lest asked when he got to the stage. He was worried that Amber didn't fully realize what would happen while they were on the other side. She seemed a little too eager to help. However, he'd have to trust her to the others.

“Looks like it,” Dolce said, coming over to him while the others waited in the middle of the room.

With agreement from the others, Lest called on the corrupt runes to cast omnigate. Dolce didn't even take his hand, just went right in and not letting what might be beyond bother her. Following after her, Lest felt that she might be able to break it quickly like Sven had. She wasn't even as afraid as he had been. They had no chance to arrive together. However, Pico was right there when Lest came into the gate fully.

“I was going to stick right by her!” Pico shouted into the strange landscape. “Stupid gate.”

“You made it in here?” Lest asked.

“Of course,” she said, twirling to face him. “I'm connected to Dolly forever, so I can go where she goes. I think I can get out without your help because I'm a ghost. Now how do we find her? Quick!”

“Shh,” he said, holding a hand up to her. Then he heard it. “Follow the sound of the chains.”

“That's grisly,” Pico said, flying alongside him while they went further in to find Dolce.

They eventually came to a room that looked like it belonged to Obsidian Mansion. It resembled the parlor by Lest's office, but in darker colors and a more gothic style. More tellingly, all in the room but Lest and Dolce were ghosts. They were elegantly dressed ladies from her era, most standing although they had Dolce sitting in an armchair. He didn't get much of a better look as one of the ghost ladies promptly stopped him. “Stop right there, young fellow, this is the ladies parlor. Please go speak with the other young men in the other parlor across the hall.”

“I came to help her,” Lest said, but the ghost managed to push him back out the doorway. When she grabbed the door, he called, “Pico, handle it for now!”

“Trust me!” Pico replied, right before the door slammed shut on him.

Well this wasn't starting well. Lest glanced into the other parlor, but no ghosts were in there. Instead, that room had a deadly feel. Traps were probably on all of the furnishings. This might be Storgane trying to keep him from helping. Or, it might be Dolce's cultural mindset that wouldn't let a young man into a gathering of young women. He wondered for a moment about his thoughts that willpower ruled here. How far could he take that?

A minute later, he tried knocking at the door. The same guard lady opened it for him, but she smiled on seeing him as he'd re-imagined himself with a cute dress on. “Welcome, come to join us? Come on in and take a seat if you like.”

“Thank you,” he said with a smile, coming back into the room.

Dolce looked like she did in her ghostly form back when he'd freed her, with darker red hair in lower ponytails. On seeing him, her surprise that he managed to get in turned to an amused embarrassment at how he'd done it. “Um, Lest, are you sure you should be here?”

“You look pretty again!” Pico said, grinning and leaning forward from her seat.

“Hush,” one of the ladies said harshly. “Children should be seen and not heard, especially at an elegant gathering like this.” Pico frowned at her, looking like she wanted to throw the nearby pillow in a fit.

“Your skirt is rather short,” another one said to him, even though it had a hem just above his knees. “And you're showing too much skin for respectability.”

“I'll let my actions get respect first,” Lest said, not taking a seat himself. “Dolce, this is an illusion.”

“I had some idea of that,” she said, setting a tea cup down on a table.

The ghost ladies weren't happy, but not about being called an illusion. “We invited you in for tea and discussion,” one said. “Are you really going to be rude and just leave? That's simply improper.”

“You speak properly for a young lady, if a little harsh and cold,” another said. “Still, you really can't afford to be seen as rude, not with rumors of you wandering around the mansion with the dead floating around. If you don't address those little issues, you really will lose all desirability as a wife and end up as a lonely spinster kept out of polite society.”

“This isn't a discussion,” Dolce said, her emotions sharp even if her words were trying to stay in soft politeness. “You've done nothing but criticize me since I sat down. And then you're getting to Pico and Lest too.”

“We just want you to be a proper lady as you should be.”

She frowned. “No you don't. You want me to be like you. Like something I read in a modern book, pretty birds reciting the same pretty songs while keeping the same pretty houses. But I'm not living in this time anymore and society has thrown aside this narrow construct. I admit, I'm not entirely comfortable with all the freedom, but it's a lot better than this.” She got up, pulling Pico along with her. “Come on, let's get out of here.”

“Gladly,” Pico said, glad to be leaving these pests behind.

Once they were out in the hall, Lest said, “Seems like you two did pretty well.”

“Well it did take someone showing up in a ridiculous manner and getting accepted to make it clearer how ridiculous they were,” Dolce said, smirking at him.

“And how did you get changed so quickly?” Pico said. From Dolce's emotional reaction, it seemed to be something she had thought but only Pico would say.

“This place follows a dream-like logic,” he said. “All of the hell gates have. Like, I'm not sure where we need to go to break out, but we should keep moving to arrive there.”

“That's being all too hopeful,” a familiar voice said. It wasn't quite Dolce's voice, but Lest knew he'd heard it before. Marionetta was now in the hall with them; she had been the only of the four monsters that actually spoke to him. Not bothering to move in a human fashion, Marionetta held her arm out to point to Dolce. “You chose to stay stuck here, in this house of the dead with friends among the dead. And now your family is dead too, along with the society and beliefs you still live by. It's just a choice of how you're captive; you'll never be entirely free.”

“You can't know that,” Dolce said, although the words did sting for her. “You're just a puppet.”

Marionetta tilted her head to a frightening degree. “Yes, I'm only taking your thoughts and making them into words because you won't. Even the thoughts you're most ashamed of because it's not ladylike to get so angry and cruel.”

“You're nothing like Dolly!” Pico said when Dolce wasn't sure how to react. “You don't have her warm heart, or her good thoughts. Go away and leave her alone.”

“I can't leave her alone when she won't let me go,” Marionetta said, trying to torment them.

But it turned out to be just the thing that Dolce needed to hear. “Then go,” she said. “I don't need to be captive to you or your maker.”

“You can't let go,” Marionetta said in anger.

“Go!” Dolce said, casting a fireball at her. Briefly, the whole wooden hallway was on fire as Marionetta shrieked in defeat. But then it was gone and they ended up on the strange island in the Forest of Beginnings.

And Dolce had slipped into splits, tearing part of the skirt on her dress. “Dolce!” Lest said, catching her arms as best he could. He was back in the clothes he started with, his usual vest, jacket, and pants.

“I'm just a little unsteady,” she said, pulling her legs under her to stand up with his assistance. Once she noticed, she pulled her arm away and nearly fell over again. Her chi showed up pink, slightly off the usual red fire-aligned earthmates got. Then again, Lest felt that Jones would be grateful that her magic didn't make red lines appear all over her skin.

“Guess you really cut the strings this time,” Pico said in delight.

“At least to her,” Dolce said, working on her balance and shifting her dress. “That's another patch job for this old thing.”

“Why don't you get some newer more modern clothes?” Pico asked. “I saw this sweet silky see-through shirt at the market last time and, hey!”

Dolce had swatted at her, barely missing. “None of that nonsense,” she said. “But, maybe new clothes. If they're not improper.”

“Nancy or one of the other girls in town might like to help you on that,” Lest suggested, putting aside the new leaf he had. It was a rosy pink. “Shall we head back?”

“Please, this place is unnerving,” Dolce said. “It definitely feels like we don't belong here. But what about Pico?”

“I'll follow you anywhere, trust me!” Pico said. She clung to Dolce's arm while Lest took her hand to cast arjate.

While it didn't feel quite as horrible this time, he was still left unsteady on his feet. And she was still unsteady after breaking the hell gate, so they both would have fallen over if Amber hadn't been right there to grab them. “You're back, congratulations!” she said happily.

After making sure that Pico had come back with them, Dolce stepped back out of Lest's hold (though not Amber's). “Yes, thank you,” Dolce said.

Lest found his balance again as the Harvest Goddess was there. “Good job, that was just delightful to witness,” the goddess said proudly.

“Yeah, especially what Lest did!” Pico said, cackling at the memory.

As thought, Dolce's miracle brought the fire rune spring all the way from Obsidian Mansion to inside of the Delirium Lava Caves. Her blessing price wasn't surprising either, as she became a crafter with a focus on fabrics. Lest felt better this time, but Leon still warped him out of the cave while the rest made their way out to the airship on foot.

While Lest was sitting to rest and wait on the others, he asked Leon, “What's holding you back?”

“That's none of your business,” Leon said.

“It is because I have to help you through it,” Lest said. “I won't be talking of what goes on there with others.”

Leon grumbled something, probably that he'd already seen that. But he still wouldn't answer.


	46. Hell Gate of Earth

Spring 64

Having helped out on most of these hell gates, Frey had an idea of what to expect. The first monster that would come out after Lest and the guardian went in was the one the latter's body had turned into due to Storgane's influence. This was Leon, so they had to fight the magic-spamming Sarcophagus. Since they were working as groups on this end, the monster would call on smaller monsters to keep the group from focusing on them. Sarcophagus brought along a lot of skeletal warriors and a couple of fox spirits. They could have been tough for the others to put down, but Frey's element was light. Once she had given an enchantment to Dylas and Vishnal, the skeletons and spirits went down quickly.

Quicker than Lest was working with Leon, definitely. There had been a point with the other special monsters where they suddenly weakened and slowed. Not this time, even though they managed to get Sarcophagus dispatched in its stronger state. The gate was being suspiciously inactive, not calling up monsters to replace the ones they were defeating. The sun was bright today, reflecting off the cliff that the giant fox tower stood on. Thankfully, they'd managed to call the gate outside of the tower and the rune spring would move to a place where it was easier to examine.

“Has something gone wrong?” Dylas asked, pacing around now that they didn't need to fight.

“It'd be hard to tell,” Frey said, worried too. They had been able to reduce the damage to Lest in casting arjate, but the longer the two of them spent in the gate, the bigger chance that the after effects would be worse.

“I hope they're okay,” Amber said, watching the gate for any cracks that showed they were winning.

Instead, there was a loud snap as both Lest and Leon appeared outside the gate. Leon hit the ground first, now with chains binding his chest. The ends of them were broken, no longer trailing off into spirits. Meanwhile, Lest hit the gate with his counter magic spell to shatter it. But only temporarily, Frey noticed. The core of the gate was still around. Then her brother collapsed in exhaustion.

“Lest!” Frey cried out, going to his side with Vishnal. She was really worried about Leon too, but the other three were checking on him. “What happened?”

“That's the best I could do,” Lest said, shaken by whatever he'd seen in there. “Just getting him out before all the chains appeared. That gate won't return right away, at least not for a little while.”

“What do we do about him?” Dolce asked, lost out of concern for Leon.

Lest shook his head. “I don't know. He shut down entirely. Try to reach him, I guess. His spirit's still there.”

“I'm going to call for the airship to come here,” Vishnal said, leaving them to take care of the two for now. “You stay there Lest.”

“I'm sorry,” Lest said, although he seemed to be the one most disappointed in the results.

* * *

 

Spring 65

It was her birthday and Lumie had said that she could invite all of her friends over for the party. Although that had to restricted down to 'friends in town' and 'not butterflies', Amber still had lots of people come to make things fun. She had invited the other guardians over, and Frey and Lest, and Xiao Pai, Forte, Meg, Clorica, and Doug. That meant that there were a lot of people in their home over the flower shop. But it was a lot of people to have fun with... except two, since Frey hadn't shown up yet and Leon was still in his strange sleep. The doctor had a big word for it, but said it meant that his mind had closed out the world for some reason.

While Lest and Lumie said that it was okay to cry sometimes, Amber tried to smile and be happy for the party. “Here you go,” she said to the latest arrival in Doug, handing him a colorful party hat.

“Uh, thanks but I don't need it,” he said, even though he took the hat.

“You too chicken to wear it for the birthday girl?” Dylas asked him. His ear flicked and shifted the string his hat was on, knocking it over. Grumbling, he straightened it again trying to get it where it would stay on.

“I am not, I just don't want to look that silly,” Doug said, smiling.

“Aw, please?” Amber asked, widening her eyes in pleading. “It's a party! You should be festive.”

“Really, don't disappoint her,” Clorica said with a smile.

“I guess I could wear it a little while,” Doug said, reluctantly putting it on.

“Yay, that's fun!” Amber said, happy with that. Then there was a jangle from the door downstairs as Frey came in. She went to grab another party hat while Doug looked for a place to sit down (although there was a perfectly good spot near Dylas).

But it wasn't just one set of feet coming up the stairs. “Hey, look who I managed to drag in,” Frey said, waiting for Leon to follow her into the room.

“Leon!” Amber darted over and gave him a big hug. “Whee, you came!”

“Course I did,” he said, although his voice seemed weaker than usual. “Happy birthday, Amber.” He even put on a hat without question, although he first tried putting it on one of his ears only to get irritated and toss it off with just the ear.

“How'd you get him up?” Lest asked, waving to them.

“That's a secret,” Frey said, winking at him.

“Did you kiss him?” Xiao asked. “Like in the fairy tales, but there it is the prince kissing the sleeping princess, not the princess kissing the sleeping librarian. Or something like that. Maybe it's not so alike.”

“Close enough,” Meg said with a laugh.

Although he would usually joke around and not sit still, Leon was very quiet and still at the party. Awake, which was good, but there was still something wrong with him. Amber kept trying to make him laugh or smile, but it never worked for long. There had to be something they could do to help him.

* * *

 

Frey had asked Dylas to take Leon over to 'his place' for the night when the party was winding down. Apparently Jones thought the company might help him get back to normal. He didn't say it, but Dylas could understand that. He would have liked company back in his darker days even if he shut everyone else out on his own. It was a weird thing in that way. Here, Leon didn't fight the invitation over although he didn't anticipate it either. He simply shrugged as if it didn't matter where he was or who he was with.

This led to the problem of the two of them sitting in Dylas' room not saying much. Dylas sat on the couch, planning on sleeping there for the night. While he wanted to help out his brother, he wanted to be careful with what he said so he didn't hurt him. But just what did he say? Leon sat on the edge of the bed, lost to whatever thoughts were in his head. Dylas eventually took a baseball he found in the room a few days ago and tossed it at him, just to make sure he was still responsive. For a while, they tossed it back and forth.

Still not working out what he wanted to say, Dylas left off the game for a little while to check his mother's book. She would make milk porridge for him when he seemed unwell. Perhaps that could help Leon. Once he found the recipe, he prodded Leon to get his attention. “Come on. I'm not supposed to do this, but let me cook something for you.”

“If you want,” Leon mumbled, but he followed him downstairs to the restaurant kitchen. Dylas made sure he took a seat at the counter while he put together the recipe himself for the first time.

They didn't talk much while he was cooking, but Dylas got to thinking. Food influenced him strongly, as the wine and chocolate had proven effectively. This was due to his blessing price and element. But if it influenced him so much, couldn't he influence it equally well? Lest and Amber used old hymns passed down through many generations to influence the plants that they were influenced by. He knew no songs for this, but when he had the milk porridge done, Leon still wasn't paying much attention.

Splitting it into three bowls and sealing one off as an apology to Porcoline, Dylas placed both of his hands on one bowl and closed his eyes. He settled into the melody he used in the ether sea and the other night, trying to get it focused right in front of him so it didn't get heard by the others. “Please give Leon some peace in his mind, to sleep with gentle dreams and awake in a sounder body.” He could feel the runes being charged in the bowl before they settled into soft tones like a lullaby. Dylas gave Leon that bowl while taking the third for himself.

He didn't think he could match his mother's cooking yet even with her recipe. But tasting this was like returning to his past. It made memories bubble up in his mind, things that he thought he'd lost when all he could recall was the dismal slow slide that led him to his sacrifice. Tonight, he remembered that his mother and even his stepfather had tried to help. They could get him to talk some nights, usually when she'd made this porridge for him. It even brought to mind the afternoon that he went fishing with Venti at Dragon Lake and she'd made her charm for him out of the scale of a lover snapper he'd caught and one of her feathers. That day had made him feel special, the reason why he clung to the charm even when all other happiness had seemed gone.

As he'd hoped, it made Leon talk again. “This is milder than I usually like things. But it's nice somehow, comforting. Makes me think about my mother for some reason.”

“It's my mother's recipe,” Dylas said.

“Wouldn't have been something my mother would have made,” Leon went on. After a moment of quiet, he set the spoon down for a moment to gesture with his hand. “She made lots of sauce and would store it all in identical brown bottles with no labels whatsoever. So we were never sure if we were grabbing a hot sauce or a sweet sauce. But once you put it on the food, you had to eat it.”

The thought made him chuckle. “Sounds like meals would be a dangerous affair at your place.”

“It was always an adventure,” Leon said, taking his spoon back. “But if this came from your mother, how did you get it?”

“She left me a book in a box with a notary seal. Somehow Kiel had it in his family vault, then he gave it to me.” He went over to get the book from the kitchen.

“You're lucky in that,” he said, a hint in his voice seeming to wish that he had something left from his family.

That made him feel guilty, but it might not be a lost cause. “Maybe there's things that got left behind to you three as well,” Dylas said. “And you'd be in a good position to find them.”

“How?” Leon asked, not hopeful in it.

“You run the library,” he reminded him. “The place that stores all kinds of documents and books that have pieces of Selphia's history. Yeah, Selphia itself came after yours and Amber's time, but that memorial plate called us saints to the town. I'm sure people would have kept those things safe and the most reasonable place to store them would be in the town library. Or maybe the castle library, but you're a public servant and would have an excuse to search around.”

“Maybe.” It was hard to say if he was considering it, especially when his next question was, “How do you know that this isn't a dream?”

Dylas tried to remember what Leon had said to such an abrupt change, but couldn't. “Because I made this,” he said as the first thing that came to mind. When Leon looked over at him, he tried to explain. “It's like, when you're dreaming, stuff just happens with no reason to it. Or if you think about it, you end up doing the first step after the second step and still get it right or wrong no matter what. But, I looked up this recipe, then came down here and gathered the ingredients. Measured them out, cooked the rice, turned it to porridge. Now we're eating it and talking and it's all in a logical order. A dozen other things would have just happened and left if it was a dream.”

“I wish I could be that confident,” Leon said, surprising him. “My dreams can be that complex and lucid. The two girls never went insane because I heard them before they got pushed that far, but I went through the same kind of terror you did when you first arrived. I was alone.”

“That's horrible,” Dylas said, although it felt insufficient for that. He'd only made it out of that because of the other three.

He started to look like his mind was far off again, but he ate some of the porridge and settled whatever thoughts were starting up. “I had to cling to the light I had, just a tiny pure memory from when I was young. Had to wrap myself in a fantasy based off that memory, of a flowery field that I couldn't leave and of being that young and content. It was the only way to shut out Storgane's voice and my visions of what Sarcophagus was doing... I experienced that vividly. That's why I kept warning you three to not pay much attention to the monsters. You could have put yourself in full sensory experience with them, but that's a surefire way to go insane.”

“I felt my body warp into Thunderbolt,” he said. It was part of the reason he hated being reminded that he was anything like a horse.

“Then you know,” Leon said with a shiver. “But my escape couldn't last long. All it took was a bit of logic setting in, why an explorer like me would be satisfied staying in one place, and my safe little dream world ended. I took all the songs I knew and rebuilt it several times, constantly trying to endure in some way for Ven's sake. But then Amber arrived and I put off dreaming like that in favor of protecting and guiding her. Sometimes I wondered if you three weren't a dream too, one I had built more solidly in a wish for some company.”

“You're not alone,” Dylas said, what he had been singing to them the other night (albeit unknowingly, but he had wanted to say it). “And we're definitely not sleeping now.”

Leon shook his head. “But what if this is all some wish fulfilling dream? The first night I was here, I had a nightmare about it. I tried to sing to you, but there was no response. I couldn't hear you. And it didn't feel right, why should I be the only one no longer a guardian when you all had suffered in following my lead? I wished you all could be happy. And then, here's Selphia as this warm beautiful town where people care about you just because they know your name, where all of us are finding roles well suited to us even if they're unexpected... where books are so damn cheap that they can be written about anything and people will read them. There's the safety of manmade structures blending in with nature of all forms, and people going on with their quirky interesting selves and still getting along as one community. Even the other night that I was here in the restaurant, too good to be true. It's like everything I ever asked for or never knew I wanted; it makes me suspicious for how nice it all is.”

“What would convince you that this isn't a dream?” Dylas asked.

Holding up one of his hands to look at, Leon looked about as lost as Dylas had felt himself at times. “I don't know. Not even a splinter was convincing enough.”

“I don't know either, but I'll keep telling you it's not until you're convinced,” he said.

Once they were finished, Leon was already yawning and drifting off to sleep. Though that didn't even seem convincing to him yet. Dylas helped him back upstairs, then kept an eye on him after he got in bed. Compared to before, Leon relaxed quickly and he seemed without trouble sleeping there. That made Dylas feel safe in shutting the light off and settling in on the couch to get to sleep himself. It seemed that his porridge had helped.

The next morning, Dylas got up at dawn as was his habit now. Leon was still fast asleep, so he left him there to handle some morning chores in the kitchen. The bowl he'd left for Porcoline was empty, so he washed what he had used and did prep work for the day's meals. Having done this for a few weeks, he was getting used to the usual tasks in this business.

Porcoline came down as usual, half an hour after he did. “Happy morning to you,” he sang as he came in from the stairs.

“Good morning,” Dylas said. “I'm sorry about using the kitchen alone last night, but I was trying to help Leon and that was the best I could come up with.”

“You really shouldn't since you still don't have a license yet,” Porco said. “But I'll forgive you after finding that lovely milk porridge you left as a midnight snack. That was so comforting, like something a mother made even though my own mother never made that particular dish.”

“Um, I used my mother's recipe,” he said, feeling embarrassed at a second person making that remark without being told. “I was thinking of her, that's probably why it came out like that.”

Then Porcoline hugged him without warning. “I keep getting amazed at the natural way you're coming into this! You're doing wonderfully, but you need to pick up on more skills and knowledge in order to fully pass the exam. And I'll have to pass over the exam process over to Volkanon for you, because I'm afraid I'd be horribly biased in working with you.”

“Get off me,” Dylas said, feeling like he wanted to bolt from the room. Yet at the same time, he knew Porcoline was amazing for a chef and it felt encouraging to have his wholehearted support.

“Don't be shy,” Porco said in a terrible fashion, but it was his idea of a joke. “You'll attract a gob of affection from others through your cooking and will have to beat them off with a spatula.”

“I can't wait to see that happen,” Leon said, having come downstairs without a sound. He even had that trickster smirk back on his face.

“Nice to see that you're back to being a jerk,” Dylas countered.

“Good morning, Leon!” Porcoline said happily, letting Dylas go finally and heading off to make breakfast. “I hope you had a lovely night staying under my roof.”

“I don't remember much of it,” Leon said, making Porcoline react in dramatic shock. But he did stick by the counter where Dylas was cleaning up the chalkboards that would have the day's menus soon. Lowering his voice, Leon said, “Hey, I don't know what drugs you put in that porridge last night, but thanks.”

“No drugs,” Dylas said. There was a twinge at being uncomfortable, but he dismissed it. This was his brother he was speaking to. “Just some wishes that you were well.”

That made Leon soften his attitude. “Yeah. I was reminded what dreams really are: beautiful, ephemeral, and silly things. This isn't a dream. There was nothing in the hell gate.”

“Nothing?” he asked, pausing to look over at him.

Leon nodded. “Just me, alone in the ether sea again. Not even Storgane or Sarcophagus. But being alone wrecked havoc on my heart.”

Being alone in nothing but the ether sea... he could see that as being a hell just as bad as the hallway of disappearing doors. “What if we sang to you?” Dylas said, on an impulsive thought.

His eyes widened. “That... doesn't work. We tried.”

“Before you went in,” Dylas corrected himself. “Maybe we can't when you're in. But if you could carry our song in your heart, would you really be alone then?”

“Might work, music and words have power,” Leon said, thinking deeply on it. “And words... and things, Lest took in Amber's watering pot to give to her and she brought it out. What if you all took a charm and wrote words to protect me on it, and I wore it in? Either the song would carry, or the charm would keep me from going catatonic again.”

“We'll do both, just to be sure,” he said.

“Right. Just, you better not tell anybody what we've been talking about, or else...” his slide back into blackmail teasing stopped suddenly.

“Or else what?' Dylas asked.

Leon shook his head. “Never mind. I'll just trust you as my brother.”

“I won't speak of it,” he said, giving him the promise.

* * *

 

Spring 68

The new plan was one Lest felt sure of. Listening to the guardians sing together while holding hands, he could see the love of family in the runes as they passed on to Leon. They said that he had protected and guided their little family in the ether sea for centuries, and now they wanted to protect him in return when he had to go back alone through the hell gate. And he was determined to return to them in freedom. It was the same with the charm that Dolce handed Leon, as it was filled with wishes for his well-being and strength. Perhaps just one or the other would work alone, but there wouldn't be the complete certainty that both together brought. When Lest called up omnigate this time, there was no fear or doubt in Leon.

Last time, Lest had a difficult time finding Leon. There wasn't the sound of any chains and he'd eventually come to a dark cold place like the ether sea had been. It had taken some searching to find that Leon had reverted to a small light like from his dream. On calling his name, Lest found him already catatonic. Then demons had swarmed around and it seemed the best thing to do was escape.

This time, he could hear the song and it led him back to the ether sea. Leon was holding that light in his hands, reading the charm by it. There was mockery echoing in the ether, but the song blocked it all out. “Leon, you ready to move on?” Lest asked when he got nearby.

“Yeah, in a moment,” he said, checking the charm over once more before looking around and pointing into the darkness. “We're going that way. I feel the earth there.”

“Sure thing,” he said, following alongside him.

“Just one thing,” Leon said, flicking an ear. “Did you have to get everybody in town to initial this thing? Now I have to go and thank them all after this.”

Lest chuckled. “I didn't mean to get everyone. I just asked a few if they would, those few spread the word along, and the rest came to ask if they could. After all, it is a small town. Everybody heard about the state you were in last time, so even if you tease them more than have regular conversations with, they were worried and wanted to help out if only a little.”

“Everyone's so darn nice there, even the ones that try not to be,” he said as if he was complaining.

“But you like it that way,” Lest said.

“Quit being a nosy mind reader,” he said.

Then they were stopped from progressing with an energy field that wrapped around them. “You can't leave yet,” Sarcophagus said in a rougher form of Leon's voice. The ornate coffin was lurking just outside the field, weaving its tails around. “You haven't suffered enough.”

“Considering I went insane at least once and catatonic most recently, there's not much more your idea of suffering can do to me,” Leon said.

“You're the start of all this tragedy,” Sarcophagus said. “You're the one who came first and led others to suffer as a result of your actions. You need to suffer more than all of them as punishment.”

“Storgane was the start of this tragedy, not Leon,” Lest said, making the monster coffin growl.

Leon nodded in agreement. “Right. I do have some fault in agreeing to go along with this crazy plan. But I'm through with just sleeping and having nightmares because of it. I'm going to work in the world to recover the damage that was done.”

“You cannot do that.”

“I can't,” Leon agreed. “But I'm not the only one working towards that. We're doing quite well in fixing things. Besides, I've just recently found that there's times when it doesn't take much to make someone's day better. There's no reason for me to be here anymore and I don't want to stay.”

“A sacrifice can't leave!” Sarcophagus said in anger, the gems on its form glowing in a spell.

“Get behind me,” Leon ordered, grabbed Lest's hand and pulling him close.

Lest did as told, letting Leon protect both of them with a magic shield when Sarcophagus summoned orbs of light to shoot. Willing his breaking power to stay close and not hit the shield, Lest cast a wind blade spell around the shield to attack back. But it took Leon casting the same light spell back at his monster to defeat it and break the hell gate.

“If you're going to help people, does that mean you'll stop teasing them?” Lest asked, although he was pretty sure the answer was no.

“No, some people are best helped with a kick to the pants,” Leon said, chi lines in silver appearing in place of his chains. “What's with the leaf?”

“Souvenir,” Lest said, tucking the silver leaf in his cloak pocket. “Dunno what I'm doing with them, but I've gotten five of them now.”

“Hey, why not? Bet you're glad this is almost over with.”

“It's not really over until we can figure out the mystery of how Storgane stayed,” Lest said. “Although it seems to be connected to Rune Prana.”

“I meant about the arjate thing,” he said, holding up their hands.

“Yeah, I'll be glad never to cast this again,” he agreed, then cast it to bring them out.

Back outside Darryl's Tower, there were cheers (from Amber) and a warm welcome back. Leon could have recited the Earthmate's Pledge on his own, having heard it several times now. However, Lest still led him in the first recital. Leon needed to pay more attention to what the runes were saying than what he was saying. The earth rune spring was moved out of the tower and to a mountain standing on its own some distance from the rest of the Maya Mountain range. Once it was back in place and restored, it caused connections to form between the four springs. All that energy met powerfully in the center where Selphia lay.

“The earth welcomes you as an earthmate, Leon,” the harvest goddess said as the miracle was completed. “Your price is in the arts, in particular language.”

“Language?” Leon asked, puzzled. Frey didn't seem sure of what she meant either, so it must have been a highly unusual price.

“You'll figure it out, I'm sure,” the goddess said with a smile. “We're almost back to how we should be. It's just the core of Storgane's current being that lingers in the tunnels under Selphia to take care of now. However, his hate will be strongest there.” She put a hand to her cheek. “Lest dear, six is not quite seven.”

“Yeah, that's true,” he said, wondering what she meant by that.

“Seven is a number of great power,” she said. “There are seven major elements, for one. Storgane had six captives. Not quite seven and not of all seven elements, either of which would have vastly changed how things played out. Remember that to plan your way ahead.”

“All right, I will,” Lest said. Now that she'd explained, he had some idea of what she meant. It probably wouldn't become totally clear until the time was right.


	47. Rainbow Trout

Spring 72

It was the day of the fishing contest, an event that should have bored Ventuswill greatly. She had fished a few times, including with Dylas, by using her tail as pole and bait. But that was only on days when she felt really well. While she had a lot more energy now that the rune springs were back in place, she also worried about how it would look to the other townspeople if she left to go fish. She'd been formal with them so long that being informal as she liked wasn't easy. That left her to stay in the castle while everyone else was out enjoying a day of fishing.

However, she was being well entertained today. She listened to the wind and cast her spirit out to watch while pretending to sleep. This contest was to see who could catch the most fish in one day. As it was thirteen o'clock, most of the girls were already out of the running. They'd certainly tried, but Amber was terrified of fish. She went along with it to be with her friends, but they ended up spending a lot of time helping her and trying to get her less afraid. Even so, it was a good thing as it brought their friendships closer. Amber even caught one fish and consented to hold it briefly. The moment it flopped in her hands, she squealed and threw it back into the lake. At this point, they decided to give up and do something more fun to Amber. Still going to be a good day for them.

As she'd expected, Dylas was ahead by far, to the point where the only way he wouldn't win was if he quit now as well. His new elemental alignment enhanced the experience and talent he already had in the sport. He'd gotten a fishing pole just two weeks ago and had already gotten enough fish to trade in the marketplace for another pole better suited to catching small fish quickly. While there were a few visiting participants who had more experience than he did in being older, too many things favored him here for another outcome to come for any reason but luck.

Others were interesting to watch too. Nancy stayed out of the contest to look after Alice while Jones participated; the family stuck together and talked happily all the while. Doug had been bored of the contest before it even came, but since Blossom wanted to participate, he stuck close to her to help out. Elsewhere, Arthur was trying to draft official documents while letting his line sit in the water; he wasn't succeeding at getting either task done, even dropping one of the papers into the water by accident. Bado was doing decently even though he was helping out Kiel. If Dylas hadn't been involved, Bado might be a winning contender. He might get second or third place now, depending on how one of the visitors kept doing.

Lest caught a few fish, but wasn't really participating. Instead, he talked to the other participants and offered to trade some of his fresh produce for any rainbow trout they caught during the contest. He even promised to reserve a few things that weren't quite ripe yet. There was some plan in his mind, but Venti wasn't privy to it yet. Not even when Leon started giving him a hard time about it.

“Well maybe others are willing because it isn't a popular fish due to its poisonous reputation,” Leon said.

“It's a reality more than reputation, but I'm still looking for a number of them,” Lest said.

Leon grinned toothily. “They're better that way. I like them, so they're worth more to me. What do you want them for?”

Lest then whispered his answer to him, annoying Venti. What was his plan and why was he being so secretive about it? She couldn't even get a better sound of it through the breeze over the lake. “I trust you, but I really want to know,” she said into her empty chamber.

Whatever it was, it got Leon's interest to the point where he was conflicted. “Is this about tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it's part of the demonstration.”

Leon tapped his foot on the ground. “I can see how it'd work. But still, you're asking me to give up what I hoped on having for dinner tonight. Look, if you can get me a lamp squid instead, I'll give you the rainbow trouts I get, nothing else needed. Only have one so far.”

“Okay, I'll see what I can do,” Lest said. Although lamp squids were a difficult fish to catch, as opposed to the regular squids that were commonly caught in the lake. But there was one that had already been caught.

And Lest managed to find it when he talked with Dylas. “Well I used to toss those two because they were considered inedible, but then Porcoline told me you can cook them if you're careful of the poisons,” Dylas said. It was about fish, so he was more willing to talk. “What are you planning with them?”

“Well Leon won't trade me unless I can get him a lamp squid,” Lest said. “As for the rainbow trouts, you'll see tomorrow.”

“All right, I guess I wouldn't mind,” Dylas said. “Besides, the produce that comes in from your farm is always really good. Porco says it's all the passion you pour into it.”

Lest laughed. “Something like that. Thanks a lot.”

“It is that,” Venti said. For that reason, she was grateful that he had dropped in unexpectedly. The royal farmland affected the runes closest to her and Lest made those brimming with energy and love. It would be even nicer when he decided to use the central field so she could look over his work herself just by standing at the back door. That was one reason out of many that she was happy with how he'd come to Selphia.

One of the more interesting things of the day wasn't watching through the wind, though. It was watching through the eyes of Wendy as she sat at the base of the bridge and sketched the scene while others fished. Wendy wasn't like them. In fact, she didn't have a mind of her own. When Dylas had broken his hell gate, Venti had noticed the appearance of a large doll among her collection. She'd watched with interest as with every hell gate broken, the doll became more and more life like. It grew to the point that when Clorica had wandered off with Sven following out of worry, Venti was able to send the doll into the mansion in hopes she could help. While she hadn't helped, she had put the doll into the community. She hadn't fully decided on a name for it, so when Clorica guessed Wendy, Venti decided it was close enough and cute enough to go with.

Now that all the hell gates were gone, Wendy was very much like a human. She could even speak now, although Venti hadn't tested it out save in private. But Wendy also wasn't human because she had no soul or mind of her own. She was still a doll. This delighted Venti because she could fulfill an unspoken dream to live among humans as a human herself. Trouble was, Wendy's sketches weren't of the quality to match her cover story of being a traveling artist. Venti had gone with that because she amused herself some days by etching pictures into the dirt or the snow. She was good at that even though she always brushed them away before they were seen. Translating that to a human holding a pencil or brush wasn't as easy as she thought.

Splitting her mind between two bodies did take some effort. There were times when she had to put one or the other to sleep in order to focus on something major. But to live her dream of being human and see her dearest friends out in the sun living life? That was worth any trouble.

“Lady Ventuswill!”

Leaving Wendy to quietly practice sketching, Venti opened her eyes to see Volkanon running into her chamber. “I thought you were judging the fishing contest,” she said.

He bowed to her. “Yes, but as I was going downstairs to get the medals Miss Frey made, I saw that one of the storage rooms down there was completely empty. Someone's stolen a great number of valuable items!”

“It must have happened while I slept,” she said, knowing immediately what he meant. She even know who the thief was: herself. Which didn't make it a theft since the items were things she owned. They were things she couldn't really use, including offerings better suited for a human than a dragon and objects she sent servants or leaders to fetch as a test. Things like the antique bamboo fan Wendy had given Lin Fa in payment for a room. All of that stuff was now with Wendy to support her story as well as give her something to trade for things humans needed.

“We must figure out who committed this crime and what happened to all the treasures in that room,” Volkanon said, steamed and eager to bring the thief to justice.

“I don't believe there was anything down there that was extremely valuable,” Ventuswill said. At least not to her eyes. Her personal treasures were kept elsewhere. “But yes, this should be accounted for. First of all, check with Lest and Frey. They have been told that they can use the rooms in that area to their liking, including that one. One of them may have moved things around without mentioning it. If not them, then get Forte and Illuminata investigating.”

“Are you sure about involving Illuminata?” Volkanon said. “Not that she's bad by any means, but her enthusiasm is more than her skill in this area.”

“She may yet surprise us,” Ventuswill said, although she was counting on Illuminata's enthusiasm to come up with an alternate scenario that would excuse all those things going missing.

* * *

 

Spring 73

For today's lesson, Lest had gotten permission from Porcoline to borrow the restaurant for the afternoon. Porco usually offered two sets of meals, so Lest and Dylas were going to put together one set while leaving the rest to Porco. This meant that he needed to start early with Dylas, with the rest coming in later for another portion of the lesson. As he came in with the cool box he had, he called, “Good afternoon.”

“Marvelous afternoon!” Porcoline called while Dylas just nodded. “We've been waiting on you! Now what's on the agenda?”

He came over and put the cooler on the counter. “Rainbow trout. I collected twelve of them from the contest yesterday and put preservation seals over them to keep the meat fresh. That's the main dish on our side, anything else will be up to Dylas.”

“Okay,” Dylas said, a little nervous at getting that much put on him.

“It's something I'll need to check on before we can sell it to customers,” Porcoline said, briefly serious. “Then again, if done right, it is a blessed delight! We followed your instructions and checked out a variety of herbs and spices in the cupboard. That was quite an adventure, right?”

Dylas put his hand to his nose. “Don't remind me, just thinking about that pepper might make me sneeze again.”

“That's good because you'll need to know the taste and rune profiles of those to do this right,” Lest said, taking the lid off the cool box. “We'll need gloves to handle these trout, of course, but I don't want to break the seals on all of them right away. Dylas, would you take a small one and slice it up into sashimi? But not fully.”

“Uh, sure,” Dylas said, getting a sushi knife and cutting board before putting the gloves on.

“There's a certain technique to doing so with rainbow trout and other poisonous fish,” Porcoline said.

Lest nodded and went to get three small plates. “Right, but first, check for the poison sacs. You should be able to find that through runes; don't cut into that or it'll mess up the meat. If you can get enough slices out of it, I would like you to cut a third of it regularly, a third of it by Porcoline's instructions, and then the last on the method you told me about using with Leon, with the purpose of it not being poisonous.”

With that in mind, Dylas picked out a small trout that he was able to slice according to the instructions. Lest brought out some strong antidote potions he'd brought knowing this test was a danger to making them (especially Dylas) ill. The regular sashimi was laced with poison runes, the slices done by technique had a few that a human could tolerate with little ill-effects, and the last set had no poison runes at all. After seeing this, Lest had them eat the slices, even the poisonous ones, so that Dylas was familiar with the connection between the runes, tastes, and poison. Taking the antidote potion right after immediately neutralized the ill effects before they could be felt.

Then Lest had all three of them work on cleaning and slicing the other eleven into fillets to grill. He also revealed how they would be countering the poison for the grilled fish, first in pouring a bottle of milk into the container the fillets were placed in. “This is a known way to pull the poisons out, by soaking the fillets in milk and antidote grass for a few hours,” Lest said. “Most people will take the fish out and dump the milk, but my family actually uses the milk to make a sauce to go with the fish. See, if you put in enough antidote grass, it will not only pull all the poison out, but will neutralize it entirely from the milk. And might as well not waste the milk.”

“But antidote grass has a distinctive flavor that would overrule the flavor of the rainbow trout,” Dylas said. “Like how that one sashimi I cured tasted nothing like the other two, more like a very plain trout.”

“You can counter that flavor with other flavors to bring out the flavor of the poisoned fish without leaving the poison active,” Lest said. “My mother had a particular set of herbs and spices she always used, but I've been able to use my ability to see runes in depth to use different mixes, changing the final taste of the dish while leaving it recognizable as rainbow trout. That's what I want you to do. You have the same talents I do, so use the pieces you've tasted today to put together something so that the poison and the antidote grass taste is neutralized.”

Dylas thought over it for a few minutes. As they were down to the last of the fish, he asked, “I've got an idea, but first, what do you do with the milk to turn it to a sauce?”

“Heat it gently with an egg and butter to reduce it, although we'll need to increase the eggs and butter to account for all the fish and milk,” Lest said.

“Ooo, make it rich and velvety smooth,” Porcoline said, delighted at the idea. “With a hint of the rainbow trout in it, that sounds incredibly scrumptious.”

“Use something with some heat and bite to bring out the distinctive flavor,” Dylas mumbled, putting the last of his fillets in the milk bath. “Then another to balance the antidote... I think I'd better place the antidote leaves in first to get a picture of how many runes need to be shifted with the herbs and spices.” He started to do that, being particular in his placement of the leaves. Lest figured he was trying to use the least amount of antidote leaves possible while making the meat safe, a good sign.

Once that was ready to soak, Lest had him guess the flavor composition of the final dish, then pick a side to go with it. That led Dylas to go upstairs to fetch a housekeeping book that came from his mother, to search for a vegetable and rice dish that she made. They needed to discuss with Porcoline about a particular vegetable that had changed names, but were able to adjust it with what was available. Since it wouldn't take long to cook, the two of them worked on cutting the vegetables while Porcoline started on the rest of the evening menu. The other guardians, Frey, and Sven came in as they were working on that.

Frey knew the plan, so she helped get the others started after Dylas told her where to get a few things. “Well today, we're going to observe and talk about how runes can change based on environmental and added conditions. For that, we're going to make some candy today.”

“Yeah, candy!” Amber said with a grin. “What kind of candy?”

“A few different kinds, all with the same ingredients,” Lest said.

“How do you make different candies out of the same ingredients?” Dylas asked.

“It all depends on how you handle them!” Porcoline called over. “If you're using sugar and heat, then remember to be very careful with it. Hot sugar is extremely painful, even more so than hot water.”

“Right, Lest and I know what we're doing,” Frey said. “I use this to make all kinds of healing drops, but today we're going simple with some sugar candies. That's pretty much it: sugar, water, a bit of flavored oil, and a bit of coloring. Hey Porco, what kind of flavors do you have in concentrates that we can use?”

Going over to the cabinet he kept the spices and herbs in, Porco replied, “I keep many around. You can use any of the basics, but I'd have to consider the specialties before lending them. There's vanilla, peppermint, spearmint, almond, pink melon, strawberry, lemon, lime... don't think you want the smokes.”

“Anybody have objection to peppermint?” Frey asked, then took that one from him along with a few food coloring bottles.

Meanwhile, Lest had left the vegetable chopping to fill a pot with cold water and some ice cubes. They didn't need to start like this, but for the purposes of the lesson, the ice would help. After making sure it was okay, he set up the pot on a burner near the counter so that they could all be around it to talk and observe. He and his sister wouldn't need a candy thermometer and he was pretty sure that after this lesson, Dylas wouldn't either. But that was another part of it all, so he stuck it on the side.

Frey put her hands on the edge of the pot. “Okay, it's basic information that water is a major element. When you increase your ability to read runes and chi, you can see that in here. The runes are very simple, mostly water. In here, we can also tell from the runes that the water is cold; just look at the difference between the water and the ice, the degree to which the cold is present. That of course will change when we add fire under it and change the cold to hot.”

“So we're here to watch water boil?” Dolce asked sarcastically.

“It's actually fascinating if you pay attention to the way the runes change,” Lest said. “The pattern and sense of it all shifts gradually, and then it gets even better when it's at a point we can dissolve the sugar in it.”

“Sense of it?” Leon asked, raising his eyebrow.

“You need an extra amount of sensory input from runes like these two to reach that level,” Frey said. “Though once you do, it is really amazing. I can tweak your senses if you want.”

Since it took some time to raise the temperature then cool the candies enough to work with, they talked on other subjects as well. Making candy through this way had several stages depending on how the sugar water had developed. Frey moved portions to smaller pans to add flavor and color to at each stage, letting them see how things differed. Dolce was familiar with this, but even she admitted that it was new seeing the runes actually change in accordance to what was done with the sugar water. While runes changed all the time, this was a good way to see it in a controlled manner.

Lest usually liked watching the runes in candy making. Today, he was more pleased in seeing the chi between the group. Leon's emotional defenses yielded some, leading him to not be as abrasive even if he did keep teasing. “So you're either a scaredy cat knight or the steel shield of the people,” he said to Sven, trying to poke him with his fan.

As Sven hadn't been a guardian, he'd been at the fringe of this group in their lessons. But he was closer in today, laughing off the taunt and flipping away the fan easily. “I'm working at both, but eventually the former won't be there.”

Dolce wasn't as tense as she normally was, using today's lesson to test out socializing with a more modern attitude that didn't make her defer to the guys as much. She had a moment of deciding if she should speak up, then decided it was fine even if it was blunt. “As long as you do something about that sharp empty look when you're defending; I saw you coming down the street with them and it was frankly terrifying.”

“I'm not sure how much I can do about that, but I hope it doesn't stay,” Sven said.

Amber was even paying better attention, not getting distracted with other things during the conversation. “I bet even the scariest monsters would be scared of you as you get better. Even the big powerful fishies.”

Most of all, Dylas was really happy today, starting to take his price as a true passion while glad to have the others around. “You get any monster fish, you let me handle them,” he said confidently. “I've taken down one of the most monstrous fish of all before.”

“Really?” Amber asked, looking at him bright-eyed in admiration. The other guardians noticed how Dylas was feeling and that improved their moods as well. Seeing the drastic change from the one who nearly gave up to one who was smiling quite often during the lesson strengthened their hopes that they'd all be happy one day.

Dylas nodded to her question. “Yeah, it weighed about as much as an elefun and was able to swallow a sword whole and live for three more years. But I got it on land and put it down for good.”

“I don't know if fish can weigh that much, but that would be impressive to see,” Leon said.

“Are you talking about the giant catfish that sometimes pops up in the lake?” Pico asked. “Because those really are monstrous, and huge!” She spread her arms out and drifted backwards trying to indicate just how huge they were. “One of them could weigh that much.”

“Yeah, it was one of them,” Dylas said.

“Wow, you'd think that kind of story would get passed down in town history,” Lest said, to which Dylas just shrugged.

“I've seen one of them,” Amber said, shivering. “They're really scary.”

Dolce hugged her. “You'll be fine, Dylas just said he took care of one. I'm sure he could handle another if it shows up.”

“I wonder if Venti still has that pole,” Dylas said, thinking for a moment.

They weren't quite done with working the candy when it came time for Lest and Dylas to get back to their part. “What's on the menu from you guys?” Leon asked.

“Grilled rainbow trout with a white sauce, and then a vegetable rice pilaf,” Dylas said.

“Isn't rainbow trout inedible?” Dolce asked.

“Not a chance,” Leon said with a silly grin. “Okay, that might be worth the trade from yesterday.”

Figuring Leon might like it, Lest added, “He's making the trout without a written recipe, just some hints from Porco and me. Most of it is based off his sense for runes and chi, along with taste profiling.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Sven said.

And Leon really was intrigued. “That's even better. Ha, I can't wait then.”

“Is it really edible?” Dolce asked. “I thought you'd get sick from it.”

“It can be safe to eat, you just need to use the right mix of antidote leaves and other herbs to counter the poison,” Frey said.

“And be careful of the poison sac and cleaning out all the scales, but he cleared that just fine,” Lest said.

“I wouldn't put it on my menu if there was a chance it could make people sick,” Porco said. “I still need to review the final portions, but things are looking good.”

“In that case, I might try it,” Dolce said, although it seemed she'd already decided to give Dylas' cooking a chance.

“I don't like living fishies, but eating them's fine,” Amber said.

Porcoline had to give Dylas some extra help on making the sauce, since reading runes did not make up for not knowing the right techniques. But the talent did let him grill the fillets without extra instructions, as he could read the fish to know when they were done, not under or over cooked. When residents and visitors started coming in for dinner, Dylas did the plating for them while Lest helped out with serving. Some were wary of the rainbow trout, but enough were interested that all the portions were bought. Meanwhile, Frey bagged up the candies made and gave them to all the participants, even Porcoline, to have one bag to keep and one bag to share. “Because no matter what you're making, it's the way of the earthmates to share and spread good things,” she told them.

The rainbow trout and rice came out really good. Lest even found notes of optimism and happiness with friends and family in its runes. While most who ate it wouldn't notice, those notes would influence them a little in what they chose to do this evening. Though the funniest reaction by far had to be Leon's, as he grabbed Dylas and said, “I want to hold you captive and make you cook for me every day from now on to forever.”

“Let me go,” Dylas said gruffly, grabbing his hand to push him off. “Besides, you heard what she said. I wouldn't do as well cooking for one person alone.”

“That's a pity,” Leon said, letting him go. “But any time you are grilling up fish over here, be sure to let me know and I'll be right over.”

After they split up for the evening, Lest returned to the castle with a portion of the meal for Venti to try. “I thought you'd want to see how he was doing, so I bought an extra portion for you.”

Venti smiled. “Aw thanks, the runes look beautiful. And I loved watching you all today. It was simply wonderful seeing them all have a good time.”

Lest smiled back. “Yeah, it was.”

“Still, tell me how things went today,” she said.

“Of course,” he said, then took a chair to have their usual evening talk about what was going on in Selphia.

* * *

 

After Lest had left her to do some studying in his room, Venti went back to thinking. “Should I have told him?”

Their plan had worked beautifully so far. The rune springs were back in place, restored to their full potential with the addition of the rune spheres. The guardians were back with her, still adjusting but even now they were all happier than when they had left her. While there was still a threat of war hanging over them, Selphia was getting more support from other regions of Norad and other nations of the world. Once that and the last remains of Storgane in this world were dealt with, things would truly be as they should, peaceful with the people she loved close by.

Except, there was still a big problem within herself. Ventuswill knew she was dying and that any reasonable humane help would be of no help at all. She'd not been helped by Dylas becoming the last guardian because of the deep emotional blow between his letter and what actually happened. Perhaps she'd been spared a death of grief there, but that thought was hardly a comfort at any time. No, not even a guardian now would help her as that loss after recovering the others would crush her will to live. She lived now out of a desire to make sure Selphia was peaceful and her friends were happy. When that happened, she could relax and finally feel like she'd done well as a divine dragon.

She was just too old, especially for one born when she had been. The other Native Dragons born with her had all died before they hit three centuries old, and here she was close to thirteen centuries old. While she wasn't sure, she thought that was really old for any dragon. Aquamentus was reaching the end of his natural lifespan according to the ether sea and he wasn't quite five hundred years old. And Terrable was the fifth incarnation of the divine earth that she'd known about. She'd only gotten this old because of the sacrifices of her friends, a terrible price that she hadn't wanted to pay with any of them.

Knowing that she was going to die brought up the issue of if she should tell her friends or not. She didn't want to, afraid that they'd do something drastic again to save her. She didn't want to be saved this time. Knowing that there was someone in Selphia who knew etherlink, she really didn't want anyone to find out. However, it also felt bad to leave them out of this. There would come a time when she'd want to say goodbye because it'd be worse to leave them without a word. If only she could know that they would agree with her wishes to let her time end. Then she wouldn't feel afraid to speak the truth.

Noticing a shifting on the wind, Venti opened her eyes in time to see Doomgale flit in the front door. The young wind dragon was excited. “ _Venti, I found it! The new wind spring is awesome! I don't have to do anything to drift all over the energetic currents and the singing rocks are great!”_

“Yes, they have a magnificent tone now,” she said with a smile. “You've flown in all the rune springs now, so you pass the test.”

“ _G_ _reat, so will you teach me to be great dragon too?”_ she asked, not knowing what she was asking for.

Because what Venti would give her was the knowledge she wished someone had passed to her about being a Native Dragon. “I did promise, so I will.”


	48. Intermission - War Memorial

Spring 60

Having a melody bottle attached to his arm was quite a pain. It played at least once a day at random, making Bado worry about it going off when he was dealing with a customer. Like now; one of the awakened guardians was quietly looking over tools on display. The last thing he wanted was for that scalding request to go off and make the customer think twice about buying here. It was strange who his customer was, given that the four of them were supposed to be holy saints or something. But Dylas here seemed like your average well-dressed fellow, if untalkative and with a horse's ears and tail. Possibly the mane too given how his hair looked.

Dylas had been looking over fishing poles, which Bado had put on sale in hopes of clearing out his stock of those. Being very particular too, checking on the bend of the pole and the movements of the reel. But he did stop to check over the Blockbuster Gauntlets, which still hadn't sold in spite of being listed as a special on and off. “Interested in those?” Bado asked after Dylas had picked them up.

“No,” he said, setting them down. “They'd probably break my fingers. If you had something of yours, maybe, but I've already got these from the Telliarc dwarves.”

Bado winced a little. The poles and the gauntlets were all his work. Although, the kid couldn't have meant it. Then again, he had said something interesting. “You got gauntlets made in Telliarc?”

Dylas shrugged. “It was made by a dwarf from Telliarc, but might've been made here. Four hundred years ago, I mean.”

While that was quite a long time ago, dwarven culture had long been resistant to change. They'd changed more in the past fifty years than in the past thousand before that. “What was the name of the blacksmith, if you remember?” Bado asked.

He had to think on that. “Last name was Geisel, I didn't get much more personal out of him.”

“Could I take a look at those gauntlets then?” They might help on the war memorial project.

“Why?” Dylas asked, seeming unlikely to agree.

Hopefully, he had some sympathy. “Because the Geisel clan got nearly wiped out in a war five years ago,” Bado explained. “It's late, but I've been commissioned to make a memorial for them and the other clans that were in Telliarc at the time. I've been trying to get more information about them and I can tell a lot based on their handiwork even if it is from long ago.”

“Fine, but I'm not taking them off,” he said, coming over to the counter and pulling his left sleeve back so he could see the full gauntlet.

And it was a hell of a weapon, based on a similar design to the Blockbuster ones but handled with far more care. Until one got this close, they could be mistaken for black fingerless gloves with a few plain rings. The sleeve was sleek enough to hide smoothly under Dylas' jacket while still being tough enough to act as a shield. He could probably block one of Forte's blows without harm and she was no slouch. Of course, neither was Dylas now that Bado had seen his weapon. When he tightened his grip, the gauntlet activated a magic shield just on his hand that would further increase the power of his punches while reducing that impact on himself. No wonder Niam got so pissed off about the armor; the Geisel tribe were clearly proud blacksmiths.

“You'd hit like a steel golem with these,” Bado said, impressed. “Must've cost a small fortune.”

Dylas shook his head. “No, it was a gift he said he made with some spare time and materials. The fishing pole was what cost me a fortune.”

“Must have been one badass pole,” he said, although that caused a sinking feeling in his stomach. The Geisels were really proud master blacksmiths. Kind of strange then that Doug seemed to have no aptitude for it. Then again, he was raised non-traditional so may not have been drilled from childhood. “Thanks for letting me see that, it does help.”

“Uh, yeah, no problem,” Dylas said, then left the shop. One of the other guardians, Leon, nearly came in but decided to talk to Dylas instead.

“Like there's no tricks I can use to reduce the cost that they'd miss,” Bado said. “What a pain. But last thing I want is a whole town of angry ghosts focused on me.” Then a proper memorial it was, although he'd need to go mine a few more metals to get it done right.

While he was reading over the references that Doug had got him on the tribes in Telliarc, Vishnal entered the shop. He was usually an easy customer, with a childlike enthusiasm and naivety. Then again, that made Bado feel bad about taking advantage of him just like Kiel. “Good morning,” Vishnal said, in a way that meant he was here on the job.

“Hey Vishnal, what is it?” Bado asked.

He was supposed to be calm and proper as a butler, but there was a worried look to his eyes that hinted that this wouldn't be good. “Lady Ventuswill has asked to see you, immediately.”

“Well that's a rare honor,” he said, even as he was worried himself. “Sure, I wouldn't deny her request.” He followed Vishnal over to the castle, wondering what this was about.

Ventuswill had Vishnal give over a box that had broken pieces of chainmail armor inside. Not just broken, but impressively shredded like it was tissue paper instead of metal. “I thought I'd have this returned to you as it was the armor you gave Sven when we were looking to replace his machine armor,” Ventuswill said.

“What happened to him to get this?” Bado asked, taking a piece of it out. This wasn't normal damage from fighting regular monsters.

“He's become a dark-aligned earthmate with a price as a defender,” she explained. “Which means that he has the innate ability to negate all damage to someone he's protecting at the price of directing the damage to himself. He survived today's battle, but that was protecting two others within Obsidian Mansion and he has a very poor magic defense, which wasn't assisted by that armor. It wouldn't have taken much longer for it to get tragic for them. We'll be having Frey make his next armor as she's capable of crafting armor individualized for earthmates. Take this as a warning not to be so careless in the future.”

A warning. Well he had simply taken armor that had been in his shop too long and given it to Sven as he hadn't been an earthmate at the time. Sven didn't seem like he needed much thought put into armor as he was a stout young man; perhaps his human side showed strongly but he definitely had some dwarven influence in his toughness and muscle structures. Magic defense hadn't even been on his mind. It was true that he hadn't checked for that at the time because it hadn't seemed necessary.

Although, deeper parts of his mind were insisting that he really shouldn't have been so careless. Someone had nearly gotten killed because his work had failed and he couldn't replace it in apology since they had already asked the princess to make his armor. Bado snorted at himself as he went into his shop. He'd lost a potential commission to a damn princess. Never mind that she was a crafting earthmate and thus took to the forge like it was part of her very being. It was still the idea of it that should have grated against his pride. He just thought he'd given up on dwarven pride years ago. Too much work for too little profit; it was no fun being a blacksmith who was constantly broke and thus forced to always mine his own materials.

Though, that thought reminded him that the statement still applied to him. He was trying to get profit now only to still be broke and not able to buy materials so he could focus on forging. That might be alleviated if he moved back to a dwarven town with a mine nearby. But then he'd be harassed by the other blacksmiths for lacking passion and forced into constant competition. Not that it was much different now that there was another skilled blacksmith in Selphia.

No, his situation hadn't changed at all even with his effort to change it.

While he was piecing the chainmail back together to see exactly how it had failed, Leon came back to the shop. “Could I just hang out here for a little while?” he asked. “I took a lunch invitation on the promise of cake and it turned out super girly with talk about setting up a sewing circle. Need to reassert my masculinity somehow.”

In spite of how today was being bad, Bado still laughed at that. “Go ahead, doesn't bother me.”

“At least I got Kiel to agree to read over my translation work to see if it comes out right to modern readers,” Leon said, glancing over what was on display.

“What kind of book are you giving him?” he asked. “Though I'm sure he'd like anything.”

Leon nodded. “It's nothing mind-blowing, a domestic romance about newlyweds learning to live with and trust each other. Still nicely written in an ancient script, but some of the wording is making me think twice about direct translation. Say, you have anything of yours around here?”

Not again, he thought. “That is mostly my work,” Bado said.

“ _You suck,”_ Leon said in the dwarven language, albeit mispronounced because he couldn't include the right tones.

Starting to get irritated in being reminded of that all day, he replied, “ _I can do far better than that when I've got a reason.”_

“ _Prove it,”_ Leon said, then left the shop.

“ _I might just,_ ” Bado grumbled.

* * *

 

Spring 70

It was a quiet day, so Sven didn't mind leaving his patrol for a brief time when Doug found him. Apparently Bado had the memorial almost complete and they had to talk about how they were getting it to the dwarven town. He didn't see the issue with that, since they could land the airship near the exit they had used and take a wheeled trolley along to carry the memorial. But maybe it was something that needed to be done out of respect of tradition that he wouldn't be familiar with.

As they came into the blacksmith shop, Forte was already there talking with Bado. “What is this an apology for?” she asked warily, handling a new longsword that had a silver-blue tinge to the wide blade. It looked well-matched to her usual attire.

“Lots of stuff, can I explain later?” Bado said, rubbing his head. “I have to talk business with the guys here.”

“Sure, but thank you,” Forte said, sounding happy once she dismissed whatever suspicion she had. She said hello to them before heading outside.

“Now how complete is it?” Doug asked.

Bado waved them towards the forge room. “Come on and see for yourself. For the most part, I just need to do the engraving and polishing now. I wanted you guys to see the message before I started putting it on, since there's no room for error in this.”

The memorial stone was standing in the middle of the room, a dark obelisk in two portions that would be eight feet tall when put together. Pieces of broken armor and weapons were placed into the stone in a way that seemed more like celebrating the defeat of a powerful enemy. Then again, the pieces were very familiar to him. “That's what you did with the scythe?” Sven asked. A few days ago, he'd given the Executioner's scythe to Bado to have it broken down. It had been making him too nervous to fight at times, especially after meeting Niam's ghost.

“Yeah, and I got some parts of the armor from Helena too,” Bado said, passing over a sheet of paper to Doug. “It goes along with the engraving.”

Most of the message was as expected of a mass tombstone, honoring the dwarves of seven clans that had been living in the town when it was besieged by the empire and eventually destroyed by the Executioner. Sven felt some guilt on seeing that, but as he kept reading, the end of it surprised him. 'The one responsible for this bloodshed, the Executioner, was defeated Spring 54 year 1611 by Doug Geisel and Sven Geisel. Thus this tragedy has been avenged. Rest well, faithful warriors.'

“You're really going to put that we defeated the Executioner?” Doug asked.

“Well yeah,” Bado said. “We don't want some hotheads among the ghosts to decide they want to stick around to make sure they were avenged, so we let 'em know the one who killed them was destroyed.”

“But I was its host,” Sven said.

Bado just shrugged. “Doesn't matter. You wrecked the hell gate. As I understand it, that means the armor can't be revived by magic. Then Doug beat its shade in the castle basement, so that should satisfy them.”

“Guess that counts,” Sven said.

Doug smiled and lightly punched his arm. “Course it does. All right, we'll go with that.”

Bado nodded and took the paper back. “Good, then that leaves us with two more issues to settle.” He took a book on the table to give them. “We're dealing with traditionalists, so it's not right to simply put this in place and leave. We really should hold a funerary service in the town's honor when we do. As your clan held the majority and power in town, it'll be their traditions recognized as outlined in here. And we'll need a priest who can use the dwarven language to lead the service.”

“Man, that could be trouble,” Doug said, taking the book. “I don't know any, so guess we'll have to write to a few traditional towns to get one to come.”

“Now hang on, I didn't say it had to be a dwarven priest,” Bado said, something that surprised Doug. Sven was curious too. “Just one that can speak the language. I read over the material and it looks like your clan wouldn't care who it was that led the service as long as the language and form were right. Go ask Leon first. He was a dragon priest and while it may no longer be official, it should count enough. And I've heard him speak the language, so he can do this for us.”

“That'd be nice, if we could get him to agree to it,” Doug said skeptically.

“Have to try. And the other thing in mind is for Sven. I've noticed you're not as adept with the axe, and it's my fault that the last armor you had wasn't sufficient. So I decided to study the old scythe before breaking it and remaking it for you in apology. Here.” He took the weapon off his work table and passed it over.

“Thanks,” Sven said, feeling more comfortable handling this weapon. It was a clean blade not yet used against anyone. If he had his way, it'd only be used against monsters to return them. The handle was a light green and white, with a silver blade folded against the handle for now. At the end of the blade and handle, there was a red feathered decoration that, with the rest, gave an acknowledgment to Ventuswill. “I'll have to test it outside; this isn't a weapon to be using in a crowded space like this.”

“Hah, no kidding,” Bado said, grinning. “I had to make sure it was put together right by sneaking out of town with it so I wasn't seen. But it was an interesting project. Never made a scythe specifically for battle before, and then there's that folding mechanism that needs to open smoothly and reliably. Now I don't have whatever the empire uses in forging, so you'll need to clean and oil the hinge regularly, about once a week I think. If it gives you any trouble, I'll take another look at it.”

“All right, I'll see how it does,” Sven said.

“Man, are you sick or something?” Doug asked teasingly. “Giving away weapons like that when you've obviously put some elbow grease into those, that ain't like you.”

Bado shrugged and tapped the bottle still on his arm. “Guess you could say the lady's words eventually sunk in. I'm still going to find some way to make good money, but I've decided it's not worth short-changing my forging for. Besides, having the town knights armed with good weapons is good advertisement for my shop. It'll come back to me eventually.”

Though Sven didn't think that was entirely right, if it meant he'd put quality into his work, it might be a decent way to go. But he felt that this was yet another kindness that he had to repay. Perhaps to Bado someday, or perhaps to the community. Keeping the town peaceful and safe was the best way he had to do that.

Outside on the streets, Doug kept an eye out to make sure the way stayed clear while Sven flipped the switch to open the blade. The movements were quick and clean, enough to where he could probably do the more impressive draws with some practice. The balance between the handle and blade was like it was custom made to his body even better than the last one that counted on the full body armor. With that, the movements returned to him smoother than he had been fighting. It was still a slow weapon, but he had his rune abilities in dashing, Bladestorm, and Downsplit. That and his new abilities as an earthmate helped increase his mobility.

“You look awesome with that,” Doug said proudly. “I bet nobody from back in the day would have thought you'd get this powerful.”

He couldn't help but smile at that. “I think you lose that bet to yourself since you always told me I'd be strong one day.”

“At least I don't lose anything to that,” he said. “Guess we'd better go find Leon now. I hope he's at the library because if he's not, I don't have a clue where to start looking.”

He was at the library, sitting by an open window with his bare feet up on a stool. A notebook was open in his lap while a large book floated open above it. Writing with surprising speed and neatness, Leon was focused so intently on the translation that it took Doug nudging the floating book aside to get a response out of him. “Cut it out, do you know how long it takes to get that focused?” Leon asked gruffly.

“Sorry, but we have something important to ask you about,” Doug asked.

“Fine, what's the trouble?” He set a bookmark in the book and notebook to set them aside. “If it's simple enough that you should have asked the catalog golem, there will be trouble for you.”

“We want to know if you would be willing to hold a funerary service for an entire dwarven town that got eradicated in the last war five years ago,” Doug said.

That got Leon to change his attitude, forgetting about the interruption. Sven thought he should add, “Bado's working on the war memorial, but we should do all we can for them. It was the main town our clan lived in.”

“Sure, do you have a guide on what the service should be like?” Leon asked, more serious than Sven usually saw him.

“Uh, yeah, here,” Doug flipped through the bookmarked sections of the book on their clan's customs to find that for him. As he handed it over, he said, “Didn't expect you to agree so fast. Do we need to compensate you for it?”

He shook his head as he started reading. “Nope, don't charge for funerals. Even for one so delayed. Sheesh, how'd the town get ignored for five years?”

“I don't know exactly, but they may have thought the memorial at Medritarc was close enough to cover Telliarc,” Doug said.

“I could've told them that was dumb just based on the names,” Leon said. “I won't charge money for it, but if you want good karma, you'll feed me.”

“That's no trouble,” Doug said with a smile.

After reading over it, Leon nodded slowly. “Yeah, this shouldn't be hard to do. I do need to get you boys to sing.”

“Seriously?” Doug asked, unsure of doing that. But it was for their family.

“I don't think I'd be any good at it,” Sven said.

“Doesn't matter how good it is as long as it's done,” Leon said. “It's out of respect for your clan's traditions; you really going to skip it when dealing with a whole ghost town?”

“No, it's just something I wasn't expecting,” Doug said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Let me know how this sounds,” Leon said, then began singing in the dwarven language. It was appropriately solemn for a funerary song. However, somehow Leon was hitting that different tonal inflection that dwarves had naturally. Supposedly it was so that their voices carried clear farther than without. Sven felt it just as surprising to hear that language again and still be able to understand it. Maybe he could sing it, just without the inflection?

When he stopped, Sven said, “That was really good, but how did you get it exactly right?”

“Yeah, that was eerily perfect coming from a human,” Doug added.

“ _Was it?_ ” he asked, shifting his ears forward and trying to hear himself better. Then he grinned. “Ooo, I see. Being bound to language means I can insult people in their native languages far better than before. Nice.”

“Um, I think that counts as an abuse of power,” Sven said, making Doug chuckle.

“If I do more good than harm, and make it funny, I think I can squeak by as usual,” Leon said. “I'll make a quick copy of the song needed so you two can practice while I hang onto this book to make sure I get the service right. And now it's your turn to sing.” He grinned and looked up at them expectantly.

* * *

 

Spring 72

It was the day of the fishing contest and Dolce had been looking forward to it. While she'd only fished occasionally, those occasions were fun. It was a satisfying sport where patience and technique were rewarded. The day was warm and sunny, just perfect for spending the day outside. However, she wasn't getting much fishing done because Amber was torn between having fun with friends and having to deal with fish to do so.

The worst of it was when Amber actually got a bite. “Aaa, it's a fish!” she squealed, flying up while still holding onto her fishing pole. She was keeping the line taunt, but not trying to reel it it.

“Huh?” Clorica asked, finally waking up from where she was fishing nearby. She glanced over bewildered.

“Amber, come down!” Forte said quickly, dropping her pole in order to grab Amber by the waist right as the fish jerked the line. “You'll brace yourself better with your feet on the ground.”

“Right, that'll be easier,” Dolce said, trying to split her attention between her line and Amber's.

“I, I can escape better if I'm up,” Amber said.

“No, you can win this battle,” Xiao said, reeling in her own line in order to help. “Start pulling it in.”

Amber finally consented to having Forte set her down. “Uuh, I'll try. But I hope it's little.”

“You'll get it, keep reeling,” Frey said, setting her pole aside to pull in Forte's line too.

Forte remained by Amber's side, keeping a hand on her shoulder. “It's fine, we believe in you.”

“Is everything okay over here?” Meg asked, coming over in concern. “I heard her scream.”

“She just hooked a fish, that's all,” Dolce said.

After a minute of frantic reeling, Amber finally brought in the ten inch cherry salmon. Dolce thought it was a nice looking fish, with pinkish-brown scales and a white belly. But Amber stared at it wide-eyed as if it was a wolf that might bite her. Forte got it off the hook for her. “Here, it's a nice little cherry salmon. Want to hold it?”

“Um, is it gonna hurt?” Amber asked.

“No, not a cherry salmon,” Dolce said, pulling in her own line. There were fish that could hurt if handled improperly, but this didn't seem to be the time to mention them.

“I guess if you're here,” Amber said, taking it from Forte and trying to look at it face to face.

“Yes, it may not seem so frightening if it's right there with you to see truth with,” Xiao said, coming over.

“It's a pretty color,” Amber said, but then it twisted itself about trying to get free. “Eek!” She tossed it back into the water, where it quickly swam off.

“Well you got one, so that's a good start,” Meg said, trying to cheer her up.

“Yeah, so can I stop now?” Amber asked, not anticipating another fish.

“Do you want to do something else instead?” Dolce asked. As much as she liked to fish, she wasn't crazy about it like Dylas obviously was and she didn't want Amber to feel left out of the day's activities.

“If it's okay, we can play some kind of game,” Amber said, her eyes lighting up at the hope that at least Dolce and Pico would come along.

“With the nice sun above it seems to be a shame to not be outside,” Xiao said. “I know! We can go to the town plaza and play kickball. There are a few at the inn I can bring.”

“Yay, um, so the game is kicking balls?” Amber asked. “That sounds fun!”

“That would be a fun diversion,” Forte said, surprisingly happy with the suggestion. She always seemed so formal that a child's game didn't seem fully suited to her.

Dolce knew a proper young lady shouldn't be playing a possibly sweaty and messy game like kickball. But then, those were old dead ideas and it did sound fun. “I suppose it is a healthy alternative,” she said.

It didn't take long for Frey and Meg to agree to come along for the game. For a moment, Dolce thought of inviting Wendy along. But she seemed to be busy drawing at the other end of the field, so they let her be and went to the town plaza to play.

By the end of the day, Dolce was getting tired and wanted a shower (it was an especially nice thing about this time). It was still fun, even better when the older women in town thought of the kickball game as a great idea and even joined in a little. She stuck around for the announcement of the contest winner; it was Dylas who somehow managed to catch thirty-one fish in the eight hours of the contest, seven more than the second place finisher. Curious about it, she followed him to see Venti about it.

“Mercy, somehow you've gotten even better than before,” Venti said to Dylas about his score.

“How on earth did you manage it?” Dolce asked. “I thought twenty-four was a high number for the time allotted.”

“I was using fly lures at the south end of the lake, where it runs into the stream that heads into the valley below,” Dylas said.

“I bet you were using your senses too, which is completely unfair to fish and people alike,” Leon said. Before Dylas could protest that, Leon looked up to Venti and asked, “I've been meaning to ask and this looks like a good chance: you named Dolce a dragon priestess yourself, right?”

Venti nodded. “Right. Her mother and I had already been talking about accepting her in the spring.”

“Sorry,” Dolce said.

“I let most of the fish go after they were accounted for,” Dylas said, annoyed at the accusation.

“Heh, you can't blame a person for using the talents they were given,” Venti said in amusement.

“Are you sure you should use such a forgiving statement around Leon?” Dolce asked, raising an eyebrow at the idea.

“I'll be after you or anybody if you use them to hurt others,” she said.

“Anyhow,” Leon said, tapping his fan to his chin like he didn't care about it. “Then that means Dolce is official. You want to help me do something priestly? It's right up your alley.”

“What are you doing as a dragon priest?” Venti asked, tilting her head curiously.

“I got asked to hold a memorial service for the whole town of Telliarc a few days back,” Leon said.

“Oh, the dwarven town that was lost in the last war,” Venti said. “That's good for you both to honor them. They've always been good neighbors to Selphia.”

Dolce was a little worried about the statement that it was right up her alley (where'd he pick up that slang?). But then, she knew the last war had been at least four years ago and a town destroyed by war was sure to have lots of suffering ghosts left behind. This was a show of mercy for them. “I'd like to help, but I was only instructed for human funeral services and guiding ghosts.”

Leon shrugged. “First time I'm holding a funeral for any dwarf myself, but I've read over the material and it's not too different. I'll be leading the service and conducting all the parts that need to be spoken in the language. It doesn't seem necessary to have a second helping with the service, but I believe it'll go over even better with another priest or priestess. Come over to the library tonight and I'll run you through the ideas I have.”

Between the thoughts of giving peace to ghosts and having Venti's approval for the service, Dolce agreed with a nod. “Sure, I'll be over in a little while.”

* * *

 

Spring 75

The whole town was down in the airfield to see them off, or even join them as witnesses for the service. Doug wasn't sure if he was in shock or in awe of this, even after word had started getting around that his move to Selphia wasn't an innocent accidental one. As before, Kiel and Vishnal came along as his and Sven's friends. This time, Blossom decided to come too for their sake, even at the risk of encountering restless ghosts before they could get started. Amber wanted to come as well, saying that she wanted to see the funeral and be a friend. Bado was along to install his work and Leon had brought in Dolce to help him with the service.

Lastly and most surprisingly, Lest and Arthur had come along while leaving Frey in charge of town for the afternoon. Lest was even wearing the feathered cloak that obviously made him the prince of Selphia while Arthur had an overcoat with the seal of the Norad nation that made him obvious as a prince of Norad. As Arthur explained it, “Telliarc has been a part of Norad and it is regretful that this has not yet been done for their souls. Therefore, it's only proper that we honor them as allies and dignitaries.”

“Well it's also good to respect your neighbors, even in the next town over,” Lest said without the political dressing.

Whatever reasons they had, Doug felt grateful they were all supporting him and Sven in this. It hadn't even felt all that important at first, since neither of them had known anyone from Telliarc all that well. But Doug had gotten to thinking that it was to honor those who had been closer in Medritarc as well. Taking care of this final business would put the two towns at peace, perhaps his own heart in regards to the past as well. Then there was waving to the people who had come to see the ship off and seeing the town of Selphia pass by. This really was his home now, just as Medritarc had been. The place and the people were important to him and they accepted him as one of their own. His cousin felt the same way even though he hadn't been around as long.

On reaching their destination, Doug stayed by Blossom's side to make sure she was fine walking down the stone steps down into the old town. It wasn't a long walk to the main hall and there were plenty of engravings on the wall pointing the way. While Sven and Dolce keep an eye on the ghosts, Bado put the memorial in place and Leon directed the rest in setting up the area for the ceremony. Amber located some torches that they set up in a circle for light, revealing the cavernous hall where the whole town would have gathered for meetings or special occasions. Although it had been several years since this place was inhabited, there were still many tables, chairs, and even a large bell in the room. Some flags hung on the wall, but those were starting to get worn or chewed on.

Leon was reviewing things in the book as the scene was finally set. “If we're all ready... Doug, I need you to ring the bell over there four times to announce the service. Make sure to wait for it to stop vibrating before striking it again, it needs to be a slow tolling.”

The bell was tremendously loud being right up next to it with the club that rang it. It momentarily deafened him, but Doug could feel the vibrations and ring it appropriately that way. Thankfully, Leon kept a minute of silence after the tolling out of respect. That let Doug's ears adjust so he could hear again when the service started. Between the priest's ability to mimic the intonation and his strong voice, Leon's words filled the main hall with an intensity like the bell and couldn't be missed. He had the intent of reach all the lost souls in this town and the mines connected to it if he could. Doing so seemed to take some effort, but Leon often broke off his recital so that Dolce could interpret it into Norad. Her voice wasn't nearly as powerful, but her part may have been more for the benefit of the living.

There were points in the ceremony where Doug felt like he could hear whispers from the dead. It was unnerving but saddening at the same time. Knowing they were present, he started wondering what could have happened if things had gone differently. If Sven had stayed with them, if he'd listened to his grandparents and given them a chance... where would he be and what would he be doing? It was just idle wondering even if it made him feel guilty in having blown off their way of life. He didn't think he would have gone full traditional, but maybe he should try to understand that way again and accept it like Selphia accepted all kinds of people.

After the point where Doug, Sven, Leon, Dolce, and Bado sang the song of respect for the departed, Leon had the whole group echo his final words of parting in Norad to end the ceremony. “Rest ye weary souls, the time for wandering these tunnels is done. Go in peace. May the way ahead be safe and warm.”

The torches flared up in the silence afterwards, but the atmosphere did not seem troubled any longer. Instead, there was acceptance and gratitude for the respect given. Many souls moved on; only one actually appeared in visible form. When the red-haired dwarf spoke, her voice was familiar as being the one they'd spoken to before. “You all did more than was asked for,” Niam said, for some reason appearing with and sitting on a wooden trunk within the circle of torches. “Thank you. I'm sticking around for a little while to make sure all the rest have moved on, but it seems my job is about done.”

“It was our duty to bring this town peace once we accepted the request,” Leon said for them all. “We're glad to have helped.”

“And I'm glad you got through to all of 'em,” Niam said. “But while you're here, there's another matter to be taken care of. Won't take long, promise. I was asking around about how my lucky dagger got into his hands and got reminded of a fuss that came around a few days before the siege ended. My successor as the clan head went through a ritual to see about assigning his heir to start training them and the name that came up was Doug's.”

“What, even though I was born a surface dwarf?” Doug asked, shocked but also thinking it must have been a bigger shock to the old dwarves.

Niam nodded and waved him to come closer. “Right, which they did not like. But a repeat query got a repeat answer, so they were going to do what they could to get you to move here and get instructed properly. While it would've been better if things didn't happen as they did, the truth of the matter is that Medritarc is still part of Telliarc and you are the oldest survivor of both, thus you're now the head of the clan. I believe it's still appropriate even if the nature of the clan changes. It's already changed as more youths were leaving the traditional ways. There are other members of the clan living elsewhere and you may come to find that most of them are more like you than us. Thus if the clan changes, we can't argue with it now.”

“There's that, but then I'm not sure what I'll be doing,” Doug said. “Don't even know where to start looking for other members of the clan.”

Niam shrugged and patted the trunk. “Check the records in here and go from there. There's also a collection of writings from other clan heads about what should and shouldn't be done. But in the end, the main thing we do is keep the records straight and make suggestions. Those suggestions usually get ignored or bickered about because folks get set in their ways and be stubborn about having to change them. Then you have to get creative to get things organized right.”

“That sounds like a pain,” Doug said.

She laughed. “Yeah, but somebody's gotta do it. You can just do what I did: read the old stuff and figure out what to ignore and what to follow by your own beliefs. Probably more important for you. Most important thing right now is to track down the rest of the group to update the records and inform the heads of the other clans that were here of what went on today. Feel free to bitch them out for not doing it themselves, the selfish jerks.”

“All right, I'll work on that,” he said. So now he was head of the Geisel clan, however small and scattered it was now. It was a strange thought, as he'd never thought himself as being in charge of anyone, or an authority on anything.

“I have a feeling you'll do just fine, lightning weaver,” Niam said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That marks the end of arc 2 for this fic. Next begins the romance sections which make up the longest arc of the story.


	49. Princess of the Forge

Spring 63

Busy busy busy... the things to do never seemed to end. Last winter, Frey had finished the fourth rune sphere and moved on to creating a scout golem to take some readings within Rune Prana. That is, once they figured out how to get past that darn door. She'd already tried explosives, pry bars, and spells to open it, only for them all to fail. The explosives didn't even mar the writing on the door, not the original text and not the added engravings of names from many generations seeking good fortune. Although if they had known what was beyond the door, maybe the folklore would be different.

Before she'd arrived, she thought she'd end up going with Lest to the rune springs when he broke his leg. It was something she'd planned on doing all along. While her brother had struggled for so long to gain control of his native powers, she took to other forms of magic easily. Lest was good at deterring monsters, but Frey had hoped he'd wait for her to protect him from the stronger more stubborn ones. But then he healed himself and managed to free all the guardians on his own. She was proud of him, if disappointed that she couldn't help more.

The guardians were free, the rune spheres were all in place, and all but one of the rune springs was now in proper position... but there was still more to do. There was a theory on channeling the corrupt runes to contain them, which was still important as Darryl's tower was infested with them. Below the castle, there was the untouchable gate that produced hate spirits. It was linked to Storgane's current existence as a ghost. While her brother was at work on that in balancing love and hate runes to his favor, Frey had activated her scout golem to run around the underground tunnels and see what was there. She'd already found some interesting things, like that most of the buildings in Selphia were connected through underground tunnels in unused basement levels and wooden halls under the platform extensions. Those were still safe, so she was mapping them.

And there was reviewing the guardians' statements on the ether sea to see about retrying some old experiments, figuring out how the rune springs really worked, all the little crafting projects she wanted to get done at one point or another... so much to still do.

Right now, she was working at a project Venti had given her three days ago. Sven had been blessed as an earthmate and was in dire need of appropriate armor as his last set had gotten wrecked in Obsidian Mansion. Frey had gone to the clinic as soon as Jones let her in order to get measurements on him, including his rune composition analysis. Interestingly, he had large rune point pool and high regeneration rate both active and resting. He was having trouble learning spells, but could use weapon abilities constantly and never run out of power for them. But for all the rune points he had, his magic defense was abysmal, hardly even registering. His physical defense was fine, although that was through extensive training and boosting through potions. If it wasn't for that, he'd be a sickly but powerful mage instead of a fighter.

Frey had checked through a number of her family's research notes until she came up with an armor design to start with. Since Sven used a slower class of weapon and a high pool of rune points, she decided it was fine to use an armor with more heft to maximize his defense. It might slow him down even with a dashing skill, but he needed to soak a lot of damage in case he ran into a quicker opponent. Not just that, but his ability to take damage for others needed to be considered. An armor that could regenerate itself and its wearer would be ideal, as would teaching him some shielding or self-healing spells. With an alignment to the dark element, he'd be able to easily learn energy draining techniques. That is, if his conscious let him.

As all these thoughts raced through her head, she found some trouble with the design plan. She wanted to use three sets of element cores as boosters for his magic defense. One set for the armored coat, one for the tall boots, and one for the helm. They were uncommon materials that she couldn't rely on the local market for. While she could ask Arthur if he could work something out, there were records that the cores could be found in Selphia. And she was short one red core for the whole design. All other missing pieces were ones she was sure she could find on the next market day.

She went upstairs and looked around. While Lest had the bracelet, she didn't have a way to contact the butlers. Fortunately, she came across Vishnal at work in the parlor. “Hey, can I ask you something about the countryside around here?”

He paused and nodded. “Of course, princess, what is it you'd like to know?

While the thought of being a princess still annoyed her, Frey was slowly getting used to it. Plus Vishnal had seemed really disappointed the first time she got snippy with him about it. He took a great deal of pride in becoming a butler, so she had relented with him first about calling her a princess. “There's this place on the map called Rouge's Spring. Is that a fairy spring?”

“Yes, they're commonly seen around that pond,” Vishnal said. “Mostly the red elemental variety, so it's a good idea to keep some fire protection if you need to be near there.”

And it didn't seem that far away by the map. “Great, that's just what I'm looking for,” Frey said. “I should be able to zip on over there, try my luck, and still get back before dark.”

“Err, you probably shouldn't be going out there on your own,” he said in concern. “I mean, you do fight really well, but the red elementals are intelligent and powerful monsters. It'd be safer to have someone with you.”

“You want to come along?” she asked. She knew from the battle with Sven's hell gate that Vishnal was also really good with dual blades. What she wasn't sure of was where he kept his swords, since they weren't obvious with his uniform and he was capable of bringing them out at a moment's notice.

He shook his head. “I would, but sorry, not right now. I've got a lot to get done and I need to keep near Lest today.”

“Right, since he's still worn out from the hell gate yesterday,” Frey said. Which meant she couldn't ask him to come along with the promise to look for the buffamoos that were supposed to be near that area too. “Well I'll ask around and see if someone else will come. Thanks for letting me know, Vishnal!”

“You're welcome, and be careful out there,” he said, going back to his tasks in the parlor.

Ever since she had the idea to go out to Rouge's Spring to look for a red elemental that could be talked out of a red core, there had been one person in her mind to ask for help in this: Leon. He knew the fairy language so would be a huge help in conning a conniving fairy. He was also fun to adventure around with, being strong and good with magic. Plus he was witty and funny as long as one had a mind to keep up with his barbs. Some of the other girls thought he was a jerk and he might be. But Frey found him fun to be around. Even the moments he was infuriating were often clever when she thought back over it.

She was also getting an idea of the perfect way to spring this request on him.

Leon was in the library as usual, at the main desk this time. It looked like he had some translation work he was getting stuck on. Tapping his pencil on the notebook rather than writing, he was looking off in thought. Frey hoped it was a sign he was bored and wouldn't mind leaving town for a few hours. “Hey, Leon?” she asked as she leaned over the desk.

Ears twitching, he glanced over at her. “Oh, hey Frey. Don't mind me, just thinking.”

“Thinking about what?” He did have the Book of Guidance open, so if it was a translation issue on that, she wouldn't mind talking about it.

But it wasn't. “Just about friends I had before I became a guardian. It's been so long ago that it'd be really difficult to find out what happened to them.”

Saddened at the thought of it, Frey wondered if this wasn't a good time to be asking him. “Aw, Leon...”

Then for some reason he smirked. “You have really funny look on your face now.”

“Hey!” When he laughed at that, Frey took the chance to snatch his feathered fan from the desk and point it at him. “That was mean.”

“Give that back,” Leon said, trying to grab it.

But she pulled back to get it out of his reach. “Nu-uh, not until you apologize.”

“You're a conniving little troublemaker,” he said, a little angered but before long he smiled. “But you're so darn cute about it. Fine, I'm sorry for toying with your emotions. May I have that back please?”

“You may,” she said, handing it back. “What's with that fan anyhow? You always have it with you.”

“It's my security blanket,” he said. When that didn't convince her, he chuckled. “Fine, it's the symbol of my rank as a priest to a divine dragon, at least back in the day. I worked really hard for it so even if the position is defunct now, I don't like the idea of giving the fan up.”

Frey smiled and leaned back on the desk. “Well okay, then I might not take it from you again.”

“Only might?” he asked. When she didn’t give an answer to that, he shrugged. “Now what are you here to bug me about this time?”

“I want to go out of town for a bit but people keep bugging me not to go alone,” she said. “It's really annoying because not even my family got this overprotective when I was a girl. At least you make things more interesting, so I wanted to see if you'd come look for something with me.”

“Hmm, where exactly are you going?” Leon asked, sounding interested but wary of going certain places.

“A fairy spring south of town,” she said. “I need one more red elemental core for my current project and thus need to find a red elemental fairy to get it from. Either in battling it or trading, or even tricking it if we can manage.”

“That could be fun, or it could be a lot of trouble,” he said, thinking it over. “Can you get the core another way?”

“If I'm lucky with traders since they're not common items,” Frey said. “If I needed more than one, or another color, I could ask if I can get the commission's deadline pushed back. But it's for Sven's new armor, so we don't want to delay it too long and if I can really get it not too far from town, I'd much rather make the attempt today.”

“Makes sense for you, but what's in it for me?” Leon asked, tapping his fingers on the desk.

Were fairies really that bad? But that was the opening she was looking for. “I'll take you out on a date tonight.”

He immediately stopped tapping his fingers and stared at her.

Maybe he was just surprised that a girl would ask for a date like this. “We could go to the restaurant, my treat. I saw fish on the menu.”

“Now don't go making this too tempting,” Leon said in protest, making her giggle. “Are you serious about this?”

“Yeah, why wouldn't I be?” she asked. It had been a joke around town that they were dating ever since the cooking contest. While she did have fun with him in messing around with other people, Frey liked him enough that she thought it'd be a good time to try taking it seriously.

“I don't know about that,” he said, looking aside.

Was he blushing? Frey thought he was, but she noticed that she was now in good reach of one of his ears. Unable to resist, she leaned on the counter and started petting the ear.

“Hey, I'm not a,” he started to tense, but then relaxed just as suddenly. “Oh wait, that does feel really nice.”

She laughed. “Now you're the one being cute.”

Then he grabbed her hand in both of his, a nice strong grip. “Fine, I'll go along with that,” he said, looking back at her with a smile. “But let's hold off on this or I might enjoy it too much.”

Yes, it worked! “Sure, but what do you mean by that?”

“I thought you were more worldly than that,” Leon said, briefly puzzled but then shaking his head. “Never mind, let me go set up the catalog golem to run the front desk so I don't have to close up the library fully.”

Ten minutes later, they were headed out of town to find the way to Rouge's Spring. Leon was uncharacteristically quiet at first, but she managed to get him talking with some jests and poking fun at a Wooly with no wool coat. By the time they crossed the Mush Expanse bridge that was near a small forest of giant mushrooms, he was his normal self in playing around and taking a moment just to look over the impressive view from the bridge.

The spring wasn't far from there. It was a small pond that bubbled up in the center and trickled out at one corner into a creek. At the edges, summer flowers sprouted up as a hint that fairies did live here: fireflowers, pom-poms, and sunflowers were all here even though they shouldn't be appearing for another couple weeks. The grove of trees in a mostly open plain was another hint. “Well this is it, just have to figure out how to get some attention,” Frey said, glancing around.

“Could go the simple route,” Leon said, stooping down to pick up a stone and toss it into the water.

There was a loud splash as a fairy came right out of the water; she looked furious. Frey had been expecting to run into a small elemental, but this fairy was a good two feet tall, with pale pink wings and red rose petals forming a dress. “What was that for, you jerks?!” she asked, twirling around and making a pink shimmer come over Leon. “Take that!”

“What?” Leon asked as the spell didn't hurt him. Instead, it put a green headband with a small yellow sunflower on his head.

“If you're gonna be mean to a girl then you're gonna wear the girly thing,” Rouge said, thinking that was fitting.

“It's pretty!” Frey said cheerfully. Maybe not so much on Leon because it stood out too much with the white and blue clothes he was wearing today.

Leon took it in stride, making an elegantly feminine gesture to bring his fan to his face. “Well if you're going to make me even more beautiful, I won't get angry. Thank you dear.”

Rouge immediately laughed, maybe even forgetting that he'd thrown a rock in her pond. “Okay, maybe you're more fun than I thought. Want to come to my home? We can have some fun!”

“No, thank you, rather the real lady here wishes to ask you about something,” Leon said, waving towards Frey with his fan.

“You want to come to my house?” Rouge asked, eyes widening as if eager.

But she lived in the pond; accepting that invitation might invite drowning. “No thanks, I'm just fine talking up here,” Frey said. “I was looking for a red elemental core to make something nice. Do you have one I could trade you for?”

“Oo, I collect those,” Rouge said. “They're nice. Want to see my collection? I can take you there real quick.”

“No, that's fine, I just want one for now,” Frey said. Leon shook his head as well.

Briefly, she was mad again. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, “Hmph, I was trying to be a nice hostess. If you want one, you're going to have to entertain me.”

“I can make sparklies!” Frey said, raising her hand to cast a spell. It started off like a normal illumination spell, summoning an orb of light. Before it solidified into something that would follow her around, it exploded into a cascade of sparkling light.

Rouge stared at the sight slack-jawed. Once it faded, she cheered. “Wow, do it again!”

“Sure enough,” she said, sending off another firework spell, this time of reds and pinks. That delighted Rouge.

“I can do something like that too,” Leon said, taking a fallen leaf and tossing it into the air over the pond. He twirled his fan to form a fire pattern. The leaf then caught on fire and exploded into embers that dissolved away before they hit the ground.

“Ooo, pretty!” Rouge said in delight. She summoned up a spiked seed pod from a sweetgum tree. “How about this one?”

“Those are fun,” he said, smiling as he caused the damp pod to whistle and spark before exploding. Rouge then tested him with an acorn, a stone, and finally an oval red crystal. Leon stopped at the last. “Hang on, that's one of the red cores she's looking for.”

“Boo, so close,” Rouge said. However, she tossed the core to Frey. “Hee hee, you two are fun humans. Okay, you can have this core. I'll even let him take off the headband. Do what you want with it, I can make more easy.”

“Thanks, that was fun,” Frey said as she looked over the core. It was a good quality one made of fairy magic. One of its best qualities in crafting was that it had a strong native defense against magic, exactly what Sven needed in his armor.

Leon took off the headband as soon as he was allowed, looking over it a few seconds. Then he quickly put it on her head in a horizontal position with the flower right at her forehead. “There, that suits you well.”

“Hey, you've got it on wrong,” Frey said, putting the core in her belt bag before fixing it to sit at an angle behind her ears.

Rouge laughed. “If you like it, you ought to wear it and visit Olive. She'd love you lots, I'm sure. And she likes shiny stones, just so you know. Come back and play with me sometime.” She then dropped back into the pond.

They were both in a good mood on the walk back, talking about the firework spells, fireworks, and maybe even searching for the other fairy some time. Back at the castle, they found Lest outside talking with Blossom. Frey couldn't resist calling out, “Leslie, Leon got me a pretty flower!”

“More like I had nothing I could do with it,” Leon said in a dismissive manner.

Lest smiled. “Looks nice, but it doesn't go with your current outfit.”

“Well then I'll find one that does,” Frey said.

“Were you visited by fairies outside town?” Blossom asked, smiling at the sight.

“More like we went hunting one down to play with,” she said. She looked up at Leon and grinned. “Cause that's just what we do, right?”

“Right, cause otherwise the fairies will try to kill us,” Leon said in a deadpan voice.

Blossom chuckled. “They can be trouble. Then again, people used to say that lucky things will come to a girl who can collect four of those flower headbands from fairies. But they're all quite different and what will impress one fairy will anger another. An angry one might even destroy the headband you have.”

“That sounds fun,” she said. Maybe it would be worthwhile to track down those fairies, if only to see what would happen.

“And a big hassle,” Leon said. Then he bowed in an exaggerated way. “Well I helped you with your errand, lovely princess, so I will be taking your leave for the day.”

Frey frowned and grabbed his vest. “No you're not! I'm still taking you on a date tonight because that's what we agreed on!”

“Aw, do I have to?” he whined.

“Yes you do,” she said sternly.

“Are you sure you want to drag me kicking and screaming all the way across town?”

“By your hair, yes.”

Meanwhile, Blossom and Lest were laughing. “Do you really want to disappoint the girl by going back on your word?” Blossom asked, although too amused to make it scolding.

“I didn't ask for this,” Leon said, still trying to squirm out of it somehow.

“But you agreed to it,” Frey said.

“Only after you kept pestering me,” he said.

“I'll tell Ventuswill all about it if you skip out on the date,” Lest said, smiling mischievously. “Or maybe not even all, just enough to make her curious and bug the hell out of you.”

“Fine, fine, I'll go,” Leon said, sticking his lip out in a pout. “Just give me some time to get back home and clean up. I'll meet you back here in an hour, all right?”

“All right, I'll be waiting!” Frey said cheerfully. That was probably a good idea after roaming around the countryside even if she meant it to be a casual date.

“Having to work hard to earn that boy's heart already?” Blossom said. “I hope it's worth it.”

“I think it will be,” Frey said. “Thanks!” She headed upstairs to get ready herself.

She wanted to wear the flower headband, so she searched around her closet until she found a simple green dress. It was just an everyday kind of dress and the green didn't fully match, but she had a belt that did match the headband to make it work. In her mind, she knew what kind of necklace she wanted to wear, one that had a gold chain and a light crystal. Those crystals naturally had a pretty sunburst structure which would match the sunflower. But she couldn't find it.

Eventually, she went downstairs and found Lest reading in the open parlor. “Hey, do you have the light crystal necklace?'

“Yeah, you want it for tonight?” he asked, putting a bookmark in his place.

“Sure, I was wondering where that one went,” she said, following him to his bedroom.

He found it after a couple of minutes. “Sorry about taking it, it's just such a nice one. Want me to put it on you?”

“Nah, I got it,” she said, taking it from him. “You don't seem too worried about me going out.”

“Well I am because you two might be plotting how to dethrone me and take over the region,” Lest said.

Frey laughed, which made him crack a smile. “That's not on the agenda but if I start losing him, I might use that to keep his attention, thanks. But really, you've got no need to worry about that. Taking over from you would mean I'd have to handle the farms and that would take up so much time from my forging and crafting. You can keep the official position; I'm starting to tolerate where I am.”

“Thank you for being tolerable,” he said. Now that she had the necklace on, he came closer to her. “Although I feel like I should say you're in for a tough time trying to keep him, more than just joking about it. I don't know the details, but he's torn between letting you closer and pushing you far away.”

That made her worry. “Really? I thought he was messing with me because that's his hobby.”

“More of a habit than hobby,” Lest said, his eyes unfocused in thinking about it. “Being a guardian wasn't a peaceful sleep; they're all still suffering from what they went through all these centuries. They are getting better, but it's going to be a slow progress even if they have support from others. And if you do get closer to him, you will need to support him, maybe even soon because he's the last one with an active hell gate attached to him. I can feel some depression on him today, this whole week really.”

“He seemed just fine today,” Frey said, thinking back over their adventure. “Although I did have to work at convincing him to come out with me.”

“You have to know someone really well to be able to tell when they're using an act to cover inner pain,” Lest said.

“Or have an empathy like yours,” she said.

“Kind of. The pain leaks sometimes even through the strongest defenses, but I've had people fool me until I hit a weak point.” He shook his head. “Sorry, I don't mean to be a pain before you go on a date.”

“What should I do about him? I'd like to help.” Especially if he'd actually not been joking back at the start with being sad over his old friends.

He moved aside, leaning back against his dresser. “Well... for starters, keep doing whatever you're doing to draw him closer. Being upbeat, interesting, or whatever. Listen to him and try to let him lead the conversation, but be prepared because that can change the mood drastically. It's your first date, so I hope it doesn't get gloomy because he might avoid you then.”

“Then I still need to keep his interest so he starts taking me seriously?” She hoped he did because Leon was one of the most interesting guys she'd come across.

“I hope that works for you both,” Lest said. “And don't stay out too late.”

Frey smiled. “We're just going out to eat, but sure, I'll be a good girl and be back at a good time. Thanks for the advice.” Then she hugged him before going outside to sit on a bench and wait.

Despite having tried to get out of it, Leon surprised her by showing up with a shirt on, a white button-up shirt with a brown vest over it, then brown pants to complete the outfit. He was still wearing sandals and hanging onto the fan, but it was almost respectable like one would expect out of a librarian. Figuring that she needed to keep cheerful and cute because he seemed to like that, she said, “Are you sick? I've never seen you with a shirt on.”

“Nah, I got it for special occasions,” he said. “And if I have to go, might as well dress the part. Shall we go?” He offered his hand to her in a gentlemanly fashion.

Smiling and taking his hand, she got up from her seat. “Yes, let's.”

A few others were out enjoying the early evening; those who noticed them gave a double take on seeing Leon dressed up. She wondered if he thought the change would embarrass her, but she thought it was amusing. Besides, he'd dressed up for her, which helped her brother's idea that Leon wasn't entirely reluctant to date her. He even got the restaurant door for her without trying to trip her or otherwise trick her.

Dylas was working as a waiter this evening, so he soon met them near the door. “Welc...” then he stared at Leon. “Are you sick or something?”

“No, I'm just humoring her tonight,” Leon said.

She wasn't going to let him get away with that. “We're on a date and he was nice enough to neaten up for it,” she said with a smile.

Dylas raised an eyebrow at that, then smiled. “That's sweet. Would you like one of the private rooms? None of them are on reserve tonight.”

“Well it's,” Leon started to say.

“Sure,” Frey interrupted. When he gave her a questioning look, she said, “I'm paying, so I can decide.”

“Can't really argue against that,” Leon said reluctantly.

“Go on over to the counter and let Porco know what you'd like,” Dylas said. “I'll make sure the room is ready and bring you over in a few minutes.”

The fish on the menu was grilled salmon, which Leon seemed fine with. After enduring some louder teasing from Porco about Leon being fully dressed and the two of them on an actual date, they were brought to a smaller dining room between the restaurant and Arthur's office. It was clearly set up for a romantic date, with a small round dining table by the door, an overstuffed loveseat over by the window, and a record player set on a soft violin record. The room was lit with candles in mirrored sconces and a silver holder on the table. After placing their dinner on the table and drawing the curtains closed for them, Dylas left the room and shut the door.

“Where is this music coming from and why are they trying to put us to sleep?” Leon asked.

“That's annoying,” Frey said, going over to the player. There were other records in a box nearby. “At least we can change it.”

Leon came over to look over the black record turning under the pin. A lovely curling horn then gave volume to it. “How in the world does this thing work? Nothing about it seemed like it should make sound.”

She shook her head as she was flipping through the selection. Most were romantically themed. “That kind of technology is out of my field. But something about the arm there reads the grooves in the record and replay music that has been recorded there. Somehow, I dunno past that.” She pulled out one that was classical orchestra music, recognizing a few of the names and deciding it would be more tolerable. “Here's this. It's got music from Dolce's era.”

“If they're calling that classic, what are they calling music from my era?” Leon wondered.

“No idea,” Frey said, although ancient was probably it. She swapped the records and pulled Leon back to the table before he started fiddling with the player.

Getting him to lead conversations wasn't easy because he wasn't as talkative now. She finally had to ask him about the translation work to get him started, particularly about how most of the Book of Guidance was made up of little stories that taught morals rather than strict rules. “The title's got it right,” he said. “Like, this is where others before you have gone, learn the lessons but then go your own way. You think of it that way and a lot of it still applies to modern earthmates.”

“Or even those who aren't earthmates, most of the stories anyhow,” Frey said.

He nodded. “True. I used to tell myself that it would be boring and full of strictness to keep myself from reading the copy they forbade me to look at. But it is more interesting than that. Also very silly that they would keep it restricted. Even the spell guidelines that I've come across aren't that big of a deal, not enough to keep out of translation. I asked Kiel on a couple and he knew the spells already.”

“Well he seems to know a lot of spells,” she said. Though that was rather necessary to get into a study like alchemy that was based on a wide selection of magic knowledge.

“Yeah, self taught too. Interesting guy.” Leon started looking serious again, his ears shifting down a little. “Lots of interesting people around, like living a dream. Then how do we know we're not dreaming it all?”

“Because we're not asleep?” Frey said, wondering what brought that idea in. Though it seemed intriguing.

“Well that's not a very convincing argument when I'm on a date with a princess of the forge,” he said, making her laugh. “Which is far more interesting than a princess in the castle. I read a couple of those fairy tale storybooks and not even the people of my time would consider a girl that helpless, that she had to be kept indoors and guarded at all times. Men and women just have different work suited for them. Although, that has changed a lot from back then since they wouldn't let a girl near a forge.”

“My mother taught me how,” she said. “She said that anybody could work how they wanted as long as they made an honest effort.”

“I like that idea, along with a lot of other current ideas.” He looked down at where he was twirling his fork now that they were done eating, then said something worrisome. “Whether this is a dream or not, I had fun wandering around with you. Even so, you can never have my heart.”

“Why not?” she asked, nearly upset but then she remembered what Lest had said. This might only be one side of him talking.

“I don't have to tell you,” he said. “Basically, I decided I wasn't going to get married and that's that. Thus there's no reason for me to be dating anyone.”

If he was certain about it, then she saw no reason why he wouldn't explain. “Bet I can make you change your mind on no reason to date at all,” she said, smiling like she was out to make trouble.

He looked over the table, skeptical yet amused. “It's a lost cause, but it'd be amusing to see you try.”


	50. Fear of Waking

Spring 79, Year 386

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” she asked, fiddling nervously with her pink hair. “I don't want to speak out of line, but grandfather has been full of strange ideas lately and I'm worried that he has some other purpose behind this.”

“He's always been kind of strange, not bad,” he said, watching the mirrored glass to make sure his hat was sitting properly. His dark blue hair was hanging out in spots in front of his ears, so Leon brushed it back as neatly as he could. “But he's sworn himself to help Ven. He wouldn't have an ulterior purpose behind something meant to help her.”

That didn't seem to help Maria any. “Well Mom and I will be working hard to find the solution to resetting the rune springs and getting Ven stronger. He's not sharing much of his research, though, which makes everything take longer especially when he disrupts our study with something. So it's hard to say how long you'll be away.”

Leon smirked. “The two of you are smarter than him because two minds are better than one. I'm sure you'll be able to fix things.”

“We'll be working hard at it,” she said, blushing but still fidgeting. “But, what about us?”

“What about us?” he asked, not sure what she meant. He'd already explained about why he was going to be a guardian and how necessary it was. Trusting Darryl, Misa, and Maria to work on things with the time he bought them, Leon was sure they'd come up with something in a few years. It wouldn't be that long that he'd be gone.

“You should remember,” she said, trying not to cry. She was like that, sometimes she'd be near tears but never actually cry. “I thought you'd say something when I turned sixteen a little while ago and was wondering why you weren't... you do remember, don't you?”

He turned to her. “What are you talking about?”

She frowned but held back on lashing out. “About us getting married.”

“Why would we get married?” he asked without thinking, and instantly regretted it at the painful reaction she had. “I mean, I like you Maria, but I've known you since the day you were born. You're like my little sister when I don't have any siblings of my own. It'd feel wrong to be married.”

“But we promised,” Maria said. “When we wrote our names on the tower door. I promised I'd stop crying if you promised that you'd marry me when we were old enough.”

That started to trigger his memory. He did know of writing their names on the door, mostly because Darryl had yelled at them for it while Misa thought it was cute. But he hadn't remembered why they'd done it. How did she remember it? And, that was why she was as she was... never crying and always seeming to be watching him expectantly the past couple years.

“Would you at least kiss me now?” she asked, her cheeks bright red in asking. “Please?”

“Maria, I...” he wanted to deny her because the idea made him feel like a creep. But he felt worse about making her so upset. “Fine.”

* * *

 

???

That kiss had been like poison, not right at first contact and causing pain in his heart long after. How did he forget about a promise like that, especially one that affected her so deeply? And how could he have been such a stupid kid to make that kind of promise? Maybe because it hadn't meant anything to him when he said it. He might have just been annoyed. After all, he remembered her as a little girl prone to crying at the smallest offense. But she had stopped crying that day, then and ever after.

Was it really ever after?

Leon walked along the dirt road towards the tower, following after Darryl in silence. Step by step, in sequence... he really did have lucid dreams because he could think of what was to come. A dark cold sea with a dreadful dragon lurking not far out of sight, Ven's heart breaking with the weight of guilt waiting for him, the horror of being trapped dead in a living coffin but still able to think, friends as dear as family who were only wordless voices that suffered as he did because they followed him...

But what happened in this time, back in the tiny village he inhabited where Maria would be working hard and waiting for him to return. Waiting, never crying no matter how heartbroken she was, working at something that wouldn't be solved until over a thousand years later; she probably died alone, still waiting for him to come back on a promise that he had forgotten within hours of making it. A promise he wouldn't even have kept if he had returned because her kiss was too bitter for him.

This was just a dream, just a memory. A wave of cold dampness rippled across his skin in spite of the spring sunshine around him. He'd woken up from the dream of Selphia to return to the ether sea through the hell gate; he'd woken up alone. No matter what he tried to sing, it was all quiet. That forced him to start thinking, and he'd escaped into another dream trying to wait. He had to wait on something or someone, although what or who had flitted from his mind. But then the dream led him here, to walking back down this road to the moment he'd become a guardian, to be alone all over again. He wished he could dream somewhere else, but he kept walking.

He was a terrible person for doing this to Maria and Ven. They were going to suffer alone all for a plan that ultimately turned out useless because the pain of losing him would counter whatever strength Ven got from his help. If he had managed to keep contact with Ven and communicate with her, maybe it might have turned out differently. But it wouldn't. He was going to sleep and wake up in the ether sea all alone with nothing but the flow of runes that were slowly going stagnant.

That was fine, he deserved to suffer for choosing this path that gave pain to those he care about. He deserved to suffer for thoughtlessly taking Ven out of her safe zone and nearly killing her. He deserved to suffer for thoughtlessly making a promise that would bind his little sister's heart. Back when he'd first walked this moment, he'd decided that when he woke up, he'd take his priest vows a step further and take an oath of celibacy for life. It might make Maria hate him, but he'd hoped it would make her give up that silly childhood promise so she could find happiness and fulfillment elsewhere. She was innocent in this. All the guilt belonged to him alone, so he should be alone. Suffering alone. Which was where he was going to end up once he lost belief in all his dreams.

But his thoughtless stupidity wasn't going to end with this sacrifice. No, even when he made his decision to not let himself be in love and always be in service of others while keeping out of their lives, he was still acting and speaking thoughtlessly. Maybe Selphia was a dream, maybe it wasn't. It didn't matter because he had somehow let Frey get close enough that she asked him out on a date. Granted, it had taken him by surprise because even seeing how men and women had changed in so many centuries, he still didn't expect a girl to be so forward in love. He could have said no, should have done so. He'd been thinking about it. Instead, he let her convince him into agreeing. He couldn't say that she'd seduced him because it was looking like she didn't have the experience for that. But it had been pretty close.

He should have just said no to the whole deal, as entertaining as it had been when he'd been afraid of the hell gate, ashamed of his treatment of Maria, guilty of causing Ven and the other guardians to suffer with him, and afraid of waking up to find that he'd been alone in dreams all this time.

He really deserved to suffer alone for hurting so many.

Arriving at the tower, Leon felt like chains were tightening around him, far more than he'd had before. He couldn't see them but it seemed real just like everything else seemed real. What was the dream and what was the reality? He couldn't tell anymore. Darryl waved him into position, everything going as he remembered.

Until one statement, “You can change things,” Darryl said, looking down at him with the dagger in his hand.

Leon was kneeling in front of him, waiting. “How?”

The dagger was put to his neck. “You remember. This was originally a blood sacrifice. The others weren't afraid because they thought it was just being put into a deeper sleep. They will be afraid and decide against this if it calls for death. Life is a precious gift given to us; you have a chance to bestow it on someone else who is suffering without reason, without guilt. What do you want? A sleep or a sacrifice? Take her out of consideration because she can't accept what must be done. What do you want?”

He was either going to suffer alone eternally in a dark sea or suffer one last pain before he had no future.

* * *

 

Spring 65, Year 1611

Then someone kissed him. It was warm and compassionate, someone who would forgive and love him. Someone who wouldn't let him be alone.

Jarred by the sudden change, Leon opened his eyes when the kiss ended to find Frey leaning over him. He was in a bed in the clinic in Selphia, dreams within dreams within dreams. Where was reality? She smiled brightly as she sat up straight in the chair by the bed. “Hey, it did work. Nice to see you awake again.”

“Awake?” Leon asked, not sure if he should be laughing or crying. He ended up doing both and pulling on his hair. “When am I awake?! It's certainly not now!” Maybe he was scaring her with this, he didn't care. No, it would be good if she got scared and left because then she wouldn't be close anymore. He was certainly scaring someone because a baby was crying somewhere out of sight. Ridiculous. He was horrible for scaring a baby.

He was horrible because he'd been about to pick the sacrifice.

There was a frantic moment in which he wasn't sure what was going on. Had he chosen it, only to get shunted to another dream before being allowed to stop suffering? Or had he taken it and was being overtaken with despair and loneliness and guilt so that his tormentor ended up winning? And he wouldn't care because he couldn't, only something had extended this torturous dream and now...

And now he was crying on Frey's shoulder while she sat by him and hugged him. She was trying to say something to soothe him, but he couldn't grasp the words, only the feeling. She loved him, didn't know why he was suffering, and wanted to help him even if she didn't know what to do. More importantly, he wasn't alone. The cold silent loneliness of the ether sea was still fresh in his mind, but here he was warm and loved. Not even the reassuring songs of the other guardians could compare to this. He didn't want to lose this. He kissed her hoping he wouldn't, and yet...

Those nagging thoughts. Did he deserve this? Was it a dream? He pulled away.

“Leon?” she asked in worry, clutching his hand.

“I'm sorry,” he said, his voice weak. “I can't... I can't do this.”

“At least don't close yourself off entirely again,” Frey said, trying to look cheerful but she was obviously upset over this. “We're going to be late to Amber's birthday party as it is. You don't want to miss it, right?”

“Is that now?” Leon asked, wondering where the time went. It must be a dream. But even if it was a dream, he could at least do something nice and make sure he was at his guardian sister's party. “Yeah, we shouldn't miss that.”

Frey got up and broke a sound shield around them to bring Jones over. Leon's mind immediately drifted off, but after that outburst of tears, he felt like he'd exhausted himself in shifting from dream to dream without really sleeping. Things started happening around him that he felt detached from. How real was this? Maybe he had chosen to die and was going through some strange final dream in transition.

But the longer it went on, the more it seemed he was still alive. Maybe dreaming, maybe not, he couldn't be sure. The doctor knew he wasn't well, but said that as long as he wasn't left alone, he could leave and see if doing things helped. Frey took his hand and walked him across town to the flower shop for the party. There, Amber gave him a silly hat and tried to cheer him up with her antics. Everyone there was having fun to some degree, but Leon couldn't invest himself in it. He kept feeling a fear that at any moment, he'd end up shifting to another dream. One where he would be alone and the coldness would sink daggers into his heart. If that happened, he felt sure that he wouldn't ever wake up.

Yet if he woke up here in Selphia, he'd have to admit that he was in love with Frey even knowing that sometime in the ancient past, Maria had waited and worked her whole life to see him again, only to end up dying alone.

* * *

 

???

“What would convince you that this wasn't a dream? Or rather, to know when you're awake for certain at last?”

“Um...” his mind was a total fog. He was lying on the warm ground, grasses and flowers waving over his head. The sky was a pure blue and the wind smelled of cerazo blossoms. A moment of perfect innocence where winter never came, where nothing was felt but what he could imagine. But, his reason had killed this place and...

“Shh.” Dylas looked down at him, a glint of power coming from his hidden gauntlets. “You were once my protector, shielding all of us from what you suffered through. Tonight, my power will protect you. Peace in mind, to sleep with gentle dreams and awake in a sounder body.” There was a flicker like sunlight across water and he was gone.

Leon tried to wonder about that, but no thoughts came. The flowers waved overhead and he clasped one. Then he was sitting in the flower, seeing a much smaller view as something much bigger. There was thoughtless wonder and he drifted here, there, and back. Unable to think on them any more, his cares slipped away and he could briefly see with a child's innocence once again.

* * *

 

Spring 66

After having breakfast at the restaurant, Leon went back to the library. He had a lot to think about now that his mind had calmed down. However, it seemed like everyone was conspiring to make sure he wasn't alone today. Dolce had followed him out and made sure he checked in at the clinic again, then she went to the library with him for a few hours. Then Kiel had come over with lunch and they spent a lot of time talking about books, names, and magic. When he was ready to go do some work elsewhere, Amber showed up to spend some time with Leon in the library.

She even said so when he asked why she was here. “Cause you seemed weird yesterday and I couldn't cheer you up, so I wanted to come here today and try again.”

“Well I guess I am still under doctor's orders not to be alone,” Leon said.

Amber laughed and twirled around; she really did have a fairy's behavior. “Yup, there's that too. Does that make you mad?”

He thought briefly of pretending it did, but the joke didn't sit well with him. “Not really,” he said. “After the mess I was yesterday, being with you guys convinces me that I'm not actually dreaming.”

Open-mouthed in amazement, she bounded over to him after a moment. “You thought you were dreaming? Wow, you must've really been sick.”

“Something like that,” he agreed. “How do you know you're awake?”

“Well it's obvious cause I'm not asleep,” Amber said, then paused to think. “Maybe you should ask Clorica, because she sleeps weirdly. She'd know how to answer better.”

“You do have a point,” Leon said. Although he was pretty sure Selphia was his waking reality. He'd be entirely sure when he no longer had the chains on his wrists. And ankles, and chest now.

“Actually, can I tell you something secret?” Without waiting on his agreement, Amber leaned on his shoulder. “I was really scared to go to sleep at first cause I thought the whole world would go changing again.”

“Yeah, I know how that feels,” he said.

Amber nodded. “Cause if I woke up that one time and Ven's flower field all got covered over in stones and all these people were around here, well how would it change again? Maybe all the stones would turn into glass and get really huge with the air all smoky, or maybe the whole forest would be gone and wilted away. It was worse at night so I wouldn't sleep at night, then when the sun came up I'd go up and fly somewhere nice and warm. But then I'd be so tired that I fell asleep and I'd wake up suddenly scared it was all gone. Lumie wasn't happy with me about that.”

“I kept worrying that I'd never really waken up,” Leon said. She had quite an imagination for what might change.

“I thought it was too different for me to be asleep again,” Amber said. “But you know what? When Lumie talked to me about why I was scared, she reminded me that when we became guardians, we were put to sleep in a different way. I got put to sleep with a spade. So then, as long as I go to sleep in a normal way, then I know I'm going to wake up the next day and not the next century or something. Every night now, I make sure there's no spades in my room, then I'm safe to sleep in bed. And that helped me lots! So make sure there's no spades around and you'll be safe too.”

“I see,” he said, and he did. To her mind, it was enough security to make sure she was sleeping normally. He wasn't sure it'd help him as much. And besides, he'd be looking for daggers, not spades. Still, that bit of settling paranoia before it struck couldn't hurt. “Maybe I'll try that a few nights. Thanks Amber.”

She smiled. “You're welcome! I hope it helps. So what do you do here?” She looked around at the shelves holding all the books.

“I keep track of the books and make sure everything's in place,” Leon said. “When people want to read one of the books here, I write down that they're borrowing it and make sure they return it on time. Sometimes I help people find a book when they're not sure what they're looking for.”

“But that means you need to know where all the books are in here, right?” Amber asked, then looked back at him amazed. “Wow, you must have a high quality mind just like Lumie!”

Leon chuckled. “I don't know where they all are and what they all contain. I just know how they're sorted. But that still lets me find them. What kind of books do you like to read?”

“I haven't read much,” she admitted, swaying in place. “But I know how to read like humans talk. Lumie lets me read her flower books. Guess I like to read about that, but Lumie's got so much there that I don't need to look here unless it's about cacti or something else missing. Um... oh! Heather and I used to read fairy tales which were really fun stories. Although, most of the fairy tales didn't actually have fairies in them. That was weird. Do you have a book of fairy tales that actually has fairies in the tales?”

“I'm sure there must be something,” Leon said, then led her through the library to search for a book of fairy tales with fairies. He could think of several places they'd be. The fiction section could have some, but that was sorted alphabetically by author; they'd have to ask the catalog golem for help. Before that, he took her to the children's non-fiction section where books of mythology and folklore were kept. She was a young woman, but her personality might favor the children's books with illustrations instead of regular books. Especially not the ones where scholars examined and picked apart fairy tales. He'd read part of one recently that interested him, but it'd lose her interest fast.

When they went back to the desk so Amber could check out the book they'd found, the silent girl Wendy was waiting with some books of her own. She may have been literally more quiet than Dolce, but Wendy managed to be bubbly cheerful without making a sound. It was eerie being around her; something about her eyes was really familiar to Leon, like he'd known her for years. But that was impossible. After smiling at them, Wendy then hugged Leon for apparently no reason.

Amber laughed at that. “Is that a declaration of a hug war?”

“If that's it, then,” this was too fun to miss out on. He grabbed Wendy by the waist and hefted her onto his shoulder, hanging onto her and ignoring her squirming. “I can win by incapacitating my opponent, right?”

“That's kind of a hug,” Amber said, tilting her head. “So yeah, that works!”

Leon tapped a pen on the desk with his fan in order to write without letting go of Wendy. She smacked his back with the books she had, but he didn't put her down until Amber bounded off back home with her book. “You're a weird girl for hugging people out of nowhere. But then I suppose she's the same way.”

Once she was down and sure her clothes were straight, Wendy stuck her tongue out at him. Familiar too, but he was still have trouble figuring out why. Maria wasn't like that and there'd been no other children around the tiny village they lived in. On some holidays when a lot of pilgrims would be around, there was a group of wandering entertainers who would stop by. They could be childish and lighthearted like that; he'd picked up some of his best tricks from them. But he didn't remember one with long silver hair like this and she'd be a rare race to still be alive after all this time.

“Well I'll get your books for you either way,” he said, taking them to copy down what she had. They were all books about art, although one gave him pause. “Sketching Basics, huh? Going back over your lessons?”

Wendy nodded while she searched through the notebook she used to write messages. She tore one out and handed it to him, apparently something she'd written before coming. 'Don't be giving up in the middle of life's journey because the way seems unclear for now. Take things one step at a time if you have to. Remember where you've been but don't get lost for not taking your heart out of it. I'm sure you'll find your path again to end up with the dream you really want.'

“Uh, thanks,” Leon said, unnerved by the message. It could have just been a poetic thing, since she was an artist and would have that kind of mind. But it also seemed like she'd written it specifically for him, as if she'd known him incredibly well. Wendy gave him a warm smile that was also unnerving for familiarity, until it struck him. “Wait, you... you're Ven, aren't you?”

She got wide-eyed and flustered at that, in a way that told him that he was right. Somehow. How? Wendy wrote something furiously in her notebook and showed it to him. 'Yes, but you're not telling anyone else yet! Understand?'

This was weird, but if she was Ven, she really did know him that well. “All right, I won't talk. Though I don't understand this. It at least explains the basics book, meaning you don't show your art to anybody because you actually suck at it.”

After sticking out her tongue again and making him smile, she started writing again.

He had more to say, though. “I kept thinking you seemed really familiar, mostly your eyes. But Wendy's all silver and white, not colorful like you really are. And I don't get why you're wandering around in two bodies.”

It took a little while, but she handed over an explanation. 'Wendy here is a doll that showed up when Dylas broke his hell gate. She doesn't have her own identity or soul, but I found that I could control her. As more of the hell gates got broken, she became more lifelike until I could fool others into thinking she was real. And I don't totally suck as an artist! It's just tricky trying to use the doll to get the fine movements precise. I'm not sure what will happen when your hell gate breaks, whether she'll get a voice or she'll take on colors more like mine. But this is lots of fun! I can walk around town with the rest of you and be informal with everybody. However, I don't want to tell everyone the truth yet because they might start treating Wendy special too knowing she's me. And I'm not sure how far outside of town or away from me that I can take her, since it takes my power to animate her body. Still, it's enough for me to pretend to be human on the side.'

Reading that note made him feel happy. But it also reminded him that the chains on him were tied to her heart too. He had to get that hell gate defeated, if only to fully release Ven from any lingering guilt. Smiling, he passed the note back over to her in case she wanted to keep that secret. “Well I hope she gets your colors because if she gets a voice, we're going to have to deal with her becoming an annoying chatterbox.”

Wendy seemed like she was laughing.

Leon took his librarian chair and sat back in it. “I already gave my word, but don't be surprised if I start dropping hints to the other guardians.”

Not minding that, she nodded. Then the front door opened, causing her to stuff the note in her bag to keep it hidden. Frey was here now. “Hi Leon, Wendy! How's it going?”

Wendy waved with a warm smile. Leon just waved. “Hello, dear princess. I'm just puzzling out our resident mysterious girl. We're going to have a hard time shutting her up once she can speak again.”

“I hope you won't tell her to shut up right off,” Frey said. “You find where the monster that stole your voice went? I could help you take it back if you want.”

She just smiled, so Leon said, “I believe she's got a handle on that herself. Seems to be just waiting on the right moment to go after it. So is it your turn to pester me now?”

“Of course, what else?” she said.

* * *

 

Spring 68

Your price is in the arts, specifically language.

It was evening and Leon was really feeling the effects of all he'd done this week. All the emotional turmoil yanking him around; he felt like he had a better understanding of a new phrase he'd come across, 'give him enough rope to hang himself by'. Encountering the silent ether sea again was a nightmare. Accepting that Selphia was his new reality and time, that was finally clicking in place in his mind. It was making him reassess a lot of things he was doing here. Especially around Frey. He knew he loved her. But there was still a reluctance of if it was the right relationship to pursue with her. That was still a mess. Then there were the obviously better things, like being fully freed from Storgane's grasp. Now he didn't have to worry about the old god messing with his mind while he tried to sort out the mess already in there.

And becoming an earthmate, bound to language? That didn't seem right. It was odd enough when she said 'in the arts' because Leon thought that earthmates were always hard workers. They put in a huge amount of effort into their work to give back the blessings, only to continue receiving blessings for their work and making the cycle go on and on in something they loved. But art? He didn't think of that as a working trade. It was a hobby and only crazy talented folks could make a living off it. Even language as art. These books were cheap, talk was cheap, and words didn't seem like they required hard work.

At one time, though, books weren't cheap. They were handwritten and bound, kept as treasures in storing knowledge. The spoken word could have an immediate impact, affecting someone's heart and mind. The written word could have a continual impact, passed around to affect each reader that took the words in. In that way, words could be a blessing or curse. Just how did he work that into paying back the earth for accepting him?

He looked at the shelf where he was keeping his current translation projects, one notebook with the Recipe for Happiness and one notebook with the Book of Guidance (although he needed to get a second notebook for that one soon). The first was actually done; he was just waiting on tomorrow to do a final reading before handing it over to Arthur. Still, an impulse led him to pick up that book and open it up. The Ath text was perfect as the author was familiar writing with it. Leon could tell that in the quality. When he touched some of the words, something opened up in his mind.

…

“Are you still working on that?” He hugged her from behind as she was sitting in a chair.

“I've got a good pace today, that's all,” she said, smiling and clasping his arm.

“I'm just worried about you. You keep losing track of time when you're wrapped up in working on that. What's that book about, anyhow? It's not like the others.”

“No, it's not. It's about us, in a way. There's different names and some different things, but it's pretty much our story.”

He chuckled, a little embarrassed. “Oh really? We're not that interesting.”

“We can be! Love, it's just, I would have never found what real happiness was without you. I want to share what I've learned with lots of people, even these simple matters of the heart. I want to help others find their happiness as well. While I don't think it's realistic to believe that I can change someone's life with just a story like this one, I believe it anyhow and hope that maybe reading my book will make at least one person happier. I want it to be a blessing like that.”

…

Leon's skin tingled as he heard those words, unwritten but hidden within what was written. If that was true, then... the author of this was a woman writing about her relationship with her husband. But she presented it as a fictional work, perhaps to keep some privacy. She wrote because she wanted to share her story and what she'd learned from it, in hopes that it would bless someone else's life.

“That's how this works,” Leon mumbled to himself, turning the pages and getting a few more impressions from the writer. “Then as an earthmate and translator, it's my duty to send on your hopes to a wider audience.”


	51. A Letter From the Past

Spring 76

Being able to get glimpses into the author's intent, and even into reader interpretations as he realized from the Book of Guidance, was an immense help in Leon's translation works. He was even getting through the earthmate book at a great pace, only held back by how quickly he could write neatly. Once he figured out some way to write as fast as he read, this work would become a breeze. He might even consider learning new languages to translate more books. There was already one he was curious about, the native language of an eastern nation that Lin Fa and Xiao Pai had ties to. Or there was always bugging the elves and dwarves about if they had something to translate.

Even with the extra insight, there was still one thing missing from the Recipe for Happiness translation: more information on the author. Leon know she was a married woman and some of her personality, but that was it. He didn't have a name, era, or location for her, or even her husband's real name. From areas mentioned in the book, he suspected she lived in Norad lands. From the choice of script and extra details on those areas, she seemed to have written the book sometime between his era and Amber's. Syra Springs was mentioned as a functional town and through some research, Leon had found that it had been destroyed in an earthquake around Amber's era. Its residents had come south to where his old village was. Eventually, that led to the foundation of Selphia built around Ven's shrine after Amber became a guardian, just as Dolce had said.

Another insight told him that this was a copy written by a student under the author's instructions. He had some impressions of that student being the author's daughter. When he figured that out, he wondered about the copy that Frey owned. Was it another copy of the original book, or possibly the original book itself? If it was the original, Leon felt sure he could get a stronger impression of the author, maybe enough to fill in those blanks. He decided on visiting her at the castle today and bugging her about letting him handle it.

Maybe he'd even take a hint from her and make her an offer of a date if she let him? That seemed like a fun way to go about it and it was about time that he took some initiative with her. However, there was still a lingering reluctance to directly say that he loved her. Any time he thought to try it, he would remember about Maria trying to keep control of her emotions as she told him about their marriage promise. She was long gone but he still felt terrible about being so thoughtless with her. Maybe he could find some happiness, but maybe he didn't deserve happiness in love after trampling on her heart like that. He didn't want to make it worse. But had he made it worse already? How was Frey going to react when she accepted that he wasn't going to accept her fully? She loved him too.

“Let's not get dismal,” he muttered to himself as he walked into the castle. He'd come in the hallway leading to the area Frey and Lest lived in. The prince wasn't in his office and the only one in the hall was the girl butler. With her eyes nearly closed, Clorica was sweeping the hallway. He flicked his fan at her shoulder as he walked by. “Rise and shine, sweetheart.”

“I'm awake,” Clorica said, yawning before she opened his eyes. “Really. Do you need something, Leon?”

“I'm just looking for Frey,” he said.

She smiled at that. “I'm pretty sure she's in the basement around her crafting room, or in the room across the hall. Now that it's empty, she's going to convert it to her personal library to get all her family's books out of storage. Want me to go down with you?”

“Nah, I know where I'm going,” he said, heading back to the stairs. “Thanks for your help.”

“No problem,” she said, going back to her sweeping.

Downstairs, he checked on the crafting room first. The forge wasn't lit, so she wasn't working there today. But the bookshelves that she'd had in here were all gone, along with the stacks of books that she'd been sorting through. Leon then checked across the hall and found a similar sized room now full of bookshelves. It was impressive in a different way than the town library. While it was still a lot of books in one room, these books nearly all had the same purpose. They were records of this family's drive to solve Ventuswill's problems, over twelve centuries of work.

But it wasn't all to that purpose. Frey might still have her copy of the Recipe for Happiness in here. After glancing around, Leon spotted the gate doorway she used but not Frey herself. Maybe he could sneak off with the book. Not even far, just enough to see if she'd notice in the time he needed to find the author's information. Smiling to himself, Leon started glancing around to figure out where it would be.

He remembered that it had been in a specially shielded bookshelf meant to protect older books long after they would have been ruined by time. Most of the shelves here had similar shields, but the shields had different strengths. The one the book had been on was pretty strong, so he located the stronger shields in one corner. From there, a quick check of the spines for Ath text should be enough to single out the one he was searching for.

Before he located it, Leon spotted a loose paper on the floor. It was yellowed and old, these preservation methods being not perfect. He picked it up and figured he leave it on a table he'd seen, but then he realized that this was in Ath script. Although, it wasn't from the book he was looking for. The first few words revealed it to be a letter to himself.

'432'

'Dear Leon,

'This research is driving me up the wall. I'm sure there's something grandfather wasn't telling us now as I keep running into walls where I just don't know what going on entirely. Like why your body went and turned into that insane coffin. We can't communicate with it, but I know it's nothing like you. Or why he had to close off the earth rune spring inside the tower where we can't teleport through to check it out, or what his Rune Prana even is. Ven can't even tell what's going on around there. I brought her out there a couple times, although it tires her to go even that far from her shrine now.

'I was thinking about it and someone called me an old lady. I wanted to say that I wasn't only to realize that I really was. I've been focused so much on this work to get you back that the years just slipped by me. Realizing that, I also realized that nearly everyone we knew back then is gone too. Your parents, my mother, my grandfather, the traders, it's really just Ven who remains and she's changed since you left. I'm living alone in a village of strangers where people only know me as the strange old spinster that nobody wants to talk to.

'Just where did my life go and when am I ever going to find these answers?

'Maria'

She wasn't going to find the answers. They were out of her reach, she was out of his reach, and she would die miserable and alone like he feared. Feeling how frail the paper was in his hands, he briefly wanted to tear it up. But he couldn't bring himself to do that to someone else's words, even as painful as this truth was to see. She'd really got so caught up in that silly promise that he ruined her whole life.

“Hey Leon,” Frey said, appearing between him and door. She must have come out while he'd been reading. “What's up?”

He really didn't want to deal with her now. Or ever, he didn't deserve her. “Leave me alone,” he said sharply.

Although surprised, she stood her ground and wasn't going to let him go by easily. “No, not until you tell me. You wouldn't have come down here wanting to be alone, and what are you doing with a page from my library?”

“It's mine,” he said, keeping it close. “It was on the floor, but it's from a friend of mine to me and it....” he felt like he was going to be sick with this sadness and he didn't want Frey to see it. He wanted to get the hell away from her.

“But if it was on the floor, it had to come from one of my books,” Frey said. “And seriously, what's the matter with you?”

“It doesn't concern you, so let me leave,” Leon said, considering growling at her. He knew he'd done it occasionally, but it wasn't coming out now.

“It concerns me that you're obviously upset about it, so what is it?” she said, half concerned and half mad, probably because he was trying to get out of telling her.

She also looked in a mood to snatch it from him, but the page would probably tear if she did. Leon gave it to her, tilting his ears back as he did. “You're terrible.”

Frey read over it quickly, her expression softening as she got through it. Once she was done, she bit her lip. “So, where's the rest of them?”

“What are you talking about?” Leon asked. “That was the only one on the floor.”

“Yeah, but there's probably more,” she said, going past him and glancing around. “It was over here, right?”

“Yes, but how can there be more?” he asked. He had a clear shot to leave the room, but there was the question. The rest of them? But then, “Just look at the date, that's in the next century. She had to be in her seventies by that point.”

“So what?” Frey said, not concerned about it. She frowned as she looked at one of the shelves. “Geez, how can you call yourself a librarian when you take one page out of context? All you had to do was look up here at this sign a few feet higher.”

“What would the sign prove?” Leon asked.

“Just come over here,” she said, going over to drag him there. It was a small sign like in the town library, labeling which books were in the shelves by their catalog numbers. Being in a smaller more focused library, this one was a little different.

'Maria 401-483'

'Leona 450-559'

'Natalie 548-595'

'Heather 590-603'

The first thought that hit him was that she'd named her daughter Leona. If that was really her daughter, that was really old to be starting a family. But then the dates for them both went well past the date on the letter. “Those numbers don't seem right,” Leon said, rubbing his head and not sure what to say.

“Her earlier writings are on that shelf with Misa's,” Frey said, pointing out the one closest to the corner of the room. “And we only put the dates of the materials we have, so that isn't an exact lifespan number.”

“But she was seventy when she wrote this letter, so she had to have adopted some kid who happened to have a name like mine,” Leon said.

“No, not really,” Frey said, going to look over the shelf. “I mean, check the next shelf over, Heather has writings up to the seven hundreds and her daughter was born when she was ninety. Earthmates tend to live past a hundred years at least and we can have children well beyond the limits of other humans. Which is exactly why the current marriage law the other sages enacted is completely ridiculous. My mother was seventy-four when my brother and I were born, so there's no reason to think so short-term. I thought I told you, or maybe it was someone else. But anyhow, it's an unbroken line from mother to daughter in here since Darryl's daughter Misa, so there's more going on. We just have to figure out where that letter came from since I've never seen it before.”

Leon swore under his breath, leaning against one of the other shelves. She was right in that he wasn't thinking properly about the context of this letter. But then, it had been a slap in the face to read this letter unexpectedly. Maybe the chains were gone from his wrists, but it seemed some still lurked in his heart that had nothing to do with Storgane.

“Maybe it's this one?” Frey wondered aloud, pulling a book out. “I remember now, Lest accidentally snapped the old seals on it when he was a kid. We had to keep him out of the library after that, which I felt terrible about.” She handed him a book that was loosely bound. The main thing keeping the other pages from slipping out were five straps that had been magically sealed, each with a symbol on them.

Familiar symbols even though they weren't from a language. “I know this,” Leon said, touching the five symbols. “It was a charm to send a wish into the heavens. Start with the point you are, draw a line where to go, next a triangle pointed upward to show the way, into a square of the heavens, to finally reach the five pointed star. The old seals were probably meant to be undone in an echo of it. But these are different seals.” It was the kind of charm that Maria had really liked.

“I've got a study area set up in here already, so come over and I'll undo those seals,” Frey said, bringing him over to a small circular table with two comfortable chairs. Once she had the book unsealed, she said, “Now you're going to sit down here and read the whole thing to learn your lesson about not taking things out of context, understand?”

“Yes m'am,” he said in a childish tone, hopeful enough to start joking again.

“Good,” she said, then hugged him. “I'm still working on bringing books and shelves over today, but I'll be nearby. Oh, I'd better see if I can call over Clorica or someone, see if we can get some snacks. This could take a while more.”

It was certainly going to take a while for him to get through these letters. There was a feeling of dread in him. There might still be a bad explanation for all the questions. But then, he wouldn't know the truth unless he got through even the bad parts. That was echoed in the first letter in the collection, which seemed to have been written at a later date.

'Dear Leon,

'I'm entrusting this collection to my daughter to keep with all the other things mother and I've written, but I'm still praying to the stars that it reaches you safely.

'I started writing these letters to you a year after you became the guardian of Ventuswill, adding a new one at every anniversary. At first, I had hopes that I could send them to you somehow, and dreams that I'd get letters back. But even after I found that it wasn't happening no matter what I tried, I kept writing them. Recently I've made sure they're all collected so that I can keep them together and safe. While I may never get a response out of you, I still want to reach you whenever you wake back up.

'I must confess that I find a lot of the earlier ones embarrassing and depressing now. For a while, I was going to keep them out and get rid of them. But then I kept thinking that if you were here, you'd bug me for the whole truth no matter how embarrassing it is to both of us. So I've kept them. It may be hard to get through those early ones, but please don't give up without seeing the whole story. It gets better later on, I promise!

'Also, I have to confess that I ended up breaking our promise. I couldn't keep from crying forever, and when I let go of all that pain, someone was there for me and I ended up marrying him. I'm sorry if I caused you trouble in pressuring you about a silly childhood promise that neither of us could understand the implications of at the time. People change; children especially change and I was a fool for hanging onto that one for so long. Please don't let that promise bind your heart as well. At this point, I've accepted that I'm not going to be seeing you again. But I won't let people give up on you.

'Whenever you are when you finally read these letters, I pray that you can find happiness and love as well.

'Love, your little sister Maria'

The early letters were painful to read through, especially with his new power to get glimpses into a writer's intentions and feelings. There were points where he had to stop briefly to talk with Frey and get the depressing images out of his mind. In those early years, Maria had worked relentlessly at solving the problems of the out-of-place rune springs, Ventuswill's weakness, Sarcophagus' appearance, the locked tower, and his spirit being suspended in the ether sea. Others around her didn't understand her drive and thought she was a cold heartless woman. She wasn't, not at all, but trying to keep her feelings bottled up gave her a bristly attitude that drove others away.

Then came that man who changed her life. James was a regular human, having come to the village to run a small store for the people living there. Because he sold vital resources, he got to talk to Maria more often than the rest. He saw something in her and fell in love. While he had to chip away at her resistance for several years, he finally got her to realize what she was doing to herself and wouldn't give up on her. The letters from that point brightened immensely. The pair got married and soon had a baby girl, who she named in honor of him as she was realizing that she was unlikely to meet him again. Instead of getting sad, she put her hopes into their future, that of her family and that of him.

There was one last surprise in the letters, something that came in late. 'I know grandfather and father would be disdainful, but all I was writing were the research journals and these letters. I wanted to leave behind something more cheerful and hopeful to the world. Thus, I put together a little half-fiction half real story about James and I, in hopes that it inspires others to work together to solve problems instead of continuing to go at things alone. I'm calling it 'Recipe for Happiness', maybe it can even inspire you. I'm having Leona practice her writing in copying it so that more people can see it. She think it's embarrassing, but I'm sure it'll mean something to her someday.'

Leon had to read that paragraph a few more times just to convince himself that he wasn't imagining it. Without knowing it, he'd already had evidence that things had worked out in the end for her. He could still remember that first image he'd seen, her husband concerned about her working late and she believing that it could one day change someone's life, if only a little. He was an idiot for taking the letter for its worst possibility. Then again, if he hadn't gotten that shock, he wouldn't have had Frey here insisting that he get through this collection in one afternoon.

Although, she wasn't in the room right now. A check of the clock and his stomach grumbling told him that he was late for dinner. Had she mentioned about going out to get dinner? The door gate was back in its bottle. Leon read over the last few letters remaining. He might as well see if he could finish before she got back.

She eventually got in with a delivery basket from the restaurant. “Sorry that took a while, Porco's place was packed tonight,” she said. “And then Lest had to cause trouble by asking what we were doing in the basement together.”

Leon chuckled as he got up, but hugged her the moment she put the food basket down. “You're a troublesome, stubborn, naive, noisy nag of a princess,” he said while embracing her. “But I love you for it.” Then he kissed her to let her know he meant it.

When he let her, she giggled. “Thanks you troublesome crazy abrasive jerk. I love you too.”

He already knew that, but it was beautiful to hear. “I wouldn't have gotten through that without you. Or through my ordeal with the hell gate. I can't promise it, but I'll try not to cause you trouble like this again.”

“Just don't get too boring, okay?” she asked, making him laugh. “Did you get it done? What was it about? You have to tell me!”

“Fine, but one thing first,” he said, still keeping her close. “I found something interesting in it. You know that other book I've been translating, the Recipe for Happiness? Maria wrote it.”

Frey smiled. “Really? That's great; I thought it'd been written by one of her friends since it wasn't like the journals but was always in her section.”

Leon put a finger on her nose. “But I think the copy you have is the original one that she actually wrote herself instead of copying or having others copy. I came here at first to see if I could steal it for an hour or so to use my new insight to find out who the author is. Now that I know from her letters, I still want to see what I can see by holding her original. I'll tell you about the letters after I can look at the Recipe for Happiness.”

“Aw, really?” she asked, obviously playing up the resistance. She let go of him and walked back over to the bookshelf with Maria's later works. “All right, if that's what you're going to do, I guess I can let you hold it. Just be careful, it really is precious to me for other reasons.”

“I wouldn't harm the trashiest of books,” Leon said, feeling that was true.

Frey got the book for him and let him look over it while she set up dinner on the study table. When he opened the book, Leon found a lot of the same feelings and hopes. But they were in much richer detail here. This was the original book and thus he could see Maria in her later years with her beloved James. The pair really were happy together even in times they disagreed. As this book demonstrated, they kept open and honest with each other, sharing their pains and their joys.

However, there was one spot where he got a very different impression, from those who read the book. And not just any readers, but one specific family.

…

Frey, her parents, and the little wind dragon Doomgale were passing through the woods one frosty but beautiful winter morning. It was an hour away from their hometown, but they came to their destination at an old log cabin in the woods. Outside, Lest paused in his task in chopping firewood to greet them and invite them inside.

“I thought you'd be going somewhere else on your anniversary,” Lest told his parents.

“Well I can't think of any better place to honor the day than anywhere with the whole family,” his mother said, embracing him.

“I hope you don't have much work planned today because we brought something special along,” his father said. He was carrying the book. “You know the two of us always read this book again on our anniversary. It's what brought us together in the first place. We felt like involving all three of you this year.”

“ _It's a nice book!_ ” Doomgale said happily.

“I still want to read it myself, but I want to hear it too,” Frey said, eager to know.

…

“You can start eating whenever you're ready to put that away,” Frey said, sitting across the table from him.

“I know,” he said, getting up to set the book on a sorting cart she had nearby. “That did work better than the copies. I even saw why you didn't want me to have it.”

“Did you now?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because it brought your parents together,” Leon said, sitting back down to eat. “They read it every year on their wedding anniversary after that.”

Frey smiled at the nostalgic thought. “Yup, that's it. They had to spend a hard winter together because Gramps had gotten badly hurt and she read some of the books to him to pass time. Out of all of them, that's the one that really spoke to them. That's why I'm not giving it over to the library even though I know you have the shields and equipment to protect really old books like it. Dad's still around, although all he can really do is look at it since he can't read the script.”

He nodded, smiling at other thoughts. “Maria would have liked to know that. I knew even before I knew it was her as the author that she wanted the story to change someone's life for the better. And, I hope it can touch even more people now that I'm getting it translated into the Norad alphabet.”

“I hope it does too,” Frey said. “It's a sweet little story even if I do give it a hard time about being sappy too.”

He ate a little before saying, “I saw some other things too. You know, your brother looks awful with black hair.”

Frey laughed about it. “Oh gosh, did you see him at his most awkward? He'd be so embarrassed if he knew.”

“I'll save that little tidbit for a perfect moment,” Leon said, hoping that moment would come soon. “And your mother was really hot even knowing she was in her eighties then.”

“Aw, did you have to say that?” she said, now laughing in embarrassment.

“Well now I know you'll probably be the same,” he said, winking at her. Once they both settled down from that statement, Leon added, “Though I do have a question for you. It seems to have been some years ago, but why in the world did you have to travel a mile out of town to spend the day as a family together? Lest was living in some cabin in the woods; why was that?”

She did get a serious look at that. “Ah, that's why you knew he had dyed his hair black for a time. That's a long story.” She looked over at him expectantly. “I'll tell you that long story if you tell me about that one,” she said, pointing to the letters.

“Okay, fine, we can do that,” Leon said.

* * *

 

Spring 78

There was a thump and a clatter of a heavy box nearby. Leon paused in his translation work to look over at Arthur coming in with the box in a wheeled carrier. “Good afternoon, what's in the box?” Leon asked.

“A typewriter,” Arthur said, giving him a genial smile. “Good afternoon. I came to tell you that we've got an agreement with a publishing house to get your translation of the Recipe for Happiness book printed. They're excited to have it and have offered a good sales percentage on your work, we just need to review the literary contract.”

“Good, but the type thingy?” Leon asked, putting bookmarks in his work to set them aside.

“It's heavy for me, so we'll need to find a place for you to set it up,” he said. “On the first response I got from the publishers, they were glad to hear of a skilled translator who can work in several old languages but reluctant to take handwritten manuscripts. They asked if I could get you to type it out, to which I had to explain your situation of being the guardian from twelve centuries ago. The recent response said that they'd give you extra consideration for giving over manuscripts like this, but they'd really prefer it if you would learn to type and try submitting that way.”

“Then it's a writing device?” he asked, surprised to hear about it.

And it was. Leon pulled it out of the box for Arthur and set it up on a rolling cart so he could shift his workplace around with it. It was one of the most interesting devices he'd seen yet, with all kinds of buttons labeled with letters, numbers, symbols, and functions. Familiar with the device, Arthur showed him how to put in paper and ink into place before letting him test out writing on it. It wouldn't be able to type out Ath as it was Norad script with special symbols for a few other languages. But it made the most delightful clacks as it printed up concise and consistent letters for a dark clean script.

“It's slower, but the results are nice,” Leon said, liking the device immensely.

“There are strategies for improving your typing speed,” Arthur said, taking a book they'd left in the typewriter's box. “This contains lessons for the method I learned to type with. While I still use handwriting and inking for some documents, a typewriter is handy for others that don't need to be as fussy.”

“I think I'd want to still hand write my initial translation notes, but I'll give this a try once I'm ready to pull together the Book of Guidance translation,” he said.


	52. The Child Sage

Frey didn't remember exactly, but she'd been told the story several times about when her parents figured out her elemental alignment and had the confirmation that she was an earthmate. It was when she was three years old and still shared a room with her twin brother Arthur. There was a dark night when both of them were having trouble getting to sleep. Remembering what their father did to create an orb of light, she tried and cast a light spell so that things weren't so dark.

The orb lasted not even a second before it burst into a shower of sparkles. She tried again for the same result. By then, Arthur was smiling and asked her to do it again. They enjoyed a little fireworks show in their room until their father came in to see what was going on.

The next day, she tried to demonstrate the sparkling spell to some other adults only to get a perfect orb of light just like her father could cast. She didn't get the sparkles until Arthur came over to see what she was doing. The adults all said that she had an amazing talent and genius for magic, but it would be some time until they had a recognizable sign of being an earthmate out of her twin.

* * *

 

There were seven children in Grelin, most earthmates but not all of them. They gathered almost every day in a one room schoolhouse to be taught by various adults in the community. While some of the kids got antsy sitting inside learning, Frey loved it. The teachers often let her pick her own subjects after she got far ahead in the ones they expected the kids to learn.

One time, the town mill stopped unexpectedly. The blades kept turning, but the grindstones weren't moving. It was a big problem that all the adults talked about, since flour and milled grains were something they sold a lot of to other towns. Since it wasn't working, Frey and her best friend Nem were able to get inside to see the big gears and shafts that should make it work. It wasn't an obvious problem, but they found wind runes in the blades and the shaft they were attached to. When the girls followed them, they stopped at a point where the shaft had gone strangely insubstantial. That reminded Frey of ghosts, so she stayed up until dark to find out.

“Come on, Arthur, we're gonna fix the windmill,” she whispered to keep him from changing to pajamas.

“How are we doing that?” he asked.

“Cause it's a ghost's spell, I think. You're gonna undo its spell, and we'll see if the ghost comes back. If it does, I'm gonna beat it.” She was confident in this plan because while Arthur was bad at a lot of spells, he was the only one in town able to undo spells with hardly any effort.

“Um, okay,” he said, a little scared.

“We'll be fine,” Frey said. They crept out of their home to avoid their parents' notice, then hurried over to the windmill. Nem met them in the street and followed along.

As she planned, Arthur undid the magic that made the shaft insubstantial. They had to keep tracking the wind runes (much easier with her brother along) to find other insubstantial spots as well. The windmill's operator had pulled one of the last gears out of place so that it could be worked on without starting up the grindstones. However, the runes indicated that once it was back in place, it would be working again. The three didn't have the strength to move the gear back in place even with magic, since the twins were seven and Nem was nine.

Then the ghost appeared, a monster with a ragged blue cloak and a sickle. Its face was covered in burlap, but the eyes indicated that it was a monster, not a person's ghost. “You did a bad thing, ghost, so I'm gonna send you back,” Frey said, not scared at all. Nearby, Nem had her eyes closed trying not to be scared.

“W-wait a moment,” Arthur said. He'd been worried about the ghost appearing, but now he went right up to it. “It's sad. I think its tears are what's making things go ghostly.”

“Huh, why's it sad?” She wasn't sure what to do. Monsters were monsters, potential troublemakers that could do a lot of damage like this. Although mostly they just hurt people. She hadn't ever thought of a monster being sad.

“I don't know,” he said, holding a hand out to it. It immediately tried to slash him with its sickle.

Frey managed to pull him back. “Be careful, it'll hurt you.”

“But now it's scared too,” Arthur said, still sympathetic to it. He opened up his bag and found a carrot inside. Even if it had attacked him, he went right back to it and offered it the carrot. “Here, if you leave here and don't cause trouble, you can have this.”

“I don't know if it'll understand,” Nem said.

The ghost whimpered at the offer, pulling its sickle close. But then it caught scent of the carrot and came closer to see if it could take it. When Arthur gave it over, the ghost monster made a sound that was almost happy and took hold of his arm. “It's happy now,” Arthur said, happy it worked. “I think it wants to stay with me. I'll keep it out of the windmill.”

Their parents were surprised that they came back with a pet ghost, but let Arthur keep it as long as he took good care of it. The next day, the miller got the grindstones working again. Everyone in town soon heard that Frey, Nem, and Arthur had been the ones to fix the problem. They all praised Frey enthusiastically for being able to see the problem and solution. But she didn't find out until years later that their thanks and praise to Arthur had been grudgingly given, part of the reason why he preferred playing with the ghost over the other children for a time.

* * *

 

Not long after the windmill incident, the town elder gave Frey two notebooks. “Many people have recognized your skills, so the sages want to give you a test,” she explained. “This notebook includes what needs to be done for the test, and this one is for you to write up the answers in. It's a big test, so you have a full season to complete it.”

“Okay, I'll do it!” Frey agreed, happy to have the challenge.

But as she read through the notebook with the test questions, something became apparent very quickly. A full season was a long time to work on a project, but it was not long enough to work on this test. There were crafting projects, questions that wanted essays written, magic experiments, farming projects, book reports, and even some things that asked what was right or wrong in a situation (and those were very tricky situations that wanted citations and references). Even her mother's tests on etherlink and the family research weren't this hard.

She talked about it with her family at dinner that evening. “I don't know if I can do this right,” she said, upset at the thought of not doing well on a test. “There's so much to do to get it all done and some of it is going to take a long time and waiting. While she said I have a full season, that's not enough time to get through it without rushing and rushing makes mistakes.”

“What's the test for?” their father asked.

“I don't know, but it came from the sages,” Frey said.

“I've seen this before, but because of that, I can't answer all your questions about it,” their mother said. Still, she smiled. “Get as much done as you can.”

“But I won't get it done,” she said.

“Maybe you should pick some of the questions that you'd do best at and focus on doing them really well,” Arthur suggested. “It might balance out having to not answer others because you don't have the time to do them all. Like how I can't grow everything I want to.”

“But would you get in trouble if you didn't grow what all your teachers ask you to?” she asked.

“Um, not really because they told me to grow a variety of what's in season,” he said. “But then, it's almost summer and there's a lot of plants that grow best in summer. I want to try lots of them out and see how they do. But, it's not possible for me to grow all the different plants I've been offered. For one thing, I have a limited field space because I'm still learning and some plants take a lot longer than others. So what I'm gonna do is take some that I know I can grow really well already and have a quarter field of those always so I have a good score at the end of season review. Then I'll take some long growing plants that I've never worked with for another quarter. If I succeed with them, it'll add a lot to the review score. If I don't, then I'll learn what went wrong.”

“Oh, so you have some guaranteed to get you a pass and some that will get you respect but aren't a guarantee,” Frey said, considering that plan.

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, and then a third quarter of the field needs to rest for the season. In the last quarter, I'm going to grow quick growing plants that I'm not so good with, and those will change through the season so I can learn from them too. So I'm not growing all the vegetables at once, but at the end of the season, I should have a good variety to show my teachers.”

His plans for how to divide up his farm work actually worked very well in helping Frey divide up the test questions as well. Arthur even let her borrow a small portion of his field so she could do the farming related questions and projects too. While it wasn't something she knew a lot about, it was like his last quarter of the field where he was experimenting on quick plants. She didn't have to do a lot on them but could learn something while working on the test. When Frey went to turn the test in after the time limit was up, she told the sage that she couldn't possibly finish the whole test in one season, but she did the best she could to answer as many as possible.

In spite of not being able the finish it, the test had been done well enough that before she turned eight, she was named an earthmate sage.

* * *

 

Magic was easy. She just had to watch someone else cast a spell and most of the time, she could mimic them to learn it herself. A few times, she landed herself in the white witch's care because she would try to mimic a powerful spell that she didn't have the rune points for. Once she figured out how to learn a spell from written instructions, she could learn them without even seeing them for herself. People kept asking her how she did it, so she read about magic so she could tell them exactly how.

Crafting was easy. It did take some time to learn new skills like sewing, gluing, hammering, cutting, and more. But once she knew how to do things, making items was a cinch. Design blueprints didn't need more than a quick look before she could put the item together as long as she had the needed materials. At times, she was stopped because she was a little girl and thus didn't have the strength or endurance to do heavy tasks. But as she grew older, she grew stronger and even became able to work at a forge by herself without injury.

Learning was easy. She loved to read and the village of Grelin had a large collection of books throughout every building. She read from her family's collection, she borrowed books from the town elder, she browsed over shelves when invited to another house. If she didn't know something, she first went to see if there was a book on it. She read every day and occasionally read all day. Because she remembered everything she'd read, she learned a lot simply from reading.

One day, she talked with Arthur as she did many days, about what she was reading. This time from the Book of Guidance. “The earth's blessings are given out of love; those given such blessings must give back that love tenfold into the world to maintain their power. To do this, take care of the earth and the plants that grow from it. Respect all beings that live upon it. Give help to neighbors and strangers alike with no heed to rewards. Most of all, always remember that love is central to the powers of the earthmate tribe.”

It was nearly their fourteenth birthday and for some reason, her brother had dyed his hair black. She thought it looked bad, but their parents had said they were that age when it was normal to experiment and figure out who they were. “That makes sense,” he said. “We have to work the farm with love so that the plants grow up full of love. But then loving plants give greatly to us, so we have to keep giving back even to the next generation of plants. That's why your price has to be something you're passionate about. Otherwise, there won't be as much love and you'll get exhausted as you keep trying.”

“Yeah, it makes a lot of sense with farming like you do,” Frey said. “I was trying to figure it out about my crafting, but on checking some other books, it's the same kind of thing. I love learning and crafting, so I learn lots and use what I learn to craft things full of my passion. Then I give the things to others, maybe selling it to cover my costs. But the important thing is that they feel the love in my work and are happy with it. They give me gratitude and often more money and favors than I asked for it. So I have to turn that extra money and gratitude to my next project, learning more and making my crafting better every time.”

“Good thing you learn so fast and make amazing things,” Arthur said with a smile.

She smiled. “I'm doing what I love! And you're doing what you love too.”

“Right, farming, and I love our family. And new people.”

At the time, she didn't think to ask what he meant by loving their family and new people, not whoever he was excluding as 'old' people. She would regret missing that chance in a few weeks.

* * *

 

The winter that they turned fourteen was a very dry one. The autumn before had also been dry, not raining since the early weeks. For a village that relied on its farmland as heavily as Grelin did, the drought was becoming a serious threat. Even the most experienced farmers were only getting weak and poor crops. Worst of all, the drought seemed centered on Grelin. North Oaken was suffering too, but towns that were several hours of travel away were snowy as usual. The normal methods of calling rain weren't working.

Since Frey was so far ahead of her peers, the teacher in their one-room schoolhouse allowed her to study as she liked, even assisting the others if she happened to be studying the same subjects. Lately, she had been scouring a number of books trying to find a solution to the drought. She was onto something promising, but she cross-referenced it several times before she brought up the solution during school hours. “A few of the farmers have tried rain dances, but only on their own efforts,” she said, pointing out an illustration of a group in a circle combining their efforts. “But the bonds between people increase the effectiveness of any magic being cast. So I think if a bunch of people in town came together for a circle dance for rain, it will work better. From the intensity of the drought that runes are reporting, I think we'll need at least two married couples within a dance of ten people for best effect. The others can be their children, siblings, or friends to further increase the effort.”

“That's a brilliant idea, to bring together the community to solve a community problem,” their teacher said, giving her a hug. “You ought to get your parents involved so that you can participate.”

“I wouldn't be able to help,” Arthur said, fiddling with a notebook. “But, it would help the farms. Thanks.”

“I'm sorry,” Frey said, but he was right. He was a rune breaker, which was why she needed to create a whole new form of the light orb spell in order to copy the explosion of sparkles that happened naturally whenever she cast near him. It was a sad thought, but one she soon let slip in the excitement of planning for the circle dance.

That excitement just kept growing as she told others and asked for participants. It was a brilliant solution, someone said. It was something they should have found obvious, but she had a special wisdom to put all the pieces together, someone else said that. While she had thought ten would work, they ended up with twelve people including her parents, herself, her best friend Neremissa (who really disliked her full name and wanted to be called Nem instead), and Nem's parents. The whole village came together one afternoon to break the drought. That is, all but Arthur. He had slipped off somewhere when school hours ended.

She asked one of the farmers participating to lead since she knew the basic enchantment best. The village elder stayed in the center to coordinate the effort while the rest of them held hands in the circle to start. While it wasn't a difficult spell, it was more involved then most since they needed to pull the currents into motion. Frey's research showed that this could take some time, but the winds would shift or clouds would grow when it was working.

After fifteen minutes, no clouds had come. Instead, the sunlight began to intensify. They kept the rain dance going until a tree nearby caught on fire from the powerful light and had to be put out before it spread. People scattered to make sure other fire risks weren't igniting. But there was something peculiar about this sun. It seemed almost like an enchantment, one with runes that seemed to say that this was Arthur's doing.

There was no way to hide that from the others. “What is he doing?” someone asked their parents.

“That boy's a curse,” the farmer in the group said.

“He is not!” Frey said, clenching a fist. “Arthur's a farmer too and he's having just as much trouble. He can't meant to have done something like this.”

“But it is his doing, an evil act,” she said.

“No, and I'll prove it,” Frey insisted, then ran off. She had to find her brother and figure out what was going on.

But he was nowhere in town, nor anywhere in the farms nearby. Her parents eventually came to find her after dark; they hadn't seen him either. They were also sure that he couldn't have meant to intensify the drought like this, but couldn't explain why it seemed so clearly like his doing. Back home, they discussed what could be done. Arthur had trouble casting the smallest spells, so it shouldn't be hard to convince the others that he couldn't put together a big curse like this. They knew he wouldn't do something to harm his own farms as that was his blessing price. He wasn't evil. Although, in a place where magical arts had a strong history, his rune breaking power was a big obstacle.

The next day, Frey searched her brother's attic room in order to find a hair of his. She used that to craft a compass to help find him. It led her deep into the woods around Grelin, a long walk to a river. There, Arthur was sitting on the fallen bank, watching the water with a pointed stick like he was trying to fish without a pole. “Arthur, here you are,” Frey said, relieved to find him.

“Don't call me that,” he said in a sour mood. “I'm going by Lest now.”

“Why's that?” she asked, going to a dry rock nearby to sit down.

“Because it fits better,” he said. “Arthur's a hero's name, while everyone in town is like, be careful when you cast your spells lest he's around. So I'm better known as Lest.”

“It's not that bad,” Frey said.

“Yes it is,” he said sharply. “Everybody loves you and thinks you're the most amazing person in town. Most of them hate me.”

“You can't be sure,” she said.

“I can because I feel what everybody else does, and they hate me!” Lest gasped and shuddered at some pain, dropping his makeshift fishing spear. “I'm not going back.”

“Are you okay?” she asked, going over and taking his arm. His face was getting flushed pink.

“I'll be fine,” he said, even though he seemed to have a fever.

“Mom, Dad, and I are worried about you; you should come back home.” She tried to tug at him.

Lest yanked his arm away. “I'm not going back, I told you! I wasn't blessed by the earth; I was cursed by it. People don't want me there so I won't go back.”

Frey thought she knew him best because they were twins. But she couldn't convince him to come back home and she'd had no idea he felt like that. Finding herself lost for the answers, maybe for the first time ever, she ended up leaving him out in the woods and coming back home in tears. How could she have failed her brother like that?

* * *

 

There had to be an answer. Arthur... Lest couldn't be evil. She was sure of those two things, but just had to figure it all out. Their parents weren't able to get him back home either, but they did get him to stay in an abandoned cabin in the woods so he had some shelter. As the drought continued through spring, he kept getting sicker every time they visited. Something had to be done, the problem had to be solved.

Frey turned all of her effort to researching Lest's talents and proving his innocence. The trouble was, his talents weren't common among earthmates. Not even his alignment was one that came up often. Of the seven elements, it was most common for earthmates and monsters to align with water, fire, wind, and earth. They were equally spread along with a neutral alignment, although no earthmate could be neutral. Light and dark alignments were uncommon and a love alignment was rare. That did answer one question, if in a way she hadn't hoped for.

She told her parents about it one evening. “Hate isn't an alignment, rather a corruption of love. But they both affect each other severely. If Lest hated something, it would poison his own runes and make him sick like this. But I can't see him hating anyone.”

“It can happen to anyone who lets resentment build for a long time,” Corrin said. “And he can feel the suspicion and resentment others have towards him deeply. It's not easy to remain forgiving in that situation.”

“We'll handle breaking what hate he seems to have,” Joyce said, patting Frey's hand. “You keep looking into this, as you seem to be doing well.”

While her mother had said that, Frey didn't feel like it was going well. The rune breaker talent was his most rare one and there was very little recorded about such earthmates. Unfortunately, the best known records of a rune breaker were that of a man who abused the power to ruin many lives. Everyone considered him evil. After going through many books, she finally found a passage where someone had tried to change him. The rune breaker said that he'd been driven away from many towns when he was young, as everyone called him cursed and didn't want him around. He said that he finally accepted that, a point that seemed to be when his path turned truly twisted. Along with that, his alignment had been that of earth. He wouldn't have had Lest's empathy further troubling him.

That just made things seem worse. That rune breaker might have turned evil because everyone had rejected him without giving him a chance. Thinking over that and hearing talk around town that people seemed to be glad Lest was gone, Frey worried about him ending up the same way. She still loved him and she knew their parents did too. But they'd only really convinced Nem to come visit Lest as a friend, since she believed in him too. There was also the concern if the hate really did destroy him, as she'd found records of such deaths in trying to find more about the alignment.

Three weeks after Lest had run out of town, the drought broke with a rain that seemed full of a painful sorrow. The water and air aligned earthmates were particularly affected by it, all feeling a sadness they couldn't fully explain. Joyce said it was because they'd finally gotten Lest to realize how his hate was making him sick. He'd gotten deeply upset right before the rain started. Yet, why was his emotional state influencing the weather? Looking at the problem from that angle brought Frey back to some passages in the Book of Guidance that finally had some answers that didn't make it seem like Lest's powers were evil.

She got so excited about it that she gave a cheerful yell and ran off to tell her mother before heading into the woods. But Joyce kept her from leaving. “It's great news, but you've been barely sleeping this whole time. Not only that, but it's getting late and will be dark by the time you get to his cabin. Go get a full night sleep and we'll go out to tell him tomorrow.”

“But he deserves to know as soon as possible,” Frey argued, but relented to her mother's request. Her weariness sank in on being mentioned and she found herself unable to stay awake much longer even though she wanted to pass on the good news.

The next morning, she and her parents headed out to visit Lest. It was raining again, a cool and heavy rain that made them use rain shields to keep the raindrops and mud from sticking to them. At the cabin, Lest was gloomy, but he seemed to cheer up at their visit. He was starting to get some plants to grow, mostly the simple turnips, toyherbs, and lettuces that could handle just about any conditions. It seemed the soil nutrients there had been used up by whoever had last lived in the cabin.

Frey explained about her answer as soon as she was allowed, explaining it as thoroughly as she could. “Magic is so ubiquitous in Norad that everyone assumes it's a natural force. And some of it is, but in truth, the vast majority of spells work by forming artificial bonds between natural runes to change their form and function. It's why you can't completely form something from nothing; there has to be something there to start with. Alchemy and magical crafting both require source materials to transform into a new item. Thus what you're actually doing as a rune breaker is dissolving the artificial bonds that people create.”

“Wouldn't artificial bonds break in time anyhow?” Lest asked.

“Some do,” she said. “But that's only after a really long time because runes have inertia too. They don't like their state to be changed, either in movement or stillness, or in bonded or loose. Or some spells become unbound when the rune points that were used to cast them are used up, causing the runes to become dull and exhausted. They flow back into the ether sea at that point, to be renewed.”

“It's really about returning runes to their natural state, where they'd be if people didn't interfere with them,” their mother Joyce said.

Frey smiled because that brought them to one of the stronger points. “Yeah, and I found a really interesting passage in the Book of Guidance that says that the element that best describes the natural state of runes is love. Love in the world continues the cycle of life, creates, and heals. Runes also flow in a way that follows the cycle of life, empowering it and being empowered in turn. Which means that putting artificial bonds on runes takes them out of the cycle. There's so many runes in the ether sea that what we use up in our lives isn't much of a dent. But still, your power reverts runes to their natural state, with the bonds they would naturally seek rather than those placed on them. It's not evil, it's just nature returning runes to the world's chi through you.”

“But it's like evil when everyone around me uses magic every day and I wreck it for them,” Lest said, not angry now but saddened at it.

“It's not evil until you choose to do evil things with it,” Corrin said. “Right now, you don't have a lot of choice in it. But it is your power, so there must be a way for you to take control of it, even just moderating how much it influences.”

“It'd be equally valid to claim that people using magic are doing a small evil in making artificial bonds,” Joyce said. “But the gods have said that it's fine. If there were a spell that the will of the world did not want, the cost would be impossibly high because the runes would resist it.”

They continued to talk until Lest accepted what she found as a good thing. However, it still didn't bring him home. Joyce gave him a spellbook that instructed how to manipulate chi in hopes that he could reign in his rune breaking power with it. Corrin gave him a book from the eastern nation that guided one to find inner calm, in hopes that such meditation would keep him from influencing the weather through a combination of his emotional state and his talents. Frey could only promise to keep researching and bring him other books that would help.

As she and her parents walked back to town that evening, she said, “I thought what I found would be enough to help, but you both did a lot more than me.”

“We are your parents, after all,” Corrin said in an affectionate tease.

Joyce took her hand. “That, and there's also something you need to realize too. No matter how strong they are, intelligence and talent alone won't solve every problem. If that were true, then the whole matter our family has been devoted to for centuries could have been worked out long ago.”

“Well we're not even solving it ourselves even if I end up being the one to put the solution in action,” Frey said. “All we two have been doing is putting together the pieces that everyone else spent their lives trying to find, and we're still missing pieces of it all.”

“I hope all the pieces can be found,” Joyce said, nodding in agreement. “Because even if we set past wrongs right, a hole in the picture means it's not completely solved yet.”

* * *

 

“Excuse me, Sage Frey?”

Reluctant to answer, she slowed in her reading. It was one of the others in town and they usually got formal with her if they wanted to ask her for a favor. But she was doing some studying on the Guardians of Ventuswill, something that would be really important when it came time to bring her family's plans to fruition. Not only that, but she felt bad sometimes in working with them. These were the people who didn't care about Lest's feelings, the ones who drove him into a state of hate that nearly killed him and caused a harsh drought that they blamed him for. Frey tried to deal with them fairly as that's what the Book of Guidance suggested even for enemies. Still, it was really difficult when they didn't try to understand, not her twin brother and not the holy Book of Guidance itself.

She could keep trying an idea she'd had. “Huh? Oh, sorry, how long have you been there?”

“Not long, don't worry about it. What are you studying?” There was an admiring look that expected greatness.

Grinning, she put lots of enthusiasm into saying, “Fireworks! I'm learning how to make things explode into lots of color and noise!” It wasn't entirely a lie, since she found it a fun diversion lately. Although she hadn't put it to use yet, maybe she should.

The admiring look was dropped in favor of one that asked if she was serious. “That doesn't sound all that useful.”

“But it should be fun! What is it, did you need something? I'd love to test out some things I've read.”

“Uh, no, never mind. Just curious.” There must have been something, as the person left to find someone else to help.

Frey felt bad in that too. But then, she was wary of everyone depending on her like with the failed rain dance. There was no way she could have known that Lest's empathy and rune breaking power was enough together to bend the atmospheric chi around him to reflect his strong emotions. For anything she did, there was a risk that something she could not know would make her fail again. Plus people kept asking her for sagely advice and assistance when she was only fifteen and not really all that wise or smart. She would help in important things, but not things they should be able to solve themselves with some research and work.

Acting goofy dissuaded them from relying on her too much. Which was good, she didn't want to fail others who trusted her again. Besides, it made life more fun. Frey turned her attention back to the book. Freeing the Guardians from their duties was one of several problem that she wouldn't back out on ever. Maybe she even couldn't back out on it; there were weeks when she felt the weight of centuries in these responsibilities. She could feel the drive and dreams of many women before her trying to fix a problem that not even the gods could solve on their own. In that way, Frey had no choice in what path she was going to take in life. Her blood tied her to this and she could not deny it without denying herself.

But, she didn't mind that at all.


	53. Darryl's Tower

Spring 79, 1611

“A hole in the picture means it's not completely solved yet,” Frey said, an echo on something her mother had told her. This time, she was leading her brother through the castle basement to where she had a warp device that could teleport them to several locations. “And the state of Darryl's tower on the inside is a hole that we need to know.”

“Haven't you been trying to get in with all your other visits?” Lest asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, all kinds of ways. Explosives don't scratch the door, key spells and anti-seals get blocked, short teleportation won't work through the walls. I even tried using etherlink as a crowbar, sending a vein through the joints and expanding it to push the door into opening. I mean, I knew it'd fail but I thought it'd at least crack the door enough for other means to get in. But it didn't do a thing. Here we go, let me set it.” She directed the runes to target her marker outside the tower.

Standing a few feet off to let her work safely, Lest scratched his head. “You can't teleport through the walls? Because I got through with escape when I got Leon.”

“Well escape takes you out of places,” Frey said. “It won't take you in somewhere unless it's your home you're going in. Although, that is weird that you got through that way. If you did, then I should have been able to get somewhere teleporting through the walls.”

“What about going to the top of the tower to talk to Sano and Uno?” Lest said.

“That's what we're doing today because I can't get those golems to talk to me,” she said. “I brought Leon up there once and neither of us could get them to budge.”

“I wasn't looking forward to getting up on that top platform again,” he said with a shiver. “It's not that I'm afraid of heights, but that place is totally dangerous without taking into account the corrupt runes, cracks into the Forest of Beginnings, and the monsters lurking about.”

“I agree, it's not nice but getting past the foxes seems like our best bet and you're the only one so far to make them move,” Frey said, holding a hand to him. “Come on, let's go.”

Stepping into the warp ring on the floor made the scene briefly turn white before it reformed into the dusty cliff where the tower watched over Selphia. “It took a lot of convincing on my part,” Lest said. “But if they're not talking to you, I'll try again. Hmm?” He looked ahead as someone was already there.

Leon was sitting against one of the paws, ignoring the corruptions overhead and likely just thinking there. He turned his ears towards them first, then frowned. “Well well, looks like I'm not getting the afternoon of quiet I came to find. What are you two doing?”

“Research,” Frey said. Although she didn't mean to involve Leon today, she was happy to have him out here anyhow. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing much, just glowering at the corruption that breaks the solitary atmosphere of this place,” he said, staying where he was seated as they came up.

“She's trying to convince me to climb to the top of this again to talk with the foxes about getting inside,” Lest said. “Or getting the door open.”

Leon nodded. “I was giving thought to that too, among other things as they drifted by. Last time you were here Lest, did you actually try to push the door open or just look it over?”

“I just looked at it and copied the main inscription down,” he said.

“Oh, but maybe breaking the rune bonds here could undo the seal on the door,” Frey said. This had to be tried, if only because climbing up the tower was an ordeal of several hours.

“Maybe if I focused on it,” Lest said, getting closer.

“There's that, but also something else that I remembered,” Leon said, looking up at them. “Darryl worked with his daughter Misa, an uneasy cooperation because he didn't have a high opinion on the intelligence of women. If you'd told him that it was her and her female descendants that worked on the rune sphere solution, he would have been even more pissed off. However, he did have a son as well.”

“I haven't heard about that,” Lest said, pausing by the door. Frey checked by enhancing her rune sight, but his power didn't seem to be interfering with the door seal yet.

“There was some mention of him in Misa's works and the letters from Darryl,” Frey said. “But he never seemed important.”

Leon put his hands behind his head. “I never met the guy, but Darryl sometimes thought about calling him back to help on the rune spring research. Then Darryl went and died shortly after I became a guardian, so I was wondering, what if his seal on this door is only meant to allow his male descendants to pass through?”

“The inscription says nothing about that,” Frey said.

“His ghost sure seemed vain enough to make the claim here if he meant his son,” Lest said, looking at the door. “But would I really count if I came from Misa's line?”

“Direct from mother to daughter, but what if your blood line is also a direct connection from father to son back to Darryl?” Leon suggested.

“Through our father?” Frey asked. “He never mentioned his family being important, just that his own father had been a wandering swordsman.”

“That sounds really wrong,” Lest said.

“Hey, it's been twelve centuries,” Leon reminded him. “It doesn't have to be anything crazy incestuous to make it happen. And not every family will have just one or two children. Following all the branches backwards for that amount of time might find other crossings for any person alive. That would account for why the foxes recognize you as Darryl's descendant, but they don't respond at all to Frey even though she has a whole library with proof of the connection. Just try opening the door; got nothing to lose in it.”

“All right,” Lest said, stepping up to put his hand on the door. But he didn't even get a chance to push as his hand passed right through it. The stone rippled in response.

“Oh, that's why you can teleport through the walls and I can't,” Frey said, impressed at the old magic. When she touched the door next to her brother's hand, it was solid rock. His rune breaking power wasn't even troubling the enchantment. “It allows a direct male descendant of Darryl to pass through, but no one else. And even if Leon is right about how the descendants could have gone anywhere and be anyone, finding a direct male one would be hard after all this time.”

Lest pulled his hand out of the wall. “I could probably break the seal, but it's going to take a serious effort. Or I could just walk in and find a way to open it from the inside. But this is too weird. How do I end up with all the powers our mother's family were hoping for and also be one to get past this enchantment through our father?”

“Some gods work in mysterious ways,” Leon said with a shrug.

There was a snap in the air, calling their attention away from the door. The two fox golems appeared by them in a smaller form than how they were on top. “You are the new master of the tower,” Sano said.

“Why did you say you were not?” Uno asked.

“I didn't know I was, or even what you meant,” Lest said, going over to them and crouching down. “Are you two all right? Last time we talked, you got yelled at by Darryl's ghost.”

“Our state of being should not concern you,” Uno said.

“It wouldn't if we were of stone hearts like you two,” Leon said. “But we're not.”

Lest nodded. “Besides, you said you were servants of the tower master. If you're going to confirm that I am, then you're working for me now and I'm going to worry about you both.”

“Is that so?” Sano asked.

“It should be,” Uno said. “That is our baseline instruction, to obey the master of the tower.”

“But what of Master Darryl?”

“I do not know, but Master Lest is here absolutely and Master Darryl is here in uncertainty. And there is only one master of the tower.”

“Then how are you two doing?” Lest asked again.

“We have been working out the statements Master Darryl gave us,” Sano said.

“There is much in conflict and vagueness which does not make consistent sense,” Uno said.

“Like Leon talks, huh?” Lest asked.

“Only when it's funny,” Leon said, twitching his ears.

“Correct, his confusion is in jest,” Sano said. Frey giggled at that, in part because it was so true.

“Master Darryl gives confusion in not explaining his statements clearly as you do,” Uno said. “But he has said that only the master of the tower can enter.”

“If you can get through the door enchantment, you must be the next master of the tower,” Sano said.

“What should be done about the regulation of energy and the door inside?” Uno asked.

“I don't really know because I'm not clear on what's going on,” Lest said. “Can we all get inside?”

“If that is your decision, the door may be unsealed from the inside,” Uno said.

“We are aware of how to do that,” Sano said.

“Good, then please come in and tell me how,” Lest said, getting up and walking through the stone door without hesitation. The two foxes followed after him, mirroring each other's movements.

“He is lucky to get the loyalty of those two golems,” Leon said, looking at the door settle back to stone. “If they've retained their powers, there's a lot more to them than it first seems.”

“I'm just happy we can finally get inside,” Frey said, bouncing a little on her feet. “I can't wait to read his journals and see what we've been missing.”

“It might not be so pleasant,” Leon said, finally getting to his feet. “As I said, I've been thinking on things, what I've found and what you've said. Like, if there was a spell the will of the world didn't want, the cost on it would be impossibly high.”

She nodded. “Right, like how high skill crafts that you're not ready for will have a steep rune point price that you can't pay. In that case, you have to practice smaller crafts to see how the bigger one works piece by piece and build your skill levels.”

Leon walked over to a point centered between the tower's paws, a few feet from the door. “Like that, but also, do you recall what the original form of etherlink was? A blood sacrifice. I knew that, and I knew Misa badgered her father until he reworked it to a lesser cost. But even just before I became a guardian, Maria thought something was still off with it all and warned me so. Her letters even mention that perhaps she didn't know the full purpose behind etherlink, or even this tower. And another thing...” he pointed to the door. “The earth rune spring was in there. I was put under enchantment right here, outside of its reach. But the other guardians were all placed in the center of the spring, or as close as they could get to it.”

“You were still fused with the spring, though,” Frey said, watching him. He seemed to be serious right now. “Reports from others confirmed that.”

“But if the original cost of etherlink was the death of a young adult with a strong connection to a god, what was the original purpose behind the spell?” Leon said, putting his fan to his chin. His tail swept from side to side slowly as he was thinking.

“The form I know creates a vein for chi between any two points by passing through the ether sea beyond the world,” Frey said. “That's how it brings a vast quantity of fresh vibrant runes with it. For you and the other three, the vein followed the natural connection between your body and soul, which is why they had to be separated at the spring. There's a lot you can do with a flexible spell like that, even ways to mess yourself up. Lest said it was like a rope made of twisting cords together. Darryl said it was to bring rune power to Ventuswill and restore her to how she should be.”

“That's what he said, but he could very well have been lying,” Leon said.

She nodded. “Right. But the Harvest Goddess appeared when Lest placed the rune spheres and freed you, so that must be in accordance with the will of the world. Hopefully there are still materials there that explain what he was doing. It's just weird to think that he may have been doing something subversive. He was blessed as an earthmate in order to defeat Storgane and there's no records that show he lost that blessing. But then, we're having to deal with Storgane's ghost now, so obviously something didn't go as he's said publicly.”

Leon made some movements with his fan, casting motions although he wasn't casting. “I had to use a potent sending prayer to send Darryl's soul on and he insisted that he'd not made any mistakes. Though I wonder, perhaps he never discovered something that you did.”

“What are you talking about?” Frey asked.

He smirked. “That there are limits to one person's intelligence and talents, no matter how strong they may seem. He had no doubt in his work and blamed the rest of us for making things go wrong. But you were forced to confront a situation where you were at a loss for an answer early on in life. Even when you got an answer, you couldn't implement it alone. Perhaps being too intelligent and rarely getting called out made him blind to the mistakes he was making.”

“I'm not that smart, just well trained with a large background of family research to start with,” she said, smiling although she was embarrassed he was saying that.

“Better know one self for a fool than to believe one self as a wise man,” Leon said. Then he looked at the door and frowned. “I thought they were just unsealing the door.”

“Me too,” Frey said, turned to the door and pushing it. It was still solid and unmoving. “I hope he's okay. It's not like we're identical twins that can sense each other fully.”

“I'm glad because that'd be kind of freaky to deal with in a girlfriend,” Leon said, coming to her side. “Anyhow, if we have a moment...”

“They could open the door at any moment,” she said when he put his arm around her shoulder.

“I suppose I just won't do anything freaky out here with you,” he said, putting his head against her. “But you know, I never did tell you the very beginning of the story between me and Maria. I heard a most delightful superstition the other day from Kiel about how people believed you could find blessings with your lover or your family if you came here and wrote your names on the tower. Mostly the paws or the door here as you can see if you look close. I think we inadvertently caused that when we were kids. I was eleven and she was six. See, up there?”

She looked up where he was pointing with his fan, near the top of the door where a pair of names could be seen. Most people wouldn't have guessed it said 'Maria' and 'Leon' since it was in Ath script. Seeing that, she blinked. “How did you two get your names way up there if you were kids?'

“That's what you ask?” Leon asked, barely holding in a laugh at that. She got him to let it out when she poked him in the forehead. “All right, all right... there was some scaffolding against the door because Darryl was in the process of writing out his message, so we got up there to write our names in this alphabet I was helping her learn. And that old wizard was really mad, like somebody had stuck a bee hive in his privy. Funny thing was, he didn't even notice until he had his inscription done and the scaffolding moved elsewhere, so he never removed the names.”

“And so the graffiti stayed and spread through twelve centuries,” Frey said solemnly, looking over at the paw on her right. As he said, there were names etched all over it. “Funny that they did it even with the danger.”

“That may have made it seem more real.” Leon sighed, but so quietly she wouldn't have heard if he wasn't right there next to her. “Seems strange to me that this superstition persisted in spite of what happened between us. That was all that I remembered of that incident for years, just something silly we'd done together. But then while I was preparing to become a guardian, she reminded me that there was more to that memory.”

“That was when she thought you'd both be married?” she asked, remembering that part of it.

He nodded. “Yes, that. See, she was quite a crybaby at that age, breaking out in tears over just about everything. But we were the only kids in our village, about halfway between here and where Selphia is now, so we ended up spending a lot of time together. On that day we were here, apparently I told her that if she'd stop crying, I'd do what she asked of me. She asked if I'd marry her and being the dumb boy I was, I said I would and we wrote our names on the door as proof of the promise. While I promptly forgot about it, she held onto it so tightly that she really didn't cry after that day. Not even as I was leaving to never return to her again, not until over fifty years later when some jerk named James pointed out that she's lost sight of what she'd become due to it.”

“That's quite a long time to hang onto a promise made when you were six,” Frey said.

“And not able to fully understand what you were promising,” Leon said. “But then in between that day and the last day I spent awake in that era, there was another time... I was seventeen and she was twelve. We'd not talked about that promise, obviously, but I dragged her out of town often to wander around the land when I had a free day from my studies. However, one time we went much further than usual when we ran off with Ven to see the world.”

“I remember that,” she said. “There's lots of stories about the three of you in other parts of Norad.”

He tightened his grip briefly, though it seemed he was looking for reassurance himself. “I've read them, but many miss the most important part of it, and the worst of it. Bringing Ven out of her land weakened her greatly and she got sick when we reached the ocean. She nearly died on the way back no matter what we did, even carrying her by cart so she could keep resting. And, that whole trip had been my idea. Maria was my little sister, but Ven was my best friend and I was nearly responsible for her death.”

“You couldn't have realized it or you wouldn't have gone,” Frey said, putting her arm around him. Though, what was Lest up to? She worried about him briefly, but also hoped he'd stay inside for a bit longer now that Leon was talking about this.

“I've started to forgive myself of that,” Leon said. “Back then, it started an insidious thought in me that I deserved to suffer for that careless mistake. I wasn't about to offer myself as a blood sacrifice, but once Darryl and Misa said they had etherlink in form of an enchanted slumber, I was drawn to it immediately to pay off my guilt. But then Maria, probably hoping that I'd stay with her, brought up the old promise and added fuel to the fire. I became a guardian with a powerful feeling in my heart that I should suffer and Storgane took that to tear me apart.”

Frey wasn't sure what to say, or if she should say anything. This was more of Lest's area of expertise, navigating through someone else's emotions and past in trying to support them. But of what she knew, Leon really was being serious this time and he wasn't going to turn it into a prank last second in self-defense (what Lest said Leon was doing at times). She decided to let him talk this out unless he specifically asked her about something.

“That's why I told you on that first date that you could never have my heart. I was still thinking that I was far too lucky in being with you and I didn't deserve to be happy with anyone else. If I made Maria keep her promise until she grew old and died alone still working to free me, then I'd ruined her. I was actually thinking around that time that if Selphia didn't turn out to be a dream, I would take my training as a priest another step further and take a vow of celibacy to be alone for life as well. Although, I'm sure Ven would never agree to that kind of service. But there's other gods out there who would require it.” Then he poked her in the forehead, though not with the fan this time. “Then you had to be there and force me to face the truth of the matter, on several occasions. I finally got the nerve to tell that insidious thought that no, I don't need to suffer any longer for mistakes made by my foolishness.”

“Then can I have your heart now?” Frey asked, unable to resist the playful question.

“I'm still thinking over that,” he said, his attitude shifting back to joking around. But that was fine. He'd spoken his mind and heart. “But you are the strongest contender. Did you want me to come help you search out those other fairies?”

That had slipped her mind in all that had gone on, but she brightened at the idea. “Sure, that'd be fun and with you along, I won't have to deal with as much nagging from over-protective servants.”

Leon grinned. “Well then we may have to get in trouble...” his joking quickly ended as he looked at the door. “What is taking him so long?”

“Yeah, unsealing shouldn't take him long,” she said, going to the door and thumping on it with her fist. “Lest! Are you going to let us in or not?”

She was answered by the crash of thunder and a sudden hailing rain. Frey jumped right to the door trying to get some shelter from the falling ice while Leon came to her side protectively. “Is this his doing?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I haven't seen a reaction like this,” she said.

Then the door was pulled inward, nearly making them fall over. The blue glint of Uno's scarf appeared as it opened. “Please, it is a problem,” she said, hopping back to wait as the door fully opened.

“What happened?” Frey asked, coming in as soon as she could. There was a tiny stone room inside, just enough for the open door, a staircase down, and a door to another room.

“Master Darryl met us inside,” Uno said, going to the stairs. “It appeared civil, but has turned to conflict. Master Lest is in trouble, so I thought it was appropriate to bring help.”

At least they were listening to Lest over Darryl, Frey thought. But Leon was thinking something else as they hurried down the stairs. “I thought I sent him to the forest.”

“Rune Prana is supposed to be a road into the forest,” Frey said. “Is it complete enough that he can come back through it as a ghost?'

“It would seem so,” Uno said.

“Shit, if he can come back that way, then Storgane probably came back that way too,” Leon said. Which meant that with Rune Prana open, there was no way to be certain these ghosts would fully be out of the world.

Downstairs, they arrived in an old research lab. It was one open space, with a cot in one corner, a work table near that, a shielded corner for testing magic, and a few shelves of ancient books and scrolls. At the far end of the room, there was an ornate black doorway with a sheen like a monster gate in its frame. Lest was in the middle of the room trying to fight off a ghost of an old man, Sano at the former's side defending him. There were some magical chains trying to latch onto Lest, likely cast with their blood connection in mind or else he would have no trouble dissolving them. Drawing her swords out quickly, Frey cut through some of the chains in her reach to lead into an attack on Darryl. Leon cast a quick spell of protection over the three of them. While it didn't attach to Lest, he was able to rebound the energy into the ghost.

Darryl retreated to the doorway. “You'll want this power someday,” he said, then escaped into the gate where they couldn't reach him.

“Is that the doorway into Rune Prana?” Frey asked.

“Yes, you should seal it so nothing can come in or out until we're ready,” Lest said. Where his chi lines usually showed up, there were pink lines running along his skin as evidence of some strong magical damage.

She went over to the doorway and examined it. “Right. Fortunately it looks like this doorway was crafted to easily hold seals. He must have had it unsealed when he died and the tower sealed itself shut.” That would explain all the leakage of corrupt runes. She touched the frame to work on it, letting its structure guide her magic.

“You all right?” Leon asked, staying near Lest.

“I feel terrible, to be honest,” he said, going over to a bench by the worktable to sit down. “Thanks for coming in; I don't think I could have driven him off even with these two fighting for me.”

Sano and Uno sat down near Lest to keep an eye on him. “We concluded that we can not satisfactorily serve a dead master,” Sano said.

“We will protect you even if other courses must be taken if we are not sufficient,” Uno added.

“I think most of the town would want to kill us if we let something harm him,” Leon said to the foxes. “Besides, you summoned a nasty hail storm outside and no way were we going to stay there.”

“Sorry, I got knocked into Rune Prana briefly,” Lest said, his voice trailing off at the thought.

“If you feel bad, you can tell us about it later,” Frey said, glancing over at him. Other than the pink lines, he didn't seem that badly off. Probably a healing potion could make him feel better. “I'll get you back into town before I get my door gate to bring this stuff back to my library.”

“She can get down here now that the ground door is unlocked, right?” Lest asked the two foxes.

“One of us should be here to observe visitors, but yes, it is open to anyone,” Sano said.

“I'm letting her take the stuff here and study it, so cooperate with her too,” Lest said.

After getting Lest to the clinic to be checked out, Frey returned to the tower with Leon and Sano. Sano quietly observed, occasionally answering questions whether directed at him or not. Leon claimed he just wanted to see how her door gate worked in person, but he helped transfer the books and scrolls into the storage cave, then from there to her library in the castle basement. Being research journals, most of them had no title, just dates of when the journal was in use. Still, the mystery of what they could say was fascinating enough. Then there were the scrolls which mostly were not Darryl's work. They were a collection of documents, many of which were old in his time. Frey had to set up a new protected bookshelf to keep them preserved until she or someone else had the time to copy them down so the information they held weren't lost.

She was shutting her gate in its protective bottle when Clorica came into the library. “You really should come to the clinic right away,” she said in concern. “Lest got worse after a little while.”

“What?” Frey asked, alarmed at the news. It hadn't seemed that bad. “Why didn't you get me sooner?”

“Let's go,” Clorica said, heading out of the library. As they were heading upstairs, she said, “I'm sorry, but Jones asked me to hold off. Something about it being purely magical damage and he needed everyone in the clinic to keep as calm as possible due to Lest's empathy. He only let me come now because he's stable enough that it won't interfere with the damage. Dolce even had to leave.”

“Dolce did?” Leon asked.

Clorica shook her head. “I don't know why, but she was pretty upset. And I fell asleep somehow, so they left me there until he asked me to get you.”

Outside the clinic, Dolce was leaning against one of the flower boxes along the road with Pico sitting by her trying to get her to talk. Leon stayed out with her while Clorica brought Frey into the clinic. Lest was in back with Jones, sitting up in the patient bed and leaning against the headboard. Without his jacket now, she could clearly see that the pink lines had turned red and swollen on his arms. His neck and face looked pink like he had a healing rash. Uno was lying on the floor nearby, watching quietly.

“That looks a lot worse than when I last saw you,” Frey said. “Sorry I didn't realize it was so bad.”

“It's okay, I didn't think it was this bad either,” Lest said, sounding tired. “I just thought it was my nerves getting to me.”

“At least you brought him here first,” Jones said. “Although I don't blame you for missing this. It's not something I would expect from an earthmate. His body got overloaded with a powerful magic, which is why the marks appear in the patterns they do.”

That was also something she didn't expect to hear. “What are you talking about? He's been inside the rune springs while they were empowered, which is a significant amount of magical force moving in one location. If that didn't trouble him, what would?”

“Like I said, it was Rune Prana,” Lest said.

“What do you mean by that?” Jones asked.

“It's a road built from this world deep into the ether sea to reach the Forest of Beginnings, in a way that mortal beings could pass through,” Frey said. “We don't know much about it, since we literally just got a bunch of writings from the man who built it.”

Lest nodded. “It's not completed, but there's quite a lot of structure built. It's just, when I was there, I felt a large amount of rune power passing through me. Something about it gave me the creeps, as it didn't feel right. Then there was a moment of, well, terror I guess. It's hard to say what it was...”

“How did you get into Rune Prana?” Frey said. “You were in there longer than we expected for just unsealing the door, but not that long.”

“I was trying to get Darryl to tell me how to unseal the door, but he kept talking about his masterpiece in Rune Prana and how it needed one last step to make the full connection. He said he could teach me a spell needed to travel the road safely and complete it. I tried to avoid making him angry by asking him why he was building it, but he kept insisting on the spell until I refused directly. Then he pushed me in. For a little bit, it was like my dream of the ether sea. But then, it... well it's the kind of feeling when you're looking at the night sky reflected in a pond and you can tell something's off but not what. And then the pond blinks and you realize you're standing next to the eye of some titanic creature. Like that, only not really.”

“Like that but not really?” Frey asked, sitting down on the bed across from him.

Lest shivered and the windows rattled to some wind. “Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it. It's nothing like I expected when you were talking about it being a road through the ether sea. Fortunately the door was right there and I ran out, only to get attacked by Darryl. He'd given up on convincing me and was going to take my body from me by force so that he could finish the road. I was already shaken up and Darryl's a far better mage than I'll probably ever be, so it's great that Uno went to get you both.”

“Going into the ether sea's depths physically could kill you in seconds,” Jones said. “What structure was there probably kept you alive, but it's far too dangerous to take on a prospect of trying to finish it.”

“I know, that's why I had Frey seal it as soon as Darryl's ghost was gone,” Lest said.

“We were planning to collapse the road if we can,” Frey said. “Or closing the door on this end. Don't worry, I built a golem specifically to scout out Rune Prana to figure our safest way of doing so.”

“There's still a lot to be done,” Lest said.

“Yeah, but we can get it done,” Frey said with a smile. Although she did worry that this was going to end up another problem that could take generations to solve, even for earthmates.


	54. Fortunate Flower

Spring 80

'She is a fortunate flower, blessed in many ways and sheltered from the wilderness. Yet she remains devoted to a battle-worn leader like yourself, bringing light to your dark nights and comfort to the heart you shield from others. Why do you not treasure her like the blessing she is to your life? Why would you take the company of those you'll soon forget the faces of rather than accept the loyal companion that she could be? Why do you not repay the debts of your heart to one who gave out of pure compassion?'

While his powers made the translation work flow smoothly, Leon found himself lingering over this passage in the Book of Guidance. It was an interesting portion of the book, about a general with noble ideals who was betrayed by his king. This led him to overthrow the king to take out the corruption that was making the people suffer. However, the general was slowly losing his ideals. He'd married the daughter of a noble family but was having trouble accepting her because she'd not been affected by the problems all around them. He didn't treat her like his wife and often spent nights with prostitutes. This led to one of the general's friends chewing him out because it was one more sign that he was becoming like the corrupt royals that he'd defeated.

Having seen this particular piece of history before, Leon knew that it would work out. The general would come to his senses and commit himself to his wife, leading him back to the ideals he had started out with. But the way this was worded brought Frey to his mind. She'd been sheltered too. Even though she grew up with some troubles, most of it was actually her brother's troubles that she worried over him about. She had the weight of her family's guilt and work on her, so wrapped up in absolving it that she seemed obsessed some days. While she had some childhood friends, the village so loved and admired her that she could be in some trouble if faced with more worldly people who didn't see her worth.

She still was there for him when he was weak, suffering from guilt, uncertainty, and shame. He owed her a debt that he wished he didn't get a chance to repay fully, since she'd have to suffer to the same terrible depths he'd been in. Still, he wanted to do something for her, something to show his gratitude. If she got into trouble, he wanted her to turn to him first no matter what it was. To repay the debts of his heart to one who gave out of pure compassion... and it was exactly like Lest had said during his bit as an oracle of love. The love of his life would be there when he was weak.

Did he want to confirm that? It hadn't even been a full season since he'd met her. For that matter, it hadn't even been two full moon cycles. She'd already done so much for him, though. And why? Leon wasn't entirely sure. They both enjoyed the times they had fun, whether in matching wits or going out on adventures. This was a girl who could match him in mind and magic, even battle to some extent. How likely was it for him to find another who could do so and quickly come to care for him so much?

Not very, he thought. Even with all the changes around him, he was fairly certain of that. But there was the more important idea of repaying his debts when he really couldn't. The best he could do was to swear to the gods that he would be there for her should she ever have trouble. And he'd be there for everything else too, as her husband. After making sure there really wasn't anyone else in the library, Leon went to the catalog golem and asked about books on current marriage customs.

He'd gotten a few books, but the golem prioritized two of them. One was a book on laws in Selphia and the other was a book on magical crafting. Although more seriously written, it didn't take long for Leon to locate the appropriate information in the law book. There weren't a lot of requirements for marriage, mostly some documents and swearing the vows before Ventuswill. Not surprising overall. It said that the couple would share property, although it seemed more lenient in allowing women as much authority in ownership as men. Another change, but a good one to see.

But it turned out that the crafting book had more of the information he really wanted to know, about how marriages were arranged in this era. He'd been taught that he needed to ask the woman's family for permission to marry her and prove that he was capable of supporting her financially and emotionally. In this time, that wasn't necessary. The crafting book did suggest that it was best to have the approval of your lover's family, for both men and women.

Either gender could initiate a proposal, although it was still traditional for the men to do so. It was also perfectly fine to arrange it informally. But to go through the standard tradition now, the one who wished to ask for marriage was to craft an engagement ring. The blueprint for the craft was simple and open-ended, consisting of a mineral to create the ring and a gemstone to place on it. The important part was how the ring was crafted. Unlike other magical crafting projects that asked the crafter to think about the resulting item, the engagement ring required the crafter to think on his or her lover and the reasons they had for wanting marriage. This would grant the engagement ring a special runic quality that would make it recognizable from a more ordinary ring.

Once the ring was crafted, it was presented with the question in a method that was thought best suited to the couple. The one being asked could refuse to take the ring if they were not interested in marriage. Hopefully that wouldn't happen. Rather, the ring and proposal could be accepted, at which point the one being asked would also craft a ring for their lover. Once both rings were made, the wedding could take place. The couple would take back the rings they had made and swear their vows upon the rings, returning them to wear as a sign of their union. At that point, the rings were known as wedding rings rather than engagement rings.

It was a nice tradition, an equal gesture on both parts. Getting the materials shouldn't be bad; he might even be able to ask the blacksmith for small pieces suitable for the project. But would it be more fun to present it to her in a romantic fashion or pretend he didn't know and drop hints all over town that he wasn't going to get it right, only to pull it off correctly in the end? Because it might surprise her pleasantly if it came with little warning. Yet the chance to mess with a lot of different people along the way was so tempting. Maybe even everyone in town if he planned things right.

Leon took the books back to his apartment, to read up some more and start planning.

* * *

 

Spring 81

After finishing the translation of the general's story, Leon put the catalog golem in charge of the library's front desk and headed out to start working on his plan. He had some ideas but keeping some potential spontaneity in mind was something he wanted. Thus it seemed the best thing to do was get the ring made first and keep it on hand either for a planned or opportune moment. He went to the blacksmith's shop and was immediately struck by one thing: how low the stock was. Normally this place was full of usable but ultimately poor quality goods. Now there were just a few tools around. They weren't amazing pieces, but were of a good craftsmanship that should make them last a good while.

“Did I walk into some alternate reality here?” Leon asked loudly, looking over a pocket knife that had multiple blades folded up into one small items. That actually looked handy.

Bado laughed from the forge. “Something like that?” He came out into the doorway and waved. “Know what you want? If you're just hanging out again, feel free but I'll have to head back to reforging my stock.”

Leon narrowed his eyes at him and just barely kept his tail in check from showing how amused he was at this. “You're actually becoming respectable?”

Bado nodded. “It's a pain, let me tell you, since it's harder to balance the time I need to spend at the forge and in the shop. But I don't want to tick off any more ghosts, so that's how it goes.”

“Sounds plausible,” Leon said, stirring up the air with his fan. This was the kind of place where it was nice to have it on hand for mundane reasons. “Would it be all right for me to buy some crafting materials off you? I don't need much and it's something I can handle myself.”

Raising an eyebrow, he asked “Making an engagement ring?”

That was enough of a shock that he nearly lost his grip on his fan. “How did you know?'

He laughed again. “You work long enough in this business, you get to know what certain requests mean. It's all right, I'll keep silent on it. Sure, that's fine. Sounds like you've got the recipe, but do you want to use my crafting area too?”

“I think I'll be fine,” Leon said. “I did some research on current customs and this seems a lot more fun than what I know.”

Bado wasn't entirely convinced by that. “Yeah, but I'd worry about trying to craft where you live in that library. The atmosphere of the place is static, storing knowledge. But then it's also so full of ideas and emotions stored there that it'll throw off a purely magical craft like this. It'd be easier in a place used daily for crafting.”

Like Frey's forging area, but then it'd be a mess trying to hide what he was doing. “Guess you have a point, but are you just trying to charge me more for the help?” he asked.

“Not a chance,” Bado said, waving him to come in back. “This kind of thing, it'd completely shatter a blacksmith's honor to make a profit off of.”

“I know it used to be that way among your kin, but a lot's changed,” Leon said, going into the forge room. He was immediately hit by the sweltering heat from the forge, like a wall of hot just past the door. At least the crafting table was right there, not by the forge itself.

“I don't think dwarves would have changed that much, we're too stubborn like that. Though I have to wonder, you haven't been in this time all that long. You sure about going into marriage now?”

He nodded. “I know, and I know exactly what I'd say to someone asking me as a priest about it. But I'm after a fortunate flower. If I don't jump at the chance I have, someone else is going to steal her heart away from me. That's the truth even if I'm sure she doesn't have another suitor right now.”

“Guess that's a solid reason,” Bado said, placing a bin of small pieces of various minerals on the table. “Now what kind of materials are you thinking about?”

“Gold and emerald,” Leon said, having thought it out last night. Gold fit Frey for being light-aligned, plus its reputation as precious made it a suitable courtship gift back in his original time. And he thought the emerald would look prettiest with her, going with her green hair and eyes.

“Those would work nicely together. I will be charging you based on the materials you use, so I hope you're prepared in case of a few failures.”

“That blueprint looked easy enough that an amateur could get it right in one try,” Leon said, his ears twitching at the thought of someone messing up something this basic and open-ended.

Bado shrugged. “Even an experienced crafter can let their nerves get to them when doing this. Then we have to discard the materials to reset and renew their runes because otherwise they'll mess up anything else made with them. Though if you're that confident and certain, it shouldn't be a problem.”

It really wasn't, although Leon sang softly to focus his attention on the crafting process. As most of it was done through the runes, he first handled the piece of gold with his hands to form the ring while thinking about her. He couldn't say why Frey connected to him so quickly, but he knew why he connected to her. It had been like a dream at first, meeting a beautiful intelligent girl who had no qualms about propriety and did what she wanted in a constructive way. She even dared to ask out a man she hadn't known long but was already friends with, no matter how much he tried to keep anyone from getting that close to his heart again. When his despair bubbled to the surface and nearly ruined him, she didn't hesitate to help him through some of the darkest days of his life. He'd never known someone like her and was sure he'd never meet one who could compare.

While this was happening quickly, he really didn't see a point to waiting now. He'd waited twelve centuries already for things to improve, thinking that he'd be alone in love always. Now he had a debt of love he could never repay to a girl who was beyond anything he'd dreamed of. The ring itself came together smoothly, now a dainty circle of gold that seemed perfect for her hand. The emerald went from a rough green pebble with a little promise to a glistening round gem that really did mirror her eyes.

“Nice work,” Bado said, clapping him on the shoulder. “And good luck with the girl.”

“Thanks,” Leon said, thinking that he probably didn't need luck. Though if it didn't go as he hoped... no, best not entertain the possibility.

Next, he dropped by the castle on the excuse of seeing how Lest was doing. It took some searching, but he found Lest and Frey with Volkanon in the second floor formal dining room. The table was fully set, but aside from a tea cart with tea, there was nothing to eat. Looking bored (for Frey) and amused (for Lest), the twins seemed to be practicing formal dining manners. “Does there really have to be so many parts to this?” Frey asked. “Like the finger bowls! There's already napkins on the table, why've you got to have little bowls of water too? That's an accidental spill waiting to happen.”

“It's proper etiquette for nobility to keep the utensils clean with the cloth napkins,” Volkanon explained. “You can dry your fingers on the napkins, but rinse them off with the water in the bowl first.”

“As long as this isn't how we're supposed to eat every day,” Frey said, reluctantly accepting the explanation.

Without warning, Vishnal walked right by Leon and came into the room. “Excuse me, but you have a guest, Mr. Leon Karnak.”

“What's with the formality?” Leon asked, raising an eyebrow. Vishnal just smiled at him.

“We're having a lesson on dining etiquette that will be expected if we're entertaining guests of nobility,” Lest said, in a formal manner that did not suit him as a farmer well. But there was laughter in his eyes as if he felt the extensive manners as entertaining. His skin looked a lot better, at least that which could be seen out of his usual sleeve jacket.

Watching Frey, whom this setting suited even less well, was entertaining enough. “Couldn't we at least excuse me on the basis of not being an official princess, just your sister?”

“It won't look right if you're never around for them,” Lest said. “Leon, you want to join us for a little bit?”

“I don't know, this seems awful stuffy,” he said, turning aside.

“Please, you've been introduced already so at least come in for a cup of tea or coffee,” Lest said. “Frey can tell you how things are done.”

“Why me?” she asked.

“Because he's your boyfriend and you ought to show that at least some of it has stuck in your mind.”

When Frey frowned briefly, Leon ended up smirking. “I guess I can stick around for a little while. I was going to steal her off to go chase down some fairies, but this seems like it could be funny.”

“Oh yeah, we were going to do that some time,” Frey said, brightening at the suggestion. “Fine, please come in and join us for a few minutes.”

It was quite entertaining, although Leon tried to get her amused at the situation too. While he was waiting on his tea to brew, he fiddled with one of the forks. “Now why do you have so many utensils out in each setting? I only ever ate with a knife for years, though the forks and spoons are useful for modern foods.”

“Each of them is supposed to be for a separate course or a particular dish,” Frey said. “Though it seems awfully fussy with making sure it's all absolutely clean and separate. Like this is supposed to be the entree fork.”

“That's for fish, not main entrees unless the main course is fish,” Lest corrected to Volkanon's approval.

“If you say so,” Frey said, more frustrated at keeping them all straight than embarrassed at getting it wrong. “Then the main one was...?”

“That's the salad fork,” Lest said. To her next guess, he said, “That's the dessert fork unless you've got a dessert requiring a spoon, which would be either this one or a second soup spoon depending on what it is.”

“How are you keeping all this straight?” Frey asked, finally getting the right fork for being the last option available. “There's so much of it and we just started today.”

“Uh, it's like your crafting tools,” Lest said. “The shape of the utensil matches its purpose.”

Leon shook his head. “Why don't you get rid of all of them and use something that has a bowl portion and a tine portion so you could use it for anything?”

“Yeah, that would be much simpler,” Frey said.

“No, that would be inappropriate,” Volkanon said, as if the suggestion were completely out of line. “When it comes to formal dining, we do not entertain the prospect of using a spork.”

His ears pricked up at the new word. “Wait, that's really a thing?” he asked.

“It is a vulgar thing only used in cheap dining establishments,” the master butler said in disdain. “Not even Porcoline's restaurant uses them.”

“But that's really a thing,” Leon said, fascinated that his off the cuff idea was real. “And quite a word to go with it. Spork. That's a good word.”

“I guess,” Lest said with a shrug.

Leon frowned. “Although a waste in using it for just one thing. Good words ought to mean multiple things so that they get used more often. You couldn't just use it in everyday conversation, like looking at you and saying 'spork me baby'.” Apparently it did mean something else, because Frey about fell over in laughter and Lest had to hide his laughs behind his sleeve. Volkanon groaned, putting his hand on his face. “What?” Leon asked innocently. He didn't even have to fake it this time.

“We're being polite company today, so we should avoid vulgar subjects,” Lest said, far too primly for him to be serious. Still, Leon avoided asking for it to be cleared up, at least for this meeting.

He did try to finish his tea off quickly so he and Frey had reason to leave as soon as they could. As fun as it was to mess with Volkanon, she clearly had no interest in learning about proper princess things like formal dining manners. But tracking down fairy fountains was of interest to her. Frey had already located three fairy fountains in checking maps and talking to people. To get to Olive's fountain, they had to go past Darryl's tower to find it by a rocky cliff.

“I got something that I hopes works really well,” Frey said, taking a long crystal out of her bag. It was clear and likely quartz, not something used for an impressive gift. However, the crystal she had was formed and polished until very shiny. When she held it out in the sunlight, dots of rainbow light were scattered all around the pond.

Leon's eyes went wide on seeing it. “Wow... is that magic? I've never seen a crystal do that.”

She shook her head. “No, it's all in the carving. You should look up light refraction and prisms sometime.”

While they hadn't even put it in the water, there was a splash as a fairy with yellow hair appeared. She had a dress like bright autumn leaves and her eyes seemed even wider than his. “Shiny,” she said, entranced.

“I brought it as a gift after Rouge sent us to see you,” Frey said, offering the light scattering crystal to Olive.

“Oh my gosh, really?” the fairy said, taking the crystal as if it were more precious than a diamond. After staring into it, she giggled. “Then you must be playing our game! I should... so sparkly... no, I mean... here, play with my pets!” She waved her free hand behind them to summon three primal dragons, all wingless and about six feet tall. Two were yellow while the third was bright pink, colors that seemed like a liability on any monster other than dragons. “They need the exercise anyhow. Shiny crystal.”

“Do you mean play play or battle play?” Frey asked, looking over the pink one especially in delight. “Because they're so precious and cute!”

“Battle them, duh,” Olive said, then turned back to her crystal. “My sparkly...”

“You're worse than Arthur with his glasses,” Leon said, summoning out his spear. If only he had a more impressive looking one to make the action worthy of the weapon. He didn't think his fan alone would be enough to take on one dragon, much less three at once.

However, he had Frey at his side and she had tamed a large fire dragon. These primals were less powerful than those intelligent elemental dragons, like how these elemental fairies were more dangerous than regular fairies. Frey cast a water laser spell at the two yellow dragons before drawing her swords to attack them. Going by her lead, Leon focused on the pink dragon. It was tough as expected, even taking him out of the fight briefly when it put him to sleep with a drowsy pink mist.

By the time he woke himself back up, Frey had distracted the dragons from him and already had one of the yellows dispatched. He finished off the other yellow with a move meant to get him back on his feet, then worked with her against the pink dragon. It took longer than a normal monster, but they won against it with injuries that a regular healing potion could handle. As it vanished in returning, the pink dragon even left behind two of its scales. Frey took one and insisted he take the other. Although, he wasn't sure what to do with it aside from selling it to buy some books for himself.

Olive was still admiring her new crystal. “Where did you find a pink dragon?” Frey asked eagerly.

“Oh, you're already done?” the fairy asked, surprised. “I found it where I got the others, at the big fox tower. There's a platform midway up that dragons appear on. Most of the time it's a common green, but occasionally you can find prettier dragons. I don't know what they're doing way up there, just that there seems to be a new one every day.”

“There was one when we climbed up, but it was a green,” Leon reminded her.

“If it wasn't for the corruption, I'd go check there more often,” Frey said, disappointed to learn that. “But it's nice to know it's there.”

“I'm gonna have to get new dragons, but the sparkly crystal's worth way more than a dragon,” Olive said in delight. She summoned and tossed an orange headband with a red flower on it. “Thank you so much! Next you should find Marin; she lives way up where flowers don't grow, which is a pity because everyone should have flowers. I'm gonna find a special place for my new sparkly!” She dropped back into the water, immensely pleased with the gift.

* * *

 

Spring 82

The hint that Marin lived where flowers didn't grow led Leon and Frey to meeting up at the flower shop in the morning before they intended to head out. Her fairy fountain was the most distant, being on a hill near Delirium Lava Cave. Because of that, they didn't mention where it was they were going to Lest and the butlers. Frey's teleport device could at least get them to the rune spring.

“Marin must be a blue elemental from her name and Emerald's,” Leon said, taking a blue charm out of a basket. “So don't you think a blue flower would be best?”

“That makes sense,” Frey said.

“Or I might be biased since I like this flower more than others,” he added. “It looks nice in a vase and makes for a good broth once you're done admiring it.”

She smiled, but then took another one out. “Should I buy you one to keep then?”

“You don't have to do that,” he said, although he was pleased that she'd offer. “If you did, I'd have to get you one too so we're even.”

He immediately thought he should have held off on saying that, because she replied with, “Okay then, I'll get it for you.”

“Aw, really?” he asked, making his ears dip down. But it really wasn't easy to fake expressions with them, not when he was happy in this little adventure with her. “Well fine, then what kind of flower do you like best? And don't just say the most expensive one here.”

Frey laughed. “No, luckily for you it's not an emery or something. I like fireflowers, because they're pretty and crackle when you pick them, and then you can use them to make fireworks extra flashy.”

“I should have guessed so much,” Leon said, letting himself laugh once she hugged him. He looked over the baskets but didn't see any right off. “Hey Amber? Where do you keep your fireflowers?”

“They're in a locked case because they'll set the shop on fire if not kept properly,” Amber said. “Do you want to buy one?”

“Sure, and I won't let her set anything on fire with it while I'm with her,” Leon said, making Frey laugh again.

Amber grinned at them and left the counter. “Okay, I'll be back in a bit. I'll get an extra smoky one just for you.”

“Yes, that's perfect,” Frey said, taking the two charm blues up to the sales counter.

“Though I would be greatly amused if I heard an explosion in the castle tonight,” Leon said to her.

“Heh, I'll get back at Volkanon for his royalty lessons,” she said with delight.

“Just warn Ven first because she'll find it funnier if she knows why.”

With flowers in hand, they made their way to the rune spring, then out into the nearby hills. The fire rune spring intensified the heat and dryness of the place. They had to take a moment to make sure the fireflower was well sealed against it or it would burst into flames in Frey's bag. Above the lava caves, the ground was rocky and barren. It made sense that flowers couldn't grow here, even with a small spring of water at the top of one of the hills. The pond was hazy with steam, dampening Leon's hair and irritating him in that way.

Frey dropped the charm blue onto the surface of the water, getting a large blue elemental fairy to appear to claim it. “Is this a gift?” Marin asked a little coldly. Particularly towards him. “And did you have to bring a man with you?'

Knowing how fairies were, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, she had to drag me out on her silly fashion quest.”

“But you get to spend time with me, so it's worth it, right?” Frey asked with a smile.

He couldn't help but smile back. “I guess so.”

“You're weird,” Marin said, bringing the flower to her face to smell it. “So... you, sing for me.”

“If I must,” Leon said, though he didn't mind it at all. It was a much easier request than fighting three dragons. “What kind of song do you want to here?'

“Something you want to sing,” she said.

“How about that little ditty you sing a lot?” Frey asked. “Does it have words?'

Knowing what song she meant right off, Leon said, “It has words, though...” he thought about it, then dropped his arms to his sides to have an easier time singing. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, and then I don't know the rest of the words...”

Frey giggled. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he said. “Even so, it means a great deal to me.”

“Hmph,” Marin said, but then she started singing the same song. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away.”

Leon snapped his fingers. “That's it! Sheesh, spent all these years trying to remember it and it was simple as that.”

“Then sing it again,” Marin said. Once he did, she actually smiled. “Huh, so you'll give my your favorite flower and sing your favorite song when you get nothing out of this game.”

“I get something more intangible out of this,” Leon said. Like seeing Frey watching him in loving admiration. He would have called it silly on anyone else, but it made him far happier than being with anyone else.

“You're a nice man,” the fairy said, which was quite a compliment from them. “Never thought I'd meet one. Here, take this in thanks for the flower. Although, I think you're a lucky girl already.”

“Maybe, but this is fun, thank you,” Frey said, accepting the blue headband with a white flower.

Marin twirled around. “Well I should tell you that Emerald is vain and only likes big flowers. That's what she wants us to say. But, there's something she likes even better no matter how much she tries to deny it: trashy romance novels.”

That made them both stare at her. “What, seriously?” Frey asked.

“Yes, seriously,” Marin said. “I don't get what she sees in them, but she's got a large collection of them. She might not even care if it's one she already has. Might not even realize it, to be honest. Hope that helps.” Marin then disappeared into her pond.

“I'll have to see about making sure I don't forget those words again,” Leon said. Then he sang it for Frey, which helped a lot towards that goal.

* * *

 

Spring 83

There were a few cheap books in the general store, some guide books but they found a few romances among them. While Blossom was enough of an old lady to keep Leon from troubling her too much, Doug was working in the store alone today. Knowing that he and Dylas were in an antagonistic friendship, Leon couldn't resist pulling a prank on Doug. He flipped through one of the romance books on the pretense of making sure it was suitable for the fairy gift, but then snapped it shut after reading a particular paragraph. “Ugh, who put this on sale?”

“I think those came with a varied bundle of goods,” Doug said.

“Is it trashy enough for the fairy?” Frey asked, trying to take it from him to see.

Leon kept her from doing so. “It's trashy enough that even flies would drop dead at its words. I only saw a bit of it, but come on, you're putting this in reach of children? That's a total disgrace. We should get it for the fairy and to get it out of public view. Although I hope the other ones aren't smutty too.”

“It wasn't supposed to be anything that bad,” Doug said, visibly nervous now and maybe sweating. “The traders know better than to let things like that slip most of the time.”

“Well then there's some of the time when they must make mistakes,” Leon said, showing Doug the back of the book where the price was but not the front where the title was.

When they left the store, Frey asked, “Is it really that bad?”

“No,” Leon said quietly. “Harmless really, if lacking in quality and written for the purpose of a sale. But if he thinks it's dirty and doesn't know which book it was, I bet you that he's going to make himself read through all the ones left in stock to make sure that they're clean enough for sale in a general store.”

Frey giggled and tried to keep that quiet. “We should ask him later if there were any good ones.”

Emerald's fountain was in Yokmir Forest, closer than Marin's but getting through the forest paths seemed to take just as long. There were a lot of flowers near her pond, all kinds of native varieties like blue charms, toyherbs, fireflowers, and pink cats. Closer to the water, there were even flowering vines strung up to form an outdoors room, with stumps for seats and a large flat rock for a table. If it wasn't so far from town and right by a fairy fountain, it would be quite a date spot. This particular fairy's tastes were showing even if she wanted to hide it.

“This is a cute place,” Frey said, kneeling by the water's edge and tapping the surface. “I don't think we want to toss the book in, though. Hey, knock knock! You've got visitors!”

Leon chuckled, then called out the same in the fairy language. That got a response, causing the large green fairy to appear. While Emerald had little heart decorations in her hair, she had a furious look on her face. “What was that for? What kind of man are you, knowing our language?”

“No one in particular, just a curious guy,” Leon said, hiding his face with his fan.

“He's a language geek,” Frey said.

“We brought you a gift,” Leon said while Emerald seemed annoyed. He tossed the book to land just outside the water.

She snatched it up, glowering at the cover. “What... who told you about this?! This kind of book is a waste of paper, time, and effort and I've made it my mission to get rid of as many as possible.”

“A little bird told us,” Frey said. “That's a noble mission, to save the literary culture one trashy book at a time.”

“Right, and not because you're secretly hoarding them to read yourself,” Leon added. “Totally not why you're gathering them.”

“Totally,” Emerald said, although she was blushing. “Well fine, it's not by the rules of the game, but because you've helped me make the world a bit better, I'll give you my gift. But why are you bringing a man along for the game? It's only for girls.” She brought out a yellow headband with a pink flower to give to Frey.

“So I've heard,” she said. “But I'm a princess in the town nearby and no matter what I say, the people there are so fussy about me going off on my own adventuring around and seeing the world. I can fight with the best of them and they still worry. So I dragged my boyfriend along to make things more entertaining and keep him from getting all depressed and mopey again.”

“I wasn't that bad,” Leon insisted, although mostly for show.

“That's adorable,” Emerald said without thinking, then tensed as she realized it. “But totally sickening, you know? If you're the princess, then you should just go adventure without worrying what they say. You seem like you can handle yourself just fine, especially since you've got Olive's headband and she has a weird fascination with dragons. You shouldn't have to depend on a man to do things.”

“It's just more fun with him along,” Frey said with a smile.

This could be a good moment, Leon thought. A good setting and a witness who could be hilarious to keep an eye on. “She doesn't depend on me as much as I depend on her,” he said.

“Well good,” Emerald said with a nod.

“I don't know if it's like that,” Frey said.

“It is like that,” Leon said, going over to sit by her. “I would have succumbed to despair if you hadn't been there for me. Since you were, I've been able to accept my new life, to know the truth of my old life, and maybe even to let myself be who I am openly instead of playing roles for others. I owe you a debt of the heart that I don't want to repay because you're a fortunate flower and I don't want to see you suffer to the depths that I did. But I can try by keeping you happy and helping you out even in these small ways. So Frey, I ask from the depths of my heart, will you be my bride?” He then took his hand out of his pants pocket and handed her the emerald ring he'd made for her.

Both Frey and Emerald stared at him in disbelief for coming out with that on such little notice. Though it was just the shock of it, he told himself. Just wait a moment.

That was right as she took the ring before jumping over with a hug. “Yes! I want you to be happy too. I'm more fortunate to have meet you.”

“No, I am,” he said teasingly, holding her tight. “I was worried that you might think it was too soon, but I know with certainty that I want to be with no one else but you.”

“I don't care if people say it's too soon, I know I love you and that I can depend on you.”

“Aw, you two,” Emerald said sweetly, but then shook herself out of it and threw a rolled up paper at them. “You two are DISGUSTING! Ugh, I can't believe you did such nonsense in my place. I'm getting out of here.” She then warped away without going through the water, clutching onto the romance book tightly.

Leon chuckled, but he kept hold of Frey. “I was being serious, you know,” he said.

“That's good, so was I,” she said. She loosened her hold just enough to take the paper and see what it was.

“When I first read about the custom, I was planning on pulling a prank on the whole town to offer you the ring,” Leon admitted. “But then, I can do that any time, for any purpose. You don't get the chance to cause a fairy to freak out like that every day.”

“Okay, her reaction was worth it,” Frey said. “Oh hey this... it's a crafting blueprint to making another headband. It'll use up the other four, but then have all the flowers they do. Probably some extra protection too.”

“If it's designed for a girl, you can probably rely on it to be good protection, for a girl,” Leon said.

She nodded. “Of course... thanks Emerald!” Frey let him go to put the design away and look over the ring. “If you read about it, you probably know that I have to make one for you before we can have a wedding. But then, would you mind waiting a little while longer even if I can probably have it together tonight? Because my dad's on a pilgrimage to see the four native dragons and he's out looking for Aquaticus as his third. He said that the divine water doesn't live far from the town he's staying in, so it shouldn't be long until we hear that he's coming to Selphia.”

“Sure, it'd be better to have him there for the wedding,” he said, feeling another wave of giddiness on saying it. Their wedding. “Now how do we want to break this to your brother?”

Frey grinned. “We have to do something fun for that.”


	55. Reasons and In-laws

Spring 85

It wasn't long before everyone in town knew about their up-coming wedding, including that they were waiting until her father could attend. Everyone offered to pitch in to make it great, ready for whenever the time was right. Whatever they did best was offered, such as Porcoline, the restaurant staff, and Kiel getting together to plan a celebration feast. Blossom said that she usually made the wedding attire, but she offered the patterns she had to Dolce so she could practice her earthmate crafting on a major project. Illuminata and Amber worked quickly to gather up flowers for the festivities, asking Lest to use his fields to bring some into fresh bloom. Lin Fa even offered them one of the best rooms in the Bell Inn for the wedding night.

For a bridal party, Margaret invited the girls around town to stay overnight at her house in celebration. This led to the guys to plan their own slumber party over in Arthur's room the same night. “Which means we're free to leave all the windows open and not worry about any of them trying to spy on us,” Meg said.

“Would they really do that?” Amber asked.

“Don't worry,” Forte said. “Even if they try, I still have my sword here. They will pay for such insolence.”

“They certainly have before,” Clorica said with a smile.

“Though, I believe that this is the first evening they have had a slumber party as well,” Xiao said. “It doesn't seem to be a thing boys would do often. I wonder what they will find to talk about.”

“I wonder if they'd gossip about us?” Clorica asked.

“I hope it's not anything in poor manners,” Dolce said.

Wendy shrugged. As she'd found her voice, she said, “Who knows? Maybe they just talk about normal stuff like girls do?”

“That seems most true,” Xiao said.

“Well about half the guys there are kind of girly,” Frey said. “Maybe they'll start talking about fashion.”

Some of the others laughed. “That might be,” Meg said with a delighted smile. “Some of them are pretty well dressed from day to day. Though it's debatable in Leon's case.”

“Well dressed halfway?” Clorica suggested to further amusement. Then she clapped her hands. “Oh, it's getting close to summer now. Remember last year when we went to the capitol to do summer clothes shopping in late spring? We should do that again.”

“Oh yeah, especially with all you new girls around,” Meg said with a nod. “I could use a new swimsuit at least. Hey, we can even find some modern attire for Dolce and Amber.”

“Lumie gave me most of my clothes,” Amber said. “Are there lots of clothes in the other place?”

“Sure,” Meg said. “It's a big castle city unlike Selphia, so there's a lot of permanent shops carrying all kinds of styles.”

“That might be fun,” Amber said, curious.

“What do you mean by modern attire?” Dolce asked, unsure of changing her usual style. She did keep the same few dresses from day to day.

“Well you wear so many layers that it's got to be stifling in the summer heat,” Meg said. “I think you could still look cute in a style with lighter weight that won't be as cumbersome.”

“I'm used to it,” Dolce said.

“Aw, but you could look amazing!” Pico said. “Maybe you could even show your arms off!”

“What?” Dolce asked, her eyes widening a bit.

“Nobody will think less of you for it,” Xiao said. “And it is not like we have to worry about causing the boys trouble by wanting to look pretty. If they are bothered, then it is their problem for not being well-mannered enough to have self control.”

“Maybe I'll look for new patterns and materials,” Dolce said. “I'll think about it.”

“What's so weird about showing your arms off?” Amber asked, holding her arms out in front of her and twisting them. “They're just arms, everybody has them.”

“It's cultural differences, I'm not sure you would understand,” Dolce said.

“And your logic's kind of dangerous to go much further with in polite society,” Frey said.

“Oh right,” Amber said, dropping her arms. “But really, it's just arms, not the stuff modesty wants covered.”

“Um, why have our recent slumber parties always ended up talking about this kind of thing?” Xiao asked, rubbing her head.

“It's me!” Amber said with a big smile.

Frey snickered. “No kidding.”

“At least you realize it,” Meg said. “Though we should be talking about Frey because it's her party.”

“I like the clothes for the wedding,” Dolce said, her mood lightening. “There's a lot of detail work that would take a long time in the means I was taught with. But now that I've been working on magic crafting, it's a whole different kind of soothing to pull it all together.”

“I'm sure you'll make it all beautiful,” Frey said, wondering if she should ask to see the designs. But it would be fun to be surprised by it too.

“Oh yeah, the pattern on that is so dreamy,” Meg said, getting Xiao to nod. But then she asked Forte, “Isn't it an exquisite treasure?”

Having been in an uneasy quiet when the talk turned to fashion, Forte tensed when the question got directed at her. “Um, actually yes, couples in the past have always looked amazing in the clothes Blossom made. Although, with this wedding in question, I've had to wonder, well...”

“Well what?” Dolce asked, looking at her.

Forte blushed a bit. “Well, Leon has a fox tail. How do you account for that in making his clothes?'

“I don't,” Dolce said. “I asked him once about what he was doing to alter his pants, but it's an unconscious thing that the other three do. The tails and wings pass through clothes while being physical past that contact. While I can't say why that happens, all I did was decide on the overall shape based on his profile.”

“Are you going to make him wear a shirt?” Frey asked.

“I'm making one, but I can't make him wear it,” she said.

“I'm sure you could think of a delightful way to get him to wear the full outfit,” Pico said with a grin.

Frey shrugged. “I think he will with only a show of resistance. It's a special enough occasion to count.”

“That seems like it will be a strange thing to see,” Xiao said. “Are you sure about this?”

“I've seen him in a shirt before,” Meg said. “And it was strange! But that was your first date with him, right?”

“Right, that was when,” Frey said with a nod. “I think it's like when my brother crossdresses; it's only on special occasions and it wouldn't be nearly as fun if he did it often enough for people to expect it.”

“That's a fun way to think about it,” Wendy said, laughing with a few of the others. “But why'd you agree to marry him so soon? You two only just met this spring and you might even be married before summer.”

“I'm pretty sure it will be before summer comes,” Frey said, smiling happily. “My dad won't complain about it once he gets here and talks to Leon. After all, he and Mom married in the same season they met too. But for me and Leon, we started getting along from the moment we first started talking to each other. Then there was that ordeal with the hell gates and how we got through that cemented the whole thing. We both know this is what we want and it's right for us.”

“You both certainly seem completely happy with it, yes?” Xiao said, happy at the idea of it.

“But is it okay?” Amber asked, curious and puzzled. “Because when I lived with the fairies, they said getting married was a terrible thing because that meant you were tamed and no longer a strong independent heart.”

“I don't think anyone but fairies think of it as being tamed,” Meg said.

“Well there's nothing saying that you can't keep a strong heart after marriage,” Frey said. “And it's not fully dependency either. Marriage is more of a partnership between two people to get through life together. The world's not perfect and all kinds of bad things can happen without warning, or without apparent reason too. It's hard to get through everything alone, but if you've got someone at your side who's vowed to be loving and supportive with you, then one person can give their strength to their partner at the times they need it most.”

“Sometimes it's hard to believe that people call you a sage,” Forte said. “But when you say things like that, it makes more sense.”

She chuckled. “Funny thing is, that's just what my parents and elders told me, not my own idea. But I agree with it. I only know all that I know because others learned it before me and passed the knowledge down.”

* * *

 

Once a couple of the bookshelves were pulled out of Arthur's room and replaced with couches, it made a good area to hang out, not even crowded in spite of eight guys being there. Arthur had brought out a game called Monopoly that he declined to play aside from being a kind of referee in handling the pretend money. Though if he had been playing, Leon would not have wanted to try. It seemed like the kind of thing Arthur would have a huge advantage in.

“I've not been to a slumber party before, so I wasn't sure what else to suggest,” Arthur said.

“The girls here have them fairly regularly,” Vishnal said. “Though I'm not sure what they do.”

“Never thought of going to see what they were up to?” Leon asked.

Seeing him get embarrassed was great. “Uh, no, not at all! It's the girls' party, so it's better to leave them be.”

“Yeah, and Forte's there so you don't want to mess with them,” Doug said.

“Oh, do you have experience with that?” Arthur asked. Sometimes he could have a really sharp wit too.

“N-no I don't!” Doug said, although the way he and Vishnal were reacting, maybe they did.

“I think they just talk based on what Forte says,” Kiel said. “Though sometimes I ask how it went and she grumbles about Amber. Which is weird because the two of them usually get along.”

Leon could guess why, since any conversation about clothing around Amber invariably swerved into nudity at some point. But he didn't want to say that about her. “Well about half those girls are tomboyish in some way, so maybe they talk about adventuring outside town.”

“Yeah, some of them you'd much rather have on your side in a fight,” Lest said. “Who knows, maybe they gossip about us too.”

“When do we gossip about girls?” Kiel asked.

“Like, right now?” Lest said, finding the question amusing.

“Maybe more than you realize,” Leon said. “Though I wouldn't know what to suggest for a party. There were only two of us kids in the village I grew up in, so any party was usually related to the pilgrims who passed through.”

“Yes, I've had to deal with lots of formal affairs myself,” Arthur said.

Leon smirked. “Well they weren't always formal, let me tell you. Some of them were quite a drunken ruckus our parents tried to keep us out of.”

“That doesn't sound very much like what pilgrims would do,” Vishnal said, puzzled.

“You go travel through the dangerous unguarded roads for weeks at a time and then tell me you wouldn't want to unwind once you got to your destination,” he said.

“Most parties I've been to were harvest feasts or otherwise related to farming,” Lest said. “Though sometimes us kids would go on an overnight camp-out in the woods.”

“That actually sounds cool,” Doug said. “Maybe we could take a camp out down to Keano Lake to the south. Just have to watch out for the mushrooms.”

“Oo, camping among the mushrooms,” Leon said, smiling. “You mean that area where all the giant ones grow? That could be fun.” Especially sneaking mystery mushrooms into the camp meals.

“Yeah, we could get Dylas to make sure we pick the safe mushrooms to eat,” Kiel said.

“Sure, I think I could do that,” Dylas said.

“Aw, why take all the fun out of the guesswork?” Leon said, making his ears droop. “There's some really interesting ones out there if you're brave enough to try.”

Unfortunately changing the subject, Arthur said, “Lest, I've been wondering about something. Your father's coming into town and, he wouldn't happen to be Corrin Nolan?”

“That's him,” Lest said with a nod.

“I had a feeling it might be,” Arthur said, looking serious. “Huh.”

“Wow, you mean the Corrin Nolan?” Kiel asked, wide-eyed and interested. “He's like famous among all the knights of Norad.”

“Ah, I think you mean infamous,” Arthur said, shifting his glasses. “Though I have been curious about his side of the story.”

“You can ask him about it, I'm sure he won't mind,” Lest said.

“What's he infamous for?” Leon asked. Not that it would matter to him what his future father-in-law had done. In fact, it might be more interesting to join this family if he were certain kinds of infamous.

“Well Corrin was going to be accepted as a royal guardsman straight from being a squire,” Kiel explained. “That's a pretty high honor as taking that job often leads to some of the highest titles in knighthood. But then he got stripped of the noble rank he had earned and was told to leave service even though he was really good at what he did. If it was just that, he might have fell into obscurity. Instead, the old knight who trained him, Arthur Lest Lawrence, he was angered that they'd do that and quit even though he was captain of the royal guard and thought of as one of the best living knights around. Corrin and Art then took to wandering around Norad, continuing to uphold the chivalry and honor of knights by dispatching monsters and protecting the places they came to. Central Norad kept trying to get Art back, even just as a master for training novices. But he swore that until they accepted Corrin, he would not take back his knighthood.”

“Wait, but what got Corrin stripped of nobility in the first place?” Doug asked. “They've got strict guidelines for the royal guard, I hear, so if he was nearly there, why kick him out just before?”

“Well that,” Kiel trailed off, not sure what to say.

“He was very good at what he did,” Arthur said, implying that it was in more than just knightly traits.

“Pretty much,” Lest said.

“Was he a criminal?” Sven asked, curious as well.

Kiel shook his head. “Oh no, they said that he was an excellent example of a chivalrous knight... except that one thing. That wrecked everything for him, but he stood by his beliefs and wouldn't comply with their requests.”

“In a way, that's brave to keep such integrity,” Arthur said.

“So what was that one thing?” Leon asked.

“I'm sure you'll find out before long,” Lest said, making Arthur have to stifle a laugh. That made Lest look over at him. “Oh, you'd probably be interested to know that he's been traveling with Art again, so they're both going to be in Selphia.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows. “Really? I'll have to see about talking to him at some point, since I never got to meet him even if I got named for him.”

“Yeah, I bet he's got lots of interesting stories to tell,” Kiel said. “What's he like?”

Lest rubbed his chin. “Well... I have to say, just about all me, Arthur, and Art share is two names. Art doesn't say much, being a gruff tough as nails sort. He's got at least a hundred different scars and while he's old enough that Frey and I call him Gramps, he still is a powerful axe fighter. Just now, he and my dad are on a pilgrimage to see the four Native Dragons. Terrable and Feirsome both challenged them to battle before they'd consent to talk, and they won that right. But Art won't boast about it. If you try to pick a fight with him, he'll refuse for your own safety. The one time I saw him fight another human was one evening when I got in trouble. He knocked a guy about as big as Leon down in one hit, then pulled out his axe and told him not to mess with me. The other guy thought he was tough, but he backed right off at that in terror.”

“Wow, he sounds so awesome,” Kiel said.

“That's quite a difference,” Arthur said, impressed as well. “Though, if those two native dragons are like that, no wonder such pilgrimages have fallen out of favor. Ventuswill might be the only one who will speak to ordinary people without such requests.”

“What?!” Dylas said unexpectedly, looking back at Vishnal. Sven close to them looked shocked as well.

“That's why,” Vishnal said.

“What are you guys...?” Doug asked, before Lest whispered something close to him. “What the...? Seriously?!”

“Yeah, that's why,” Lest said with a smile.

“If that's what I think it is, it should be obvious thinking about the twins here,” Arthur said.

“What are you guys whispering about?” Leon said, trying to be stern with them.

It wasn't working. “Well I can see that now,” Doug said.

“Are you going to let me in on it?' Leon said, looking over at Dylas.

However, Dylas grinned in a slightly scary fashion. “No, I don't think so.”

“Fine, but I'm going to get back at you all somehow,” Leon said, trying to hide behind his fan. But they knew something he didn't. About Corrin? What could it be?

* * *

 

Spring 86

Because he worked in the library, Leon made sure to learn a low range sound shield spell before he started practicing on the typewriter. It made it so he could enjoy the noise of it while not disturbing others. He was starting off with being made familiar with the layout of the keys and common tasks like switching the ink, loading paper, and keeping an even margin. Like with other modern devices, it manged to make a simple task more complicated in one view and more convenient in other views. Leon was sure that his handwriting was neat and consistent, but if this was the publisher's preference, he may as well learn it.

He caught a glimpse of a woman with green hair at the edge of his vision and glanced up from the instruction book in case it was Frey. But it wasn't. Her hair was darker and shorter, plus she wore an armored dress like the one that Forte usually wore. Frey preferred mage armors such as cloaks. Still, it was quite impressive, especially since this warrior lady had slight signs of being older on her face.

She smiled on seeing she had his attention. “Hello, do you work for the library? Or are you simply working here for the ambiance?”

“Yes to both,” he said, getting up from the typewriter to come to the desk. “I'm the main librarian, Leon. Did you need help with something?”

After chuckling at his joke, she put a book on the desk. “I was wondering if you allow visitors to borrow books or if I should just skim this here.”

“Sure, you can borrow it but your limit is only three days before you need to check back in about it,” he said, taking the borrower records book. She had a guide to monsters around Selphia. “Adventuring then? You'd want to know that our maps are out of date by several decades and we're just now getting a cartographer to come out to redraw them.”

She nodded. “I knew about that. My friend and I met the cartographer and we were considering accepting the job as his guards. But there's a lot to consider in it, including being familiar with what appears.”

“It's really lovely countryside,” Leon said, writing down the book's name. “Just have to be extra careful down south these days. What's your name?”

“Corrin Nolan,” she said.

The name made him stop immediately and look back up at her. She smiled and there wasn't a hint about her that would have made Leon guess she was a man. “You're Corrin?”

“Yes, I came here in part to visit my children,” she said, her eyes bright like Frey's were when she had some mischief in play. “Though when Frey wrote to tell me that she was engaged, I was really curious. So you're her fellow.”

“Yeah, that's me,” he said, setting the pencil down a moment. “You know, I was told that you were really good at something but not what. That was an understatement.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Though there's more to that this time around. I kept joking with Frey that she'd end up married to her research, but I didn't think that would end up true.”

Leon had to laugh at that. “You could say that.”

Corrin nodded. “Anyhow, we're going to have dinner over at the restaurant tonight and we'd like you to join us if you want. We've already got a reservation for 1730.”

“Sure, I'll meet you all over there,” he said. “Though for future reference, am I supposed to be calling you my father in law or mother in law?”

“I prefer to be known as a woman,” Corrin said, thankfully showing no signs of being bothered at the question. “But if I like you, I'll let you refer to me as your father in law. That's simply how Frey and Lest grew up knowing me as because their mother and I couldn't have stayed in Grelin otherwise.”

“All right, had to make sure,” Leon said, thinking he probably should have guessed their father would end up being someone like this. Especially when Arthur said it was obvious thinking on them. In that case, he felt like there shouldn't be a problem between them. He finished recording her borrowing the book and then talked with her a while longer before going back to his typing practice.

A few minutes ahead of time, he met up with them outside of the restaurant. Arthur was also out there, talking with them about what happened with the knights. And just as Lest had said, the namesake of them both was an old guy who looked like he could still be a one man army on the battlefield. “I felt it was her choice to live how she wanted as long as she was noble in conduct,” Art said. “They simply couldn't accept that. When they brought up that accepting her might mean accepting an actual woman into knighthood, that was the point where I couldn't go along with their decision any longer.”

“That's right, it shouldn't matter who's handling the sword,” Corrin said. “If her conduct and loyalty are appropriate to the station, then let a girl serve her homeland in being a knight.”

Arthur nodded. “Yes, I've come to see that myself. Selphia has a female knight serving Ventuswill and she's dedicated to the job just as much as the men back in the capitol.”

“You're biased,” Leon said to come into the conversation.

“Well, that doesn't really count,” Arthur said, a little embarrassed.

“Sure about it?” he asked. He and Forte still had interest in each other, but neither of them were making any moves towards each other. It was a pity, but something that could change even if it took outside influences. In his mind, Leon felt that would be needed. Both of them had degrees of formality in their everyday behavior which were going to act as a wall between them. It might take some mischief to get those walls to crack and fall, and he was more than willing to provide such mischief.

They ended up talking shortly past the reservation time, causing Margaret to come out and bug them. Then she brought them in to a family dining room separate from the main restaurant. Unlike the other room, there was no music player and there was more whimsy in the décor. Like some paintings of crowds that had funny little scenes if one looked closely and the displayed collection of monster figurines. The five of them didn't take up the full table, so they stayed to one end for an easier time talking to each other. In unspoken honor of his position as the eldest, Art was given the seat at one end of the table. Lest and Corrin sat on one side of him, while Frey and Leon took the other side.

In Leon's family, a meal would have been accompanied by talk about the day's work and matters concerning the shrine of Ventuswill. In this family, the meal started off with Frey saying, “You know dad, you're looking bustier than I remember you being. Did you rework your enchantments?”

“That's no enchantment going on,” Lest said, a smile on his face.

“Well not like I was using,” Corrin said happily. “You remember when I said that Terrable was a jerk? I have to take that back now because Aquaticus is far more of a jerk. While he lives in the lake right beside the town of Sharence, we had to recruit a local guy to get us into a lengthy cave dungeon in order to reach the place where we could talk to the native dragon. Then Aquaticus turns out to be seriously out of touch with mortal society and doesn't really care to correct that. He didn't like that I showed up as a man wearing an armored dress. Thinking it would make me be more serious through shaming me, he transformed me into a physical woman. He didn't expect me to thank him for it. I think he gave us the pilgrim's sign just to get us out of his home.”

“That's great!” Frey said. “Though he is the god who presides over transformation, so if any of them would change you properly, it'd be him.”

“Sounds like the best kind of jerk out there,” Leon said.

“He didn't have to go saying that my claim was impossible,” Corrin said, still not happy about that part. “Though I'm glad he transformed me before asking why I was dressed as I was because I don't think there's any way I could have convinced him to do it otherwise. The guide did say that the town honors the divine water in part to keep him from from messing with the town on a mistaken premise again.”

“You're lucky to have a god that likes mortals here,” Art said. “The other three native dragons are mostly neutral about us, though they will give some mortals a chance if they see them as deserving.”

“Though Aquaticus is a meddler that you want to convince that nothing's wrong or else you'll get meddled with,” Corrin said.

“Those of the eras when those divine dragons were born may not have seen it as pressing to make sure they have a favorable view of mortals,” Leon said. Even if his birth family could be too serious for his liking, he felt glad to hear another sign that their work had made a difference.

* * *

 

Venti woke up and checked over how she looked. There were a pair of pilgrims in town today, a kind of visitor that she hadn’t seen in centuries. Was that going to come back into style? That would depend more on her fellow Native Dragons than her. Besides, this was a pair of warriors said to be a cut above most adventurers, so perhaps pilgrims wouldn’t be common again. Though her information had come from Lest and this was his father and adoptive grandfather coming to visit, so who knew?

As Lest brought them into her chamber, she could see that they were quite a pair. The elder warrior Art had a soul as rough as his body; he’d certainly lived a hard life and endured terrible things. But his heart still burned bright, not bitter with life. His age might not let him wield that large axe he carried as well, or let him travel much longer. On the other hand, Corrin might be able to live by her sword for quite some time still. Her runes showed evidence of recently being transformed into a female, although that made her body match her soul and mind well. She had a measure of levity along with the weight of chivalry, making her quite interesting to Venti before she even spoke.

Lest introduced them to each other with some formality even though this was his family, which was nice and proper if a bit suspect on his part. Venti nodded to them. “Well met, pilgrims. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your sort.”

“Thank you for meeting with us,” Art said, saluting to her with Corrin. “We came out of curiosity to see if this could still be done, something both of us have wanted to do for a long time.”

“Yes, we had to fight two of the others and chase the third through a long dungeon,” Corrin said. “So this is a pleasant visit in comparison.”

“I wouldn’t make visitors do something like that, unless they really wanted to,” Venti said.

“Yeah, cause she’s too lazy to actually fight herself,” Lest said.

Embarrassed at that, she snarled. “Lest! One of these I am going to eat you for your impertinence.” He and Corrin laughed while Art just raised an eyebrow. Venti shook her wings a bit and figured she could drop the formality now. “Anyhow, I’d be fine with just chatting for a little while. Got any embarrassing stories to share about Lest?”

“Aw come on Venti,” Lest said, smiling.

“Serves you right for calling me lazy,” she retorted.

“Maybe I do,” Corrin said, enjoying this exchange more. “But then, you wouldn’t happen to know any embarrassing stories on Leon in exchange, would you? Since he’s marrying my daughter, I’d like to be as much trouble to him as possible.”

Venti laughed at that. “That sounds even more fun! What have you got on Lest?”

“I could tell you about the first time that he tried to crossdress and it went horribly awry,” Corrin said.

“When was that?” Lest asked.

“When you were five, before we had a good idea on what your blessing was supposed to be. Of course, being that we had twins of a girl and boy, there were times earlier that he wore Frey’s dresses. Our neighbors figured he’d grow out of it when he got a better idea of what a boy is supposed to be like. He never really did thanks to me, but this one time, he and his sister fooled a traveling merchant into thinking they were both girls. Lest got offered a really adorable dress to try on, with sequins that shifted colors, the kind of thing kids love. We let him and were even going to give him a super cute hat to go along with it. But of course, something that changes colors is very likely enchanted. He had come out of the dressing tent to show us and then in a matter of seconds, the whole dress unraveled and the merchant was rather shocked that we’d let our son dress like that. Thought it’d end up giving him a confused identity.”

“Well I confuse some other people but not myself,” Lest said, not embarrassed at the story. But Corrin had to know something that would get to him.

Still, Venti chuckled at the story. “Aw, that’s unfortunate. But I think you taught him well in that regards.”

“Hey, I was really happy to since I didn’t expect I’d get a son who liked wearing dresses too,” Corrin said with a smile. “So what kind of dirt do you have on Leon? Am I going to have to get really serious on him?”

“That depends,” Venti said. “Although actually, you know how people would pray to him for wisdom and guidance while he was a guardian? The whole incident that was based on was a sham, actually.”

“Really?”

“Sometimes I think saints get seen as saints because we don’t know their full story,” Art said.

Venti nodded. “It happens. With Leon, he’d gotten accepted as a Dragon Priest when he was seventeen, which is impressive on its own since his father and grandfather hadn’t gotten accepted by other priests in the land until they were in their late twenties. Leon mostly served alongside his father, but in the first week where he was working alone, the Norad king and a few of his advisers came to visit me. They had political questions that I had no clue about how to answer. I mean, I was a little under a century old at the time, but I didn’t know a lot about human governments at the time.”

“Did they know about that and were trying to get divine approval in a tricky way?” Corrin asked.

“Possibly,” she said. “Plus this was the generation after the Norad nation helped the final collapse of the Ath kingdom, which Selphia had originally been a part of. The Karnak family had been influential in Ath even before that branch took on working for me. So it was a little awkward dealing with someone whose father had conquered the capitol of our homeland and left our land hanging on its own against Sechs raiders. I told Leon that I didn’t know how to answer their questions.

“Thankfully, they didn’t know dragons all that well as Leon was able to tell me in the dragon language not to worry about it and he’d come up with something. I wasn’t sure if he could because he was a lot younger than me, but then he made up some riddle that I’d supposedly given him and told it to the Norad king. Leon then proceeded to pick apart his own riddle for nearly an hour. While he was bluffing the entire time, the king and his advisers completely fell for it and were really impressed that he could work out the riddle. And they were no fools, I could be sure of that even then. They were older than Leon’s father had been at the time, so they should have known better.”

“I suppose it does take a special kind of wisdom to bluff being wise, especially to your elders,” Corrin said.

“Maybe,” Venti agreed. “When he got to a point where he couldn’t bluff without making it obvious, he smiled and told them that he’d been messing with them the whole time and I had actually said that it was a human matter that humans should settle. Which I hadn’t said either, but it was less embarrassing. They still took him for being really wise and smart when he was just being a smartass. And when I tried to thank him for it, he said that he’d only done it to make them look like idiots. Which was also a bluff. He’s like that, even now, in that he’ll help you out if he considers you a friend, but he’ll be really impossible to deal with and make fun of you the whole while. He’s not bad overall, just infuriating to deal with face to face often.”

“Well Frey deals with him better than most people,” Lest said.

“He seems all right to me, definitely smart enough to keep up with Frey’s mind,” Corrin said. “Or maybe just try to. And I don’t have a lot of room to complain about this happening quickly when I got married to Joyce near as quick, just a couple weeks longer. Although if I had to do it over again, I’d still live the same life even if it can be hard at times.”

“They have a strong spark between them,” Lest said. “Which I was a bit worried about since he’s her first boyfriend and all. Then again, I saw his personal hell and from that, I’m sure he’d treat her well when she can keep up with his mind too.”


	56. The First Wedding

Spring 88

There were parts of this wedding ceremony that were meant for the family of the bride and groom. It was possible for a loner to be accounted for, but Leon didn't want that to be a part of this day. For his family, he invited the other three guardians (and Pico because she'd come anyhow) over to the library to help him get ready this morning. That turned out well because Dylas was far more accustomed to the bits and pieces of the suit he'd been given for this day. After several attempts on Leon's part went askew, Dylas finally centered and knotted the scarf for him. “It's not that hard,” he said.

“I know how to tie knots,” Leon insisted. “But I'm usually not doing so just out of sight under my chin. Who came up with this anyhow?”

“I don't know but it's a part of formal attire,” Dylas said, fixing his collar.

With the scarf on, he put on the white jacket, which went over a white shirt and a pale blue vest. “And all these pieces put together for one look. I said I was fine with wearing a shirt for a special occasion, but I didn't expect there was so much to the shirt.”

“Layered is a good look,” he said. Not surprising since his everyday wear was layered in some manner.

“At least I don't have to do that complicated lacing on those boots you like. How long does that take anyhow?” He looked at himself in the mirror and it was like seeing a whole different person. Though the layering did make for a clean varied appearance.

“Less than a minute,” Dylas said. “It looks more complicated than it is. And quit complaining, it makes you look worse.”

“What, you think I'm more beautiful with the happy glow?” Though saying that made him smile. He had to brush his hand against one of his ears as a reminder that this wasn't a dream. This fantastic start to a new life with a woman who'd seen the worst of him and still fell in love with him, it was no dream. It was worth the pomp and ceremony. Though he'd still complain if there was reason to.

“Better than the whiny pout at least,” Dylas said, slipping into a rare smile himself.

Once he was dressed and had his hair brushed down, they went into the library sitting area where Amber, Dolce, and Pico were waiting with lunch. “You look like a snowman!” Amber piped up.

“Thanks, I think,” Leon said, making her laugh. “As long as you don't mean a chubby snowman.”

“No, it looks good on you,” Dolce said. “You should dress up more often, though the fan doesn't fit.”

“Not leaving the fan behind,” Leon said. “I'll pass on doing this more often. There's too many parts; you don't even see the shirt.”

“Needs a waistcoat too,” Dylas said, making Dolce and Pico laugh, and Amber look at them blankly.

“I have no clue what that is, but no thanks,” Leon said. “Any more clothing would make me melt during the ceremony.”

“He is a snowman!” Amber said in mock amazement.

Lunch was spent with fun conversation and Dolce fussing over him to make sure he didn't get the suit dirty before the ceremony. But that was fine. It was good getting to spend normal time with them. Hopefully they could get together more often; Leon felt like he needed to make sure that happened.

There was still some time to pass after lunch and before the ceremony would begin. Eventually, Amber's antenna went up and she leaned forward. “Hey, we should sing together before this!”

“That'd be nice,” Leon said. “Anything in mind?”

“Just how we always sang,” she said.

“Are you sure we can do that?” Dolce asked.

“Me and Dylas did it before, with Ven,” Amber said, looking over at Dylas.

“That was kind of on accident,” he said. “Wasn't really thinking on doing it.”

“We couldn't join in at the time because we weren't earthmates,” Leon said. “But we should be able to manage now. We could try like how we were contacting them at the rune springs.”

“Wouldn't hurt,” Dolce said. So Leon started off singing his usual tune, Amber soon following, then Dylas and Dolce joining in.

After a few seconds, Amber stopped and bounded out of her seat. “No, there's a better way! Come on, on your feet!”

“Do you have to give orders?” Leon asked, although he got up with the others.

“She's the wind earthmate, she probably knows something,” Dolce said.

Amber grinned. “Yeah, we gotta hold hands! And be in different spots, um,” she pulled them out of the seating area and moved them each into place. It was amusing how they each tolerated what she was up to. Once she was satisfied, Leon saw exactly what she was doing. Amber had placed herself in the east position, with him in the west, Dolce south, and Dylas north, in the exact arrangement of the rune springs now. Then she had them hold hands and start singing.

Once they all were, they were no longer in the library. They were in a place where nothing was, just light and sound in vibrant motion. There were impressions of things around them: trees, a waterfall, snow, the castle, butterflies, people, flowers. The things never lasted, sketches when they were there and nothing in a blink. Strangest of all, this place was alien and familiar. Like if he'd only ever saw this place at night and unexpectedly stumbled upon it during the day.

“Where are we?” Dolce asked, gripping his hand tighter.

He was pretty sure of where. “It's the ether sea, but changed with the rune springs back in place.”

“Wow, it's pretty by daylight,” Amber said.

“How are we back here?” Dylas asked. “Etherlink was taken out of us, so we shouldn't be able to return.”

“Lest told me that sometimes he dreams of being in the ether sea,” Amber said. “He said that when I asked him how he talked to us the first time. So it's not too strange.”

“I've heard that anyone of sufficient rune power can reach this place mentally,” Leon said. “For the four of us, in a circle with this arrangement, it's likely a natural result of us working together.”

“Then we could probably do some powerful magic like this if we wanted,” Amber said, excited at the thought. “I just wanted to sing with all of you again.”

“Dolly!” Pico popped into the ether sea, clinging to Dolce's waist. “That was weird, warn me next time!”

“What are we doing in the library?” Dolce asked, looking down at her. “If our minds are here, the rest of us is still back there.”

“All four of you are singing the exact same notes and have like no expression on your faces,” Pico said, wide-eyed. “It's creepy.”

“Not surprising since our minds aren't there,” Leon said. “Wonder what'll happen if someone walks in on us?”

“I'd rather not make them worry,” Dylas said.

“Pico, could you go back and keep an eye out for anyone?' Dolce asked. “That way you can get our attention if someone's trying to talk to us.”

“It's so creepy,” Pico whined.

“Please?” Dolce asked.

“Okay, but don't be like this for long,” the ghost said before she vanished to their awareness.

“We should do something nice for her for doing that for us,” Amber said.

“Right, but what do you do for a ghost?” Dylas asked.

“If you want, we could get her to play a game with us later on,” Dolce said. “It'll probably be annoying, but she'll be happy.”

“What did we want to do here anyhow?” Dylas said.

Leon smiled. “I know what I want to do.” Then he sang, not with words but with his heart as he used to do with them. Because there was a lot to tell them but even words might get in the way.

That the chains of despair Storgane cursed them with were gone, but they probably each had chains of their own still lurking within them. But they didn't have to stay that way. He could not have gotten free of his bindings on his own, but the love and happiness he'd found with Frey had freed him more completely than he'd ever hoped for. Today, he was ridiculously happy and probably selfish in that happiness, but it was also his true wish that someday they would know this feeling for themselves. He would help them find it too. They just had to ask and he would listen, giving him what help they needed.

They responded, they would all help each other, as they had done in the centuries where they only knew each other by the voices of their hearts.

* * *

 

After eating an early lunch with her family, Frey went up to her room with Doomgale and Corrin to get dressed for the ceremony. Her father was far more helpful than the wind dragon, but Doomgale wanted to talk and Frey was happy to oblige. “So what are you doing with Ventuswill?” she asked.

“ _She sends me out on missions all over Selphia,_ ” Doomgale said, her poise now mimicking the way Venti usually sat in her chamber. “ _Sometimes it's out seeing places in the countryside, fighting monsters, and finding things. And sometimes it's helping out people here in town. I think it's a lot of fun helping them out, although Flareson says it's not very dragon-like. But Venti says that she helps people lots of times, even when they don't realize it. So I have to learn to be more sneaky helpful.”_

“Most dragons would rather keep to themselves,” Corrin said. “But that doesn't mean there can't be extra social ones like you and Ventuswill.”

“ _Yeah, it's more fun around lots of different people.”_

Frey smiled. “It'd be nice if there were more social dragons around. I bet a lot of them would surprise themselves with how well they'd get along with other peoples. Even Flareson.”

“ _He's so shy though,”_ Doomgale said. “ _I worry about him, being out on his own. He doesn't even associate with the monsters around his new territory and I have to pester him to get him to talk to me.”_

“Do you talk to him about Selphia?' Frey asked. “I do and he pretends not to be interested. But I'm pretty sure he listens to all of it.”

Doomgale laughed. “ _I do too! I'm trying to figure out if there's anyone he's most curious about. Then I'm gonna try to get that person to come out with me to go see him.”_

“That sounds like a great idea,” Frey said.

“Do you want your hair as usual or try something different with the veil?” Corrin asked.

“ _Different!”_ Doomgale suggested with a happy crow.

“Well I do the twin tails because it's easiest and keeps it out of the way when I'm at the forge,” she said. “What do you think, Dad?”

She looked over her. “Well, your usual style would help to support the veil so it spreads out, but we can also do that with some discrete hair combs. Wearing it down might be nice if your hair was several inches shorter.”

“Yeah, the twin tails are getting rather close to the ground now,” Frey said. That was with them perched on top of her hair. Wearing her hair loose meant she had to be careful about sitting down.

Corrin put her hands through Frey's hair. “Plus the weight of it keeps it close and makes it look thinner than it is. Although... I could put it in an ornate braid like I used to do with your mother. That would keep it off the ground and you've got enough hair that we can still make the style noticeable under the veil.”

“That'd be nice, let's do that,” Frey said. Her mother often had beautiful braid patterns that Corrin had done for her, making it exciting to have it done for herself.

She smiled. “Great! Oh, let's get the gloves on you first. Doomgale, would you go tell Lest that he can come in? It's going to take a while to get her hair done now and we don't want to keep him out of all the conversation.”

“ _Sure!”_ Doomgale flew out the window to get into the castle in another way and find him.

Frey slid the gloves on, although they were more like long sleeves that nearly connected to the dress at the shoulder. They were beautiful, like silver lace in a pattern with roses. Actually, the whole dress was like a work of art, something she really admired Dolce for putting together as she did. It fit perfectly, like it had been designed around her even though there was only one pattern. There were even real roses attached and sealed so they didn't lose color. Although, she had to wonder how Illuminata and Amber managed to give them such a lovely pale blue color.

“You look more beautiful than before already,” Corrin said, giving her a hug.

“I feel like it,” Frey said, also like she had stepped into a fairy tale. “You know, I was really annoyed when Lest said I should be princess too, but I really love it today.”

“Well every girl should have the chance to be the princess of her wedding,” Corrin said. “Although in the case of Joyce and I, we were runaway princesses taking our vows in secret at an old forest shrine. That's the day I'll always consider our wedding, not the ceremony we put on in Grelin.”

Frey giggled. “Well that's because you had to be the groom at that ceremony.”

“Don't remind me. Do they keep some towels in here? I'd like to have you sitting down while I work on it without getting your hair dirty.”

“Yeah, there should be a bath towel on the shelf in the bathroom.” Corrin went to get that before having her sit down so he could start brushing her hair for the arrangement.

When Lest came in with Doomgale, he was dressed in gray slacks and a white shirt, with a colorful feathered cape hanging from his shoulders. “Playing with her hair today?” he said.

“Of course, because I never get to play with yours,” Corrin said. “You always keep it far too short.”

“Sorry, but that's how I like it,” he said, pulling a chair over to sit with them. “I should trim it back soon.”

“We could always put colored streaks in his hair like Lena does,” Frey suggested.

Corrin looked over at him and smiled. “That's true. I think you'd look marvelous with some blues or a darker green in it.”

“I had my hair dyed once and nobody liked it, not even me,” Lest said. “I'll stick with natural color.”

“At least you actually look regal today,” Frey said. “Just need a crown to finish it off.”

He shrugged. “Supposedly there is a crown for Selphia's ruler, but it was last seen when Venti took it from the last king and demoted him. I don't know where it is and it's really up to her if she feels like bringing it out.”

“Maybe you should work on being more kingly,” Corrin suggested, pulling some of Frey's hair in front around her head to see how to arrange it best.

“I have enough trouble learning to be princely,” Lest said. “Don't know if I want to take it that far.”

“Have you got your part in today's ceremony memorized?” Frey asked. That was why he was dressed up in an official fashion, as the prince or princess had a role in many ceremonies like this.

Lest nodded. “Yes, that kind of thing isn't so bad. And you?”

“Of course, I was practicing with dad for hours,” she said. “At least it seemed like it.”

“I'm sure you'll both do fine,” Corrin said. “It's so wonderful getting to see you two like this. I can still vividly remember the days of you being infants and we'd have to figure out which one of you was crying in needing something and which was crying just because the other one was. Now I get to see you both partake in a royal wedding; I'm really happy for you both.”

“I feel lucky I got to see you and Leon come together and hear all about it from you,” Lest said. “Things happened so quickly, but it was still beautiful and you both have been dazzling lately.”

“Aw, do you have to embarrass me like that?” Frey said, although the protest was mostly for show.

Corrin leaned closer to her. “You want embarrassing, just wait until later today when I get to talk to your husband more.”

“Do you have to?” Frey asked while Lest laughed. “Besides, this isn't a royal wedding and is the last thing I'm doing as a princess. I was unofficial all along and Lest already said that I can keep using the two rooms downstairs because putting a forge in the library is a dumb move.”

“You know,” Lest said in a troubling way, “I would have agreed to just let you use that equipment if you kept refusing to be a princess. So you must have wanted to be one in some way.”

“Now you tell me?” Frey asked in mock fury, but then started laughing. There was no way she could keep being mad today.

Shortly before 1500, Volkanon came in to see if they were ready to come downstairs. They had to wait on word that the groom's party was also ready and in place. Although she had to keep just out of view in the hallway, Corrin told her that the whole town plus some curious visitors were out in the town plaza waiting on the wedding to begin. She hadn't been here the whole spring season like Lest had, but it felt like she already had lots of good friends here. There were old friend in Lena and Nem, and new friends like all the girls (and guy) in the sewing circle. She had a friendly rival in Bado and family with Lest and Corrin here. Soon, she'd also have a husband here and it would be like she'd completely settled in as a part of the community.

When everyone was in place, Lest left the castle to stand in front of the main entrance. The ceremony called for a spell that extended the range of a person's voice, but Lest had to simply speak without it. His voice carried well enough as he called out, “Our people of Selphia and those who have come visiting, we welcome you with warm hearts. We gather today to celebrate the union of two of our own who have decided to live one life together. Please keep a time of quiet as we bring out the happy couple and give them a moment to speak to each other. As the prince of Selphia, I summon them to come out: Leon Karnak and Frey Nolan.”

Frey waited a moment until Lest could get back to them so that she could walk out into the plaza with her father and brother. Leon came in with his siblings in the guardians from a western entrance to the plaza. While there was an expectant silence around as the audience kept quiet, she didn't think she'd care what they were calling out if they were. The two of them came together while their families stayed just outside the circle in the center of the plaza, aside from Lest who had to go back to the front of the plaza.

“You look unbelievably beautiful,” Leon said, smiling warmly for her. “I just hope there's no thorns with those roses.”

She smiled warmly back at him. “You're stunning today, and unbelievable for agreeing to that whole outfit. Are you really Leon?”

He laughed, although then he whispered so the others wouldn't hear, “If you don't believe it, I'll take the top pieces off right here and now.”

“No, you took the effort to put them all on today so you're going to wear them the whole day,” she whispered back. “But I believe you now.”

“Aw, had to try,” he said. “No thorns?”

“No thorns,” she said. “Promise.”

“Good. Shall we?” He took her hand.

“Of course,” she said, then walked up to Lest with him. This was the cue for the audience to break out in cheers and applause. Though she had to wonder how they'd react if they knew what they'd just been talking about.

Lest bowed his head to them as they approached, meaning they had to stop and bow to him when they got to a few feet in front of him. He had a script he was following, but he still made it sincere as he said, “We're all glad to be here with you on this momentous day. Many of us have watched you come together and we hope that you share many happy years with each other. Now, do you both have the rings you have made?”

“Yes,” they both said. Since Leon had gone with a gemstone to match her hair and eyes, Frey tried to do the same with a gold band to match what he made. It had taken a lot of digging through her supplies to find the pale blue sapphire that she'd gotten in a bagged lot of random gemstones, but she was glad she could go with the more magical gem than sticking to a more commonly blue aquamarine.

“And you both are ready to the commitment you will be making?” Lest asked.

“Yes,” they said. Frey wondered why wedding ceremonies asked that kind of thing. It'd be silly to go through all this preparation to back out now.

Lest then stepped aside from their way into the castle. “Good, then please proceed inside to make your commitment before our beloved goddess, Lady Ventuswill.”

They just had to go inside, but Leon couldn't resist quietly speaking to Lest as they walked by. “It's your damn fault for being a crossdressing oracle.”

“I'm glad to have been of assistance,” Lest said in his formal tone, but then broke into a grin before they passed by him.

Inside the castle, there was a semicircle of flower arrangements where they stood before Ventuswill. Frey noticed Doomgale lurking near one of the potted plants in another part of the room, but decided not to mention that the smaller dragon was there. Venti smiled at them. “You two look wonderful together. I don't know if I have the words to say how happy I am to be here for you like this.”

“There's billions of words back in the library, I'm sure there's something,” Leon said.

She laughed. “Well we don't need to waste time in searching for it. We'll just go with the words we have to use. Take the rings you have prepared and speak in full sincerity. Leon, do you pledge to honor and love only Frey for the rest of your new life together?”

“I do,” Leon said.

“Then place the ring you have on her.” They turned to each other briefly so she could give him her left hand, then had to nudge him to get it on the right finger. Venti nodded, then looked to her. “Frey, do you pledge to honor and love only Leon for the rest of your new life together?”

“I do,” she said, clutching the ring she had tight to secure the oath to it.

“Then place the ring you have on him.” She went to do so and he teased her briefly by trying to get it on the wrong finger. That was fine, especially since it was just a token joke. “I now pronounce you Mr. Leon Karnak and Mrs. Frey Karnak. Let the bells ring out in honor of you both; may the native dragons bless this newlywed couple.”

The bells in the castle rang loudly, getting cheers from outside as a sign of the marriage being official. Leon put his arm around her. “And now you're all mine,” he said.

“No, you're all mine,” she said, right before she kissed him.

When their lips parted, he had his hand to her face. “Well then I'll treat you like the treasure you are.”

“Before you go back out,” Venti said, tapping the floor with her front claws, “I do have a wedding present for you Leon. I believe it was a tradition among the men in your family.”

Frey wasn't sure what she meant, but Leon looked shocked. “What? You mean, it's still around?”

“Of course, I've been keeping it safe,” Venti said, summoning a green whirlwind near them. A glowing light appeared, then extended until it took the form of a spear with an ankh carved out below the spearhead. “This is the spear that my first Dragon Priest Isaac Karnak used when he fought alongside Darryl Zelphis against Storgane. He passed it along to his son on his marriage, who passed it to his son on his marriage. So, I'm extending that tradition to give it to you now. Though I wouldn't go using it in battle until you make sure it's in good enough condition to do so.”

Leon let go of her to step forward and take the spear. “Right, I'm just amazed to see it again. Thanks.” A piece of his family's history, back in his possession. He could almost see his father smiling as he might have in presenting this himself.

“Oo, does that mean I get to take it to my forge?” Frey said, eager at the thought of handling such a legendary weapon. Though it looked fairly simple at first glance.

“Only if you don't go changing its appearance too much,” Leon said, then smiled. “Of course, I'll trust you with it.”

With the ceremony complete, they went back outside to be welcomed as the newest couple in town.

* * *

 

Summer 4

The sun was rising. Leon felt its warmth in his blood, removing the chill that he'd been enduring. Although it was a relief, the feeling of absolute solitude lingered in his mind and made it hard to think. Past nightmares tried to claw their way into being. Feeling that this dream wouldn't last, knowing that this dream wouldn't last, he shut his mind from them and focused on the light he had. But it was no longer one simple childhood memory keeping him sane.

A distant yet close voice broke through. “Honey?”

That was the escape he needed. Feeling the touch of her fingers, he clasped her hand and brought himself awake. “I was... waiting for you,” he said sleepily before opening his eyes.

He wasn't alone. She was right there at his side, looking at him in concern. “What's wrong?”

“I had a nightmare,” Leon said, not awake enough to tell more than the truth.

“It's okay, it's morning now,” she said, putting her arm around him. More importantly, he wasn't alone and she wasn't going to tell that the first thing he'd done this day was cry. She stayed there with him until he calmed down from that. “Here, let me brush your hair now.”

“What for?” he asked, sitting up in bed with her.

“Because it's a mess and I want to,” she said, getting up to retrieve his hairbrush from the bathroom.

“Fine, one less thing for me to do,” he said.

Leon thought she was just pestering him for the sake of being a pest, since he usually did his own hair in the mornings. But when she started going through his hair methodically to get all the knots and kinks out, it soothed his nerves. The gentle tugs on his scalp were a reminder that he was awake and her touch was a reminder that she would look after him. Even in simple ways like this. Once she was done getting his hair and tail straightened out, he had to offer to do the same to her.

By the time they were done with that, it was already getting close to seven-thirty. “Could you get a quick breakfast together?” he asked as he walked through the bedroom door. “I need to make sure the library's ready to open at eight.”

“Not like that you're not,” she called after him.

“But it could be late if I don't...”

She appeared in the doorway shaking a fist at him. “No mister, you are getting right back in here and at least putting some pants on.”

Resisting a smile just yet, he put his hand on his head. “Aw, please no? It was so hot yesterday and it's going to be hotter today.”

“Then stay inside where it's cooler,” she said. “Get dressed.”

“Fine, if you insist,” he said, going back to the bedroom. But he caught her and gave her a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Frey said with a smile. “But you'd better be wearing pants when you walk out of this apartment.”


	57. Intermission - A Performance Without an Audience

Spring 61

The pages of the book he was reading fluttered in the wind. Arthur shifted his hand to keep them down. While he had no trouble comprehending this text, Lest was having some difficulty getting through it. He'd decided to review part of it himself before talking with him about it again. The activity was reminding him again of how different their backgrounds were in spite of sharing a name. Also, trying to teach this to someone else was giving him a new view on it himself. How did he present this in a simpler light? Perhaps an illustration of the concepts that fit better into Lest's understanding would help. Then the problem came of Arthur trying to come up with the middle grounds to bring their knowledge together. There were also some points that, now that he knew many people of various social standings, were seeming weaker than they had before.

The sound of someone being upset caught his attention. Arthur glanced up from his book to look over at the entrance to the windmill observatory. At the door, Dylas was leading Margaret out. The latter looked to be in tears and shaken, while the former was concerned. It looked like Dylas had the situation handled, whatever it was. Leaving it to him, Arthur turned back to the book to finish off the paragraph and consider a means of teaching it.

“That's it?!” Dylas's sharp words distracted him again, enough that Arthur put the book down in his lap. “Then what were you doing up there? You scared the hell out of me!”

“B-but I didn't mean to,” Margaret said, back in tears.

That couldn't be ignored. Arthur shut the book and walked over to them. “Dylas, don't yell at her,” he scolded. “I thought you were helping her.”

“That,” Dylas said, then snorted and looked like he'd storm off.

Catching him before he did, Arthur said, “Stop it. You should apologize.”

“S-sorry,” Margaret said, rubbing her eyes and trying to stop crying.

“Not you,” Arthur said gently, watching Dylas. When he refused to say anything more, he said, “We should talk with Porcoline about this.”

“Why him?” Dylas said, leaning away. He could get away from Arthur easily enough, as he was far stronger. But he wasn't trying.

“I think he'd be best at resolving this,” Arthur said. Personal interactions weren't as easy to negotiate as business interactions. Plus Porcoline was the head of their household, of a suitable temperament to resolve this dispute.

“Fine,” Dylas agreed. Arthur let him go at that and offered an arm to Margaret as she still seemed shaken.

Back in the mansion, Porcoline quickly agreed to come to Arthur's office and help sort things out. Arthur got some tea together while he talked with the two of them. “Now what happened here?” Porco asked.

Margaret didn't say anything right off and Dylas fidgeted with his hair. “Well,” the latter finally said, “I'd gone up to the top of the windmill to think in quiet, but then she popped out of nowhere and grabbed me in tears. I didn't know what was going on, so I brought her back down to see if that would help. Then she told me she was just scared of heights. Guess I lost my temper when I meant to ask what she was doing up there.”

“It was out of nowhere, sorry,” Margaret said, smiling a little.

“It was almost a gentlemanly thing to do if you'd kept watch of your words,” Porcoline said. “We really should get around to installing a Meggy alarm on that doorway so you stop wandering up there.”

“Maybe,” Margaret said, nearly laughing.

Arthur poured out the tea, not meaning to involve himself much. But it did make him curious. “It's not the first time you've gone up there if you're scared of heights?”

“Yeah,” Margaret admitted, twisting one hand in the other. “I don't mean to. It's just, when I start thinking over a really good melody or what might make a good song, I lose track of where I am and what I'm doing. If I'm walking when I start, I'll continue to walk until something gets in my way. And somehow I keep going up the stairs in there. This time, I actually got right up next to the fence there where it looks over the airfield before I noticed; the distance there completely terrorized me. I backed up and tripped over the bench, but then I was froze up there until he came up. I latched onto him as something hopefully safer, but didn't really notice it was Dylas until we were mostly down the stairs.”

“I haven't ended up like that, but I know how distracting certain things can get,” Arthur said. Like if he was reviewing numbers and marketplace data. He could completely lose focus of what his intention had been in finding the links between the rise and fall of various goods until someone called his name.

“Sounds like it was just an overreaction this time,” Porcoline said. “You really do need to watch that temper, Dylas.”

Dylas sighed while Margaret nudged the tea cup he had closer to him. “I didn't realize that you'd be scared too, but I'm glad you did bring me down when I couldn't think straight.”

“Uh, well,” Dylas said, looking away from them uneasily.

That particular posture struck Arthur as a warning flag. It meant that he needed to change the subject quickly or else alienate a customer out of making them uncomfortable. At this severity, it might even be better to simply accept that this wasn't going to end in a deal and back out with as much grace as he could so that the customer might come back when they were in a more rational state. Margaret seemed to notice too and didn't seem sure of what to say now. What to bring up...

Completely against Arthur's methods, Porcoline instead went over to sit by Dylas, conveniently shutting off any easy way he had of getting away. “What were you doing up there too?” he asked although it had already been discussed. Dylas looked like he really didn't want to talk about it. Porco didn't give up. “You remember that incident a few days ago with Illuminata and her wine experiment? You might not recall it, but you ended up mentioned something about suicide. Did that have anything to do with today?”

This was completely out of Arthur's knowledge; he felt a sympathetic feeling of wanting to get out of the conversation too. When he looked over at Dylas, though, he immediately gave in to the questioning and nodded. “Y-yeah. That was it. I mean, up there... I jumped off that windmill nearly four hundred years ago. It was only dumb luck that put someone who was able to catch me with magic around, but then... well she was in tears and shaking and I assumed the worse and only had the thought of getting her out of that dangerous position.”

“Ah, no wonder you yelled at me,” Margaret said, trying to smile but this wasn't really the place for that. “But you were up there today.”

“It wasn't anything like that,” Dylas insisted, fidgeting in small ways while his mind must have been working through some painful thoughts. “I was, I was going to go up there to convince myself that I did have strong reasons to live now. You remember that box Kiel gave me that day? There were some letters from my family under that seal. I really put them in a horrible position, since they didn't get to see or talk to me between the time of my attempt at suicide and when I left town to become a guardian. They all said that they hoped I could get better whenever I woke up in the future.

“But it's not that easy getting out from where I'd been. I want to live now, but I was badly depressed at least a year and a half back then. I didn't want to do anything and my thoughts kept running in painful spirals down. Even now, it can be a struggle just getting through the day. Then there's times when all the things that changed disorient me, or the fact that I had decided to die and only a sliver of a chance saved me from that, sometimes I can't believe that happened. But I just do things and keep trying to convince myself that things can get better. Then things like that happen and yeah I do lose my tempter too easily, but I can't be sure of what I'm doing most the time. Just, trying to do good things when I can.”

Later in the day, Arthur found that he wasn't getting much progress in forming this lesson for Lest. Or in anything else he was trying to do. He even took the most recent newspapers he had up to his bedroom and tried to trace the numbers in the marketplace data to distract himself. But it wasn't working today. There was a difference between knowing that someone near to him was having some personal troubles and getting the reality of that kind of depression brought out into the open.

He would have just changed the subject the moment Dylas got uncomfortable. He thought he'd just clam up as usual. Instead, Porcoline got him to talking about it openly and at the end of it, Dylas seemed relieved to have gotten it off his chest and grateful to them for listening to it. And for accepting him as a family. He didn't say, but it was between his words: he was grateful he could have people nearby who knew he was struggling and he could trust to tolerate the moments when anyone else would say he was overreacting.

That made Arthur really uncomfortable. But he didn't want to talk about it. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't. Some part of his mind said it was wrong to feel that way. After all, Dylas clearly needed help and maybe even the small talk he and Arthur had occasionally was part of that. It was better to honor that trust and listen to him if he got in a mood to talk again. But there had to be some kind of exchange going on. In learning about the business world, Arthur came to see how many parts of life were an exchange even if nothing physical changed hands. If Dylas came to be open with them, with Porcoline being so generous and open from the beginning, and even Margaret being open about her distractions and fears, then it only followed that Arthur should be open with them too.

But there was so much he just didn't talk about. Trust was a dangerous tool to handle. Use it right and life would go smoothly. Use it wrong and one ran the risk of someone taking a dangerous level of control, through manipulation, blackmail, or cruelty. Arthur had spent years making his position in society and business appear solid. To some extent, it was. But there were a few tenuous strands in the foundation that he shouldn't let anyone find. A few bad moves could ruin him.

Yet relationships in business and personal life ran more smoothly when things appeared even. They might come to question him if his end of things appeared imbalanced. Though, had they noticed yet? They knew he worked hard and often had to be reminded to eat with them or go to sleep at a reasonable hour. If it appeared he was open and there was nothing deeper to find, would that appease them to his part in this family?

If one could even call this a family. At best, the four of them worked under the same roof, with three living here. He would have chosen to say associates. That was most fitting to the arrangement in his view. Except, associates didn't talk about something as personal as depression and suicide. In that case, maybe family worked?

After thinking and fiddling with highlighters didn't seem to help, Arthur pulled open a drawer on his bedside table to pull out one of his eyeglasses. They were part of the collection rather than one of the set he wore. His eyes required a specific bifocal prescription to the lenses which made them more expensive than most of the collection pieces. Not only that, but one of the lenses on this pair were cracked so it wouldn't even be of much use to the one they'd been made for. This pair still managed to be one of the most precious of the lot to him. Somehow.

Just what did he want to do about those living with him? Arthur flipped the hinges a few times while thinking over that. Some of the things Dylas had been talking about returned to him. Going somewhere that reminded him of bad things trying to convince himself that he had reasons to keep going, doing things thoughtlessly when trying to struggle with painful emotions, having to constantly convince himself that things could get better... some of that Arthur knew all too well. Certainly he'd not gotten to the point of considering killing himself, but he had gone through depression as well. But that was partly why he avoided it when people he was dealing with seemed to have a troubled mind. You could get to a point where things felt a lot better, but then something would remind you about how fragile happiness could be. He certainly knew the feeling of not wanting to share that pain with others.

But what happened today, would it end up helping Dylas while he was recovering? Talking things through solved many problems. Arthur used that idea many times in his dealings, in countering misinformation or assumptions.

Talking didn't solve everything, he thought. Sometimes talking would make things a lot worse. Maybe it might help Dylas here, but it wasn't a solution to everything. Some things were just better to keep quiet about.

That seemed to have settled the issue for him as when Arthur started looking back over the marketplace data, he found some interesting trends to pursue across the tables.

* * *

 

Spring 73

It was a rainy day but that didn't matter. It was Margaret's birthday and she was having a wonderful time. In the morning, many of her friends came over to the restaurant to celebrate with her. She'd gotten four tins of candied pineapples, but those were her favorites and not even that many would make her tired of them. She even got Dylas and Arthur to sing with her, which was a delight as the former had a magnificent voice and the latter was awkwardly adorable trying to keep up. As usual, she and Elly had an exchange in mockery of the old way elves celebrated birthdays, to be echoed in eleven days when Elly's birthday came around. This way of prioritizing fun was far better.

As the lunch rush was winding down, Margaret was talking with Frey when Dolce and Pico came in. Meg wasn't expecting anything from Dolce. As friendly as Meg tried to be to her, Dolce was quiet like Dylas, if more controlled and sarcastic when she did speak. That made it a surprise when Dolce came over to her and said, “Hey Margaret? Could I get you to perform on stage for me?”

“What, really?” she asked, unable to keep herself from squealing in excitement. “That'd be great! But what kind of stage are you talking about? There's the small one here, and I guess one could be set up in the marketplace with some work.”

“I mean in Obsidian Mansion,” Dolce said.

Pico nodded. “Yeah, it's a great big fancy stage with curtains and everything! Just watch the trapdoors, as some of them are traps more than doors.” Dolce backhanded her lightly for saying so.

“That haunted place?” Meg asked, shivering a little in fright. “Why?”

“It needs to be done,” Dolce said as if it were a completely reasonable request. “I'm working on sending the ghosts there on to a restful sleep in the Forest of Beginnings. There's been a snag with two of them as their issue won't be resolved until a particular song is played on the stage there. While I can sing myself, I am unaware of what song is needed and it seems to require the use of an instrument.”

“How do you mean to figure out what song is needed?” Frey asked.

“There's a score somewhere in the mansion, but even then I'm not sure what I'm looking for,” Dolce said. “I've never sang based on sheet music before.”

As scary as ghosts were, the thought that a pair of souls couldn't find rest until something out of their control happened was even scarier. “I see. In that case, I'll give it a try if we could find the score. I've just never really dealt with ghosts before.”

“I could keep you safe, although,” Dolce looked thoughtfully over at Frey. “Would you mind accompanying us as well? We may need to go into deeper parts of the mansion where stronger monsters and ghosts reside.”

“No problem,” Frey said, not afraid at all. “Just warn me if we come across harmless ghosts, since my light magic might frighten them.”

“Of course,” Dolce said. “Shall we head out now?”

There didn't seem to be anything to hold them back. Meg first made sure that Dylas was fine keeping an eye on Porcoline before heading across town with the other girls. While the rain was light for now, it made it a little more eerie to be going into a haunted building when the sun wasn't shining. As she walked across the new bridge to get there, Meg noticed that the mansion did have a theatrical grandness to it. Nothing on it was plain, not the iron window frames, not the carved wooden door, not the arched doorway. Lights came through the windows even though no one but ghosts inhabited this place.

Inside, they found the stage. It was indeed a grand one, yet small in that plays here wouldn't include a huge cast of actors. Meg noticed that this place would easily get filled with sound from the stage, not a dead spot in the room. Here, volume enhancing enchantments would not be required unless working with a quiet instrument. They first searched the stage area. There were some plays stored in back with music, but not the score they needed.

That meant they had to search the mansion itself. A side door brought them into a decayed hallway, with a tattered carpet and faded paintings. While there weren't any monsters here, there was something more worrisome. The silent girl Wendy was sitting against the wall, her head leaned over as if she was taking a nap in this place for some reason. Meg didn't hear a sound from her, not even a heartbeat or breath. “Aah, what happened to her?” she cried.

“She looks asleep,” Frey said.

“No, she's not making any sound at all,” Meg said.

“There is something strange,” Dolce said, going over to her calmly and leaning over. “She's not moving.”

“Yeah, but she doesn't have any signs of death in her runes,” Pico said, poking Wendy's arm curiously.

“Wait,” Frey said, putting a hand on one eye to cast some spells. “Oh yeah, you're right. Lest said that she's definitely not human, but he's not sure what she is.”

“I don't think she's any kind of elf,” Meg said. “At least not one I'm familiar with.”

“She doesn't have any signs of life,” Dolce said.

Then Wendy brought her head up and looked at them, making all four of them yelp. Looking embarrassed, Wendy grabbed the bag she always carried. Meg could hear her life sounds again. Although, now that she really paid attention, they were slightly off. Like her heart was less solid than most.

“Are you okay?” Frey said for them, moving closer to her. “You gave us a fright there.”

Wendy nodded and scribbled a 'sorry' in her notebook. Then she got up and looked at them curiously.

Dolce narrowed her eyes at her. “It's not just that you're not human. You're not even alive. What we see is a doll being controlled by some entity. Although, I'm not sure what kind of entity you are.”

“A doll?” Meg asked, puzzled.

But Wendy was writing again, so they waited until she showed them. 'You're right, but this doll was an unexpected gift. I wouldn't be able to interact with you all if I didn't have it. But I'm not sure if there's a price that will come with this doll later on. I'm afraid that if I told you what I really am, I might lose the doll and not be able to live with you. Please forgive me for that.”

“Sure, though you probably should figure out if it has a price soon,” Frey said with a smile. “I could help if you want.”

“Yeah, you've been fun to have around even if you're silent,” Meg said. “Although, did you come back in here looking for your voice? Or the doll's voice, whichever.”

Wendy nodded. Meanwhile, Dolce was still considering the information. “You don't seem to be a malicious entity,” she said. “Very well, we wouldn't want to make you lose your gift.”

“Why don't you come with us if you're looking for your voice?” Frey suggested. “We're already going to be searching the mansion for a musical score. That could be harder than finding a voice, and it'd be better to stick in a group which searching this place.”

Wendy clapped her hands and seemed happy for the offer, so she joined them on the search. Meg kept her ears open for any sign of a lost voice. What kind of monster would keep a stolen voice? She could think of where one might keep a stolen voice from some stories she'd heard, like in a shell, a bottle, or even a sealed box. Hopefully there would be some kind of leaked sound; finding a voice in a sealed box would be the worst possibility.

The musical score didn't seem any easier. There were lots of rooms to look through, many of which held bookshelves and desks where it might be. However, Dolce kept shaking her head to rooms and leading them through the halls. “Which room are you looking for?” Meg asked.

“Not the room, one or both of the ghosts we're trying to help,” she said. “They're caught in a loop of reliving their memories. As ghosts can get attached to items with great meaning, one of them will surely show up near it.”

Eventually, they went into narrow garden outside. Black grasses grew wildly here, sometimes even blocking the ground with their leaves. “Oo, my brother might be able to make some nice tea out of this,” Frey said, plucking a piece of it for him. “Black grass doesn't show up often.”

Meg was going to agree, but she could hear two different things of interest. One was notes from a harp, playing an old song of the elven lands. The other was further overhead in a barren tree, a voice that may have been singing along in random sounds. “Wait, there's music here,” Meg said, trying to get the others to be quiet.

Dolce then pointed ahead to where a pedestal for a broken statue stood. There didn't seem to be anything at first, but the harp music was coming from there. Then someone appeared, a male elf with long green hair. He was sitting on the pedestal playing, not singing. After a second, another ghost appeared. She was a human who looked the same age that Dolce did, carrying a basket with black grass. “There you are!” she said, happy at something. “I always hear your music but never could find you. You're really good at it. Who are you? I'm Marina, I live in town.”

Pulling his harp closer as if it could defend him, the elf looked over at her in surprise when she started talking. He was even fearful, which was odd to see in someone playing music in a garden like this.

Marina didn't seem deterred. “Shy or something? That's okay, I just wanted you to know I really like your music. I come out here to gather the grasses here and it's not as scary when I hear you as opposed to days when it's all silent. Though, what are you doing here in this old house? People say there's ghosts around.”

“J-Julius,” the elf said in a quiet nervous voice. “I'm Julius. I own this house.”

Then they both vanished. “One of the owners who remain,” Dolce said. “The most recent one as far as I know, he was a composer and musician.”

“If his song is written for that harp, I won't have any trouble with it,” Meg said.

“That's good,” Dolce said. “A place like this gets much of its power from its owners if their ghosts remain tied to it. If we could free Julius, then more of the traps and monsters will cease to exist and I can get further in. But Julius won't leave while Marina remains.”

“How many owners are left in here?” Frey asked.

Dolce shrugged. “I know of Julius, the very first owner, and two others who weren't released with me or with the shifting of the fire rune spring. However, I don't believe the score is out here. I've already searched around and there's nowhere some paper could have survived in this garden.”

“Wait, there's also a stray voice around,” Meg said, pointing up into the tree. “It's not making any sense.”

Wendy went closer trying to hear it. Meanwhile, Dolce focused on the tree. “There's a monster like a raven up there. It might be the one we're looking for.”

“Lemme see if I can scare it down,” Frey said, raising her hand and causing silver lines to shine on her skin. A small spark flew from her into the tree, bursting into a shower of light like fireworks in the tree.

“Hey!” The raven monster flew down into the garden, and it was clearly a monster. There were no feathers or skin on it, just bones and shining red eyes. “Hey!” it said again, speeding up its wingbeats to sent wind blades at them.

Having kept her harp in hand to use in battle, Meg quickly strummed a spell of protection. It didn't seem like a strong monster. As the protection set, Wendy seemed excited and cast her own wind blade spell back at the raven. It rattled the monster and caused it to lose some bones. Dolce followed up with a quick fireball that finished it off. A golden spark escaped the raven and went right to Wendy.

“Was that it?” Frey asked as she and the others came over to Wendy.

Wendy put her hands over her mouth, whispering something. Then she clapped again. “Yes, I have a voice now,” she said, her words soft as if she wasn't quite used to it.

“Great, that was easier than I thought!” Meg said, happy for her.

“I couldn't find it on my own,” Wendy said, turning to them. “Thank you. I'll help you find the song too.”

“Good,” Dolce said, smiling. But before she could say anything else, a huge hooded ghost with a scythe appeared along with a woman's scream.

But this turned out to be another fragment from Julius and Marina, not a monster that was there. Julius had the huge ghost destroyed in one spell. “Are you hurt?” he asked, going to her.

“No, I don't think so,” Marina said, shaken by the surprise enough that she'd dropped her basket. When he timidly took her arm, she hugged him. “Thank you. There usually aren't monsters out here, I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here.”

“Uh,” Julius said, tense at the unexpected hug. But then he softened and put his arm around her. “Y-you really shouldn't be here. At this time. The ghosts always get agitated this time of year, will be like that for the next two weeks. It's dangerous.”

“But then why are you still here?” she asked. “Come on, you should come back into town with me. I'm sure if we explain the situation to the innkeeper, he'll agree to a reduced rent while you can't live here.”

“I... I don't know. P-people scare me.”

“I don't,” Marina said, pulling back to look at his face. “You'll be fine, I'm sure. Everyone's friendly. And you wouldn't risk getting hurt being out here either.”

“I suppose so,” Julius said, then they both disappeared again.

“The guy lived in a dangerous haunted house and was scared of people?” Frey asked.

“Ah ha, it's not that uncommon,” Meg said, although she felt sad for him.

“Some people would rather go fight giant monsters than deal with other people,” Wendy said.

Meg nodded. “Yeah, and whenever this was, there was a long time when a lot of elves were scared of or shy around other species. Some today are still like that. Though it's hard to say why he'd be living here instead of our homeland if he was.”

“Since we're reached the garden, his study isn't that far ahead,” Dolce said. “Though it depends on the arrangement the mansion has today. What do you think, Pico?”

“It should be in next hall,” the ghost said.

The door at the far end of the garden led into a different hallway. Knowing that one of the ghosts they were trying to give peace to was an elf, Meg saw some promising signs in elven artwork being on the walls instead of human. Near a turn in the hallway, the two ghosts appeared again. “Don't come any further in,” Julius said, worried. He was standing by one of the doors, his hand on the knob. “That turn up ahead leads into the theater where Marionetta lives, or to the rooms of the original owner.”

“What are you doing so close to the theater?” Marina asked, worried about him.

“It's fine, I have a friend who knows when things are safe,” Julius said. “But never mind that now, you really shouldn't have come this far in.”

“Well I had to come this far in to find you,” Marina said. “Nobody's seen you in town for two weeks. Is something wrong?”

“No, i'm just busy with something,” Julius said, nervously shifting his posture. But it wasn't fear making him nervous this time.

“Couldn't you have at least come to see me? I've been worried.”

“Sorry,” he said. “But, well... your birthday, it's some time off still.”

“Right,” Marina said, not sure what he meant.

He rubbed his head. “ I... I need to go back to my homeland for a little while. Just, something I left undone that needs to be taken care of. It won't take long, I'll be back for your birthday. See, I want to have a small concert, just for you, on the stage here. Don't worry about the monster, I'll take care of it so it won't be a problem that day. Is that all right?”

“That'd be great,” Marina said, happy to hear about it. “You sure you going to be back in time?'

“I'm sure,” Julius said, going to her. “Here, let me take you out of here. Sometimes the doors lock themselves now.” Then they vanished.

“That should be his study,” Pico said. “Be really careful now. That was the last memory they had together and whenever they do that again, all the spirits tend to get agitated.”

“What, he didn't get back?” Meg asked.

“From what I researched, he died in a shipwreck coming back,” Dolce said. “His ghost came back here trying to keep his promise. She waited for him to return, even coming back in here to see if he'd skipped going through town. She died looking for him. While they can act out these memories, they're not able to actually find each other. Since there's a promise involved, the best way to solve that is to fulfill it for them. But I've spoken with them separately and it has to be a particular song that he wrote for her, with some elven custom that I don't recognize.”

“If he meant to have a concert,” Meg said, thinking aloud, “he would have started it with a prayer to honor one of our gods. My playing at the restaurant doesn't count for that, so I don't use it often.”

“That sounds right,” Dolce said. “You know it?”

She nodded. “Of course. Then let's figure out which song they need.”

The room past the door had a bookshelf, a writing desk, and a grand piano. Unfortunately, the piano was in terrible condition. The damage it had meant it was unplayable. While much of the room was dusty, the writing desk was inexplicably clean. Meg could hear creative energy strongly in the desk; it was definitely somewhere that someone had spend a lot of time composing. That meant there wasn't much point in searching the bookshelf.

And there was only one book on the desk, written in the elven language. “This is a song book,” Meg said, opening it up. It had a list of songs included. “Wow, some of these are really traditional. But that means they wouldn't be his.”

“How are we going to figure out which song we need?” Frey asked. “It's clearly an important item, but finding the important information inside won't be as easy.”

“If the song's bound to a promise, won't it have some sign in its energy?” Wendy asked.

“That's the most likely case,” Dolce said.

Meg had turned the page to the next set of contents. “And... here, this says that the rest of the songs in this list are his. It'll be one of them.”

“That one,” Dolce said, pointing to the last one in the list.

Looking at it, Meg smiled. “Oh yeah, no doubt about it. Not when it's titled 'For Marina'.” She shut the book and flipped it over to get to the last song easier. But on seeing the melody there, she felt a chill in her blood. “Huh?”

“Is there a problem?” Dolce asked.

She shook her head. “No, not really. It's just, I already know this song.”

“You do?” Pico asked, floating up by her. “But the book stayed with him until it returned here after the shipwreck, and I don't think he taught anyone any of his songs.”

“That's weird,” Wendy said.

She finished reading through the song, but there was no mistake. “It's not one of the standard melodies that get passed around with changed lyrics either. This was the first song one of my teachers taught me. Although, he traveled all around the world and said he didn't know who wrote this, just that he heard it somewhere. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that he heard it here. I don't know these lyrics, for one.”

“Well Julius does play a lot of different songs depending on where you encounter him,” Pico said. “That could have happened.”

“And I play it all the time too,” Meg said, setting the book down and playing a few notes of it off memory.

“ _Um, e-excuse me_ ,” Julius' ghost said in the elven language, appearing right next to Frey. She had to back off, but he only seemed to notice Meg.

“Go along with it,” Dolce whispered. “He's not aware of his state right now.”

Meg nodded and stood up straight. Although he was a ghost, she didn't feel too nervous having to talk with him. If anything, Julius was far more nervous than she was. “ _Hello! What is it?”_

“ _You're a musician too, right?”_ he asked, shifting his hold on his harp.

It was obvious when she also had a harp in hand, but she wouldn't give someone like this a hard time no matter what they were. “ _Yes, I play in the royal court._ ”

Julius' eyes went wide. _“Oh, really? Uh, well I wouldn't want to pull you from such a position for long, but, I really need a favor from you or someone else who plays the harp well. But it'd mean traveling back to Norad with me, so I'd understand if you didn't want to.”_

Thinking back to the days when she played for the royal court, she smiled and acted excited. “ _Really, you live in the human lands? Wow, I was always curious about what it's like over there. If you help me get there, I'd be happy to help you with something. What is it?”_

“ _Thanks,”_ he said, pleasantly surprised by her enthusiasm. _“I didn't think I could get anyone... well see, I heard a legend many years ago, about the land of Selphia. They say that the divine dragon of wind Ventuswill lives there and that there were people who put themselves into an enchanted sleep of centuries for the sake of helping her.”_

“ _I've heard of that,”_ Meg said. It had spread out from Selphia even from the days when it was just Leon.

Julius nodded. _“Right, but there's something interesting that isn't so well known. They say if you can hear the tones of magic, you can go into the rune springs and hear music clear from the ether sea. The song of the guardians; I went to find it and I've been recording their songs for a long time. Some of it's fairly standard songs, but there's some of it that's like nothing else I've ever heard.”_

“ _That's incredible,”_ Meg said, not having to act for that. She'd never heard that. But then, she'd never been to the rune springs, certainly not in time for the guardians to still be there.

“ _Yeah, although some of it is really heart-wrenching,”_ Julius said. “ _But then... you're probably going to think I'm crazy, but see, I've fallen in love with a young woman there. I know she's human and it's a really bad idea for me, but I can't help how I feel. I wrote a song for her because I want to marry her.”_

“ _That could be a hard thing to do,”_ Meg said, briefly forgetting that his life was already past.

“ _Yes, but she loves me as well and I think it would be more terrible on both of us if I broke away from her now. I just need some help with this, because, well, it's probably obvious, but I'm terribly nervous around most people. The song I wrote is for a harp and vocals and I just can't get myself to sing and play at the same time. So, if you could play for me while I sing, I'd be more than happy to pay for your trip over and back. And, I'll even give you a copy of the guardian songs if you want.”_

“ _Well I can see that you must really love her,”_ Meg said. “ _Okay, I'll help you out.”_

“ _Thank you so much,”_ Julius said in relief. But then he flickered, a reminder that she had made a deal with a ghost. Now he was looking away from her, at none of them. _“I couldn't get anyone to come with me. I should have known; guess I'll just have to try on my own.”_ Then he was gone.

“What was that about?” Pico asked quickly.

Meg took the song book back; the writing desk immediately lost its energy and was reduced by time catching up with it like the piano. “Well basically I agreed to do what we were going to do anyhow,” she said with a smile. “Julius wasn't confident enough to play and sing at the same time, so part of his business back in the homeland was finding another musician to help him put on the concert for Marina.”

“Will that get him to the stage now?” Frey asked.

Dolce nodded. “Yes, once she signals the concert with the prayer, he should appear. Now we just have to locate Marina's ghost and bring her there.”

“There was something else, about this song book,” Meg said. “See, I found out why he first came here. He became the mansion's owner because he wanted to go into the rune spring and listen for songs from you guardians in the ether sea.”

“That's why?” Dolce asked, looking shocked.

She nodded. “Right, he recorded a lot of it here. I hadn't even heard about that when I moved here with Porco.”

“Hey, that's neat,” Frey said, interested in the song book now. “Some of my family journals mentioned hearing music there but nobody tried to write it down.”

“Yeah, now I can hear them!” Pico said with a grin.

“I don't know about that,” Dolce said, looking calm but maybe embarrassed.

“If I can take the book out of the mansion after, I'll be sure to check with you four first about those songs,” Meg said.

“Words couldn't carry, so it might not be anything of concern,” she said. “Still, we'd appreciate that.”

With Julius taken care of, they left the study and went back through the garden hoping to find Marina. As Pico suggested, there were a number of monsters in the hall now. Frey was able to take care of most of them quickly. They found Marina outside, acting like she was picking grass although she was taking none. Dolce went up to her and said, “Excuse me, Marina? It is your birthday.”

“Is it?” she asked. “I don't think so.” She went back to her habitual action.

“This could be an issue,” Dolce said.

Wendy brightened. “Oh, maybe not. It's Meg's birthday, right? Do you have a present you received with you?”

“Yeah, hang on.” Meg gave the book to Frey for a moment so she could pull a tin of candied pineapples out of her pocket. “Should I give it to her?”

“Try putting it in her basket,” Wendy said, pointing it out. “The fact that it was a gift might convince her, even if it's not her gift in particular.”

“Okay,” Meg said, gently tossing it in the basket. Luckily, the tin landed right on the black grass and didn't pass through.

Dolce nodded in thanks, then tried again. “Marina? It is your birthday.”

“Huh?” The young woman looked up at her, then glanced in her basket at the tin. Then she smiled. “Oh yeah, thanks! I know, it's silly of me to come out here working on my birthday. I was just hoping, someone was supposed to be here.”

“In the theater,” Dolce said. “You should go there.”

“Is he back?” Marina asked, her eyes bright. “Thank you for telling me! I must have just missed him. Sorry, I'd better hurry over.” Then she vanished, leaving the candy tin to fall to the ground.

“Then that's both of them,” Dolce said, kneeling down to retrieve the tin and return it. “Thanks, this is working out well.”

Back in the theater, they found Marina pacing around below the stage. Julius was nowhere to be seen, but Dolce assured them that he was paying attention. Meg left the book with Frey and went onto the stage to recite the prayer to the goddess of music. As she did, Julius appeared near her, his eyes closed and his mouth silently reciting it as well. He quietly said he was ready at the end of it, so Meg started to play.

She hadn't realized that the song she knew was incomplete. But the lyrics confirmed what she always thought about it. Written with love, the composer was grateful for someone who brought light into his life. He had been fearful of humans and other elves at one time, focusing on music because he understood it better. But she had brought him to the point where he could hold a conversation with someone else and enjoy it. Most of all, he enjoyed her company and wanted to repay her for every little moment she had given him.

At the end of it, Marina was right by the edge of the stage, her arms resting on it while she watched Julius. “I'm not sure what that means, but it was beautiful,” she said.

Julius went over and knelt by her, taking her hands. “It has every thought I've had of you written into it, that's what it means. If it's all right, Marina, I want to marry you. Will you?”

She immediately smiled. “Yes, I love you Julius.”

“I love you too,” he said, smiling as both of them vanished one last time.

The mansion was left with a little less power and the five of them there were left with an unforgettable memory.


	58. A Tea Break

Spring 63

Sven had his own room now in the house he shared with Doug and Blossom. It was smaller than the other bedrooms, but he didn't mind. While he still had an open offer on a house as a knight of Selphia, he'd not decided on it. For one thing, he wasn't a knight yet. He didn't even have armor now since the chainmail broke inside Obsidian Mansion. For another reason, he wasn't sure he wanted to have a whole house to himself. Being here meant that other people were here if he felt insecure. It even helped at night, even if he couldn't go talk to them because they were asleep.

Although, he had trouble sleeping. He'd come up here after lunch to take a nap. It was only fourteen hundred hours, but he was already wide awake again. Night or day, he could only sleep in two or three hour spells before something would wake him up. Usually nightmares, which left him afraid that the Executioner was still in control. Then he'd wake up more and realize that he was free. Unable to get back to sleep, he would walk around town for an hour or two before coming back to try again. He tried to keep as quiet as he could coming and going so he didn't disturb the others.

“Hey, Sven!”

Wondering what Doug was calling about, Sven left his room and started downstairs. “What is it?”

His cousin was at the bottom of the stairs, in charge of the store today. “You've got a visitor,” he said. Once Sven was down there, Doug winked and added quietly, “And a pretty girl at that, lucky you.”

“What?” he asked, feeling his face get warm. There was only one other person in the room, the girl butler from the castle. Clorica was checking over a list and adding items to a basket to buy.

“Give it a shot, you might surprise yourself,” Doug said. Then he had to say, “Hey, he's down here.”

She looked back over at them and smiled. “Oh, hello! I need to finish this, but if you have some time now, I'd like to invite you over to the castle to share some tea and a snack with me, as thanks for the other day in helping me out.”

“I was just doing my job,” Sven said, although that wasn't the full reason he'd helped out. “But sure, that'd be good. I can't really work now without armor.”

Clorica nodded and turned back to her shopping. “Frey's working on that right now.”

“The princess is?” Doug asked, going back to the sales counter.

“She's really eager to get to work on it,” Clorica said happily. “She was talking about finding the designs over breakfast this morning and that she was going to see how her supplies were. It shouldn't take long once she has everything.”

“That's good to know,” Sven said, although it was strange that the princess was making armor. But given talk about the blacksmith here, even if he was a dwarf, it might turn out better. Frey also wasn't what one would expect out of a princess.

Once she had her shopping done, the two of them walked over to the castle. Sven wasn't sure what to talk with her about. He knew Clorica, but didn't really know her. Most of his encounters with her were on nights when he couldn't sleep and when she was working in the castle in her sleep. After running into her and trying to make sure she was okay for ten days in a row, he started thinking that he should speak to Volkanon about this. He was her master and should be able to handle things.

But then one very early morning, Sven came into the plaza to see Clorica outside mopping asleep as usual. That didn't seem very useful, so he'd tried to get her to give up and go back inside. She didn't stop until someone else took the mop from her. Armed with its own scythe, the little reaper ghost took off with the mop once Sven tried to hit it with his axe. Then Clorica had started off after it, managing to run without tripping into the water. Thinking she'd waken up, Sven went after her.

By the time they reached Dragon Lake, it was clear that Clorica was still asleep. She went right into Obsidian Mansion. Sven followed and the door slammed shut behind him. When he tugged at the door, it was locked. The reaper ghost was using the mop to lure Clorica further in, so he kept following. He tried to strike it with his ranged skills, but it took more rune points for him to use an axe over a scythe.

Things got truly dangerous when they walked into a ballroom and another girl appeared. She wasn't a ghost and didn't say a word as she tried to help reclaim the mop. Then a whole mob of the reaper ghosts appeared, soon followed by some shadowy panthers jumping in from other doorways. And Clorica was still asleep, unaware of the monsters and trying to get her mop back.

'I need to protect them.' That was all it took, a single thought in order to bring a powerful spell into his mind. Sven cast it without a second thought. Everything around him seemed to change when it was only something inside him that did. After shoving his fears and doubts away, the magic focused him solely on taking down all of the monsters and keeping the two girls from harm. Remembering that time was like remembering an entirely different person, a noble version of the Executioner. Once the ghosts and panthers were gone, Sven's goal shifted to getting Clorica and the mystery girl with them back to the former's home in the castle.

He knew Clorica and had saved her life once, but he'd barely spoken with her while she was awake like this.

Today, she brought him to the public parlor in the royal wing once she dropped off the supplies she's bought. She'd clearly prepared for this as she had hot water for the tea and a freshly baked apple pie on the snack cart waiting in there. “I think this one will have turned out well,” she said happily, placing a slice of pie each on two plates before sitting on the couch next to him.

“It sure smells delicious,” he said, stirring some honey into his tea before tasting it to see if he wanted any more.

“It's made with really fresh apples right from the orchard by the castle,” Clorica said, setting his slice in front of him on the table. “Lest picked them just this morning and he said this breed was good for cooking and baking. The past few years, that tree hasn't produced well from neglect, but he's got it happy and healthy now.”

“That's good,” Sven said. What to talk about? “It seems odd that there's farmland around most of the castle here, and that you expect your prince to work it.”

“Maybe,” Clorica said, taking a bite of the pie herself. Once she was done chewing, she said, “It's Lady Ventuswill's preference. She decided on a lot of how things shall be in our region. Plus, she says that those who don't work don't eat. I don't know if she'd really get that harsh, but we do try to make sure everyone contributes.”

“If you help people out, that'd be a good stance to take,” he said, thinking over all the homeless poor in the Sechs Empire that got ignored in a cold winter.

“Yes, I think so too,” she said. “Although, there aren't a lot of people living in Selphia now. So there's jobs that go undone or end up being done by someone who's already doing something else. If more people came in, that might even out and we'd have to make sure that anyone new who came in had a job to do here.”

Sven nodded and tried the pie out. It was a pleasant surprise, a buttery flaky crust around soft sweetly spiced apples. “Wow, this is really good.”

Clorica giggled. “You think so?”

“Yeah, though I've never had one before. It just melts right away.”

“You've never had apple pie before?' she asked, wide-eyed. “Oh my, I'm glad I could let you try it.”

He had to think about it to remember it all. “Well, I came from a family of all dwarves and even though we were all non-traditionalists, our parents still cooked in a lot of traditional ways. Any pies we had were meat and potato pies, sometimes with other vegetables. I think it's because fruits don't grow well in dwarven towns. You know, because they're all underground.”

“That makes sense,” she said, watching him curiously.

“Especially trees that would produce apples,” Sven said. “I know wood was a valuable resource that traders in our town often brought in to exchange for the minerals and gemstones mined. Sometimes berry bushes would grow, but most of the underground farms were set up to focus on rice, wheat, and root vegetables. Fruit was a really rare treat; I remember my dad talking about how he'd get a bag of dried mixed fruits for his birthday and that was a special gift.”

“That's really different,” Clorica said. “You can get lots of dried fruits cheap on market days most of the time, even in the general store. It's the sealed fresh ones that can be expensive.”

“Right, but whatever's rare in one place would be more expensive than it would be in a place it's common.”

“Yeah.” It was quiet for a moment, then she said, “But, if you're from a family of dwarves, why are you human?”

“I can't really explain that myself,” Sven said. “My parents were both half dwarves and they hadn't told each other about it until I was born like this. Actually, I'm pretty sure my dad didn't know, since Grandad Conrad was high in the hierarchy of the Geisel clan married to another dwarf, at least until the truth came out with me. It was kind of tough for me at times because of that, although I suppose since things changed before I turned twelve, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.” He stopped, not sure he wanted to continue with that subject for now.

Looking over at Clorica, he saw that her eyes were closed and she was asleep. That was really strange. Even having seen her work while sleeping didn't prepare Sven for how quickly she could fall asleep, in the middle of a conversation even. He nudged her, but that just got her to stand up instead of wake up. “Have to clean,” she mumbled.

Sven tugged her back down on the couch. “No, you're taking a break now.”

“Taking a break?”

“Yeah, for tea and pie.”

“Mm, okay,” she said. But she didn't wake up. Instead, she curled herself right against him with her head on his shoulders and slept that way.

“Um, Clorica?” he asked, nudging her again. But she still didn't wake up. It was weird, having someone who was a near stranger to him fast asleep at his side as if she had no fear of him. He had fear of himself at times.

Having seen that she didn't wake easily, Sven tried to finish off his snack while not disturbing her. It made his movements awkward, but she was stubbornly determined to stay in the same position. It was kind of amazing that way. At dinner once, Blossom had spoken about how she thought Clorica was an unusual savant in being able to shop without a single error while completely asleep. She wasn't doing anything now, but it seemed to support that.

He gave up trying to do anything after a while and hoped that she would wake up on her own soon. It seemed like a boring prospect, just sitting there while the clock ticked on the wall. But once he sat back and waited, Sven started to feel relaxed due to her completely relaxed state. This was just an entirely mundane moment, in a quiet sunlit room. In being mundane, it seemed safe and reassuring. He wasn't gong to end up in a fight here; there wouldn't be monsters pouncing from the shadows like in the Maya Mountains. It was peaceful and he could feel that way for once.

The thought reminded him of what Lest had said to him during the cooking contest when he had been an oracle. If he found a moment of peace with someone, he should trust it and go with the flow. Could that really mean for him to try staying with Clorica? He looked down at her face and thought that she was a pretty girl, even asleep like this. They still hadn't talked much, but it was easy talking with her. Plus, she was an amazing cook based on this pie. And she had won the dessert contest over Kiel and Porcoline too, both excellent chefs in their own right. It might not be a big reason, but if he could get used to her falling asleep suddenly, maybe she was worth it?

Sven wondered briefly if he should kiss her. It might be nice... but no, she was asleep and that didn't seem like something to wake someone up with. Especially not someone he'd pretty much only started talking to today. When would she wake up?

He heard voices in the hall and before he could think of what to do, Lest and Volkanon came into the room. “It's not an immediate need, but something to keep in mind,” Lest was saying, then stopped on noticing them. “Oh, sorry are we interrupting something?” he asked with a smile.

“Not really, she fell asleep on me nearly an hour ago,” Sven said. But that might seem suspicious. “Not that we were doing anything, um, she just invited me over for tea and a snack.”

Volkanon chuckled. “If it's been an hour, she'll probably be awake any time now.”

“I thought she was starting the paralysis treatment to keep her asleep and still through the night,” Lest said.

“She has been, but complains that it's hard to fall asleep like that,” Volkanon said. “Hopefully she gets used to it soon.”

“Right,” Lest said. “Well thanks for watching over her. Let's handle this in the office.” The two of them headed into Lest's office and shut the door behind them.

Letting out a sigh of relief that they didn't trouble him about this, he kept still and waiting. It wasn't much longer, like Volkanon thought. Clorica shifted herself, then got up and stretched like things were completely normal. “Mm, that was a good nap,” she mumbled, then looked blearily at him.

“That's good,” Sven said. “Good afternoon.”

“Good after...” she blinked and came to realize she was still close to him. “Huh? Sven, what?”

“Um, you fell asleep on me,” he said. “Had your head on my shoulder.”

“Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry about that,” she said, turning bright pink in embarrassment.

“It's okay,” he said. “You seemed tired and I didn't want to disturb you.”

“It’s not okay, I had to get back to work,” she said, taking up the dirty plates from the table to put back on the cart. “Sorry, I didn't mean to cut things short.”

“Well, it was nice talking to you,” Sven said, getting up from the couch. “Oh, and, is it okay if I have one of the slices of pie for a snack later on?”

“Uh, sure, I don't mind,” Clorica said, starting to smile again. She cut a slightly larger slice than before off and put it on a plate to seal for freshness.

* * *

 

Trying to get the work done around the castle was taking longer the past few days. Clorica wasn't sure of why. Normally she'd get her work done in time to do some reading before bed. Of course, normally she'd fall asleep from time to time but still get things done. She had stayed awake for most of today, save for that hour long nap when she was supposed to be on a fifteen minute break and chatting with Sven. But even that lost time didn't account for her working two hours past her normal stopping time to get the same amount of work done.

Vishnal even came in to help her with it, not accepting her protests to let her finish on her own. “You always help me out when I get behind, so I'll do the same,” he said.

“I guess, but it's my fault this time,” she said, letting him take the ladder and brush to clean the upper part of the front windows. “I ended up falling asleep and not doing anything for a time today. And then everything else is going so slow.”

“You don't have any trouble keeping up when you're asleep,” Vishnal said.

“I know,” she said, feeling frustrated at that. Why not? If she could do things asleep, then she could do them awake just as well. At least, that's how it should be. There were a lot of things with her that weren't as they should be. “I really... need to get things together so it's all like it should be.”

Glancing down at her, he said, “Right, I bet you'd be even more amazing like that, maybe even enough to pass certification.”

“Don't put it like that,” she said, worried that he was making fun of her.

“I think it's true, and that you can do it,” he said, in a gentler way that showed that he wasn't.

“Thanks, but I don't know,” Clorica said. How did she get her act together to be good?

* * *

 

Spring 65

How to be better...

As Clorica walked back from Amber's birthday party, she wondered about this. She'd thought about it ever since she'd fallen asleep on Sven. She was slowly getting better. While the paralysis potion wasn't pleasant, she and Nancy had discussed a way to hide it in tea that wouldn't lose its effectiveness. This meant that she was waking up well, feeling a lot better than she used to when getting up in the morning. She had more energy in the day for working. Although, she was still working slow. What was it about her sleeping that made her work faster and better?

But she couldn't keep sleeping through life. After wondering about it, she had to check the calender to find that she'd been training under Volkanon for nearly five years. She wasn't progressing much the last three years either, mostly because the reviewers did not like her sleeping habits. Where had those five years gone? She could just imagine the nagging she'd get if her family showed back up. She couldn't even remember when Vishnal started training either. One day, she was working alone. The next she was aware of, he was there in full uniform clumsily trying to get through a basic cleaning lesson while Volkanon was watching him like a hawk. If she'd been introduced to him before that, she didn't know. Sleeping on and off like a light switch was how she was used to things, even if it wasn't right.

Clorica used to excuse that that's how she was and there was nothing she could do about it. She did what was asked of her and got along that way. Now, she'd gotten in a potentially lethal situation and didn't remember a second of it. Then Sven had gotten hurt because of it. He didn't seem to hate her, but it wasn't right. It might happen again. Would anyone be there then?

While that convinced her to take the troublesome method of paralysis sleeping, now she had to get used to normal life. That didn't seem to be happening. Now that she was awake most of the time, she couldn't rely on other people deciding on things and sending her out to get them done. Well, she did have to do that with Ventuswill and Lest because they were her masters, and Volkanon as her teacher. With other people, she should be able to make decisions.

But making decisions was hard. She'd found that this morning when she'd gone to check the marketplace and found some cute earrings at a booth. One was a set of yellow feathers and the other were tiny fans with cherry grass painted on them. However, she only had the extra funds to buy one of them. Both were cute and either would be suitable for wearing to work or a day off. Neither of them had things she found annoying in earrings. It took someone else deciding to buy the fans for her to reluctantly accept buying the feathers. She liked them, but what if she'd bought the fans and liked them better?

That really shouldn't bother her. She had the feathers now and the decision was past. But thinking 'what if' made her feel bothered by it. Was it something wrong with her? She had to learn how to be better.

* * *

 

Spring 69

Maybe if she asked others to teach her how to keep it together?

She certainly wasn't solving this on her own. Clorica was learning from Volkanon, but maybe learning from someone else would give her a different view. If she had several different views on keeping focused and organized, she might find one that worked for her and felt right. That seemed like a good idea. But then, who did she ask?

“Sven! Where are you?”

Clorica looked up from mopping to see Forte pacing around the main plaza. Setting her mop aside, she went out to ask, “Is something the matter?”

“I was supposed to go out of town for a little while with Sven to check on the roads,” Forte said, coming over. “We agreed to meet here ten minutes ago, but he's not at the general store and he's not here.”

While it didn't work with the bracelet Forte had, Clorica had a way of locating others in the public servant group with her armband. That included Sven. “How odd. I'll help you look.”

“Thanks. I wonder if Kiel knows.” She went off to check her house.

On making the right adjustments, Clorica got a signal from her armband that Sven was in the gatehouse at the entrance to town. That was odd. Since they didn't have enough knights to post people at the gate, the gatehouse was never used. She went inside and found it dark. Someone was sobbing in here. “Sven?”

“Don't tell them I'm here, keep away from me,” he said in a broken voice.

“Don't tell who?” She didn't think he was in trouble, except from Forte and she'd just lecture him.

“Strangers are looking for me. Voices keep trying to come back.”

In the meantime, her eyes adjusted enough to see a lamp. She went to turn it on, but nothing happened. “Forte's looking for you. You'll be safe with her.”

“Forte?” He paused. “Oh, oh right, we were going...”

Clorica crouched down and found that the lamp wasn't plugged in. Once she took care of that, it turned right on. Sven was sitting curled up in a corner of the gatehouse, flinching when the light came on. He had his new armor now, a full metal chestplate, tall plated boots, a plate helm, and a green overcoat that helped with his magic defense and covering where the plate armor didn't go. When he was patrolling around, it helped make him look strong. Now it was at odds with his fearful eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

“What's the matter?” she asked, going to sit by him.

“Lost control of my imagination, I guess,” Sven said, clutching his knees close. “It all happened so fast and I didn't know what to do, so I got in here.... where is here? Is anybody else looking for me?”

“Just me and Forte, unless she asked someone else to look for you too,” Clorica said. “We're in the gatehouse by the south gate. Sorry about the dusty condition, but nobody's used it as long as I've been here.”

“Guess it makes sense.” He closed his eyes and shuddered. Whatever scared him wouldn't let him go.

Recalling some pieces of her training, she said, “Try to calm down and review what happened step by step. Then we can figure out what scared you and if it's really there.”

“It might just be in my head,” he said. “But, okay. Forte told me about today's task and gave me some time to prepare. I was low on healing potions, so I went to the clinic to buy some. When I was there... Jones was the one there and he was acting weird. Kept talking about tomatoes and blood. I got what I needed in potions, but as I was walking back to the plaza, I started thinking about what he was saying. Blood made me think of other things and I got all tense. It felt like eyes were on me but no matter where I looked, I couldn't find who was watching me. After a bit of walking, I started to panic and went inside at the first chance I got. But then it was all dark in here and the light wouldn't work, and something keeps scritching around like dismembered hands dragging themselves around. I didn't know what to do and it kept getting scarier. Though, I'm pretty sure now what happened in here was my imagination. It doesn't look so scary now.”

“Maybe a harmless mouse was scritching about,” Clorica suggested. Though it was strange. He was trained to fight and about to be a knight, but so afraid over so little?

“Maybe. But I'm not sure if I imagined Jones or not.”

“Do you have the potions you bought?” she asked. While he let go of his knees so he could check on that, she said, “Jones may have been real because he does act weird around blood. Like, he can be emotionless and almost cold around a bleeding person, or he'll freak out from fear. He is a nice guy, but he can have the creepiest maniacal laugh too. And he's scared of tomatoes because they can be blood red.”

“That's strange for a doctor,” Sven said, finding the potions. “Looks like I do have them. The rest of it might've been just me. Sorry, I must seem ridiculous now. But, would you please not mention it?”

“Sure, but why be like that? It sounds like a nightmare.”

He shook his head. “I don't know. I thought I'd be over it when I broke the hell gate. Guess it's like you falling asleep, it's something my mind does outside of my control, probably because I lived through nightmares for so long.”

After thinking about it a moment, Clorica said, “Well, I'm working on a plan to fix my sleeping. It's getting a little better, slowly, but it's still something. If it's like that, maybe you can get better too if you work at it. It just could take time.”

“They must not be simple problems that can be fixed with simple answers,” Sven said in agreement.

“Who's in here?” Forte asked, coming into the gatehouse. “Oh, there you are.”

“Ah, I'm sorry sir!” Sven said, getting to his feet quickly. “It's just, um...”

“Was it one of your panic attacks again?” Forte asked. When he didn't reply, she sighed. “I'd rather not take you out of town after monsters if you're like this.”

He shook his head. “No, I, I'll tough it out. I need to, this needs to be done.”

“Fine, but I'm sending you back to town if it comes back,” she said, leaving the gatehouse.

“Um, thanks Clorica,” Sven said, then went after Forte.

“Be tough!” she called in encouragement.

It was sad seeing Sven like that, but if their problems were similar, maybe getting her act together would help inspire him to do the same.

* * *

 

Spring 79

This was not a good day. Lest was in the clinic with red lines all over his skin. Earlier, he'd seemed shaken and weary with pink lines, but fine for the most part. Then the lines started swelling and he weakened to the point he couldn't sit up anymore. Jones had quickly gone to work to save him. But Clorica, she had fallen asleep until she'd been asked to fetch Frey. Lest was sitting up again, but he definitely looked worse off.

While Clorica was waiting nearby, she noticed Dolce come back in with Leon. “Are you okay, Dolly?” Nancy asked, going over to her.

“I'm fine now,” she said. “Sorry. I just, I've seen that before in someone. It was bad.”

“Did they figure out what happened?” Leon asked.

“It was strange, an overload of rune energy when you don't see that kind of thing in an earthmate normally,” Nancy said. “But it seems to do with him getting pulled into that Rune Prana place.”

“That incomplete road into the Forest of Beginnings?” Dolce asked. “It might be, but...”

“Let's just ask him,” Leon said, going back to the clinic area. “Hey Lest, I don't mean to agitate you, but it has to be said... that spell you mentioned, was Darryl trying to cast etherlink on you? Or get you to cast it?”

“What?” Frey asked, puzzled and surprised. “Lest doesn't know it.”

However, Lest nodded. “He was trying to teach it to me so I could. But I refused; he assumed that I'd want to do it the moment he offered. How'd you figure it out?”

“Dolce said this kind of thing happened when etherlink failed to set on the one who volunteered to be a guardian before her,” Leon said. “At least we can be sure you didn't because you're not asleep. But whatever goes on, don't do it.”

“I won't,” Lest said. “There’s no reason to now.”

“Ah, Clorica, you are here,” Jones said, leaving the other four talking.

“Yes, I was waiting until we knew what to do with Lest,” she said.

He nodded. “I've given it some thought. While I'd like to monitor his condition closely, this is a magical injury and thus we need to consider how his earthmate powers will affect and be affected by it. The best place for him at the moment would be within the private rooms of the castle due to the magical shields in the walls. It would give him a more stable place to recover than in this clinic where others might be brought in on emergency visits and aggravate his empathy. Please let Volkanon know that I'll be visiting Lest every few hours for today and tomorrow to make sure he's healing.”

“All right, I will,” Clorica said.

“For now, you all should get him to the castle quickly and then give him some quiet to rest,” Jones said, then rubbed his chin. “Also, I was thinking about you just now.”

“What about me?” she asked.

He nodded to himself. “The way you snapped right asleep when Lest started deteriorating. That and other incidents make me think that your narcolepsy and sleepwalking may be induced by stress. We can get you to a regular sleep cycle now, but a stressful time will make it irregular again. You may wish to find ways to reduce stress in order to help keep regular sleeping habits.”

“I've been thinking of doing something like that, a little,” Clorica said. She smiled. “I wasn't sure, but I think I will now. Thank you.”

Clorica wasn't much for hurrying, but it was hard not to when Leon and Frey were told. They ended up walking as quickly as Lest could manage back to the castle, to his room where he planned on reading. The two stone foxes immediately scouted out the area to familiarize themselves with it. After asking if the twins wanted anything done, Clorica went over to Volkanon's office. He wasn't there, but a search with her armband found him and Vishnal upstairs filing government records. “Ah, is Lest back?” Volkanon asked, immediately stopping his current task. “What happened?”

After a second to review it all, she said, “Frey and Lest went out to Darryl's tower to see about unsealing the door and found out that Lest could get past the door. The two fox golems that stand guard at the top came down and said that he was the master of the tower; they're now his servants and will be staying here. Inside, Lest had some trouble with his ancestor's ghost trying to get him to cast etherlink on himself. When he said no, Darryl put him into Rune Prana, an incomplete road through the ether sea to the Forest of Beginnings. It didn't dissolve him right off as most people would do on being put physically in the ether sea, but it did overload his body with rune energy. His chi lines are swollen red as a result and he's rather weak now. But Jones believes he'll be better off in the castle where there's shields in the wall to make things quiet to his empathy. Lest is to stay within the private areas of the castle for today and tomorrow, and Jones will be over every few hours to make sure he's healing up.”

“Is that true?” Vishnal asked, his eyes wide. “That seems so far-fetched.”

“I couldn't make something like that up,” Clorica said. “That's what happened.”

Volkanon nodded. “I see. We'll have to keep a close eye on Lest and help him out. Clorica, take up some chores in the royal wing to keep close to him.”

“All right,” she said. But this was a good time and she'd been working up her courage for this since what Jones told her today. “If it's all right, there's something I wanted to ask about doing. I've been thinking for a long while that I need to get better but I wasn't getting anywhere just thinking. So, I made a plan.” She explained what she meant to do.

Volkanon seemed to be thinking about it seriously. Smiling, Vishnal said, “Certainly sounds like you put a lot of thought into this. But, it'll take time away from your daily tasks.”

“I know, but I really need something more to help,” Clorica said.

“I think it's a marvelous plan!” Volkanon said, actually shaking her hand. “You've even got ways to keep yourself accountable worked into it already. If you can get the others to agree to it, then I'm sure you'll gain a lot of insight. You should put this into action as soon as you can. After all, a plan's no good unless executed.”

She smiled wide, although was getting a bit worn as he was still shaking her hand. “Thanks Mr. Volkanon.”

“You should give me a daily report on it so we can discuss your progress,” he said, thankfully stopping on the handshake before it hurt her wrist. “Also, I'll arrange the schedule so some of your task will go over to Vishnal temporarily. Can you handle it?”

“Yes sir, I can handle it,” Vishnal said. “If it's to help Clorica out, I don't mind some extra work.”

That got Volkanon to let go of Clorica and clap Vishnal on the back, nearly making him stumble. Clorica tried not to laugh at it. “Excellent, I'm sure we can count on you. Both of you, I'm proud of how you're doing. But for today, work around the royal wing to make sure Lest stays resting.”

“Yes sir,” Clorica said, feeling excited for when things would start.


	59. Get it Together!

Spring 80

This was her own quest for betterment, but Clorica felt like things would go better if she got some friends to come along with it. She'd even decided who would be best to ask: Amber and Xiao. Although she'd been around Selphia for a few weeks now, Amber was still adjusting to living with other humans. These lessons could help her too, plus she was sure to make things fun. Xiao might be tougher to ask. While Clorica didn't want to put her down, Xiao and Lin Fa were often working on a day by day basis with unexpected problems disrupting business at the inn often. Learning to be organized and focused should help her too.

Fortunately, Clorica found them both hanging out with Doug on Melody Street. “Hi!” she said as she walked up to them. “What're you doing?”

“Hi hi!” Xiao said, waving to her. “We were just trying to find what it is we're doing today.”

“We should go to the forest with Dylas!” Amber suggested eagerly.

“Could be nice, but why bring him along?” Doug asked.

Amber smiled brightly at him. “Because you two are friends!”

“Wh-what?!” Doug asked, backing up at that. “No we're not! He never wants to talk and even then we end up arguing any time we run into each other. That guy can't take a joke.”

“But you keep talking to him and arguing again, so you are friends,” Amber said as if nothing would convince her otherwise.

Xiao and Clorica had to laugh. Xiao in particular shook her head. “You seem to have an unusual view on friendship, Amber.”

“Well different friends have different games they play with each other, and sometimes it argument wars that are all bark and no bite instead of hug wars that are all hugs all the time,” she explained.

“I still don't think you should describe friendship as a war,” Doug said, embarrassed at them.

“Hug!” Amber said, then darted over and hugged Doug.

“Aw, how cute,” Clorica said when Doug tried to protest. “I wanted to ask if you'd join me on something. It'll take more than one day, but the goal is to make all of us better.”

“That would be nice,” Xiao said. “What is it you have in mind?”

Clorica put her hand on her cheek. “Well, I've been working on a treatment from Jones to make my sleeping more normal, but now I'm having trouble getting things done. I need to learn to be better organized and focused. So, I plan on going around town asking those who are good at that to teach me how they do it. It might be in working with them for a few hours, I can find what works for me. But I thought it'd be more fun with some friends, like we were exploring how different we might live.”

“Exploring other lives?” Amber asked, amazed at the novelty. “Wow, that sounds neat! I'd love to do that.”

“Working for other people just for some lessons in how to get it together?” Doug asked, not so sure about it (but also pinned to the spot by Amber's hug).

“Yes, that's exactly it,” Clorica said. “I've been thinking about it and planning this for a while now.”

“It seems to be work, at the same time, potentially a good opportunity,” Xiao said. “Especially being better at organized. There is so much at the inn that would be much nicer if I knew better ways to organize that what I've put together. I think I would want to try too.”

Great, they both saw how good it was! “Thank you, I'm sure we can make it fun,” Clorica said. “Did you want to come too Doug?” She hadn't planned on asking him, but he was here.

“Uh, sure, it might help me find ways to make work at the store better too,” Doug said with a smile. “Although, I couldn't join you on Tuesdays or Thursdays, since that's when I let Granny have the day off to relax.”

“Oh, Lumie has me working the same days, so same here,” Amber said.

Clorica nodded. “That's fine, we'll just meet up on other days. Actually, if you're not doing anything today, I have some hours free, so we could see about talking to one of the teachers. Um...” she'd had some ideas on who to start with, but this had to be someone who could help without much notice before. “Let's go find Forte. She has a lot of dedication and focus to be working in her full armor in rain or sun, in any season. She's a good one to start with.”

“It's like a club I read about in a book!” Amber said. “Oh, but if we're a club, we need a club name. What's our club name?”

A name? “Hmm, we could be the Get it Together Crew. That sounds nice.”

“A bit literal, but it works,” Doug said.

“Yay, get it together!” Amber said, letting go of Doug to bounce around.

“It's a good name, I think,” Xiao said. And so their Get it Together Crew headed out for its first lesson.

First they had to find Forte. Clorica knew she could use the armband, but that was supposed to be something mysterious she shouldn't let others see. Since she wasn't on Melody Street, they went across the town plaza over to where the knight lived. Forte was just outside of her house, speaking with Sven. Sometimes Clorica wondered what their relationship was. Their work brought them together a lot as it did for herself and Vishnal. But it didn't seem to be the same kind of thing.

That wasn't important now. “Excuse me, Forte, but could you help us with something?” Clorica asked for the group.

“Yes, what is it?' Forte said with a nod.

“We're the Get it Together Crew,” she said with a smile. “We're going around learning from others how to be focused and organized, and you're a great person to start with. You never miss a day of work, even if there's a storm or you have to use an alternate weapon. So would you teach us how to be like you, just for today?”

She seemed embarrassed to be picked out like this. “Erm, well that's simply the honor of a knight, which I've trained in since I was a child. It's something you have to devote your life to, not something you could just pick up in a day.”

“But if you show us how it works, we can still learn something,” Clorica said.

“Yes, it seems we would be willing to try it out,” Xiao said.

“Yeah, and you're so awesome I bet some of that awesomeness can rub off on others hanging around you!” Amber said.

Forte chuckled at that. “If you're willing to try, I'll see what I can do. But then, you'll need to train with us today to see what it's like being a knight, with armor and blades. I think I have enough extra pieces around to let some of you borrow it, but if you have your own, that would be best.”

“That's no problem,” Clorica said. “I mean, I use spears but I have some armor if I can borrow a sword for the day.”

“I've got some stuff back home, some armor, a shield, and a sword,” Doug said.

“Well, I have been using an axe without armor, because I couldn't handle the armor and axe at once,” Xiao said.

“I fight with my water pot!” Amber said. “No armor, though.”

“I can give you two equipment,” Forte said to Amber and Xiao. “And just a sword for Clorica. Go get your gear and meet us back in the town plaza.”

“This looks like fun,” Sven said, going to help Forte find extra pieces for the group.

Clorica's armor was meant to fit under her suit seamlessly, although she only wore it if work took her out of town. The sword Forte gave her was blunt-edged because they were practicing. However, seeing Amber swing a sword around gave them all second thoughts about letting her use a dull one even just for the day. She and Xiao were now wearing chainmail jackets, with Amber using a large toy hammer in bright colors. She kicked the bottom of it and made it squeak. “Clori, I have a squeaky hammer!”

It was so cute that Clorica smiled. “That you do. But you need to focus on the training.”

“Right, don't get distracted,” Forte said. Once all of them were ready, she went right into their lesson. “There's a lot that goes on in battle, so for those of us dedicated to the sword, we have to train relentlessly so that acts such as dodging attacks, prioritizing targets, and being ready occur without hesitation. That means a lot of repetitious exercises when training so that the body moves without need of the mind's interference, also that you need to know your purpose without a doubt. For me, it's knowing that I am sworn to defend Lady Ventuswill, the town of Selphia, and everyone who lives here. If you have doubt in what you're doing, your thoughts will interfere with what your body knows.”

It made sense, but Clorica felt like it was a revealing insight. Training relentlessly was what Volkanon had put her through. Not in fighting (not always), but in cleaning of all forms, setting up rooms for use, and following social graces. Because of this, a butler was able to leave off a task on a master's call, get what was asked for done, and then go right back to task without error. That was how she was able to get so much done in her sleep. Maybe thinking about things was slowing her down and she needed to do some of those basic drills again to put herself where she needed to be.

Even with her prior battle training, following along with Forte and Sven was grueling on the four of them. They had to repeatedly swing their weapons in proper form and Forte would correct them quickly. Then they ran a few circuits around the whole town. While that tired Clorica out, both of the knights in full metal armor and large weapons weren't worn down at all. Forte gave them a break by lecturing them on the code of chivalry, then had them do more basic exercises like push-ups and jumping jacks. By the time the afternoon was gone and the lesson over, it seemed best to let everyone go back home to shower before meeting back up at the restaurant for a meal and talk about the day's lesson.

“My muscles are going to be all over sore tomorrow,” Xiao said, leaning on the table while they waited on the meals to be delivered.

“Feels like a long time since I've trained that hard,” Doug said, not as tired as the rest of the crew.

“You should eat well tonight to soften some of that soreness,” Forte said. “Having some milk or juice to drink will help with that. Though I'm most impressed that Clorica managed to stay awake the whole time.”

“Aw, don't jinx it,” she said with a smile.

Xiao laughed. “Really, she is having a good day.”

“Hey, if I talk to you enough, will that keep you awake?” Amber asked, poking her in the arm.

“I'll try not to doze off,” Clorica said. “Thank you for your help, Forte. I learned a lot of interesting things.” Like the code of chivalry; that would be handy if they had a visiting knight in the castle.

“Me too, although mostly that I'm not cut out for the life of a warrior,” Doug said sheepishly.

“You did better than the rest of us,” Xiao said.

“I'm glad I could be of assistance,” Forte said. “Where do you plan on going from here?”

“We can't meet tomorrow,” Clorica said, thinking back over the plan. “But we can meet Wednesday around 1300 in the town plaza. I think I will spend tomorrow checking in with others I have in mind. While it's great you agreed to go along as soon as we asked, I'm sure one or two of the others will want something scheduled first.”

“That would be a proper form,” Forte said.

“Would it be all right if I joined you as well?” Sven asked. “If you're working on being focused and organized, I could use that too.”

“That'd be fine, so Doug wouldn't be the only guy in the group,” Clorica said. “That is, if Forte's okay with that.”

Forte gave it a thought, then nodded. “I think that would be a good idea too. You do have to make up for years of training that most knights your age would have. Finding other views might help you out.”

“Yay, welcome to the club Sven!” Amber said, throwing her arms up.

For the first day's report, she got to say that she and her four club members had done well.

* * *

 

Spring 82

The five of them met outside the castle, with Amber showing up last. “Sorry, Lumie had an errand to run so I had to watch the store all morning,” she said, although she was grinning. “And there might be an explosion in the castle tonight!”

Clorica's eyes went wide. “Wh-what? Where did you hear that?”

Amber giggled. “It shouldn't be anything bad, just loud. Leon and Frey were in the shop this morning buying flowers and he got her a fireflower because she likes making them explode. Oh, but they don't want Volkanon to know. Something about royalty lessons.”

Hearing that, it made her relax and laugh too. “She's not been happy with that. As long as it's her, I think it'll be fine. She makes fireworks for a hobby and she'll know how not to set things on fire.”

“Buying flowers is supposed to be romantic, but this seems more like enabling a troublemaker,” Xiao said, amused at it.

“They're both like that,” Clorica said. “Now that you're here, we can go meet with today's teacher. We're going to see Arthur because he's really organized and manages his trading business all on his own. He's agreed to meet with us at his office, so we'll go right on over.”

At his office, Arthur was already doing some work, but he put it aside to make time for them. “It's an admirable goal for you to better yourselves,” he said, sounding sincere in it. “Though I'm afraid that my system is mostly derived from my own habits. They simply suit the job. Like in being organized. Life works out a lot better when everything is in its proper place according to a logical system. Books are to be organized by author alphabetically or by the library catalog categories. Jewelry should be organized by materials used, the shape of the gemstone cut, the color of all pieces, and so on. That way, you know where any one particular item is and can fulfill a customer's request in as little time as possible.”

“Oh, so it's like Lumie's seed drawers where you just need to know what season and what letters to get the right drawer in one try,” Amber said, brightening at that. “There's hundreds of seeds and small bulbs in there!”

“She does have a good system, provided you know enough about the flowers to follow it,” Arthur agreed. “Organization both physical and mental provides a good base. For instance, in the trading business, prices on goods can rise and fall based on a great number of factors. You need to know a lot, but you don't need to get distracted by unneeded thoughts. It takes time to train the mind, but through association and other exercises, information can be memorized and kept away until needed. I can give an account of various items on someone mentioning them. Got anything in mind?”

Since he was asking, Clorica said the first thing that came to mind, “White grass tea? Volkanon was asking about it this morning.”

“Yes, that's good. There's a wide variety of teas and the grasses they are brewed from, each with its own distinct flavor profile. White grass grows best in cold conditions, but a tea made with white grass has a light profile good for iced teas. Therefore, demand is highest for white grass tea in the summer, but the supply is highest in winter when it's most abundant. It's best then to buy up stock in winter and put the dried leaves in storage through spring, for sale in the summer. But then you've got to keep an eye on bug and monster populations that might eat the grass, diseases that also cut down on the supply, or the number of sunny days which help or hurt the grass. White grass is a simple crop to act as a trade item, but even its price can fluctuate from year to year.”

“But then there's lots of different kinds of colored grass and tea, so you have to keep track of all of that?” Doug asked, intimidated at the idea.

Arthur nodded. “I record a lot of data from newspapers, shop discussions, and a scrying globe for reference when I decide on prices to set on standard goods like grasses or tea blends. The goal is to keep things fair for all parties involved. Like in the white grass, for the farmers and gatherers, for the customers, and for myself in working between them. But mental training takes a long time, so we'll work on the simpler part of getting things organized. I generally spend the first week of a season taking inventory of my stock and making sure all of my records are up-to-date, but I'd like you to help me get a portion of it knocked out today. Doing should be better than explaining, after all, though there is some explaining to do first.”

He gave them each a clipboard that had papers typed up with forms for every kind of item, pencils to fill in all the blanks such as name and quantity, and a list of particular directions. Once they knew what the forms meant, they went outside and down to the airfield to reach a locked cave where Arthur was keeping his extra stock of goods. Clorica had instructions to check on many shelves of ceramics. She read the name on signs to put down on the form and counted how many were there. Meanwhile, she was to give them a quick check for damage to make sure they were in good shape. Doug was to check on many jars and cans of preserved foods, Sven was allowed to count over glassware, and Xiao checked over an enchanted closet of clothing accessories.

Due to being an earthmate bound to flowers, Amber checked on the seeds he had stored. Arthur took some time to teach her to quickly count through them with multiplication. “There is a lot of small packets to check on, so what you do is count by threes since that's easy to see in a glance,” he said. “By three, this container has eleven groups plus two extra.”

“Then that's, um, thirty-five?” Amber asked. When he confirmed that, she cheered. “Good, that's faster! But then, what if it's a big number of threes?”

“Have you ever used an abacus before?” Arthur asked, going to retrieve one that was hanging off a set of shelves. “It shouldn't be hard to teach you to multiply by threes on this even for large numbers, though I say that having used these since I was a child. Let's give it a try.”

It was important to know where everything was, Clorica thought while she counted over some flowerpots. Sometimes putting things away only to pull it back out hours later seemed bothersome. Yet knowing immediately where to get something was important for getting things done quickly, also in not wasting time on such small things when there were bigger matters to attend to. That was part of why her job as a butler was important. She took the pressure of small daily tasks like laundry and meals off her master so that they could get their own bigger work done. With Lest and Ventuswill, it meant they had more time to work on leading Selphia and planning big things to help the community grow again. But then she recalled Monday's lessons on keeping focused on the task at hand, so Clorica tried to think only on the plates, pots, and other pieces of ceramics that she was recording for Arthur.

As they went back up to town, Arthur said, “Sorry if today was tedious, but it went a lot nicer with help this time around. Your enthusiasm for this is infectious.”

“It was good to see a well organized system,” Xiao said. “Although I dread trying to put in a new way of organizing at the inn and teaching Momma about it. It would help, but I'd have to keep getting after her about putting things back properly.”

“Isn't that usually the parent's job?' Clorica said, finding it funny.

“I think I will still try,” Xiao said.

“I hope you can find something that works for you both,” Arthur said.

“Hey man, would you copy some of those forms for our store?” Doug asked. “We have a seasonal inventory check as well and this would be a lot handier than keeping it in a lined notebook.”

Arthur nodded. “Sure enough, I can get it to you tomorrow. It's something I developed because I don't like lined notebooks for inventory management either. Too many chances to get data mixed up when skimming over the records unless the handwriting is very exact. Would you like some too Amber?”

“Um, yeah, I guess,” she said. “Maybe just one sheet at first so I can show it to Lumie and see what she thinks.”

* * *

 

Spring 84

The plan had been for the crew to ask Dolce for help today. However, Dolce had been asked to work on wedding clothes. While it wasn't certain when Leon and Frey's wedding would be, Dolce had told Clorica that she wanted to spend the day focused on that since she had all the materials. The crew still got together because one of the other teachers didn't mind changing her plans to help them out. Margaret always seemed to be doing a lot of things: playing music at the restaurant, writing music, managing the restaurant, cleaning litter around town, helping out visitors and friends alike. Yet she never seemed hurried or stressed by it, smiling and having fun with all the busy activity.

Meeting up in Meg's house, she had a metronome ticking away when they came in. “You guys have a great thing going with this,” Meg said when they were starting. “It's good to work towards self-improvement, but even better when it's done with friends. So, I'm probably biased in being a musician, but I think that it's important to have a sense of rhythm in life to know what you can and can't do. When you know the rhythm you work best in, there's a structure to your days with enough room for improvisation. Like, I know it's better for me to have an activity with lot of action in the early afternoon with something more easy-going in the late afternoon because that's the rhythm I live in and feel good in.”

“Oh, so it's no problem for you to work with us on a different day as long as the timing of the rhythm is right?” Clorica asked. She knew it was better to change up her schedule if the activities changed were similar. That was rhythm too?

Meg nodded. “Right. It might take a little time to figure out your rhythm if you don't know music all that well. So, today we're going to do some rhythmic dancing exercises to let you get a basic grasp on rhythm.”

“Dancing?” Doug said, a little embarrassed at that. “Though I should've guessed that.”

“I shall try my best to keep up,” Xiao said, unsure that she could.

“It's easy things, so I think you'll both be fine,” Meg said, then went over to the metronome. “This will keep us on track, so copy the series of motions I give you in timing to the ticks here. That's rhythm.”

Clorica didn't think it was hard once she absorbed herself in the sound of the metronome. It was a good structure to work around, regular and reliable. After that, it was mostly memorizing the patterns that Meg was giving them. Sven seemed to have some trouble grasping the timing, but he had the patterns easily. Amber had no trouble although they had to keep her from being too exuberant with the dancing so she didn't hit anyone on accident. However, Doug didn't have much grace and got the motions mixed up when there were several to remember in a row. And Xiao's clumsiness meant that anything aside from hand motions risked her fumbling.

Though one time after she tripped backwards on a spin, she still gave the last hand wave in time to the metronome. Meg laughed. “Well that was a good effort.”

Xiao got back onto her feet. “Just because I may stumble doesn't mean I have to quit the routine,” she said.

“Yes, stopping won't help,” Clorica said. Even if stopping was easier, someone who really had it together would be able to keep going.

“You're all getting the hang of it,” Meg said, as even Doug managed to complete this set. “How about we try something else... oh, I know! There's a wedding coming up, so I should teach you guys how to waltz.”

“Do what?” Amber asked.

“Are you sure about that?” Doug asked, even less interested in this lesson than the rhythmic dances. “I mean, there's only two guys here.”

“What, you want to dance with Sven?” Clorica asked as a joke. She already knew the dance, so it didn't matter to her who she partnered with.

“Uh, well,” he was blushing now.

“That'd be kind of hard,” Sven said, not as embarrassed but still not sure about this idea.

“A waltz is traditionally a couples dance,” Meg said. “But it doesn't matter if we're just practicing. We do have to figure out who should dance with who.”

“I'll dance with Doug!” Amber offered, going over to grab his hand.

“But that, uh,” Doug said, trying to pull away.

Meg looked over them seriously. “That could be some trouble due to differences in height.”

“Why's that?” Amber asked.

Not sure how to respond to that, Meg glanced over at Clorica. “Well, that is...”

Clorica didn't mind saying it, so she smiled. “Amber, you're kind of chest to eye level with him. That can't be too comfortable on him to be dancing with you. Unless he doesn't mind the view.”

“Did you have to say it that way?” Doug asked, now thoroughly embarrassed.

“I don't get it, but okay,” Amber said, disappointed. “Does that mean I get to dance with Meg cause we're closest in height?”

“That probably would work out best,” Meg said. “Then put Doug with Xiao and Sven with Clorica. Does that work for everyone?” Once they agreed, she gave them basic instructions while demonstrating with Amber.

While this way made sense taking heights into consideration, it brought out that they'd put the two klutzes together when Doug and Xiao had trouble stepping on each other's toes. They tripped and took a spill three times before Xiao said “Sometimes not even persistence helps,” and opted to just watch the waltzing lesson. That left Meg to let Amber dance with Doug provided they kept a decent distance in doing so. When they had some practice in to get the routine, Meg turned off the metronome to put on a record for music.

The practice had been like training in anything else, getting used to doing something. That changed once they waltzed to the music. For one thing, Sven smiled pretty early on. It wasn't a polite smile to get along with others or one trying to hide his anxiety. Jut a real smile that seemed happy to get a chance to dance with her. Maybe he did like her? That thought made her happy; she'd have her own knight willing to protect her. He had already done so once. For a moment, the others around them didn't seem to matter.

They did once the song ended and Meg squealed. “You two were so beautiful together!” she said, going over to them. “I'm kind of jealous how naturally you two fell into step with each other.”

“Ah, it's not a hard dance,” Clorica said, feeling embarrassed but still happy about it. On the other hand, Sven didn't want to talk right now from the look on his face.

“But you were beautiful because you both had grace, yes?” Xiao said, admiring them too but keeping where she was. “Especially for your first dance, and then in comparison to Amber pulling Doug around.”

“It was slow, I like fast dances,” Amber said.

“You have to be considerate of the other person you're dancing with,” Meg said. “Like you have to be considerate of anyone else you're working with.”

“That's a good thing to keep in mind,” Clorica said, although her mind was still thinking about her dance with Sven.


	60. Beware of Kittens

Spring 85

“Sure you don't mind us being gone almost all day?” Doug asked Blossom while they shared lunch. They had the meeting with the Get it Together Crew in a little while, then they'd be joining the other guys in town for a half slumber party half pre-wedding party for Leon this evening.

“It's fine, I enjoy hearing about what you're up to,” Blossom said. Then she smiled over at Sven. “You just be good to the girl you like.”

“Um, we're not anything serious yet,” Sven said, feeling embarrassed. Although with this little club, he kept seeing things in her that made her more admirable, more than just being pretty and a good cook. She said it took her a long time to consider, but she had organized this plan quite well. There were different things to learn from different people. Plus, he had gotten to dance with Clorica; it had felt beautiful, so it didn't surprise him to hear them say it. Even if it had surprised him by how enthusiastic Meg had been in complimenting them.

“Why not ask her out once this whole thing is over?” Doug suggested, smiling at him. “She's turned out pretty cool once she got around to keeping awake.”

“I'll think about it,” he said, although he worried that he might scare her off someday. He scared himself often enough.

When they got to the town plaza to meet with the others, Clorica smiled warmly at him. He smiled back at once, although that got Doug to elbow him in the hip as a joke. Sven then pushed him. Although since they were no longer kids, he had to hold back so he didn't shove Doug right over at the teasing. “You boys better be playing nicely,” Xiao said.

“Yeah, no harm done,” Doug said. “What're we doing today?”

“We're going to talk with Lest,” Clorica said. “Part of it is because he has a big project today and we don't want him working at it alone. But he stays collected no matter what goes on around him, taking on tasks no matter how big, complicated, or even dangerous they seem if it helps people. That makes him a good person for us to learn from.”

“Is it work on his farm?” Amber said, eager for that. As she was a farming earthmate too, that would appeal to her. “Cause I brought the tools you asked about!”

“Yes, we should let him explain,” Clorica said. She brought them into the castle parlor to meet up with the prince.

Leon happened to be in there with Lest. “Sure there's nothing I could do to help out?” Leon asked.

Lest chuckled. “It's your wedding, let the rest of us handle things. Besides, there's not much more to do until we know when our dad gets in.”

“Well if you're going to be that way, fine, I'll just go organize books,” Leon said, waving his fan as if shooing Lest off. “Hey there, what's with the crowd?”

“We're here to talk to Lest,” Clorica said. “You know our Get it Together Crew? We'd like to learn how you always stay calm and collected, and work on those long-term projects without getting overwhelmed by all the work.”

“Sure, I'll see what I can do,” Lest said. “Although, I had to teach myself how be like that. I spent a year living alone in a cabin in the wilderness while studying eastern meditation and philosophy.”

“That's what it takes to be so calm?” Xiao asked, surprised to hear that. Sven was surprised too. He'd been taken care of somewhat in the five years the Executioner got lost in the mountains, but Lest would have had to take care of himself in everything.

Leon smirked, with his fan barely hiding it. “He had to do that. From what I've heard, he has a two-way empathy. He feels the emotions of others around him which must be awfully noisy every single day. And then his emotions can go out and influence the weather. It's a weird case.”

“It's only strong emotions affecting the weather, but that's how it goes,” Lest said. “Like if you made me really angry, I might smite you with lightning without thinking about it.”

That was briefly intimidating, though seeing Leon try to hide his realization that that could mean trouble for him made up for it. Xiao and Clorica ended up trying not to laugh at it. “At least you don't get angry easily,” Amber said.

“Yeah, I've only done that once and that was before my self training,” he said. “It does take a lot of time since it might require changing the way you think about things. You have to find your spiritual center and keep it balanced. Even after my year of training, I sometimes find myself off balance and have to take up a portion of the study again. It's a way of life, really. The long term projects are easier to explain. Is this your roundabout way of keeping me from clearing the fields alone?”

“A little bit,” Clorica admitted.

Lest smiled. “Well that's great because working together, we might actually get them done today instead of taking me nearly a week on my own. That is, if you don't mind the hard work.”

“I doubt it'd be any harder than the training Forte put us through last week,” Doug said.

“At least I've got a good set of tools, because otherwise it would be more grueling,” Lest said.

“What about clearing the fields would take you that long?” Leon said curiously. “It doesn't look that bad out there.”

“Have you really taken a look at all the fields?” Lest said. “Come on, I just hope none of you mind that your clothes are going to end up all dirty and sweaty by the end of the day.”

They exited out north of the castle to come out to a field that was covered in lots of green leaves and small flowers. Butterflies and other bugs were busy at their own lives. “Oh wow, that's a lot of clover!” Amber asked, impressed by it.

Lest nodded as he took a clipboard with a list on it from his tool box. “Right, I got a good deal on a large amount of seeds a little while ago. I was going to leave this field fallow for summer because it really needed a good rest. With the clover, I can restore health and runes to it quicker. But that's a task I'd only want Amber in on since I'll be using earthmate magic to do so, plus it's not the right day for it. We're going to be working on the two western fields, so we'll need... the axes, the hammers, a sickle, a hoe, a shovel, and I think there's enough gardening gloves in there to go around. Also the plow, but Frey should be over there making sure it's ready. Are you working with us, Leon?”

“Eh, why not?” he said, taking one of the hammers. Sven decided to take the sickle, in part because he was curious how it was used in its original purpose as a farm tool.

There was a pathway that led them to a spot with a good view on both fields. Unlike the field of clovers, these two looked like a disaster even to someone like Sven who'd never seen a farm. Stones, stumps, and branches littered the ground, with what looked like a whole rotting tree fallen across the center of the southwest field. All kinds of plants were trying to grow in between, even a tall cluster of bamboo in the northwest field. Off in a corner of the southwest field, Frey was working on a large piece of equipment with a harness on it while a Buffamoo grazed on the plants nearby.

“Then you need to get both fields all cleaned out so you can farm on them?” Xiao asked. “That is a lot of work.”

“Clear the fields and plow them since the soil can really use it,” Lest said, checking over his list.

“I suppose that could take you a week of hard work,” Leon admitted. “Lots of tasks to be done here.”

He nodded. “Right, that's why I made a list of all the separate parts in order to tackle them one at a time. But with you all helping, I can assign parts of it so that they can get done at the same time. First off on the list, beware of kittens.”

That seemed so out of place that nearly all of them laughed. “Really, kittens?” Doug asked.

“Really, it's a serious concern,” Clorica said, not laughing.

“Well, there's always the use of humor to make work seem lighter,” Lest said with a smile. “But it is something to keep in mind. Vishnal has a paw cat that lives in the barn and she has five kittens. They're getting to the age where they're starting to roam around the fields, especially when one of us is out here. Still, they're small, so make sure there's no kittens around when you start working.”

“Oh right, don't want to hurt little kittens,” Xiao said.

Lest walked to the edge of the southwest field and started pointing things out. “Also might watch for the cluckadoodles, but they'll be more obvious. Going on with the list, all the plants growing here now need to be removed. However, there's wild herbs and grasses that would be useful to various people around town. So two people will be set to pull the plants and set them in the containers I have over there for sorting. If anyone gets tired, you can go work on sorting for a little while. And if a plant is hard to pull, use the sickle or hoe to get it out.

“Third, start control methods on the bamboo. It can be useful, but you have to contain it or the sprouts can become a nuisance. It's more of a problem in the northern field and that's something I'll work on myself once we move to that field. But there's a few sprouts down here now; use the hoe or shovel to make sure you pull it up fully, then keep them because Porco will appreciate them.

“Fourth, chop up the stumps and fallen branches. I'm going to start off by taking care of that big tree because I can clear that fast, but the technique takes a lot of rune points so the rest is better done by hand. Those go in the lumber and stone bin.

“Fifth, break up and remove the rocks. Most of it can go in the bin, but if you find good looking rocks, keep them in a separate pile. I can use those for the bamboo area and what I plan in the central field.

“Sixth, use the plow to loosen up the soil. Frey or I might be doing that, since it requires guiding the Buffamoo. Lastly, the plowing will turn up more rocks, so those will need to be broken up as well. But if it's getting late, that I can handle tomorrow on my own since it won't be as many rocks as are out here now.” Lest turned back to them. “We can work on pulling plants, chopping wood, and breaking stone. If you're not too confident in your strength, you should probably stick with pulling plants.”

“I've got an extra axe and hammer here,” Amber said, bringing them out. “I asked Lumie and she said they were silver made.”

“Well I need to use magic for the big tree, so I'm taking the platinum axe to start with,” Lest said, claiming that for himself. “Those should be good to use normally.”

“I'll pull plants and weeds cause I'm good at that,” Amber added. “All of them go in the container, even the weeds?”

He nodded. “Even the weeds. They'll go in my fertilizer bin if there's really no better use for them.”

“I want to work with the rocks!” Frey called across the field.

“You mean you want to steal the good ones from me,” Lest called back. “How's the plow?”

“I still have some work to do,” she said. “It should do the job well.”

“Hey, your brother threatened to smite me,” Leon said while she was talking.

“If he does, you probably deserve it,” she called back.

“Gee, what am I getting myself into?” Leon said, huffing too dramatically. “Fine, I'll axe with you. I've done that before.”

“I can take one of the hammers for clearing rocks,” Doug said. “Shouldn't be a problem.”

“I'll do that too,” Sven said. It was part of what their family had done for generations, so he figured he might as well.

“I'll try chopping wood,” Xiao said.

“I'm not sure I could keep up with breaking rocks, so I'll work with Amber,” Clorica said.

“Good, then let's get started,” Lest said, taking his axe into the field. “You remember the first task?”

“Beware of kitties!” Amber said.

“Right, I've found two of them already.” He set the axe by the fallen tree in order to pick up two small kittens from a rotted hollow inside. Lest then brought them over. “Will someone watch these two for a moment? I don't need them near the tree.”

“Oh, may I see?” Xiao asked. She got one of the kittens to hold as an answer.

For some reason, perhaps because he was the next closest person, Lest gave the other to Sven. “Sure. Just keep them until I've got the tree cleared. I'm not sensing the other three or Maple in this field yet.”

“Aw, they are so tiny and fluffy,” Xiao said, happy to have one.

“It's a better contrast with the big bearded guy here,” Leon said, smiling at the sight of Sven holding the other.

“Maybe not so cute,” Sven said, trying to handle the kitten gently. It seemed like it was all fur, a brown and white tabby with a short tail. Wobbling a bit in his hand, it reached a paw up and soon was leaning against his chest. It was a small creature, frail and not yet able to defend itself. Still, he had a feeling that he wouldn't hurt it even if he got paranoid.

“No, that's very cute,” Clorica said, coming over to pet the kitten. “This is the one that looks almost like their mother.”

It would look cute with her, he thought but didn't say. Meanwhile, Lest had gone back over to the fallen tree to take care of it. He said he was using a magic technique, so it didn't seem safe to go near him while working. He charged up rune energy, causing a golden glow around himself before he swung the axe down with an attack much like the Bladestorm technique. With many flickers of gold energy across the field, the large tree was soon a large path of chopped lumber. They were all equal in length and almost equal in shape.

“That's out of the way, so come on and get started,” Lest said, picking up some of the lumber to bring to the bin.

After letting Clorica pet the kitten once more, Sven put it down out of the way to go help Lest bring in the lumber. Then he took one of the hammers and went to work with Doug on breaking rocks. The motion of it was like using the weight of the scythe for a blunt force blow. However, the constant resistance of the rocks could be felt clear to his shoulders, sometimes further than that. It was tedious hard work, always another rock just ahead.

With his friends around talking, it didn't feel as tedious. Lest eventually joined in on them hammering, talking sometimes about his mediation techniques to keep focused and centered. He had stopped with chopping wood because Leon took some time from it to show Xiao how to handle her lumber axe better. The two of them were able to clear the field of stumps and branches easily since Lest had taken out the big tree. While Clorica took off a time or two, it was to go into the castle and get them all drinks so they didn't get thirsty. They let Amber try her hand at the other two tasks, but she didn't have the strength in her arms and chest to keep it up for long.

Frey had the plow ready and harnessed to the Buffamoo when they had the southwest field done. She stayed to do the plowing while the rest of the group headed up to the northwest field. While they started in on the same jobs, Lest dug a shallow line with his hoe to mark off the corner he was leaving for the bamboo. Then he worked at digging up the sprouts outside the line and tossing out some debris from inside the line.

As evening fell, they finally got done with the work. Only the southern field was plowed, but Lest didn't seem bothered by that and had the Buffamoo released for a wash down. “Thanks for helping me do all that,” he said. “I hope you did get something out of it.”

“I have heard of the ways you study before and I think I may look into them again,” Xiao said. “Maybe if I can find my spiritual balance, I can find my physical balance too.”

“Maybe you can,” Clorica said in encouragement. “Meditation sounds interesting, but I'm afraid that if I tried it, I'd end up falling asleep again.”

“That's not the kind of awareness you're trying to reach, but it could be a risk,” Lest said.

“I didn't realize farming could be so much work,” Amber said. “We always just used patches of ground that seemed usable, not clear everything out and grind it all up. But look, the soil's all loose and free and you can plant so much out here!”

Lest chuckled. “Thankfully we only need to put in this kind of work around once a year. But that's what it takes to have a full farm.”

“I for one have a newfound appreciate for the work my ancestors did,” Doug said, rubbing one of his shoulders. “Man, they would do this all day, and even more tasks like it to pull minerals and gems from a mine.”

“Definitely not looking to return to the mines then?” Leon asked teasingly.

“Definitely not,” Doug said, rolling his eyes at that.

Sven rubbed his beard. “I learned something unintentional doing this. My powers won't let me harm an innocent on accident. See, I had a feeling I should stop at once and wasn't sure why until one of the kittens wandered up next to me. It would have been too close if I hadn't stopped. It's good for me to know at least.”

“That would fit with the purpose of a defender,” Frey said, working with Amber on washing the Buffamoo. “Keeping others from harm, even on accident, would cause your magic to keep you aware even if you're not always using magical senses.

It made sense, but feeling that sense taught him better than if someone had simply told him he'd be warned. As long as he could keep himself from being possessed again, he shouldn't harm those he meant to protect. With the parties quickly approaching, the group parted for their homes to clean up and get ready.

At the mansion up in Arthur's room, Sven found it a fun evening to talk with the others. Mostly he listened, but he was glad to find points where he could join in and not feel too awkward. Although one time was embarrassing. It started with Kiel asking, “Hey Sven, are you really dating Clorica now?”

“No, I just got to be friends with her and the group she put together recently,” he said.

“I thought you two had been seen together before that,” Kiel said, disappointed.

“She was really happy when you joined them,” Vishnal said, making a few of the others laugh.

“She's happy at most things,” Sven said, trying to deflect the attention. Though he wasn't sure how well it would work, not being used to a purely social situation like this.

“But you two did turn out awesome at dancing together the other day,” Doug said. Unfortunately he was across the game board so Sven couldn't nudge him to not do that.

“I heard about that,” Leon said, though the look on his face usually meant trouble. “Also that you were dancing with Amber even though you two are just right for...”

“That wasn't it!” Doug said, starting to blush. “She insisted on it.”

“What, I thought you liked taller girls,” Leon said, his ears twitching.

“You'd better not be messing with her,” Dylas said, not losing his temper but coming close.

Well that did get attention off himself, Sven thought. But not in a nice way since it put Doug between Leon's teasing and Dylas' protectiveness. Doug was left trying to protect himself against both. “It's not me, she latched onto me as her friend for some reason and hasn't let go of that yet.”

Fortunately, Arthur managed to interfere in Doug's defense. “What got you two into dancing?” Arthur asked, looking at Sven. “Is it part of Clorica's plan?”

Sven nodded. “That's right. At one point, Margaret had us learn to waltz in learning rhythm.”

“That isn't a way I would have interpreted that request, but you were looking for different views,” Arthur said.

“Wait, waltzing?” Dylas asked. “Isn't that dirty dancing? Meg didn't seem like that.”

Most in the room looked at Dylas puzzled for that, although Leon just didn't know what they were talking about. “No, I don't see what would make it that way,” Arthur said. “It's been popular as a formal dance among the nobility and even the common people for a long time.”

Dylas frowned and looked at the floor. “That's what I was told back in my day. A formal dance was where you held the hands of your partner and a waltz called for you to actually put your hand on their waist.” He said that like it was a shocking thing.

“That sounds pretty nice to me,” Leon said.

“I guess if it's a couple dancing, maybe?” Dylas said.

That gave Arthur an idea. “Oh, I know: we should teach Leon to waltz so he can dance with Frey after the wedding. It doesn't need to happen, but that is quite romantic when the celebration allows for the newlyweds to have the first dance all to themselves.”

“It would help if we didn't end up making fools of ourselves then,” Leon said, starting to wave his fan near his face. “I should probably take her to Margaret and ask about that. Though I'm not sure, since I don't really know what you're talking about or how complex it is.”

“It's quite basic, only as complex as you make it,” Arthur said.

“Yeah, it's not that hard to learn the general form,” Vishnal agreed.

“Why don't you demonstrate for me?” Leon asked.

“Are you serious?” Doug asked, probably not sure that was a good idea when there were only guys in the room.

“If it's a demonstration, I don't see why not,” Arthur said.

“Not you,” Leon said, shaking his head. “You've got such a business mask on all the time that you're probably a secret pervert.”

“E-excuse me?” Arthur said, fiddling with his glasses and blushing.

“And Doug is a dork,” Leon went on.

“Hey!” Doug said, narrowing his eyes at him.

Leon just smirked. “But Vishnal and Sven are really easy to read and they're not about to be perverts. If anyone demonstrates, it should be those two.”

“I've only danced like that once,” Sven said, not sure he'd be good for demonstrating.

“Um, I haven't had many chances to use that knowledge, so I wouldn't be that good either,” Vishnal said, nervously pushing his hair back.

“Aw come on, have some fun with it,” Leon said.

It may have just been Leon messing with as many of them as possible, but since the party was for him, the two of them agreed in the end to demonstrate the waltz. Vishnal wasn't bad at it as they at least didn't misstep on toes for it. But still, it only reminded him of how nice it had been with Clorica.

* * *

 

Spring 86

They nearly didn't meet up that Monday, but Clorica came to get him and Doug as Dolce had agreed to take their lesson then. After getting Amber, they met up with Dolce and Xiao at the entrance to Obsidian Mansion. Before they went in, Dolce told them, “I've been thinking over it and I believe it's mostly the system of manners I was taught that works for me.”

“Your manners?” Clorica asked. “You do have good manners, even if you don't talk a lot.”

“Well they do constrain her rather much too,” Pico said.

Dolce briefly looked irked but was back to calm quickly. “You have rather too little. I was taught to keep patient, have a good posture, and listen closely instead of speak quickly. People who move too fast miss signs that should be obvious. While there are times when it is better to react quickly, far more often keeping a slow watch, being aware of your surroundings, and deciding once you know the facts will solve more problems.”

“That seems a slow way to do things,” Doug said.

“Slow isn't bad,” Dolce said. “As long as you don't take it to extremes and never act.”

“What does having good manners have to do with going in the mansion?” Sven asked, having wondered that once she said it. There was an anxious tension in his chest about going back in there. He didn't want to end up leaving the same way as last time.

“You will need to learn good manners to help with the ghost we intend to meet today,” Dolce said. “I could do this with only one other, but having you all along does give us the best chances at putting this one to rest.”

“We're going to help one of the ghosts here?” Xiao said, putting an arm to her chest in a mild fright.

Dolce nodded. “The kind of ghost we're helping is simply a person who can't accept their death or hasn't realized it yet. In particular, I've been tracking down the owners of the mansion as they have the most power to keep this place haunted. Once all the owners are gone, this should be an ordinary building if it doesn't crumble from the lack of power. The owner we're helping today is Mrs. Cailin, a woman who tried to run an orphanage here before it was realized that the mansion was taking on the power of a haunted location.”

“The ghosts either frightened the children or inspired them to act badly,” Pico said. “When a living person enters the room Cailin used as a playroom, she perceives them as children and tries to teach them to be well behaved. But there's a lot going on there she doesn't notice but her guests do. You have to keep calm and follow her instructions.”

“We're hoping that if she thinks she's succeeded, she'll relax and pass on,” Dolce said. “If trouble starts, I'll negotiate with her and get all of us out. Though if you're not confident in your courage, go ahead and stay out for the rest of this lesson.”

They may have been different degrees of scared in this, but as the others agreed to help, Sven didn't want them to go in without him. If this got out of even Dolce's control, then he would help them all escape again. As it was daytime, the mansion didn't seem as threatening as it had been in the pre-dawn hours. It was still dimmer and dustier than a normal house would be, but no monsters were lurking in the halls they traveled.

Things changed when they entered the playroom. The scattered signs of children no longer there were bad enough: a long low table with some scribbles and scattered crayons on it, discarded toys, simple drawings on the walls. Looking closer at the walls, the drawings all shared a theme of a big black monster with orange eyes and striped horns. There also seemed to be whispers around, something he understood to be spirits. This was going to push his nerves since it reminded him of the evil dragon. But, he came in to protect the others. He had to stay brave.

As Sven got his bearings, the ghost of a middle-aged woman walked into visibility. She had her hair in a bun and wore a long gray dress. “There you are, Miss Dolce. Thank you for bringing the children back in.”

“It's no trouble, Mrs. Cailin,” Dolce said, like she would to anyone else.

“We'll be having a tea party to practice our manners,” Cailin said.

“Yay party!” Amber said, bouncing in place and forgetting what they had come here for.

“Please, indoors voice,” Cailin said.

“Um, okay,” Amber said, going still. “But, what's indoors voice?”

“Sorry, this child lived in the forest up until now,” Dolce said. It must have been one of those times when she saw the need to speak up quickly or else there would be trouble.

“I see, poor dear,” the ghost said, coming over to Amber. “Speak in normal quiet tones when indoors, that's the proper way of things.”

“Okay, I'll try,” Amber said.

“I hope you boys aren't too disappointed, but please be good gentleman for the ladies,” Cailin said to him and Doug.

“Not really a boy's thing, but sure Mrs. Cailin, we'll be good,” Doug said.

“Um, I'm not sure what to do, sorry,” Sven said, remembering to add a sorry in there so it came across as polite.

“Give it a try and you may not be as shy,” Cailin said. “Take your seats. Oh, and you... please get the tray with the tea set to bring to the table.”

There weren't any seats at the low table, so they would have to kneel. But the one she asked could be troublesome as it was Xiao. “Um, I am not so sure that is as good an idea since I seem to be clumsy,” she said nervously.

“Speak more clearly, dear,” Cailin said, patient with her.

“Sorry, I was in another country for a long time, yes? I am clumsy with words too.” Xiao looked over at the tray she was to get. “I can try.”

“Take it slow and easy if you must until you gain more grace,” Cailin said with a nod.

Xiao took the tray handles with both hands and still the set clattered as she walked across the room with it. Taking it slow, she got over safely and placed it in the middle of the table. Cailin then gave them instructions, but this was a pretend tea party since they had to imagine all the things. Unfortunately, imagining things made the spirits around them act up. The walls changed, moving and replacing the drawings although they still all had the horned monster. More and more of them added red that made them grisly.

At the point where his grasp on the little tea cup started trembling, his mind shifted. It wasn't as drastic as last time he was in here, but his magic was clearly silencing his anxiety for something. There were scratches behind the walls that brought his attention to the drawings. With only that evidence, his chi lines glimmered violet and he knew the drawings were the real clue in trying to free Mrs. Cailin's soul.

Dolce had been going along pretending to be Cailin's assistance with Pico as another one of the children (and being remarkably well behaved at it). She started to change her mind about this as well as the nightmarish energy beyond the room grew. “We may need to use escape magic to get out soon,” she said in warning.

“We were doing well, yes?” Xiao asked.

“I thought so,” Clorica said.

“You children are doing nicely,” Cailin said, happy about it. But she stopped as she walked behind Sven and noticed his chi lines. “Um, young man, what's...?'

Giving up on the play, Sven got to his feet and turned to her. He used the salute Forte had taught him, hoping the sign got through to the ghost. “Sorry, m'am, but I'm one of the knights.”

“Oh?” she said. A red mark appeared on her neck and her voice got strained. “Oh?”

“Sven,” Dolce said sharply.

“Shh, I think you've got it wrong,” Sven said. It was much easier like this to be confident and commanding like a knight should be. Although even now, it didn't feel like himself. “M'am, I was called here on some trouble?”

“You won't believe me,” Cailin said, frightened out of her wits now. The room itself took on a harsher look, sharp colors and edges where there had once been soft colors and edges to calm young children. Even the whispers behind the walls got meaner. “I didn't believe them until some of the children died, you're not going to believe me so I'm just going to take my own life!”

“Please don't,” Sven said, attempting to take her hand. It didn't work, but it did quiet her. “I'll believe you. There was some horned monster involved?”

Cailin nodded sadly. “Y-yes, it was Jido. One of the older kids made him up to scare the younger kids and somehow they all got obsessed with Jido. I kept trying to convince them to stop believing and scaring the littlest ones, but then even the older ones would claim he was making messes in the bedroom and going to kill them. But Jido is really in there and I don't know how or what to do, so I had to send all the children into town. I was going to go as well, but the doors locked and there's a few children still here. I can't do anything for them, not even get in the bedroom where I hear them crying.”

“I wasn't aware there were other child ghosts in here,” Dolce said, sounding guilty at it.

“Sorry, I thought they'd all gone when you woke up,” Pico said.

“I'll handle it,” Sven said. “Doug, do you have Niam's dagger with you?”

“Yeah, actually, here.” Sven had meant to ask his cousin to come with him, but instead he got the spirit killing dagger.

Accepting it, he put it in the sword clip on his belt and took his scythe in hand. The spirit dagger would be insurance in case the scythe or his powers didn't work. “Thanks. All of you, stay in here and I'll handle Jido.”

“But Sven,” Dolce said.

“Stay here, it's safe while the sun's out,” Sven said, certain of that. “Which room, m'am?”

“That one,” Cailin said, pointing out the one that now had a pattern of thorns instead of flowers.

It was exactly the kind of place that should have terrified him, especially when the door shut on its own behind him. At one glance, it was a normal room for an orphanage, with eight small beds and a lot of storage. Then it changed and there was blood on the floors and beds. Three children were kept trapped there with a growling monster much like on all the drawings. With his power keeping his focus tight, he wasn't worried about the crowded room. Much like with the kittens, he knew exactly how to move to strike down Jido without harming the children.

His blessing price wasn't one to be paid daily, but one to be paid risking his life for others when needed.

While he had to switch to Niam's dagger to finish the monster off, he destroyed Jido and broke the lock on the room. The three child ghosts immediately ran out to Mrs. Cailin, still afraid but relieved being back with her. “Thank goodness, we need to get out of here,” Cailin said, trying to hug all three of them.

“I know the way,” Dolce said. But first, she went over to him and put a hairclip with a silk flower on the collar of his overcoat. “Sorry, but trust me on this,” she said, then went to lead the group out.

“Is it safe out there?” one of the children asked.

“Don't worry, we've got a knight with us,” Cailin said.

Once they made it through the doors from the theater, the four ghosts all vanished from the spot. Without the danger around, so did the shift in Sven's mind to keep his fear from breaking out. He nearly lost all self-control, but then he took in a deep breath of a strong but soothing scent, like a lavender powder. His mind got caught in a paralyzing conflict and didn't know what to do.

Amber bounded over to him. “You were awesome!” she said, but then looked at his face. “Huh, Sven?”

“Sven, are you okay?” Clorica asked, coming to his side too. “You didn't seem like yourself.”

“I've seen Jones do the same thing with his fear of blood,” Dolce said. “Just shut off part of his mind to deal with the situation in a lucid manner. But he has the most unnerving breakdowns once his mind is fully back on, so I've been trying accessories with scent therapy to ease the transition. It's a craft I'm still working the kinks out of, so it's not perfect. Bring him down to the lake until he can talk again.” As they walked across the bridge, she added, “I'm sorry that didn't go as planned.”

“I suppose any plan can be derailed by unexpected occurrences,” Clorica said.

When he could think again, Sven was first grateful for the flower clip because he didn't have to subject his friends to one of his panic attacks.


	61. The Crew's Final Lesson

Spring 87

It was a Tuesday, but Clorica still went around to ask if the Get it Together Crew could do one final meeting. “It's like a test of all the lessons we've had,” she explained to their family members who usually got the day off from the job. “Nearly everyone in town is busy preparing for the wedding tomorrow, so we will be working with Volkanon on that today. He says you can add one task of yours to the list to make up for borrowing them today.”

That worked, leaving the five of them with a large amount of work to get done in one day. “But we will work like all of our teachers have said, yes?” Xiao said.

“That's right,” Clorica said. “Divide the work up into smaller organized parts that each fit the rhythm we all have best. Make sure all the little things are in place so that the ceremony and final tasks go smoothly tomorrow. Keep calm, cheerful, and well mannered while doing so. And be aware that unexpected things may disrupt the work, but if so, redivide the work and keep focused to complete it.”

“Wow, you've really got it together Clorica,” Amber said, clapping for her.

“You think so?” she said with a big smile.

“Of course, and Amber even remembered to keep her indoor voice,” Doug said, amused at that.

“Well you are the club leader, so it's no surprise there,” Sven said. “What's the full list like?”

For the castle, they needed to make sure the plaza, facade, and Ventuswill's chamber were extra clean. It could be a long task, but Clorica knew how to use some tricks with water magic to get it done quicker. Amber's wind magic helped out as well, getting into some of the finer details to clean out dirt. Meanwhile, Xiao was familiar with getting windows perfectly clean even when they had to bring out a magic platform to get her up to the higher ones. Doug and Sven were strong enough to use the outdoor mops better than Clorica to get the plaza itself cleaned down.

Inside, they needed to get tables, chairs, decorations, plates, and utensils prepared so that the plaza could be set up quickly for the celebration after the ceremony. This included making sure the temporary canvas roofs could be put up quickly in case of rain. While they did this, Clorica had Amber and Sven run around town checking in with others to see how they were progressing. Dylas was making simple meals for the restaurant so that Porcoline and Kiel could work on the meals and cake for tomorrow. Illuminata was getting the floral arrangements completed. When she complained as a joke, Amber got Dolce to help her in her place. Meg was busy teaching Leon and Frey to waltz, as well as making sure they had the parts to the ceremony properly memorized.

“Kiel said he's trying to get the cake layers done and transferred to one of the dining rooms to decorate without having to fuss about Porcoline,” Sven said. “Though he's also worried about leaving just Dylas with him trying to get today's and tomorrow's meals done.”

“That could be trouble,” Volkanon said. “I should see if he needs a monitor nearby. But keep up this pace and you should be fine. Call me if there's trouble.”

“We can handle it,” Clorica said. With how things were going, she felt confident in that.

There were the things added to the list. Lin Fa wanted them to do a deep cleaning on the baths since they had a pair of guys to take care of the men's side without having to shut it down as long. When that was completed and approved of, they worked between the two stores to put together bags of flower petals and small gifts for the guests. There were a lot more small things to get done. Yet when it was all done, there was still enough time in the day for Clorica to split them up to go help those still preparing. She went to Porcoline's to help him cook, while Amber went to work on the floral arrangements, Xiao and Sven at the inn because Lin Fa seemed busy, and Doug back to the general store to make sure Blossom got a few hours of relaxing in.

Tomorrow, the test would continue in making sure the wedding and celebration went smoothly. Volkanon met with her late in the evening to talk about it. “You've been doing well according to talk around town,” he said. “Some have even said your efforts have inspired them to see about making things better in their own lives.”

“That's good,” Clorica said. “Everyone should have a chance to do better.”

Volkanon nodded. “And you had an excellent attitude towards planning and dividing the work this morning. Anything else you've learned?”

She had been thinking over it, but it still took a few moments to get her thoughts put into words. “Well, one big thing I learned is that a few days won't do enough. All of the people we spoke with mentioned that they'd spent years getting to be the way they are, or it was an innate characteristic they developed over time. Some of them even admitted that they can lose their way too. Even so, it's important to try and be doing things. Thinking can help, but thinking alone won't get you anywhere. I need to keep practicing what they taught me and explore some ways on my own.”

“That's a good idea to know. Anything else?”

There were a few things. “A lot of it is little things, but I'm starting to see how it can all work together. But, Dolce said it's okay to be slow. I still shouldn't use it as an excuse because there are times when quick action is needed. Then Meg said we should know our own rhythms. I need to know myself and my limits not to say I can't do something, but to figure out how I can do things that seem out of my reach. Like how Lest knows how his powers can get out of control so he works his life around keeping them in control and of good use. Then Forte and Arthur made it clear that basic things can be very important, a stable ground on which to do bigger things. Although, for our work, our goal is to make a stable ground for our master so they can do even bigger things.”

Unsurprisingly, Volkanon got teary eyed at that. “That's a beautiful view, Clorica,” he said, then had to blow his nose. She smiled because it didn't seem big enough to be emotional about, but that was how he was. “And you're absolutely right. We're here to take care of the small things so our master doesn't need to worry about everything when their goals are much higher than most people. How do you think you should be going forward from here?”

“Um, I want to go back for a little bit,” she said. “I realized early on why I didn't seem to be getting as much done under this paralysis therapy, more than just getting used to the change of schedule. When I'm working while sleeping, I'm working without any distractions outside or inside. There's nothing to stop me or slow me down. But now that I'm working awake, my mind wanders and I get distracted even in little things. So I want to practice the basics again to make sure I can do them without thought. That way, even if I end up talking with someone, I'll keep working at a good pace because my body is sure of what it's doing. I will need to work on keeping focused and eventually making sure I don't get stressed out easily. Jones says he thinks my condition might be worsened by stress, so I need to manage that. But first, I should know that I'll be able to keep up the daily routine while working through those issues.”

“Very well, just be aware that I'll be even stricter on it the second time around,” he said.

“That's fine, I'll get it right,” Clorica said. It might take time and some mistakes, but she would end up getting things right.

* * *

 

Spring 88

Forte had insisted that he be on patrol today to make sure nothing disrupted the celebrations, so Sven couldn't help out the rest of the crew on the final preparations. While she wouldn't admit it unless confronted, Forte was nervous around ghosts. He'd taken up making sure that the area around Obsidian Mansion was clear and safe for her. Today, the mansion was quiet. Dolce had said that such a big life event would likely keep the ghosts from doing anything. But there were other monsters that might sneak out. Not now and the rest of the lake seemed clear, so Sven headed back into town.

While he looked around town for possible trouble, his mind occasionally drifted to Clorica. She was working hard today again, enough that her diligence was getting some others in town surprised. But she had a goal all this time and Sven thought it'd be more surprising if she wasn't diligent about getting there. Did he really know her better than these people that had lived with her for five years or more? That was strange, but he might have spoken more to her awake than those others. She hadn't even fallen asleep once during their lessons or this test.

That was good, but there was also something else. There was a feeling of peace he had whenever he was around her. Even that day when he thoughtlessly got into the gate house, he only started calming down once she came in and started talking to him. Maybe it was her sleepy methodical way even when she was awake. Maybe it was her quiet unobtrusive personality or her easy happiness. It might even be all of that leaving him to feel like he was back to a normal life where he could be close to others instead of constantly kept apart through a steel armor cage. He had control back in his life, even in small things like in choosing who to follow or what he might like for a snack.

Or bigger like who he might date. Sure, most of the town already thought he was dating Clorica, but he could decide not to. Sven knew that he wouldn't end up choosing that. It wouldn't be because they thought he was, but because he wanted to be close to her.

He went into the flower shop when he was in the area only to get grabbed in under a minute. “Excellent timing, I can use another pair of hands,” Illuminata said, taking no heed to discomfort she was causing him. “I need to get the arrangements to the castle but there's four baskets and Amber's with Leon as family today. Take a couple, would you?”

“Sure, I'll help,” Sven said, in part to get her to let him go.

Which she did. “Good, they're over here.”

In helping her take them over, apparently he'd also volunteered to help her set them up in front of Ventuswill. Illuminata was very particular about making sure the curve of the vase line-up was even and smooth. Sven thought that the couple would be paying more attention to each other than to if the flower vases around them were perfect in form. Then again, he knew dwarves had pride in making sure even the most mundane items were made with their best skill. Perhaps the same thing counted for elves, or at least this one.

Back in the shop, Illuminata started closing up her shop for the rest of the day. That would mean he wouldn't get a chance later. “Could I buy a flower while I'm here?” he asked.

“Sure thing,” she said, watching what she was writing. “One thing first, though, do you mean to give it to Clorica today?”

“How did you know that?” he asked, a little scared of how she seemed to read his mind.

She grinned before looking up at him. “Things like that don't slip my notice, dear sir. Nice occasion to ask someone out. However! No roses!”

“No roses?” That seemed like a peculiar thing to deny, especially with roses being a romantic standard.

But that turned out to be why. “Nope. If you meant to give her a flower tomorrow, then I'd sell you a rose. But if today, no rose. No matter how you may feel, it's bad luck to give a rose as a sign of love on the day of the wedding if you're not part of the couple to be wed. A rose is the sign of love among flowers and a wedding day should be about the new couple. Trying to steal attention from them can only mean bad karma, so make your confession quiet and out of sight until tomorrow. I wouldn't even push it with other romantic flowers like lilies or pink cats.”

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense,” he said. But there should still be something he could give her that wouldn't invite bad luck. “Do you have any lavender?”

“Yeah, although I don't think she needs to be further relaxed than she normally is,” Illuminata said, going over to the display baskets. “It'd be a safe choice for today.”

“Maybe a more wakeful relaxed,” Sven said.

On buying the flower, he tucked it into the pocket of his armored coat. It had a paper cover, although he hoped it wouldn't get crushed in there. Clorica was busy with preparations, so he kept to his patrols with Forte. When the time for the ceremony came, they took a position by the south gate. If monsters were to be a disruption, they'd most likely come from there and this place gave them a good view over the whole plaza. The ceremony went off without disruption. For the celebration after, he and Forte took turns standing guard by the gate so they each had some time to mingle with everyone else.

He had to wait until a time came when he wasn't on guard and Clorica had gone into the parlor alone. “Are you holding up okay?” he asked as he came in.

“Hmm?” She looked at him, more worn than even after the training session with Forte. “Oh, hi Sven. I'll be okay. Just need a little while to rest now when there's not much to do. Once people start heading to the restaurant for dinner, we've got to quickly bring everything in so we have time to join them.”

“I remember that,” he said, sitting down near her. “I have to swap guard with Forte often today, but she seems relieved to be doing so.”

Clorica gave her pretty little smile she had when she heard something good about one of her friends. “I'm sure she is. She's had to do this alone as long as I've known her, so it must be a great thing to her to have a chance to enjoy the event too.”

“She's a great mentor, so I'm glad to help out,” he said, then felt a little worried about saying so. “Um, but don't tell her I think of her that way. I wanted to call her that because she was training me about being a knight of Selphia, but she didn't like being thought of as my teacher. That's why I've been sticking to just calling her sir on the job, since she's my superior.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” she said. “I was wondering why since I didn't think you called women sir. Even in my job, we address a female master as lady.”

He shrugged. “That's how it is around knights.”

“Oh, I should tell you, we're going to have one last meeting tomorrow.” She chuckled. “But it won't be for work or a lesson, because we'll have a picnic lunch.”

“That sounds great,” Sven said. “Although a little sad that it'll be the crew's last meeting.”

Clorica nodded. “Right. We'll still all be friends, though, so we can meet up when we have time. Won't be the same.” She put a hand to her mouth, then smiled and patted his arm. “Oh, but you know my favorite part of this? But you can't tell the others. It's a secret.”

She trusted him enough to tell him a secret. He smiled. “Sure, I won't say anything about it.”

Leaning over, she said, “I got to be in charge. It was a lot of work because I had to plan everything and work around the different schedules of the crew and our teachers. But, I never get to be in charge of anything. I know it's not very proper when I'm training to be a servant, but I still like that at least once, I could be the leader and make the decisions in a group. Even better, nobody complained about it and the only time I didn't make a big decision was when you went after that monster in Obsidian Mansion. Still, that was okay. You saw the danger and acted to remove it, even freed some souls in doing so. I wouldn't have been able to make a change that quickly.”

“I'm glad you could do that,” Sven said, remembering the spark of happiness when he finally got control of the Executioner and could ask for it to be taken apart. It must be like what she had now. “We did have a great group for it and everyone was really into it.” Though saying it made him laugh a little. “Well, Doug did tell me that he went along with it at first because he wouldn't deny getting to hang out with three girls, but he enjoyed it more than that. Just don't say I said so.”

Clorica laughed too. “I thought that might be, but I'm glad he had more reasons to have fun with it. What did you like about it?”

His face got warm, but this was a good chance. “Well, um, that I got to hang out with you.” He took the sprig of lavender out of his pocket and gave it to her. “I mean, I liked you before the crew, but then I got to see a lot more about you in these days, and now, um, I love you. I'm usually calm around you because of who you are and I have a little more confidence for that. I hope I can make you feel the same way about me.”

While she took the lavender from him, Clorica didn't say anything for nearly a minute, looking back and forth between him and the flower. Then she smiled. “Sorry, I'm not sure what to say, but, that makes me happy. You... you're more patient with me than other people. Even just now, when I have to think about what to say and even then not be sure.” She rubbed the side of her head and looked at him.

“I know how that feels, after not being able to talk to others for years,” he said.

“We can still talk, even if we're both slow about it. That actually makes it easier.” Clorica touched the flower. “It's so pretty, I know just what vase in my room to put it in. Thank you. And, I do feel safer with you around. You've already protected me two times. I just hope you don't end up badly hurt because of me again.”

“It's the risk of my blessing price, I don't mind,” Sven said. “So, would you go out with me?”

She took his head. “Yes, it'd be great. I've already been thinking about how I love you, but wasn't sure what to say. So, I love you too.”

* * *

 

Spring 89

They didn't have long for their picnic, unfortunately. Doug and Amber both had to get back to their stores at a reasonable time, while Xiao had a lot of work to do in organizing the inn better. Sven had to get back to training with Forte and Clorica had her own training with Volkanon after lunch. So she didn't ask them to do much, just relax and talk over a light meal.

“You sure you can't come to the capitol with the rest of us, Clori?” Amber asked, disappointed to hear that she'd be spending a full day working tomorrow when the other girls had decided on shopping for summer clothes. “It won't be as fun.”

“Sorry, but I can't,” Clorica said. “Vishnal has been working really hard in my place the past two weeks, so he deserves a couple days off.” And the afternoon today, once she got back from this.

“If we find some cute earrings like you like, I'll see if I can buy them for you since you can't come,” Xiao said.

She smiled, happy for the offer. “Aw, you don't have to. But it would be nice.”

“Do you girls have to all go off that far to buy some clothes?” Doug said. “We get a nice selection in the market here now.”

“It's special to shop with friends, so yes,” Clorica said.

Xiao laughed on thinking of something. “Yes, that is so. But more importantly, we have big things to do on this trip. We plan to open up Dolce to the idea of wearing more modern clothes instead of the same style of dress every day, so that will take much explaining. Though we may have more trouble keeping Amber here well behaved and even more educated.”

“I want flowery dresses, but they can't weigh too much,” Amber said. “It makes flying harder.”

“Oh yeah, if you're trying to handle those two, more people would be better,” Doug said.

“Though we still have to convince Wendy to come,” Amber said. “She didn't seem sure about it.”

“You should see what she's worried about, that could help,” Clorica said.

“Well we have me, Meg, Frey, and Forte coming to help Amber and Dolce,” Xiao said. “We hope this shall work out.”

That made Clorica want to laugh. “Maybe not so much Forte. But you might try to get her to buy something cute too. I think she'd really like it if she'd let herself.”

“Yes, yes, that would be a hard task too,” Xiao agreed.

“If it's worth it, we should try!” Amber said, bouncing to her feet. “We will make everybody cute!”

Sven laughed along with the rest of them. He wasn't saying much, but it was easy to see that he enjoyed being with all of them. “Will it be harder to convince Dolce or Forte to change their styles?”

Clorica frowned at the thought. “Hmm, that's a tough one.”

“They're both so ingrained in their ways,” Doug said. “Though it'll be interesting if they do decide to change things up.”

Putting her hands on her knees, Xiao said, “It would be nice to see, yes? So we should try. But, the only times I have ever seen Forte out of armor was at a funeral and that one day she had the strange perfume on. Oh, and Meg's pajama parties, but even then she always brings her sword. Yet she has you now Sven to take some days so she can wear something cuter on a day off. On the other side, there is Dolce who is still working against the stricter expectations of her old time that limited what a girl could wear and remain respectable. It would be uncomfortable for her just as much as Forte. Yet I think once she starts dressing differently, she may find it easier to adjust the ways she thinks to fit in better into this time.”

“Right, it's all restraints in their minds,” Clorica said. “That's hard to change.”

“I agree that once they start, it should become easier,” Sven said. “Even with something as simple as how they dress. I mean, how you dress can affect your behavior, at least I think so. And it'll affect how people think about you, which will then affect how you think about yourself. I've been asked several times if Leon's really the town librarian because he doesn't dress like people expect a librarian to dress.”

Doug's eyes widened. “Oh man, can you imagine that? If Leon actually dressed like people expect a librarian to be dressed. I wouldn't recognize him at all.”

“No, neither would I,” Xiao said, trying to imagine it.

Clorica had a hard time seeing it in her mind because it didn't fit Leon. “He looks strange enough with a shirt. To look like a librarian, he'd have to be in more muted earthy tones, with a prim and proper fashion. Even restrained when he is not restrained by much. Maybe with some reading glasses on.”

“Leon wouldn't be himself like that,” Amber said, twirling around slowly while talking. “But Dolce and Forte could be themselves and change their fashions too. We just gotta convince them. Maybe I will say that I won't talk about nudity all day if they try on and buy something different.”

“That could actually work,” Clorica said, brightening at the idea.

“Kind of scary that you have to threaten them with that kind of talk to get them to change,” Doug said.

“I'd hoped that we could get through this club without mention of nudity, yes?” Xiao said, putting her hands on her face.

Clorica chuckled. “It'll be worth it if they agree to that, yes?”

“That may be,” Xiao agreed, putting her hands down.

“Sorry,” Amber said, stopping to face her. “I know I say the strangest things when I get excited about an idea, no matter how out of place it is or what I've learned in manners. But I will try tomorrow! Gotta try!” Then she went back to twirling.

“At least you're excited for the trip, it seems that is good enough,” Xiao said.

“Whee, yes!”

“Be sure to tell me how it goes later on,” Clorica said.

As the hour approached, Doug and Amber had to leave to open the stores again. As they were going, Xiao got up too. “Sorry I cannot help with the cleaning from the picnic, but I really should get back to the inn too,” she said, bowing her head apologetically. “Have to make sure Momma hasn't gotten confused already. Bye!” Then she took off and ran, leaving the two of them alone.

“I'll help you clean up,” Sven said, getting up off the blanket they'd spread. “I don't think it'll matter if I'm a little late.”

“We should do it quickly because it would matter for me,” Clorica said, moving items off the blanket to put in the basket. Everything was made so that it fit into the basket snugly for easy carrying. “That was fun. We should plan another picnic later in the summer, when I get past this part of training.”

“Um, you mean all five of us or just the two of us?” Sven asked.

She smiled broadly at the idea of a picnic of just the two of them. “We can always plan for both. Hee, thanks for the idea, I'll be looking forward to it.”

“I just took the idea from you,” he said, smiling back. “It'll be a good day.”

Since every item had its own place, it only took a couple of minutes to put them all back. Clorica picked up the basket to make sure none of it would slip out. “Okay, thanks for that. I'll see you later.”

“Oh wait, could you give me a few seconds?” Sven asked. Then he hugged her. “You keep going like you have been. I know you can get it all together.”

Feeling like she could float off in happiness, she put her arm around him, just for a little bit. “Thanks, we both will.”


	62. Intermission - Swimsuits

Spring 90

Amber flew up above the rooftops in order to search around. The girls were all meeting up in the town plaza before heading out on their trip to the capitol. Off in the west part of town, Dolce was talking to Leon and Dylas. Great, just what she hoped for! Amber passed over the plaza, lowering her flight path so that she got partly hidden by the rooftops. Leon was in a spot where he might be able to see her if he glanced up, so she quickly flew out of his sight. Once she had a good position, she dived at him for a hug from behind. “Leon, gotcha!”

Leon swore, making her laugh and the other two smile. “Okay, I should be fully awake now,” Leon said, his tail tensing. “Though I wish I had the air sense to know when you were coming.”

“But I need the air sense to fly better,” she said, still clinging to him. “You can't have it from me!”

“Are you ready to go?” Dolce asked.

Amber nodded. “Yeah, most of the other girls are in the plaza now. But I had something I wanted to tell you guys. I think I solved a perfect crime that Lumie couldn't figure out!”

“She sees crimes where there aren't any,” Dylas said, annoyed just at mention of her.

“That might be what happened here,” Amber said thoughtfully. “And that's what makes it so perfect and hard to figure out.”

“Well get off my back and tell us,” Leon said, shifting his shoulders to try making her slide off.

“Okay.” She dropped down and darted to his side. “During the fishing contest, Volkanon was looking for the medals when he found that the contents of an entire storage room in the castle basement were all gone! Lumie got called over to investigate, so I helped out by looking all over. There wasn't much for clues, but when I talked to Ven, she wasn't all that worried even though there was lots of stuff in that room. She said it was offerings people had given her that she couldn't ever use, so it didn't matter all that much to her if they were here or gone. The twins didn't know anything even though they lived there; neither did any of the butlers.”

“That’s quite a crime, to get a room full of stuff stolen without any of the residents noticing suspicious activity,” Leon said, rubbing his chin. Maybe he was thinking through it too.

But Amber had what she hoped was the answer. “Yeah, but then I noticed some other stuff around town. Like Lin Fa has a really pretty new fan, except it's actually old and the kind of thing that might be given as an offering if you made fans a lot. She said that Wendy gave it to her in exchange for her room, and Wendy's had other interesting things she's been trading. But she doesn't fit in her body quite right, you know. She's like a doll friend to someone more powerful and I always thought she had really familiar eyes, so I think that Wendy's a part of Ven and she's the one who took all the stuff. Except that since Wendy is Ven's doll, all the stuff she took is actually hers and she finally found a use for it.”

“So you figured out who she really is too,” Dolce said with a smile.

“Wait, you knew?” Leon asked, surprised. “I figured it out when she gave me some oddly appropriate advice when she shouldn't have known me that well. That was before she was speaking.”

“I found that she was a doll just before we found her voice in the mansion,” Dolce said. “We caught her with her attention away from the doll so it was showing no signs of life. Although I wasn't sure what entity was behind her until I saw her use magic, then I just didn't say anything until it was just the two of us. Although, it wasn't really her voice we got back, since she actually got her voice when your hell gate broke.”

“It took you that long to figure out?” Dylas asked. “I recognized her eyes and the air about her when I first saw her.”

“Aw, why didn't you tell me?” Amber asked, pouting. She'd been so proud of figuring it out too.

“Her air?” Dolce asked.

Dylas scratched his head. “Well, you know... actually, it was probably her runes and chi I recognized. Lest knows too, he saw the same thing as me. But she's having so much fun with her doll that I don't want to ruin it for her.”

Leon then patted Amber's head. “Well you had the most creative reasoning, so well done.”

Smiling again, she grabbed his arm. “Yay! Although I haven't told Lumie yet. I was gonna ask Ven what she was doing with Wendy and all those offerings.”

“If it's her stuff, then there was no crime and she's free to do what she wants with them,” Dolce said. “Though it does explain why Wendy doesn't want to come to the capitol with us. Venti must be worried about casting her attention out that far and leaving her as a lifeless doll.”

“Couldn’t she just sleep with Venti and go out with Wendy that way?” Dylas asked. “A human doll like that can't take as many runes to keep going as a dragon, so she might be fine for a few hours.”

“She has gone out of Selphia for a few weeks before she really got ill before,” Leon said, rubbing his chin. “And the rune springs are back in place, so she might be able to go with you as Wendy. If she has trouble, then Amber can teach her that wind teleporting spell she has. Ven should be capable of returning Wendy with that.”

“Whee, let's go convince Wendy to come too!” Amber said, letting go of Leon. “I'll go find her!” She then darted into the air to look around. As she wasn't far, it didn't take long before she could come back down to the others. “Hey, she's walking this way down that street! We can meet up with her quick.”

“You go bring her over here,” Dolce said.

“Okay!” Amber flew over to the crossing where Wendy was walking from the inn. “Weeeeeendy! We want to talk to you!”

“I know, I know,” she said, hurrying over to meet with her.

“Good, this way!” She went back over to the others. “She’s coming now.”

“Keep buzzing around like this and you'll be all pooped out mid-afternoon,” Leon said.

“No, I've got lots of energy!” And she was bringing along some honey in case she did start wearing down.

Wendy finally came up to them. “I don't think you realize just how fast you move with those wings,” she said, sounding a little tired.

“I haven't been measured, but I bet it's a fast number,” Amber agreed.

“Venti, we've all figured you out now,” Dolce said.

“I know I heard it on the wind,” she said with a smile. “But let's keep that between us, it's more fun that way.”

“Okay, but then you're coming with us today!” Amber said, giving Wendy a hug.

“But I really don't know how far,” she started to say.

“No buts!” Amber interrupted.

“Right, if you were listening to us, then you already heard the theory,” Leon said. “Have your dragon self sleep and take your less rune-intense human self out to hang out with the other girls. If there's trouble keeping the act up, use Amber's spell to get Wendy back.”

“Well,” Wendy said. Ven wasn't fully that would work.

“We know you want to try it,” Dylas said. “So go do it.”

Leon nodded. “Yeah, the two of us will go talk to Lest since he knows too. We'll figure some way to keep people from bugging you on this end.”

Wendy smiled. “Well fine, if you're going to be that way. Though Dylas, I trust you to keep Leon from making this too embarrassing for me.”

“Hey now,” Leon said, acting offended.

“Sure, I'll keep him under control,” Dylas said.

“Thank you Dylas,” Dolce said, smiling at them. “Come on, let's go meet up with the other girls.”

“Yay, this is gonna be great!” Amber said, even more excited to get going now that Ven would be clothes shopping too (as Wendy, but they were the same person).

They got to the plaza where Meg, Forte, Xiao, and Frey were waiting. “Oh hey, are you coming too?” Frey asked Wendy.

“Looks like it,” Wendy said, clapping her hands. “Now it's just Clori we need to convince.”

“Sorry, I have lots of training to do today,” Clorica said while she sweep the plaza to talk near them. “It’s either today or tomorrow I can have a few hours off, so I picked tomorrow to do some swimming too.”

“That's a tough choice, but I think I'd go with that too,” Meg said. “Keep cool, all right? It's supposed to get hot later on today.”

“I'll be fine,” Clorica said, then looked over at Amber. “Then, are you doing that thing today?”

“Yes!” Amber said, throwing her hands up and twirling around. “If they agree to it.”

“If who agrees to what?” Frey asked while Xiao tried to hide some giggles.

“I can't say it or it, um, invalidates it,” Amber said, having to think about the right word.

Clorica nodded. “That’s right. She's said that she promises to not talk about nudity today as long as Dolce and Forte both wear something modern and cute in exchange.”

“What?” Dolce asked, her eyes wide.

“Ar-are you serious about that?” Forte asked, tensing up.

“Yup, that's what I'm gonna do,” Amber said. “I mean, not do. If you both end up looking cute, it's worth it.”

“We have to agree to this,” Pico said, grinning in excitement. “It’ll be easy and fun!”

“Aw come on, you two can do this,” Wendy said, taking Dolce by the arm.

“Yeah, and in exchange she won't be as embarrassing to you two,” Frey said, although she never seemed bothered by that kind of talk.

“Well,” Forte said, unsure of what to say.

“I feel so sorry for you girls, stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Leon said, fanning himself slowly. “Or more accurately, between a nudist and a wardrobe change.”

“Hey, don't make it sound worse than it is,” Meg said.

“Include not talking about underwear in that agreement and we have a deal,” Dolce said.

“Except when we're in the right shop for it because it's going to be kind of hard not to talk about it while trying to get you two fitted,” Frey said.

“Wow, that's thinking ahead!” Amber said. “Okay! That's on my mental no talking about list for today now. So no talking about what's not to be talked about.”

“Fine, then it's a deal,” Dolce said.

“But Forte has to agree too,” Amber said, insisting on it with a foot stamp.

“It would be good practice for her, so go ahead and step out of your comfort zone a little bit too, please,” Xiao said.

“Okay, I'll, um, I'll see what I can do,” Forte said.

“Yay!” Amber said, jumping in place. This was going to be hard not saying anything that popped into mind. But like Xiao said, it was good practice and she needed to better herself too. Get it together!

* * *

 

On the excuse that she was doing something important (socializing was important too), Venti had her normal body sleep and put her self wholly into Wendy. She done so a few times in practice, but it still felt odd to be this small again. And to be in such a different body: no scales or feathers, no wings, no claws. Still, she was human part of the time now, which made getting used to the doll's body worth it.

It was even more worth it to find that she could travel all the way to the Norad capitol on airship and spend the day with her friends. Not just Dolce and Amber, but all of the girls on this trip. Through Wendy, they were all her friends. That made Venti happier than she thought she'd ever be and eager to make this day fun. There was a lot of fun she had missed out on even in living so long; she wanted to enjoy these days.

There was a lot of fun to be had. Watching Amber for one as she was trying her best to think things through before saying them, to make sure she didn't break her end of the deal. “Being civilized is tough,” Amber told her when they had stopped to buy some snacks in the middle of the day. “Don’t you think so?”

“I got to watch civilized people for a long time, so I know what to do,” Wendy said, since Forte and Xiao had learned what Frey and Meg thought, that she was an unidentified entity controlling a human doll. “Though sometimes I get impulses that I know I shouldn't talk about because they're not human.”

“You shouldn't have to restrain yourself from expressing who you really are,” Frey said. “Although there are some things that are best kept to yourself to be civilized.”

“Well I can be who I am in a civilized way, as can anybody,” Wendy said. Like she wouldn't joke about eating people through Wendy even if she might do so with her good friends as Venti. “I’m sure you can do that too Amber.”

“I can always go spend some time in the forest if it gets too tough,” Amber said.

There were several goals they had for today: finding new pieces for summer wardrobes, buying swimsuits for those who didn't have any (Wendy even got one, that was going to be fun), updating Amber and Dolce's undergarments. The last one had been a great time. After explaining that the two girls had either outdated or nonexistent ideas on fashion, the staff had graciously helped them explain and find things that made each of them feel comfortable switching to in everyday wear. The conversations had been the best part. When they were done, the staff even recommended what they thought was the permanent shop with the cutest clothes to try out.

There, it was time for Dolce and Forte to hold up their end of the deal. But it was a great shop that the rest of them loved looking through for things to try or buy. Venti even found a fun dress that was white with all colors and sizes of polka dots. When she hadn't been sure, Dolce mentioned that it did seem like the kind of thing an artist would wear. So she had to try it on when the girls all met up to show off various finds to each other.

“There’s so many bright and pastel things in this store,” Dolce said, rubbing her now exposed arm uncertainly. She'd found a dusky orange dress with straps instead of sleeves; a pattern of tan wheat stalks was on the skirt which did drop below her knees. But it fit the criteria she'd been given within what this store had to offer.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Amber said, wearing a sky blue dress she'd found that had white butterfly silhouettes. It suited her well.

“Well we did ask for a cute store,” Frey said, having also picked out a polka dot dress, except hers had a pastel green background and an even pattern of dots. “It is lighter, isn't it? Nice for the summer heat.”

“There would be less risk of fainting in this,” Dolce admitted. “That’s better, I guess. Seems simple enough if I could find some more suitable fabric and decorations.”

“But that looks great on you too,” Meg said. She looked a lot different from normal as well, mostly because the outfit she was trying on was less busy than her usual attire. That was with her choice being a button adorned blue overall skirt over a frilled white shirt. All of her usual flowery ribbons were stuffed a pocket in her bag. “Forte even managed to be cute and feminine today.”

“I had to try as I agreed to this arrangement,” Forte said, feeling more comfortable with it than she'd admit to openly. She'd found one of the few darker pieces in the store like Dolce, hers being a dark green dress with puff sleeves and a patch of a Pomme Pomme on the front of it. More of the little apple monsters were in a print on the skirt. “I just hope this doesn't appear too childish.”

“No, I do not think it is too young on you,” Xiao said. “My mom would wear things like that on occasion, yes? She has that sweater with the snow monsters on it that she loves.” She had a long skirt and shirt that were part of a set, both with a theme of yellow roses.

“We should get these and wear them back to Selphia, surprise people with how different some of us are,” Wendy suggested. Venti thought that would be fun to listen to gossip about.

“This could take some time to get used to,” Dolce said.

“Might as well get started then,” Frey said. “It really is good, you look great.”

“Oh, I found a dress that Clori would love,” Amber said. “It’s got apples and she loves apples. But I don't have enough in my funds today to get this dress and that one.”

“We might be able to all pitch a little in to get it for her because she couldn't come,” Meg suggested. “What do you girls say?”

“I can tell measurements in a glance and adjust the dress if needed,” Dolce offered. She had told Venti before that it was part of her earthmate powers related to her price, like she could accurately imagine using a tape measure on someone without bringing one out.

With that, they all agreed to put a little in for a dress for Clorica too.

* * *

 

Summer 1

While Dragon Lake was open for swimming at any time of the year, summer was the season for swimming and it was an unofficial holiday on the first of summer to go out and swim. Lest thought that was a nice tradition, but better kept among the locals so there was a special day that wouldn't be terribly crowded. He went to the lake in the afternoon as well, spending time with his neighbors, talking casually, and swimming at a time when there weren't any fishers to watch out for.

He ended up on the eastern bank of the lake near the town wall with Leon and Dylas for a short while. “We’ve got a good vantage point here,” Leon said. He still had his priestly fan with him, with part of the rope on his swimming trunks made to hold onto it.

“Water’s deeper over here, so there's different fish right here from the area over there with the fallen tree,” Dylas said.

“I don't mean that,” Leon said, shaking his head. “I mean we've got a good viewing spot to see all the cuties in town wearing swimsuits.”

Lest laughed while Dylas frowned. “That’s not very noble of you, especially not priestly.”

“Well sorry,” he said without being sorry, “but I happen to be a man too.”

“A married man,” Lest reminded him.

“That just means that my wife is the prettiest one over there and since that's an opinion, there's no good argument you can give me against it,” he said, turning his nose up haughtily.

“And what if she finds out you were eyeing everybody over here?” Dylas asked.

“What if the town found out that you were?” Leon retorted.

“But I wasn't!” Dylas said defensively.

“Well you can't really avoid seeing what others look like when just about everybody is in a swimsuit today,” Lest said. “Even those you'd rather not be seeing that much of.”

“Yeah, have to take the bad with the good,” Leon said. “Which ones do you think are cute over there?'

“We should probably talk about something else,” Dylas said, still not sure it was right.

Leon pouted at him. “Aw, come on. I only ever got to talk like this with an uncle of mine and he had rather predictable tastes. It'd stay between us. Besides, there's got to be somebody over there you've got some interest in.”

“Some of them are already dating someone else,” Lest said. “And some are very nearly dating. If there is somebody you like, you probably should do something about it soon.”

“Yeah, this guy has made the dating game hot for this summer,” Leon said, poking at Lest.

“I’d rather not think of it as a competition,” Dylas said.

Being prodded like this was making Dylas uncomfortable, so Lest decided to humor Leon. “Well we're living in a town full of cute or pretty people, so it would be hard to pick any one of them.”

Leon chuckled. “I have noticed that. Gets even better on days like today.”

“I think a lot of them are nice looking no matter how they're dressed,” Lest said. And before Leon could tease him on it, he poked him back and added, “Though you probably think that because more people are partly dressed like you are most days. You're more covered than some of the others today.”

That made him laugh, nearly got Dylas to laugh too. “Can’t deny that,” Leon said with a toothy grin. “Though I could address that if you want a better view.”

“What did Frey say about that?” Lest asked, guessing at it.

His ears flicked at the question. “Darn, you're going to deny me too?”

“You really want me to talk about Amber or Dolce?” Lest asked teasingly. “Margaret's looking really nice today. Though it's surprising seeing her dress in a less complicated fashion. It was the same way yesterday.”

“Maybe she hasn't found the right pieces to over-accessorize with yet,” Leon said.

“Could be,” Dylas said.

“So you think she's cute or not?” Leon asked, looking to his brother.

“I, I don't know if cute's the right word,” Dylas said, embarrassed but having decided to join them anyhow.

“You’ve got a point,” Leon agreed. “Cute's a better word for smaller or younger looking girls, like Xiao. Frey sometimes, in the right outfit.”

“Right, Margaret's pretty because she looks more womanly,” Lest said. “Xiao is cute, although I think she could be called pretty too, in a boyish fashion with her hair like that. If she grew it out, she'd be lovely, I'm sure. You could call Clorica cute too, even if she doesn't look so young. And I'd even call Forte cute at times because she tries to hide her girlier traits and ends up calling attention to them. Like at that lunch we all had at her house, she was trying so hard to hide that she was sticking around for the cake.”

“Try calling her cute to her face, it's hilarious,” Leon said, smiling at the thought. “Or even better, get her and Arthur in the same room and bring up something cute, like a wooly. Arthur will fawn over it without hesitation and then Forte will be trying not to join in when she really wants to.”

“It is cute seeing them like that, but Arthur looks too much like me for me to really think of him as attractive,” Lest said. “Seriously, Jones has seen Arthur last year, but when I showed up dressed like a girl, he still mistook me for him. Have one of us dye our hair and we'd look more like we should be twins than Frey and I do.”

“That is a weird coincidence, especially with you two sharing names,” Leon said.

“Why is that your reason for not seeing him as attractive?” Dylas asked, looking at him warily. “Rather than just because he's a guy?”

“Because that's why,” Lest said. “Has nothing to do with him being a guy.”

“Is that a perverted thing to be thinking?” Dylas asked.

“Nah, that's just the way he rolls, a bit different from us,” Leon said.

Lest nodded. “Yeah. Besides, my dad considers herself a woman and my mom fell in love with her like that. Then the next town over had several same sex couples living there, so I grew up knowing several people like that. None of them are people that you'd think of as perverted.”

“Though now you've got me curious,” Leon said, turning mock serious. “What do you think of the other guys today?”

He smiled. “Vishnal’s adorable. Of course, he's like that every day; it's hard not to smile when he does. He might be tall, but he still comes across like that. Kiel doesn't look so great in a swimsuit, but he is very cute in his normal attire. Maybe if he had a tan and some more muscle tone, he'd be good like this. Then again, that'd cut into what makes him cute.”

“You don't think he'd make for a handsome intellectual like me with some muscle?” Leon asked.

“You’re pretty,” Lest said to tease him.

“Hey, that's uncalled for,” Leon said, although his ears betrayed his amusement.

“It’s the hair,” Lest said, grabbing a bit of it. “Your hair's really pretty, but you still have a definite masculine frame that would be trouble trying to get you into crossdressing like me. Besides, you're already taken and are most dazzling around Frey.”

“That’s what the poetry says,” Leon said, satisfied with that.

“No, that's what the runes are like,” Lest said, then he nudged Dylas out of pretending to ignore the conversation. “Isn’t that right? You look at Leon and Frey in close proximity now and the runes are positively sparkling with energy around them. Or see, over there where Nancy, Jones, and Alice are. You could lose sight of them for all the rune activity.”

“Um, yeah, that is a beautiful thing,” Dylas agreed. “Especially now; it used to just be a vague glow around married couples. Or those who are really close to being married. Sven and Clorica are getting there.”

Lest nodded. “Yeah, I've seen that too. I wouldn't be surprised to see them marry sometime in the summer.”

“Huh, so you could see who's hooking up with runes?” Leon said, tapping his fan on his cheek.

“Runes and chi, and you have to be really sensitive to both,” Lest said. “That’s why I didn't give you as hard a time as I could have; you and Frey were sparkling early on.”

“Anybody else sparkling around here?” This was honest curiosity, stronger than asking about what he thought about the other guys.

“Not quite as strong as you two or even Sven and Clorica yet,” he said. “Though there's two couples that are starting to get that way. Maybe even three, but all three of those are at a stage where there's still a strong chance at a break-up. Seems like the oracle messages I gave are making them develop quickly. I just hope they all stay secure, that's a risk of acting fast.”

“Seems like you'd need to act fast anyhow or people are going to get taken,” Leon said. “Though you didn't say what you think of Doug.”

Lest grinned. “He’s kind of like Vishnal, actually. He's got a handsome face, especially with that red hair, so I'd call him handsome even though he's short.”

“You’re both weird for talking like this,” Dylas said, then decided to go off and swim away from them.

That just made Leon smirk. “Is it just me or does he get a little too agitated at mention of Doug?”

“You might have the right eye for things but still have to accept it,” Lest said.

“True,” Leon said, then poked him. “So what do you think of Dylas?”

“He's handsome but gets so cute when he's embarrassed,” he replied.

“He’s got long hair too, so doesn't that put him into pretty for you?” Leon asked.

“It’s the way he dresses, that's the difference. Though the shape of the hair helps. Why are you so interested?”

He shrugged. “Just curious about a different point of view, pretty much.”


	63. Eternal Rivals

Summer 2

“Man, I don't know what to do about Amber,” Doug said, putting his arms on the table now that he was done with his snack.

He and Sven were at the restaurant, at a smaller table across from the piano. Lately, Doug had been worried about his cousin's schedule. He took naps instead of one long sleep and ate irregularly. On running into him, he offered to pay for the visit mostly to make sure Sven had a good meal even if it was mid-afternoon. Sven was still working on his meal. “Did you argue with her or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” Doug said, shaking his head. “It’s more like I don't have a clue what she thinks we are.”

He thought that over, so Doug gave him a few moments. “What do you think you two are?”

“I don't know that either,” he said, frowning. “I know people are talking like we're dating, but I don't think that's quite it. She seems to think we're in a constant hugging war although that's all on her. Some days she gets clingy and other days she hardly seems to see me when we pass on the street. Then there's what happened yesterday.” That was embarrassing just to think about.

“What happened?” Sven asked.

If it was anybody else, even Granny, he wouldn't have said it. Since it was his cousin, he lowered his voice and leaned over the table. “Well don't mention it to anybody, but, we overheard Jones and Nancy being really lovey-dovey in their conversation and she asked me why they were calling each other odd names. I told her that a lot of people give nicknames to people they like. Although I probably should have specified that was a couple's thing because she then gave me a really embarrassing nickname and it took me the better part of an hour to convince her not to use it openly.”

He smiled at that, but he knew he could trust him to keep quiet. “That is a worrisome sign.”

“Then she confused it further with what she was saying, that she liked me and would pick me first to dance with again,” he said. “She didn't seem to know what I meant when I told her that was like we were going out when we weren't. She did say that she loved me, but also that she loved everybody in town and wanted everyone to be loving friends with each other. How am I supposed to react to that? I can't tell if she sees me as someone special or not.”

“She did say she'd dance with you first,” Sven pointed out. “Although, she was raised by fairies, giving her different ideas on just about everything. I've seen that trying to instruct her on what we see as normal is a pain. What is she to you? Worth that effort?”

“I’ve been trying to decide before she drags me into it unwittingly,” Doug said. He could tell that if he did nothing, the rumors and mishaps would only tie him to her tighter. “And she wouldn't realize it, I'm sure. She's exhausting to keep up with; I don't know where she gets all that energy. She's also got no sense of personal space, maybe not even personal awareness given how many times I have to tell her not to hug me from the front. If we did get into a closer relationship, I'd also have to explain to her what it means to be dating someone and how that's different from being friends with everyone else. I'll be setting myself up for a big headache if I don't.”

“Or heartbreak if she doesn't realize the difference,” Sven said.

He nodded. “Right. Is she worth that? I'm... not sure. She is fun to be around, although maybe not constantly. And it's next to impossible to be bored around her, since she always seems to be doing or saying something off the wall. She's pretty too, I just don't need that up close and personal of a view of her.” Sven chuckled at that, so Doug smiled. “Then there's how happy she is every day. It should be annoying, but I do really like that about her. I could be having a bad day, but then feel like nothing could go wrong when she comes around laughing and singing. Of course, that often leads to her dragging me off to do something, but I don't mind that most of the time.”

“That sounds like you're falling in love,” he said, then pointed behind. “Careful.”

“Hmm?” Doug glanced over and saw that Dylas was walking around the tables in his job as a waiter. This was normally an off-time he would think, but there were several visitors and townspeople in now. “Oh, right. Thanks.”

“No problem. Say, um,” he paused in eating, then said, “I’ve been thinking about the open offer I have on getting a house of my own when I'm knighted. Frankly, I've been staying with you and Granny because being on my own scared me. But I worry about waking you two when I can't sleep through the night. The town's more familiar now, and, well, I was also thinking about Clorica and I,” his face started turning pink.

Doug smiled. “Ah ha, yeah, having Granny, me, and two newlyweds in a house together might be too much.”

“Well it's nothing certain,” Sven said, giving him a hand signal to keep this quiet. “Though it's on my mind. I feel like you were saying, like things will be okay if she's with me. She calmed me out of another panic attack this morning. Although it does make me worry what I'd be like if she got in trouble again. My defender shift keeps me from panicking, you've seen that, but my memories of those times are like a whole different person.”

“You are really different like that,” Doug agreed. “Though lately you show signs of that other person in your normal behavior. Maybe you'll develop that way in time.”

“It’s kind of not human in how it seals my fear,” Sven said, then stopped because Dylas came by their table.

“Need anything?” Dylas asked politely, looking more at Sven than Doug.

“No, I'm fine for now,” Sven said.

Thinking that he should be nice to Dylas for Amber's sake, Doug smiled. “Me neither. But you're lucky in getting a chill job like this.”

“What are you talking about?” Dylas asked, now looking at him. It was hard to tell if he was offended by that or didn't know if he should be offended.

“Well it's nice and laid back just doing normal things,” he said. After all, it was mostly work that was like ordinary household chores, like cleaning tables and washing dishes.

“No it's not,” Dylas said. “It gets hectic trying to keep up with the customers and Porco. You're the one with the laid back job hanging out in the store all day.”

“That’s not all there is to it. It's pretty tiring with lots of long days of making sure shelves stay stocked.” And then some days it seemed like everyone bought things from the top shelves where he, as a dwarf, would have to get the stepladder to go replace the items once the customers were out of the store. Working at a general store was harder than he thought it would be at first.

“You don't know long days until you've been working dawn to past dusk on things that never really get done,” Dylas said disdainfully. “You probably don't have the strength to keep up with your work if that's tiring.”

That was going too far. “I am not that weak, it really is that much hard work. You don't have to do all that heavy lifting constantly.”

“Are you kidding me?” he said, starting to raise his voice. “You’re the one with a slacker's job.”

“No way, you have the kind of job a kid starts out with because they don't have the skills for other things,” he said. Especially since Porcoline kept a limited menu.

“Please don't argue in here,” Sven said. He was getting better at not sounding intimidated in doing this. However, it was intimidating in this polite neutral tone. Maybe more than some people could get in being hostile.

“You boys better behave over there,” Porco called from the kitchen. “Or I'll be forced to use that punishment on you both.”

“Fine, I have to get back to working,” Dylas said, putting emphasis on the last word when he went back towards the counter by the kitchen.

Doug frowned at him as he was walking away. “Tch, does he always have to have an attitude problem? Sorry Sven, I'd better get out of here.”

“Walking away is better than continuing a fight, although,” he paused. “Never mind. See you later.”

“See you later, man.” He left the restaurant and went to the store to take care of a few tasks.

Not long afterwards, Lest, Vishnal, and the stone fox with the red scarf came into the general store. Doug greeted them as usual, but it turned out they wanted to talk. “Hey, what's 'that punishment' that Porco was talking about?” Lest asked while his fox sat silently nearby.

“Don't know, don't care,” Doug said, starting to feel annoyed again at the reminder. He'd just about put it out of his mind too. “I’d be more worried of causing Sven problems than Porco causing me problems.”

“I don't know about that,” Vishnal said. “One time I saw someone actually get on Porco's nerves and he called him back into the storage room. When the guy was asked later on what happened, he got embarrassed and said he didn't want to talk about it. So it must be really harsh.”

He shrugged. “Who knows? I'd be surprised just to see him get mad or upset for more than a few seconds. He's like the polar opposite of Dylas, which makes it weird they're working together so well.”

“You’re more opposite to Dylas than Porco is, since they both share a love of fishing and cooking,” Lest said. “Though that doesn't explain why you two argue so much and so loudly.”

“Well I can't help it,” Doug said. “I try to be nice to him like anybody else, but he's got a hair trigger temper and I can't tell what exactly sets him off.”

“A what temper?” Vishnal asked, puzzled.

Doug rubbed his head. “Sorry, it's a saying I picked up in the empire, from their guns and bombs. Some of them get set off on the slightest pressure, like the weight of a hair seemingly. And Dylas is like that sometimes.”

“Oh, I see,” Vishnal said. “I don't know if he's that sensitive, but it's pretty close.”

“Yet you keep talking to him,” Lest said.

“Well I don't think he's that bad of a guy,” Doug said. “Sometimes he's involved in interesting conversations, when he feels like talking and not snapping at people. Or when Amber's around, it's hard to get mad at somebody when she's leading conversations on multiple tangents. Plus she keeps dragging us two together whether we like it or not. But any time I try talking to just him, it never works or he's all like, 'I have nothing to say to you' and trying any further just gets him into throwing insults around. I don't know what he's got against me in particular.”

“He's got his reasons for being defensive, though you two might make good friends if you could keep from arguing so much,” Lest said. “Or if you just turned it into a game.”

“Whatever, it wasn't even so bad today,” Doug said. “How’d you two find out so fast?”

“We were in the restaurant when it happened,” Vishnal said.

Lest smiled. “I think you picked entirely the wrong angle to approach the subject of work from because he's happy with it and relishes the particular challenges of working with Porcoline.”

“I still don't see how that's challenging, since Porco does most of the work in making the food,” Doug said.

At first, it seemed Lest was just being nosy like he tended to be. Doug didn't mind that habit of the prince since the guy did truly know when he was going too far with it. Lest also helped out more often than not, often barely asking to since he'd already know when the help was needed. But this time, he should have realized something was going to happen with the particular things he wanted to talk about.

Blossom brought up the argument over dinner and then told him what Lest meant to do about it. “Porcoline and I have agreed to have you two swap jobs on Wednesday, just for that day,” she said.

“Seriously?” Doug asked. “I was going to do more of the clan record keeping that day.” He had gotten several letters back into his inquiries into who was still around and how to contact them. Only those who had gone further into Norad, though. With the towns shifting between nations often in their history, some had gone further into Sechs and Doug could only find death records through his contact.

“I think this will be an important experience for you too,” Blossom said. “It’d be good for you both to see what other jobs are like. Porco wanted to do this tomorrow, but I think I should be here since he'll have to learn a few things to help out.”

“Besides, you said it sounded easy,” Sven said, not eating a lot at this meal. “Shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?'

Doug shrugged. “I'm pretty sure I won't have a problem, but Dylas is a sourpuss and I don't think he can handle working in the shop around customers well.”

“He does well enough in his work, so I think he'll be fine here for a day,” Blossom said. She sounded convinced that this should happen.

“I guess, but I hope he doesn't cause you trouble,” Doug said, accepting that this was going to happen whether he liked it or not.

* * *

 

Summer 4

Doug was told to show up before 800 hours, meaning he had to take the morning quickly when he usually took it easy on Wednesdays. He did pass by Dylas on the way over to the restaurant, but he didn't bother saying hello since they didn't need to waste time. Once inside, Margaret quickly passed by Doug. “Keep the door shut, we don't want it open today.”

“What for?” Doug asked. It was supposed to be decent weather today, good for keeping windows and doors open.

“We had some bird fly in here yesterday, it made off with some silverware.” Then she grabbed his arm. “Doug, I'm going to be helping out today too since it could be busy and there's that bird to keep an eye out for. Plus there's something you really need to know before we even start.”

“Ah, okay but do you need to invade my personal space to tell me?” Doug asked.

“Oh, sorry, didn't notice,” she said, a little embarrassed as she let him go and let him step away. “But it is important: one of us always needs to be keeping an eye on what Porco's doing during meal times. It's not as important between, but you still don't want to leave him to himself in the kitchen for long.”

“What for?” Doug asked, thinking it was odd that they had to watch the chef. Maybe Porco directed things more than was apparent to a customer.

It wasn't that, but as Margaret said, “Because if we don't, he's going to end up eating the meals before we can get them served to customers. It doesn't matter how much I lecture him. He says he just nibbles to test the food but I've seen him devour an entire plate of food in less than a minute. All you need to do is remind him that it's for the customers and ignore any pouting he does, but some days Dylas and I need to get aggressive with serving.”

While Porco wasn't that obstinate today, Doug did have to repeatedly stop him from polishing off foods before they got served. It was a headache and Porco forget about the admonishment a few minutes later. Then there was the actual work in being a waiter. While taking payments and orders was familiar, Doug then had to remove dirty dishes, clean the tables, and replace the silverware and condiments between every set of customers. He had to keep up with the dishwashing while making sure the customers had drinks or any requests taken care of without having to leave their table. Cleaning spills quickly was something he did often in the store, but not having to rinse off and peel an entire basket full of potatoes. Thankfully, Porco did take a moment to show him a few tricks to make the peeling go faster and safer. It still took the better part of an hour to get that done.

Doug got the potatoes done in the middle of the afternoon when not many customers were in. “Hmm, usually I'd put in a lesson for Dylas around here,” Porco said, then smiled. “Guess that means you're my student today too! So then, the potatoes are partly for one of dinner's sides and partly for tomorrow's plans. You're going to make some fruited rice for the second dinner side option, since it's a handy and colorful recipe to know how to do.”

“Sure, what do I need to do?” Doug asked, used to making simple rice dishes like onigiri or fried rice. The fruited rice was done differently, with the rice and chopped fruits cooked in fruit juice in a skillet rather than a rice cooker. But it was still something that he felt like he could make on his own back home after putting it together once. That was a bright spot of the day, especially since Porco was so flamboyant about the lesson. He even had a song for putting in the different fruits, childish but worth a laugh.

That was nice, including getting some of the leftover fruited rice for free. Otherwise, he felt worn out just like he'd had a long day in the store. There were so many tasks to get done constantly. And some of them really did feel endless, like getting a whole pile of dishes right when he thought he'd cleaned up the last set fully. Then there was getting everything done and keeping an eye on Porcoline... it was impressive that anyone could get this done reasonably. But Dylas kept at it and seemingly enjoyed it all the same.

He ended up crossing paths with Dylas again on the way back in the evening. There wasn't anyone else on this street right now, although Doug had seen a small group going up the observatory. Thinking he might as well get it over with and see if they couldn't start something right, Doug said, “Hey man.”

“Hmm?” Dylas was nibbling on the last portion of a chocolate bar, probably why he didn't give his usual curt reply.

Taking that as a good start, he went on. “Look, I'm sorry about the other day. I said some things that I shouldn't have, I see that now. You've got a lot to handle at once in your job.”

He looked surprised at the apology, like he hadn't seen it coming. “Well, ah, I guess I was at fault too.”

“You guess, that's all?” Doug said, not liking the wishy-washy nature of that. It was hard enough to apologize, he could at least get an equal effort in response.

“Don't cut me off, you...!” Dylas said, then cut himself off from saying something and turned aside. His tail was twitching in anger.

“Come on, I'm trying to be polite and you just get all fired up about things,” Doug said.

“Give me a minute, would you?” Dylas snapped, taking another nibble at the chocolate instead of looking at him.

“What?” Doug asked, staying there. What did he need a full minute for saying? Or thinking about it, since he was just being quiet and staring off at the moat nearby. There didn't even seem to be anything interesting over there. Maybe a fish Doug wasn't seeing. After a while, he felt less angry about this and more awkward in why he was waiting on someone who conflicted with him every time they ran into each other.

“You caught me off-guard and I'm terrible at speaking,” Dylas finally said, not looking at him but calmed down. “Granny noticed how tense I was trying to talk with the first customer who came in and somehow got out of me that chocolate counters my anxiety due to my magic. So she gave me this; otherwise I'd be a complete nervous wreck right now after all the questions people kept asking me just because they assume whoever's working at the general store has full knowledge of what's going on around town and everything being sold. Plus there was some bird harassing people, even stealing stuff they'd just bought. Some got mad at me because of that stupid bird.”

“Knowing the area is almost a requirement,” he agreed. “I heard Arthur complaining about that bird too. But don't you have to talk a lot at the restaurant?”

He shook his head. “Not the same way. It's the same questions and answers there for the most part, routine enough that I don't have trouble. If it's different, Meg or Porco are quick to jump in to answer for me. But what I was trying to say, I'm sorry about the other day too. You really sure just you and Granny can run the store well enough?”

“We've been doing all right, but things have gotten busy the past few weeks,” Doug said. “But I told her at the start that I could handle everything. Maybe an idiotic thing for me to claim, but we manage.”

“Wouldn't it help her to have another worker, especially with Lest trying to get more visitors and residents in? You could ask that artist girl Wendy. Eventually she's going to run out of stuff she wants to trade.” Dylas had turned to him by now and was talking fairly normally.

Thinking that the chocolate really did have a big impact on him, Doug tried to be careful. “I could bring it up to Granny and discuss it. Though it's a matter of if we can afford another worker since we're still on support from the trade network to stay open. I don't know, she'd know better. But I didn't think you were that close to Wendy.”

“It's complicated,” Dylas said, not seeming like he wanted to explain. “Though she's been trying to be friends with everybody.”

“I've noticed that,” Doug agreed. Wendy at least had no trouble talking, so she'd be a better help around the store than Dylas. Not that he was bad, but if it took chocolate to keep his anxiety down, the artist would be better.

“Duckie!” a voice from above cried out, barely warning him in time to brace himself for Amber descending quickly by them.

He knew he must be bright red at facing her. Did she have to call him that in front of someone he usually argued with? “Amber, I thought I told you not to call me that,” he hissed.

Dylas tried not to laugh and ended up snorting. Amber wasn't paying attention to him. “Sorry, but I haven't seen you all day! Where have you been? I was going to invite you out to come find other fairies with me because Frey said she's met some fun ones not far from town and it's been a long time since I've seen them. You'd have fun! But then I couldn't find you no matter how many times I flew over town.”

Looking for fairies? Doug wasn't sure that was a fun idea, although it might be worth it to hang out with Amber. She'd make it fun somehow. “Maybe later. I was at the restaurant because Dylas and I swapped jobs for the day.”

“Really? Neat! I was wondering why Dylas was in the store like that, but he was busy putting stuff on shelves.” Amber finally looked over at Dylas and smiled. “That sounds fun too, like what our club did!”

“You could've asked me,” Dylas said. “But right, that's what we were doing today. Not all that fun, although Granny is nice to work for. She is a sweet old lady.”

“You got that right,” Doug said, glad he agreed. “Though Porco is entertaining to work with as long as you don't mind having to constantly counter his appetite.”

“That can be part of the entertainment, although I've burnt myself a time or two trying to get something out of his reach,” Dylas said.

“Everybody in town is great,” Amber said, beaming. “We should talk about it, but it's getting dark and I don't like being out after dark. I'm going back home, you come out with me later, okay?” She looked back at him.

“I guess, but make sure to ask me if my day's free first,” Doug said with a nod.

“Okay, good night!” She then bolted back into the air without waiting on a good bye or good night from them.

“Sheesh, she can't sit still even when it's the end of the day,” Doug said.

“Guess it's all the honey,” Dylas said, then had that scary smile of his on. “Duckie?”

“Don’t let anybody else hear that!” Doug said, clenching his fists and trying to restrain himself from punching him. While he had a strong impulse to, they were almost being civil tonight. “I thought I'd convinced her not to use it.”

“All right, but are you two dating or something? Going off to find fairies together and having an embarrassing nickname.” Dylas had a serious expression now, reminding him of that pre-wedding pajama party for Leon. They were siblings, if in odd ways.

“I’m not sure and I don't think she knows either,” Doug said, wanting to stay mad at having to tell him this. But it just made him feel that odd confusion and sadness again. “I don't even know where to begin to clear this up with her because she'll probably drag it off on some weird tangent like usual. Maybe I should just put it out of my mind, but she keeps doing stuff like this that makes me wonder.”

Dylas was looking off at the moat again, briefly annoying Doug that he wasn't paying attention when this got unexpectedly serious. But then, he had been like that earlier. Waiting again to give him a moment to put his thoughts together seemed to be the right idea. “I feel really sorry for you having to deal with her like this. It's hard enough for us and we've known her heart's voice for centuries.”

“Do you have any idea of if she sees me as special or is she just like this with everybody?” Doug asked, quietly thanking the gods that no one else seemed to be coming near. Not so much with him talking seriously to Dylas, but talking about Amber like this.

“Sorry, I don't know that,” he said. He tapped the rings on one of his hands. “You should talk to her at least and I know that's hard. But she goes to Dolce's sewing circle and manages to sit still while working. So, um, get her to be doing something while you're both talking so she doesn't take off suddenly. Tying flower chains or knitting, just something.”

That made a lot of sense. “Right, she's too hyperactive to just sit and talk. Thanks man, I wouldn't have thought of that.”

“Ah, sure,” Dylas said, as if he didn't think that bit of advice was worth being thanked for. “But just to make things clear, you hurt her and Leon, Dolce, and I will make you regret it. Or if you get her back to being a stubborn nudist.”

“A what?” Doug asked, feeling embarrassed just at the thought of it.

“She can be a real headache to talk into wearing clothing,” Dylas said.

“Ah, okay, I'll try not to,” he said. Out of all the obstacles to dating someone, risking his girlfriend turning nudist wasn't something he'd thought of. “And try not to mention that. Um, but I got you about not hurting her. I've been more worried about thinking something's there when it's not, so if this does work out, I'm definitely going to treat her right.”

* * *

 

On top of the observatory, Lest, Vishnal, and Clorica were observing Dylas and Doug on the street below. “Too bad Amber didn't fly up here so we could ask her how it was up close,” Clorica said, watching through the binoculars they'd brought. She didn't have to come along this evening, but it sounded too interesting to pass up. “But it seems civil from up here.”

“So can we call the 'Dude, he's awesome' plan a success?” Vishnal asked, pleased with the result. The plan, and its name, had been his idea for the most part.

“Almost, but Dylas is affected by the chocolate,” Lest said, still watching the pair. Gold lines flickered across his face as he was doing some subtle magic in watching. “Though that and the plan seems to have worked out. They both wanted to be friends but their initial impressions and surface attitudes conflicted too much. We'll know better tomorrow or whenever they next meet up.”

“I hope it does work for them,” Vishnal said.

Clorica put down the binoculars and smiled. “We should make Dylas a chocoholic. He's much more pleasant with it.”

“Couldn’t that turn as bad as an alcoholic if it's related to magic?” Vishnal asked, starting to ponder that.

Lest shrugged. “Maybe if he starts to depend on it. For now, it's getting him to talk. Give it enough time and he might become more comfortable conversing and not need the chocolate to get along. Although now I'm worried about Doug and Amber.”

“What about them?” Vishnal asked.

Putting a finger to his lips, he said, “This is under confidence, but I learned from Illuminata and Leon that fairies are independent, don't take lovers, are all female, and dislike men on principle. Amber has a human heart but is still adapting out of the mindset fairies gave her as a child. Doug's runes are starting to show deeper feelings towards her. Someone's going to get hurt in this, maybe both of them. While we might be able to prevent them from getting hurt, would it be for the best? I remember one of my magic teachers saying that some students won't believe they'll get burned until they touch fire for themselves. Then it's a matter of getting them to touch a candle's flame rather than a forge's fire.”

“Like with Kiel's perfume?” Vishnal said, leaning on the fence beside him.

Lest nodded. “Like that. In this case, we need to be ready to heal the burns and the bond between them.”

“But some bonds aren't meant to be,” Clorica said, sad at the thought. It reminded her of a crush she'd once had on a friend, but he'd moved away and she hadn't noticed due to sleeping through those days. “At least that's what I've read before. I hope it's not that way because they seem like they could be happy together. But we can't force them into it.”

“That’s true,” Lest said.

“Well I'll be there to help out Doug, like I have before,” Vishnal said.

“Yes, and I can help out how I can on Amber's side,” Clorica said.

Lest smiled. “You can even help by just listening to Sven, because this is going to affect him greatly too. Thanks, both of you.”


	64. Fluffy Love Confessions

Summer 10

Today was the first De-fluffing Festival ever held in Selphia, making Amber feel extra excited. Festival days were always fun! But this one should be special fun because it was all about giant woolies! “I didn't know woolies could get so big!” Amber told Venti while they were waiting on the wooly ranchers to set up in the plaza.

“There's been giant woolies that show up in these lands on rare occasion,” Venti said, not as excited. “Hmph, I feel like these woolies are unfairly taking up all the attention.”

Lest was in with them and laughed. “What, you jealous they'll overshadow your cuteness?” he asked.

“They’re smaller than me and not as cute,” Venti said, indignant at the idea.

Amber clapped her hands at a great idea. “But they're just the right size to be a doll to you like a teddy bear is to me. You should get a giant wooly doll to sleep with; it'd be great during winter!”

“That image is too adorable for words,” Lest said. “We should tell Dolce.”

“Yeah!” If anyone could make a giant wooly doll, it would be her.

“Oh please, I'm thirteen centuries old,” Venti said, trying to seem against the idea. “I don't need a doll to sleep with.”

“But do you want one?” Lest said with a smile.

She glared down at them. “I’m a divine dragon and I need to keep some dignity. Hmph.”

“I bet you really want one now,” Amber said, flying closer to her head.

“Rrrrr, I don't,” Venti said, although it was clear to see that it was a struggle for her to say no.

Giggling, Amber flew back a short ways. “I’m gonna tell her!” Then she flew out of the castle to look for Dolce.

The plaza was crowded because they had some of the giant woolies standing around as well. Bleating and being innocently docile, they seemed just like the regular woolies aside from size. One of them was even lying down so still that Amber thought she could land on its back for a quick nap in all that fluffy wool. That would be like sleeping on a cloud... except that it'd be quite hot since the weather was bright and sunny. But they'd be perfect companions for winter.

It took a few minutes to find Dolce, mostly because she was wearing a new summer dress that was orange instead of her usual pink. But Amber eventually found her by her hair and flew over to where Dolce and Pico were talking with Leon, Arthur, and Forte. Pico was carrying around a small wooly doll, which was perfect. “Dolly! You've got to hear this, me and Lest had the best idea!” Amber landed by her, bouncing in place.

“What?” Dolce said, annoyed. Maybe at the interruption, maybe at the use of the nickname.

Amber didn't care. “Ven thinks the giant woolies are cute even though she's not saying so and we think she should get a giant wooly doll to snuggle with during winter.” She stretched her arms up on tip-toe to show how giant.

Leon immediately smiled and tried to cover it with his fan. “That image is too adorable for words.”

“That’s what Lest said,” Amber said.

“A dragon sized wooly doll wouldn't have much of a market, but it does sound incredibly adorable,” Arthur said.

“Do you realize how much wool and cotton that would take?” Dolce said.

“But Dolly, isn't it a precious thought for Ven to have a wooly doll of her own?” Pico said, hugging the wooly doll she had closer.

“Even with magical crafting, it might take until winter to get such a thing together,” Dolce said. Then she snapped her fingers and brought out a wooly doll that was life-sized at three feet tall. “The small dolls don't take long, so I have a fair amount of them to try selling today, but the work and rune points that go into this big doll meant I could only put together three of them since the event was announced a couple weeks ago. Might have been able to do five if I didn't make the small ones. A giant doll is more than I could do by magic alone.”

“You made that?” Forte asked, having had her eyes on the doll since Dolce brought it out. “It’s so cute... I, ah, I mean, it's incredibly lifelike and just as, um...” her cheeks turned pink though she seemed like she wanted to hug it.

“It is just as sweetly adorable as the real thing,” Arthur said, smiling like he'd just found the most delicious flower in a big patch of them. “That’s some amazing craftsmanship, Dolce, it's got everything right from the darling floppy ears to the real wooly wool and those eyes are just brimming with innocence and warmth.” Then Forte gave a very girlish giggle, distracting Arthur from the doll. “What?” he asked, still smiling.

“You’re the sweetly adorable one like this,” she said before she could stop herself. Then Forte put her hands on her face. “Ack, I can't believe I actually said that.”

“Forte?” Arthur seemed just as surprised. “Ah, you don't have to be so embarrassed, it's, well...” he then took her hand and said, “Would you excuse us?” before heading off to the east side of town with her.

“Sure,” Dolce said. Once the pair were a few feet away and whispering while they walked off, she added, “Just about to ask if they wanted to be on their own.”

Setting his fan in a loop on his belt, Leon waited a few seconds, then put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. “Go Arthur!” he shouted through his hands afterwards, causing the pair to run out of the plaza holding hands while others looked over wondering what was going on.

“Did you have to do that?” Dolce asked, giving Leon a harsh look.

Leon took his fan back in hand and nodded. “Of course. Our Lady Ventuswill monitors the endless abyss of time, the ether sea as it interacts with our world. It helps her when the chi of this town is moving strongly. Runes and runeys get more active around those with positive bonds. Thus, as the clergy of the divine wind, it is our duty to encourage bonds of love whenever they form.”

“Was that a bond of love forming?” Amber asked, curious about why they were acting like that.

“Maybe finally connecting,” Leon said. “Lest would know better.”

“But does it really help to embarrass them like that?” Dolce asked.

“Aw, don't put such a negative spin on it,” Pico said. “You helped too with the wooly dolls!”

“I didn't mean to, but if it helps, that's good,” she said.

“Right, so we've done a good deed for the day,” Leon said, satisfied with the outcome. “Now we just have to hope both of them have the courage to make a full confession.”

“Forte's got lots of courage and strength, so it shouldn't be a problem for her,” Amber said.

Strangely, Leon shook his head to this. “Nah, I'm talking an entirely different kind of courage here. It's one thing to face off against a horde of aggressive orcs when you've been trained your whole life in a martial lifestyle. It's something quite different to risk offering your heart to someone you've come to feel special about.”

“Right, there isn't a doctor that can do much about a broken heart,” Dolce said.

Leon prodded her with his fan. “That's where a priest or priestess like us comes in. She might say she only needed the interpreter, but she does want us to help people.”

“I didn't get much into that in my training,” Dolce said, seeming uneasy.

“I can finish off your training if you want it,” Leon said.

She glared at him again. “After you embarrassed them like that?”

“It helps, I swear,” Leon said.

“If anything, it unites them in being annoyed at him,” Pico suggested.

Amber laughed. “But isn't that dangerous because you tease everybody and might make everybody unite against you?”

“It’s a risk I'm willing to take as a dragon priest to bring the community together,” Leon said, seemingly serious about it.

“You’re awful in using that as an excuse,” Dolce said.

“But a giant wooly doll for Ven, would you make it if we helped get materials and stuff?” Amber asked, thinking a reminder would be good.

“It’d be a challenge, but it would be cute if she accepts it,” Dolce said, starting to smile.

“I’d pitch in too, I think it'd be worth it,” Leon said.

When the actual contest got started, there was a last minute change. The owners of the giant woolies had seen earthmates in these contests before and felt they had an advantage over others. The weapons they were using in these mock battles would make sure any rune abilities wouldn't hurt the woolies, so those able to use such tactics repeatedly in a short time could do really well. With seven earthmates in Selphia today, they decided to hold a separate ranking for them. That was fine with all of them. It even got Lest talked into participating too. While he was dead last among them, it was neat to see how he talked the wooly into sitting perfectly still rather than roaming around the pen as they tended to do.

They even mentioned it in the ranking announcement. “It’s the first time we've seen a first timer get them so cooperative, but your weapon skill is too low to have done the work efficiently,” the rancher said.

“See, I keep telling you to take lessons from me and dad,” Frey said, poking at her brother.

“I couldn't think of a close range spell to use through the gloves they gave,” he said.

Dolce was next, then Amber because she'd taken the squeaky hammer to use. The shearing blades might have been better, but once she saw the squeaky hammer she had to play with it again. The other four had done significantly better than anyone else in town. With times very close to one another, the top two rankings ended up with Leon and finally Sven as the winner among them due to their choosing of harder weapons to shear with. Sven had also taken the squeaky hammer, but made a snowy whirlwind of wool in seconds with it. Bits of wool had kept falling for the next three hours, partly due to the whole contest but muchly because of Sven's performance.

When the contest was over, Amber checked over the money she had. There was a booth where they were selling copies of the shearing weapons used in the contest. She looked at the squeaky hammer they had on display, but it had a big number on the price tag. “Aw, that's too bad,” she said, putting the hammer back on the table in disappointment.

“What is?” Sven asked, coming over to her. “Oh, the shearing weapons? They wouldn't be much good in battle.”

“Well I don't care about that cause they're fun,” Amber said, turning to him. “But I thought, they aren't for use in battle so maybe they won't be as expensive. Lumie's been teaching me to budget money so I can save up for emery flower seeds, because those are really really expensive. I've got some saved up already and it would be enough to get the hammer. But then it would take me even longer to get an emery flower of my own growing. The hammer would be fun now.”

“What’s more important to you to have?” he asked.

That was easy. “The emery flowers, so I guess I won't buy the hammer. All well. Thanks Sven, that helps!” She left the booth, thinking that a better buy would be a fruit smoothie because it wouldn't put as big of a dent in her savings. Besides, she did keep aside part of her budget money for when she wanted to ask Porco for a smoothie.

Sven followed her. “Um, Amber? If you want the hammer too, we might be able to work out a deal.”

She could have a squeaky hammer of her own? Eyes wide, she stopped and spun around, nearly making him crash into her. “A deal?' she asked, hopeful.

Stumbling back a step, Sven said, “S-sorry, didn't mean to run into you.”

Amber smiled. “It's okay, I'm the one who stopped suddenly. What kind of deal?”

He brought out one of the squeaky hammers from his side bag. “They gave me the one I used for winning the contest among us, but I really don't have a use for a toy weapon like this. I could use some freshly grown flowers in the future, so if you could help me with that, you can have this in exchange.”

“Wheee, that sounds great!” Really, that was the best kind of deal around! She loved growing flowers and she could get a fun weapon for doing so? There was no reason to say no. “Sure, what do you want?”

“Well, um, could we,” he looked around the marketplace where they were, “could we go to the inn to discuss this? I'd like this to be a secret since it's for a surprise.”

“Okay,” Amber said, walking with him over to the inn. And this was for a surprise, even better! But who was it a surprise for?

However, the lobby of the inn was also busy with people, mostly those who didn't live in Selphia. Xiao was there too. “Hi-e, are you two looking for someone or something?' she asked.

“We’re looking for a secret spot to make secret plots,” Amber said. “But we can't have other people hearing because it's secret.”

“Right, I didn't think there'd be so many people here this time of day,” Sven said. “Is that why you're in here now?”

“Sort of,” Xiao said, leaving off her work at the desk to open up a little gate that closed off the working section of the inn. “I had to come inside because there is a bird out there that kept diving at my head. Be careful if you're outside in case it is still out there. Here, I am sure that we can trust you both, so please come and speak in the area Momma and I live in. Momma's outside, so nobody will interrupt you there, promise.”

“Wheee, thanks Xiao!” Amber said, giving her a hug as they went by.

“Yeah, thanks,” Sven said. There was a place in the end of the hall here where a few chairs and a table were, so they sat down there for him to explain. “When Lest set up this festival to happen, he also put the Firefly Festival back on the calendar. It's a holiday that's supposed to be a really good night for a romantic date, so I was thinking about giving Clorica a nice bouquet of flowers then. I guess I could just buy some roses and have you make them into a bouquet for me. But, I was thinking that a bouquet of lavender stalks would be really nice too because that was the first gift I got her. Your store doesn't keep much lavender in stock for bouquets, though. There were only three of them last time I bought one.”

Thinking over the display shelves, Amber nodded. “Yeah, the few times I've sold lavender, it was in dried form for potpourri. But a whole bouquet of fresh lavender would be nice.” She’d have to buy the seeds herself to grow for Sven, from her budget to buy emery flowers. Then again, the lavender seeds would be much less expensive than the hammer. Amber nearly agreed, but then some of the things Lumie was teaching her about being a shopkeeper came back. “Um, let me check our stock on the seeds and how long it would take to grow enough for a bouquet. I'll let you know tonight if I can get them in time for the Firefly Festival. You can trade me the hammer when I have the flowers grown in time.”

“All right, I hope you can,” he said. “Thanks for the help.”

Sven had to get back to patrolling town to make sure people were safe, so he left not long after. Amber stayed behind to see what it was like on Xiao's side of the counter. Not minding, Xiao talked with her. “It seems that didn't take long for you both to plot out.”

Amber grinned and almost told her. But no. This was a secret and she had to take all precautions so that Clori did not find out until she was given her unique bouquet. “It’s still being worked on, but if it works out, then it's going to be a great plot! He just had to ask me if it could be done.”

“I see,” Xiao said with a nod. “Can you keep it secret?”

Putting her hands near her mouth, she said, “It's gonna be so hard, but I'm gonna try my hardest not to let out a peep about it.”

“Good luck with that,” she said, then smiled. “Were not those giant woolies adorable?”

Amber laughed. “They were great! I wanted to make one my bed, but it would be too hot for summer.”

“Oh yes, all those wools would be heavy to bear in this heat,” Xiao said.

“That must be why they're so happy to get sheared by everybody.”

Xiao put her hand to her chin. “Yes, but why must it be done in battle?”

“Those woolies are weird,” Amber said, just now realizing it. “I wouldn't be so happy to have people hit me with weapons.”

“They are, um,” Xiao paused as if she didn't want to say something, “well they are so wooly-ful, so the shearing must be worth it.”

“I hope so.” Because it would be really weird if they liked being beat up. But thinking of the contest led her to saying, “Oh, but that wool storm that Sven made was awesome! It was like a snow storm only loads better because it wasn't cold and icy, but soft, fluffy, and warm instead. I wonder if you could make snow cream out of that much wool, because that would be nice to have.”

Xiao laughed. “I do not think that wool would be edible as ice cream, yes?”

“It wouldn't be edible, no,” Amber said, having fun talking with her as usual. “But I wish we could have that much ice cream. Oh, but did you see the wooly dolls Dolly had?”

“They were so cute!” Xiao said, delighted at the mention. “I could not buy one from her, unfortunately. I've been saving up to help organize the inn to run better. We're getting there bit by bit.”

“Oh, you have to budget too?” she asked. “It’s hard.”

She nodded. “Yes, but it will be worth it in the future, don't you think?”

“Yeah, it will be because I'll have my own emery flowers again,” Amber said.

“I can't wait to see those,” she said. “When I was taking a closer look at the wooly dolls, I got to see Arthur and Forte together buying one of the large ones and discussing where to keep it. It seems like they're a couple for real this time and they do seem actually happy for it. They're lucky for that.”

Hearing it again, Amber decided it was time to ask about something. “I guess, but what are they a couple of?”

Xiao laughed. “They are a couple, you know.”

“But a couple of what?” Amber asked again. “People say that about Leon and Frey too, and Sven and Clori, but is it just a couple of people? That's weird.”

That seemed to confuse her like Amber was confused about the word. “Oh, but that's it, they're couples. They're together because they're dating, well except Leon and Frey because they're married already.”

“I guess, but what sets them apart from everybody else? They are all really good friends, but it's no fun to have just one friend.”

Xiao shook her head. “No, it's not like that.”

“Then they're not friends? But they all get along really well.”

“Well they are friends too, but being a couple is deeper than that,” Xiao said, putting a hand on her head. Did her head hurt somehow? “A couple loves each other very much. They have told each other, I love you, and said why they do so that the other knows how important and special they are. It makes people happy to be loved like that, and to know they have someone they can always rely on. So lots of people would dream of feeling special and loved like that.”

“Really?” Amber asked. Why didn't they just say so? “I love you Xiao Pai!”

“W-what?” she asked, staring at her.

“Cause you're a nice person, a hard worker, and fun to talk to,” Amber went on. “Like that?”

“Um, something like that, I guess,” Xiao said.

She twitched her wings. “So does that make us a couple?”

“Oh, no, no, no it doesn't,” she said, waving her hands between them. “You were trying it out, yes?”

Amber giggled. “But did you like hearing it? Because it would make people feel nice to be appreciated.”

“A little,” Xiao said, smiling.

“Well that's good to know,” Amber said, thinking. “Are you going to come out and enjoy the rest of the festival?”

“Maybe when Momma gets back to watch the desk,” she said. “Though it was fun that you stuck around to talk, thanks.”

“Yeah, thanks!” Amber said, then went outside. Saying I love you to someone and why sounded like a great way to make people happy. And Amber loved all of her neighbors. She wanted the world to be wonderful in being surrounded by things she loved, so it made sense to make others happy so they loved her back. Maybe she could go tell other people this to cheer them up.

In the evening, she got back to the shop and found Lumie there. Amber went over to the seed cabinets and searched for the lavender seeds. “Whatcha doing?” Lumie asked as she came over.

“I’ve got secret research for secret plots!” Amber said with a grin. “It’s for a secret deal, so sorry, but I can't tell you everything. I need to see how many lavender seeds I can buy and how long it will take to grow them to bloom.”

“It better not be for anything nefarious,” Lumie said playfully, putting a hand on her shoulder. “As long as you buy the seeds from your own funds for your secret plot this time.”

“I will,” she said. “And it won't be nefarious, it'll be great! But I can't say why it'll be great because then I'd be saying what it was.”

“I’m going to deduce your secret plot anyway,” she said, then headed over to the bookshelf. “But never fear, I won't break your secret deal.” Lumie even helped find the notes on lavender to find out that yes, Amber could get a good bouquet of them ready for Sven at the Firefly Festival. On checking with some flowers in the shop for how many, Amber bought plenty of the seeds in case some were slow or not good for bouquets. She could always try making her own potpourri with the not good ones.

She was about to go out to the greenhouse to set the seeds in soil when Pico came in through the ceiling. “Amber, there you are!” the ghost said. “Hold on, we have to talk to you.”

“Hi Pico, is Dolly coming over?” Amber said, happy that her sister guardian would be around for the evening. That would make things more fun.

Except, it wasn't going to be fun. Pico frowned at her. “Yes, I let her know you're here. You've done a bad thing and people got hurt because of it.”

“Huh, no I haven't!” She trembled at the thought of having hurt someone. But, she hadn't hit anyone and the woolies weren't hurt because of the shearing weapons. “I’m not up to any nefarious plots and I didn't hit nobody.”

“Well you did something a lot worse than hitting someone, although it's probably more thoughtless than nefarious,” Pico said.

“What is this about?” Lumie asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at both of them sternly.

“We'll wait a second until Dolly comes,” Pico said, right before Dolce opened the door and came into the flower shop.

And it was a lot worse than just hitting someone, something Amber didn't realize until they'd spent more than an hour talking through it.

* * *

 

Doug had tried his best in the De-Fluffing Festival. It seemed like something he could do well enough since he was trained in fighting. However, he was up against some living legends. The old knight Art had declined to participate, but the swordsman... well, swordswomen Corrin and Forte participated. The earthmates had been given their own rankings which took some serious contenders out, but Kiel made a formidable magic-user which he somehow turned to good use in shearing. Then the two young butlers (as their master had thankfully declined participation too) were also no slouches. Now that she could keep awake, Clorica turned out surprisingly intimidating with her spear.

Amid that competition, Kiel won the contest through some clever use of magic with the short sword weapon even though it was considered an easier weapon worth less points. He managed to clear the shearing in a time that matched most of the earthmates. Doug wondered if he could have had a better time with magic too. Unfortunately, the main spell he knew for battle use was a fireball spell and burning the wool off was against the rules.

Doug spent some time celebrating with Kiel because it was quite an accomplishment for him to win a festival with a battle element over his sister. They got split up in the marketplace while seeing what was on sale. Not sure what to do now, Doug went to see if Porcoline had his restaurant open for snacks. He didn't, but there had been a few food merchants in the marketplace. Thinking that one might have some dumplings or something else good, he started to head back when he saw Amber flying around as usual.

Apparently Arthur and Forte had gotten together earlier today. It was a special kind of day, maybe even for that. Maybe he could talk with Amber again? He'd been trying to get a clear statement from her on if she was interested in him or not, but it made him nervous trying to find the right words that she wouldn't mistake for something else. Maybe Dylas felt this way in any conversation? That seemed like a horrible ordeal when he was having this much trouble just trying to see if Amber wanted to date him.

He watched her until they crossed eyes, then waved at her. “Hey Amber!”

“Hi!” she called, flying right down next to him and landing. “I have secret plots and you're not finding them out!”

Already going off on tangents, but it made him smile. “Wouldn’t it be better not to say you have plots in the first place?”

“Aw, but it's no fun unless people wonder what the plots are,” Amber said.

“Maybe, but would you mind going somewhere to talk with me?” Might as well cut down on the distractions, like everyone in the marketplace.

“We can talk here,” she said, looking around.

“Well I was thinking somewhere quieter,” Doug said, trying to think of where would be quiet now. Maybe the observatory... no, too close and others were probably up there looking around. Maybe the lake, since the walk over would give him some time to collect his thoughts.

Amber frowned in thought, then giggled. “But you wouldn't want too much quiet because if it was too quiet there would be no talking.”

“Ah, that's a good point, actually,” he said, having to try not to laugh himself. It wasn't that good of a joke, but her laughing made him want to laugh too.

Her eyes brightened. “Oh yeah, I had something to tell you too. I love you Doug!”

He felt chills along his skin at hearing her say that, a thrilling feeling even as it was an utter shock after trying to get something out of her for over a week. All he could manage to say was, “H-huh?'

Beaming with energy like always, she leaned over. “Hee hee, you're so different and fun, and nice and tough at the same time, and I like how your pointy ears poke out of your pretty hair.”

That wasn't exactly what he thought would be interesting to her, but Doug found he couldn't care much about it when she liked it. “Ah, well that's good.” When she giggled again, he knew he was blushing so came closer to her in case anyone happened to be overhearing this. “That was a surprise, but actually, I love you too Amber. Guess you just got around to saying it first.”

“When I thought about it, I had to say it soon,” Amber said. She was impulsive, but must have realized how she'd been acting lately.

Well he had thought about it too, so he looked her in the eyes. “You’re pretty, and so energetic. Sometimes I don't know how I keep up with you, but it ends up being so fun that I don't care how tired I am at the end of the day. I never know what to expect out of you which makes me want to spend more time with you.”

“That’s good, I like being with you too,” she said. And then she had to prove how impulsive she was by glancing aside and noticing someone else nearby. “Oh, hi Dylas!” She then took off into the air to meet with him.

Doug laughed softly anyhow, turning around to see them. “It would take more time to get you less flighty, if you ever get that way.”

“What?” Dylas asked her, flicking his ears away from her as if that would diminish the noise. They were probably too far to hear him.

“You were here so I said hi,” she explained, then added, “I love you Dylas cause you're my little brother!”

“Yeah, but why are you saying it?” he asked just as Doug was wondering why too.

“It’s a game to tell everybody I love them and why because I love everybody and it makes people happy to know that they're loved,” she explained, twirling around in the air.

And just as Doug thought he knew, he was even less sure than before. It was a game, something he should have expected with how abruptly it came. He was such an idiot for taking it as serious rather than the fluff it was. Maybe he should give up on her since she'd probably forget about what exactly he'd said today and be at another game tomorrow. Yet, he'd spoken the truth to her. She wasn't a lazy sort like he'd seen butterflies as being in flitting about gracefully. She was a whirlwind of oddity: darting around town talking to people, sleeping on sunny rooftops, dancing in the air at whim, saying whatever was on her mind without embarrassment. The oddity intrigued him and her carefree nature made it easy to smile around her. If he could just find a way to make her truly interested in him in the same way... but was she immature or that foreign in her thoughts? Would she be worth the effort in getting her to listen seriously?

“Hey, you okay?” Dylas asked, coming over to him.

He didn't think he could be mad at Amber because she didn't realize what she was doing to him. He could be mad at Dylas just for being there during this stupid scene. “Leave me alone,” he said, starting to go back to the store.

“Did she say...?” he said, not leaving him be. Why now, of all times?

“I said leave me alone!” Doug snapped, turning to punch him. Dylas caught his fist in his hand, which only made him angrier. When the second hit connected, he was able to punch the taller man in the face too before running off. He didn't want to get into an extended fight because fist fighting was Dylas' main battle style and it'd turn really bad for Doug if it continued. Fortunately, he didn't chase after him.

Sometime later, someone followed him to the second floor of the store. Doug thought it was Sven from the heavier steps, but it turned out to be Leon. “Hey, we should talk,” he said, stopping in the doorway to Doug's room.

“What, about Dylas?” he asked. They would defend each other, Dylas had said so much.

That made Leon smirk. “No, although I am impressed that you managed to give him a bloody lip. Joking aside, he did ask me to come see you about Amber. Did she talk to you in her latest interpretation of love?”

It hurt just hearing that. “Yeah, and I stupidly took it for being serious. Should've known better with how suddenly it came out of her.” But how much did he say? Leon had no trouble turning what others said against them.

Leon came in and leaned on the dresser near where Doug was sitting. “You're in for a rough time. But first things first.” He put a hand on Doug’s head, making him wonder what this was about. “I know I make it hard for people to take me seriously, but do so tonight. I come to you as a priest if you want to talk now; I'll be praying for you and only in those prayers will I speak of anything you tell me here. In service of the divine wind, I can be your confidant.”

“Why’re you doing this for me?” Doug asked. He wasn't particularly friends with Leon.

Taking his hand off, he said, “I have some responsibility to make Amber realize what she's done and help her make amends. Dolce is over talking with her now. However, it's also important to make sure you're taken care of as you're the one most affected by this.”

He was being serious now, so Doug nodded. “I see... thanks.”


	65. That Lousy Bird

Summer 11-12

It was a day when both he and Amber worked, so Doug didn't expect to see her. Certainly not after dark knocking at the window to his room. He opened it up to talk to her. “What are you doing up here this late?”

“Um, I wanted to talk to you but I didn't get any time until now,” she said. “Can I come in?”

There was a thought to tell her no because he didn't want to start rumors with her being in here and he was still hurt about yesterday. But that'd leave her perched outside on the roof as it was getting dark and when she didn't have shoes on for some reason. “All right, but keep it quiet. Granny looked tired, so I think she went to sleep early.”

“Okay, indoors voice,” she agreed, hopping down into the room. “I'm sorry about yesterday. I thought I was gonna do a good thing, but then it turned out bad.”

“What were you trying to do?” he asked, although between what she'd told Dylas and what Leon had told him, he had an idea about it. But Doug wanted to hear about it from her and see if she was being sincere about this apology. If he could tell.

She certainly seemed sorry, looking down and not at him and swaying some while talking. “Um, I talked to lots of people yesterday but it was Xiao who gave me the idea. We were talking about lots of stuff, then about love and that it makes people happy to hear that someone loves them and why. At first, I thought it was really great. Happiness is the best and I want to make lot of people happy, so I told lots of people I loved them. I thought you were the only one who really played along, but then Dolce and Leon told me there's different kinds of love and I should have said I liked them instead. Which I thought was weird because love is love and I love everybody who lives here. Except it's not the kind of love that people usually mean when they tell someone they love them. Um, sorry, I'm still trying to work out the sense of this, but it's harder than the sense about money because it's vague with no actual things to it. Does that make sense?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we use one word for different ideas which can be confusing.” Plus Leon had told him last night that the fairy culture Amber had been raised in had no concept of romantic love. It was all individuals with the rare connection between a matron and child. This was as foreign a concept to her as it had been for dwarves about two hundred years ago when they started finding that their sun-sensitivity was mostly in their mind.

“I thought I had it all figured out and I messed it up again,” Amber said, sounding sad. It was strange hearing from her. “But you were the only one who went along with it. Does that mean you love me like they meant?”

“Yeah, although you confused me about it at first too,” Doug said. He thought he shouldn't say anything more, but she was watching him curiously. That made it hard to keep silent. “I mean, when you kept clinging to my side on random days and then you gave me that weird nickname.”

That cheered her up. “Oh yeah, cause ducks are cute too.”

“Well it's embarrassing for a grown guy to be called Duckie,” he said, but then had to signal her to keep quiet or she'd laugh. “Things like that kept making me wonder if I was special to you and I ended up thinking special about you in turn, so, ah,” he rubbed his head. If she was figuring this out, maybe he should be honest. “I was really happy when you said that you loved me at first, because that made it seem certain. Or so I thought, but then you said it was a game to Dylas. That made me feel terrible, like I messed up what I figured out.”

“Oh, you too?” she said, understanding that explanation. She wandered further into his room and ended up sitting on his bed. “So, um, I guess that's the other thing Leon was talking about with courage. But then... what's love mean to you?”

Hoping that Dolce and Leon managed to explain it well enough (he didn't want to start another misunderstanding), Doug said, “Well, you care about your friends, but that caring is deeper when it's a person you love. If you had nothing to do, you'd want to find that person first and see if they'd hang out with you.”

“I wouldn't want to ignore any of my friends,” Amber said.

“Of course not,” Doug said. “But you'd prefer the one you love most, right? And you'd want to help that person with anything they're troubled by, no matter of little or big the problem is, no matter what you have to do to help them. You also hope that you can trust them to help you in the same way, and that they love you just as much.”

“I see. I'm still not sure about it.” She kicked her legs out. “Cause I'm supposed to be a wild untamable heart, see? Nobody's supposed to tell me what to do. Though, I have to agree to do stuff anyhow because that's what civilized people do and Frey says it's not being tamed to be in love. There's lots of opposite things I get told because different people have different views and I end up having to figure it all out without much to go on. Sorry, I still have to think about this, but I'll figure it out as soon as I can.” Then she yawned.

“I know how confusing it is figuring out whose advice and words to accept,” Doug said. He was disappointed this would still take waiting, but at least Amber was telling it to him straight. “It is getting late, so we should probably keep talking later on.”

She nodded, her eyes closing sleepily. “Right, good night,” she said. Then she lay down on his bed and closed her eyes.

“Uh Amber?” He went to the side of the bed. “I meant you should go back to your place.”

Somehow, she was out like a light already. He hadn't seen anyone other than Clorica fall asleep that fast. Thinking that maybe she wasn't, Doug took one of the books on his clan's traditions and read through part of it. Amber was still asleep there when he felt tired, so he left the window open and slept on the floor instead.

A flapping of wings woke him up in the morning. It wasn't Amber, although she wasn't in the room as he sat up and looked around. On the sill of the open window, there was a red and pink bird looking back at him. Doug wasn't fully alert, so he didn't think much of it until it flew into the room and knocked over a small dish that he kept loose change in. All the coins scattered and the dish broke, with the bird flying off right after.

“Aw geez,” he said, hastily going over to shut the window. That had to be the bird that people around town were talking about, nicking coins and generally causing trouble.

“Is something wrong?” Blossom said on the other side of the closed door.

Being careful of the broken dish, Doug went over to open the door. “I’m okay, it's just some lousy bird that broke my coin dish because I left the window open last night.”

She was setting the table for breakfast. Chuckling, she said, “I see. I had heard there was a twinkle hanging around town again. Makes it a tough decision whether to leave the window open at night or not because of such early morning antics.”

He went to get a broom and dustpan to take care of the pieces of pottery. “You seem happy about it.”

“I just have some fond memories of twinkle bird mischief, that's all,” Blossom said. “They’re such bold thieves, making off with anything that sparkles enough to catch their eye and not caring who they need to fly near to get it. Sometimes it can be very amusing. Did you hear that this one made off with one of Leon's hats? While he'd been wearing it and you know how strong he is.”

“That is one crazy bird,” Doug said, smiling in spite of the trouble. He went back to clean up the mess and pick up the coins. While he was searching for somewhere less visible to put them, he noticed what had actually been stolen: the rune sight glasses that he'd gotten for his spy work. That was actually troubling to lose even if he didn't intend on using them again. The crafting process relied on Sechs technology and made them rather expensive. Even though he'd cut off one contact, he still worried that somebody might come to get those glasses back. Perhaps a flash of sunlight against the lenses had attracted the twinkle bird.

Thankfully, Sven came back in time for breakfast and shared the meal with them. Blossom took the chance to speak with him about his living habits. “I am worried about the irregular hours you keep. It's hard to tell when you'll be around or if you're awake.”

“Sorry, I seem to have nightmares whenever I sleep and that keeps waking me up,” Sven said, ashamed at that. “It’d be nice to stop them, but I'm not sure how.”

“You could go on whatever treatment Clorica's on since that seems to be working on her,” Doug said.

He shook his head. “No, that's to keep her sleep-working under control, not the same problem. Though I'm starting to think it may be part of my earthmate element, at least keeping me not as alert in the middle of the day.”

“But then you'd be most awake when everyone else is asleep,” he said. That'd be bad because it'd limit the amount of time he had to spend with others.

“I kind of already am,” Sven said. “Just not sure if I should go with that.”

“It’d be sad if you didn't get to spend as much time with your friends due to that,” Blossom said, patting Sven's hand. “But in the end, I wouldn't think it's a good idea to fight your magic like that. Maybe you can try a cup of warm milk or a soothing tea before you sleep today and see if that eases your mind.”

“It might help,” he said.

“Oh, but before you do,” Doug said, thankfully remembering it before breakfast ended, “I found something in the clan books that I want to show you. It's pretty important.”

When they were done eating, Sven came with Doug into his room to check on the passage he'd found last night. The chapter contained a lot of family traditions that Doug's parents had ignored for the most part, such as ages when a child should be introduced to crafting and forging. There was a section that he was certain that his father had meant to teach him about in spite of this. Not long before the siege ended, Doug had overheard his father and uncle discussing teaching magic crafting to him for this one particular tradition of marriage. His clan would have the man craft three rings to use in a proposal. One was a silver ring given in gratitude to a member of the man's family who had helped him the most. A second was also a silver ring given in gratitude, this one to a member of his beloved's family who had helped him the most. Lastly there was the usual engagement ring for asking the question, where the band had to be made with gold. Any one of the rings could be returned and force the man to prove his love for his bride-to-be.

“I think it's an unusual tradition even among dwarves, but I like the idea behind it,” Doug said.

“Yeah, it is nice,” Sven said, thinking. “Silver rings aren't that hard to craft; I made a couple with my dad when he was teaching me. Gold is supposed to be harder to work with, though. And it's been a long time since I crafted anything.”

“I haven't ever crafted something by magic,” Doug said. “My dad was talking with me about it, but we never got around to starting. I do have some crafting technique books in the chest Niam gave me. Guess I could start trying.”

Sven flexed his fingers in memory. “It’s not that hard once you get started. I think I still remember how to make those penny whistles we started with.”

“Well you always had a huge stock of rune points, the main reason your dad felt safe with teaching you,” Doug said.

“I know, but I'm pretty sure you won't have trouble after trying it,” Sven said. “Dad said the whistles were a good starting point since they took such a small amount of whatever bit of metal was on hand, so it was cheap even if you messed up.”

“I’ll have to look for the recipe in these books,” Doug said.

But it would have to wait until later since he worked with Blossom in the shop on Friday mornings. The day continued to be interesting as they had been talking about hiring Wendy to help. “Would you take a quick look around town to find her and ask if she wants the job?” Blossom asked. “We can put her through a trial run and training today.”

“Sure thing,” he said, then left the store to figure out where she'd be.

Wendy was staying at the inn, but he'd seen her all over town working on her sketches. Some people had predictable schedules and it would be notable if they were somewhere they usually weren't. Not her. While she was short too, she was easy to spot by her long white-silver hair. Today, Doug found her at the base of the observatory, leaning on the stone wall to draw the landscape below the cliff.

“Hey, Wendy?” he called as he came down the steps to the area in front of the observatory.

Pulling back, she looked back before waving. “Hey Doug! What's up?”

“I heard you were thinking about sticking around Selphia,” he said. “I know you probably want to work on your art, but if you are going to be here, would you want to work for us at the general store? You wouldn't have to work the full week, just enough days to help take some of the extra load.”

Wendy smiled at him. “Aw, that's sweet of you to try making Blossom's work easier.”

“Th-that isn't what I said,” Doug said, feeling embarrassed. That was what he wanted to do, but he didn't want to make a big deal of it. She giggled, so he added, “Actually, Dylas was the one who suggested you since you don't have a job right now.”

“Oh, it was him?” She put her pencil to her lips and thought. “Should’ve expected so much with some of the comments I've been getting. But that is...” then she smiled. “Okay! I'm pretty sure I can handle working in a store. When do you want me to start?”

Good, this was working out. He smiled back. “Actually, you could come take a test run of the job today. Fridays are busy, but we'll both be there to help out.”

Wendy nodded. “All right, I don't have any plans today. Let's go!”

Blossom was happy to have her helping and had him show her how the store was set up first. While the girl didn't seem strong enough to handle the heavier merchandise, she turned out to know telekinesis and could move things about by magic. She didn't even need the stepladder to shuffle and retrieve things on the highest shelves. That was handy although that took a bit of his responsibility to move those items away.

While Blossom was showing Wendy how to record sales, Illuminata came in. “Doug!” she called, her eyes twinkling in a worrisome way. She was probably about to go on about some mystery. “We have to talk, privately!”

“Right now?” he asked while cleaning some shelves.

“Yes right now,” she insisted, darting over and grabbing his shoulder.

Granny laughed while he protested the treatment. “You two can go upstairs, just keep quiet as Sven's asleep,” she said. “Don’t cause him too much worry, Ellie.”

“I’ll worry him as much as needed,” Illuminata said. “Come on.”

“Okay, okay, but you better not shout up there,” Doug said, leading her upstairs. The best place to keep from disrupting Sven, unfortunately, was his room.

As he suspected, she wanted to talk about last night. “Now I could go causing trouble with your reputation, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. What were you and Amber really doing in your room last night?”

“We were just talking, I swear,” he said. “She knocked on my window and wanted to apologize about what happened during the recent festival. But since she came in after dark, it wasn't long before she got tired and went to sleep without warning. I left the window open for her to leave without disturbing anybody, even lost something to that twinkle bird because of it.”

“Uh-huh, there are pottery shards in the trash can to corroborate your story,” Illuminata said, rubbing her chin.

“You already looked in there?” he asked.

She nodded. “Of course, it's a basic in looking for clues. But she slept on your bed, right?”

Trying not to look too embarrassed, he said, “That’s just where she sat down while we were talking. I didn't do anything to her other than let her in.” And before she even tried asking, he added, “I ended up sleeping on the floor because of that.”

“Hmm, your shoulders were stiff when I had you. Fine, I will accept your innocence in this incident. Just don't push your luck flirting with her, okay? Cause I will get you if you hurt her.” The look she gave him made him thing that she might not be kidding.

“Yeah, and I know the other guardians would too,” Doug said, rubbing his head. “Though if she keeps this thought that she needs to be independent, I probably won't have much luck changing her mind.”

“Aw, I don't mean to make you give up,” Illuminata said, odd in showing this sympathy. “I’m just worried about her. Trying to adjust to a new culture and time leaves her susceptible to being taken advantage of, more than the other three since she doesn't have the common sense the rest have. Anyhow, I've instructed her not to mention last night's incident to others, so your reputation shouldn't be marred by this. I just can't promise that she won't end up falling asleep here again. It seems like no matter what I say about the dangers of sleeping on rooftops, she still ends up napping there.”

“Maybe I'll tell her that you'd worry about her and see if that gets her to go back home if she starts getting sleepy,” he suggested.

That made her smile. “That could work. Well I've got to get going back to my shop. Thanks for cooperating well; you avoided making a big mess out of this.” She then went back downstairs and was out in less than a minute.

Silently thanking the gods that Illuminata hadn't made a mess out of this, Doug went back downstairs to pick back up on cleaning. Hiring a third person was working out well already. Wendy was friendly and talkative, although she had enough sense to not let the chatter take too much time. While he'd heard that she was a traveler, she knew an awful lot about Selphia, almost like she'd been around as long as Blossom.

“How old are you?” Doug asked her after she'd talked like the airfield was a new thing. She was still working on sales while he swept the floor.

“That’s not something you ask a lady,” Wendy protested, frowning and blushing at once.

Blossom chuckled. “True, but your eyes have a far older look than the rest of your body.”

“Well I can't hide that entirely,” she admitted, leaning on the counter. “Okay, I like you two. I'm not really human and what you see here isn't my true self.” She held a hand up. “This is a doll that wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for my influence. If I were here as my true self, we wouldn't be able to interact like this. So yes, I am a lot older than the doll looks. But I do have to take care of it like any other human, so having a job would help in that area.”

“Are you serious?” Doug asked. “What are you really?”

Wendy smiled. “I am serious, but I'm not telling what I am. Well, except that, I'm really happy to live with you all. It's lots of fun! Even doing this work is novel to me.”

“I wouldn't be able to tell what you are, but you do seem happy,” Blossom said warmly. “In that case, I don't mind whatever you are. You're a good person, I can see that much already.”

“If you're having fun, then yeah, we're glad to have you along,” Doug said.

“Thanks,” she said, truly grateful for that.

The bell on the door rang as Xiao hurried inside out of breath. “Oh dear, sorry, sorry,” she said.

“It’s fine, what's the matter?” Blossom said, pulling out a chair near the counter for her to sit in.

“It seems that I have not learned my lesson with that lousy bird,” she said, coming over to them and taking the seat. “Thank you, Granny.”

“The twinkle bird trying to steal your hairpin?” Blossom asked.

Xiao touched it, a glittery silver flower clip today that kept her bangs out of her face. While there should be two, she only wore one. “That's it, yes? The bird got away with one of them earlier and now it's after the other. See, I had it all figured out if I just did not wear my sparkly or glittery pins, it would not be interested. That made it safe for me to walk around outside, but then today I was in a hurry and grabbed these without thinking. Now I'm being chased again.”

“It’s trying to nest above the plaza entrance to the royal wing of the castle,” Wendy said. “But I heard it's in conflict with Lest since it tries to use the twinkle tree's leaves for its nest and he doesn't like it plucking the leaves right from the tree. He might drive it off before long, so as long as the twinkle bird doesn't take it when it leaves, you should be able to retrieve the hairpin later.”

Xiao nodded. “That would be good; I could ask Amber.”

Then the door opened again, this time with Vishnal coming in. As well as the twinkle bird, causing Xiao to cover up her remaining hair clip immediately. Vishnal was busy trying to keep it away from his armband. “Hey, that'll hurt you,” he said, batting at the bird to go back outside. But the persistent little thief wouldn't give up.

“Seems we've got a rambunctious one this year,” Blossom said, going to the door to help. “Go on, little twinkle, your place is not indoors.”

The bird wasn't one to leave when asked politely. Instead, it flew right at Blossom, grabbing the necklace she was wearing. “Hey!” Doug shouted, going to over to help drive it out. The necklace snapped first and the twinkle bird flew right off with its latest loot. “Are you all right, Granny?” he asked.

”I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her neck. “Oh dear, they've been bold before but I think this is the boldest one since the first I met.”

“No kidding, it took right off with the necklace you were wearing,” Vishnal said, surprised and nearly impressed at the theft.

On the other hand, Doug felt furious. Blossom only ever wore one necklace. “That dumb bird. I'm going to get it back.”

“You don't have to do that,” Blossom said.

“It’s fine, I can get it,” Doug said, heading out of the shop without waiting on another word. It was on the castle roof, but that didn't present a problem. He'd found early on that there was a spot on the side of the castle that could easily be climbed to get to the roof. With the regular spacing of the features, it might have even been intentional. Whatever its purpose was, that would make this a piece of cake once he got the bird to leave the necklace in the nest and fly off.

* * *

 

It had been a busy day for Amber. First she'd had a long talk with Lumie about what she and Doug had discussed, and also that she shouldn't be sleeping in other people's beds. Then she'd gone to the library to ask Leon for some books about romantic love. It seemed like a good thing to study so she didn't mess up again. He wanted to check on the book runes before letting her check them out, but it turned out good because Amber wasn't sure what books on love to read about. After taking three, she'd gone to talk with Kiel, mostly because he'd been there when she'd looked around for someone to talk to. Amber had started feeling tired then and said she wanted to go find someplace warm. He mentioned the inn because Lin Fa was a warm person. Agreeing to that, Amber went to find Lin Fa outside the inn and slept where she was.

While that had been a warm sunny spot, she got woke up by Arthur who said that she shouldn't be sleeping on the sidewalk because people had to walk around her. Amber had to agree to that, so she thanked him and returned the blanket that had been on her to Lin Fa. Since Kiel mentioned something interesting, she went to go visit Bado in the blacksmith shop. “He said that you had a new item on clearance, but that makes no sense,” she told him. “You don't put a new item on clearance, you put old items on clearance before they get too wilted.”

“Well, you got me, it's all in the angle,” he said.

“The angle of what?” Amber asked.

“The angle of the sales pitch,” Bado said. “Sometimes presenting merchandise in a different light can make a sale where there wouldn't have been one.”

She smiled and looked around. “Yeah, but your shop isn't brightly lit.”

That made him laugh. “Guess not, but that's how I'm comfortable. It's a dwarf thing.”

“Maybe,” she said, although Doug didn't seem to mind well lit areas. “And, they were gloves that can grab anything depending on who wears them? Can they grab a person's heart?” That had been a line on the back of one of the books, that it wasn't easy to grab someone's heart.

“Depends on the person,” he said.

“But then how would you know who can grab what?” Amber said with a frown. This required serious thought. “If one person couldn't grab anything at all with the gloves, it'd be no use to sell it to them. If another person could grab anything with them, it's probably because they're magical and they might have the power to make their own grab anything gloves. So I don't think they'd sell well.”

“That could be,” Bado admitted. “Although, I ended up not able to make many of the grab anything gloves. I had to make most of them gloves that can grab various things instead.”

That sounded interesting too. “Really? What kinds of various things can they grab?”

“I don't know about a person's heart, but they can grab some useful things,” he said. “Like if there's a pot that's too hot to handle, the gloves could help you grab that. Or if something's too cold, or too dirty.”

“Those sound like regular gloves to me,” Amber said. “What makes these ones special?”

“That’s for the customer to decide. A lot of special items are that way because people decide they are.”

“Oh, so it's a mystery,” she said, still thinking. “Could they grab some clues? Lumie would like that, cause then she could solve lots of mysteries!”

Bado scratched his chin, then took one of the glove pairs he had and put it on the counter in front of her. “Well since you seem so interested, why don't you try a pair out for yourself? Don't worry, I've got plenty of them so you can have this pair free.”

Amber's eyes went wide at his generosity. “Really? Whee, thanks! I'll find out what makes them special for sure.” She put the brown gloves on and headed right out to see what various things she could grab with them. It was mostly actual things that she found to grab, like leaves, a wind gauge, and some flags on the castle. But other things, like the wind, the sunlight, and the words someone said, those things she couldn't grab even with these gloves.

Then her experiment got interrupted near the plaza. “Doug!” Vishnal called from close to the castle. “Be careful up there!”

“I'll be fine,” Doug called from the roof, making Amber curious enough that she flew over to see what was going on. A pink and red bird cawed in anger, leading Doug to casting a fireball at it. “Leave me be, you jerk!”

She finally spotted him walking around the short tower at the front of the castle. “Hi Doug, what're you doing up here?” she asked. This could be fun.

“Hi Amber,” he said, smiling briefly at her before shifting his grip on part of the tower roof. “That lousy twinkle bird stole Granny's necklace right off her neck.”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh no! That's one awful bird.”

He nodded. “Right, so I came up here to get it. It's supposed to have a nest up here.”

As she'd seen it before, she knew what he meant. “Yeah, it does! It's right in the crook by the tower over here. You're almost there.”

“Good, that helps,” he said, taking the tower walk a little quicker.

“I’ll help,” Amber said, flying over to the messy nest. It wasn't fully built yet, with thin branches, hairs, and sparkly leaves in a loose pile. Unlike other nests, this one also had lots of empty cans around it. “Twinkle's been busy.” She took one can and looked inside. Finding nothing, she dropped it on the ground below. At least she had the grab various things gloves, although she was thinking that she could take these things without the gloves too. She spotted a white and gold hat with shiny beads. That had to be Leon's. Grabbing it from under some leaves, she put it on her head where it went over her ears.

“It has some weird tastes,” Doug said, taking a can near his feet and checking inside before tossing it over too.

“What kind of necklace are you looking for?” Amber asked, since she didn't remember what Granny's necklace looked like. But she seemed to recall saying it was pretty once.

“It’s a gold heart pendant with a pink pearl on it,” he said, checking another can. “Coins here.”

She spotted something interesting, so grabbed it from among the cans. “Glasses!” She put them on; there was a smudge that made things a little blurry on one corner, but otherwise it was clear. “Neat, they probably belong to Arthur. Do I look like Arthur now?”

Doug looked over at her and chuckled. “Not much like him.”

“And there's another pair!” She took them; there were much larger with a thick frame. She put them on over the glasses she was wearing. Instantly, she could see a lot of runes, well enough to read them and see where they were going. “Oh wow, these are cool! It gives rune vision, maybe as strong as what Dylas and Lest have naturally. I'm trying to get there, but it's going to take a lot more effort to see this much.”

“That’s what they see naturally?” Doug asked, surprised.

She nodded. “Yup, they have, what was it? A high sensitivity to seeing runes and a talent called chi observant. It's a lot of information, but I guess they're used to it.”

“Wow. That second pair you have are actually mine; lost them this morning.”

“I'll give it back later,” she said, then looked over the pile. The cans were all junk and so had less energetic runes. But some items were brighter with energy.

Like a thing in a can Doug had. “Oh wait, I think this is Xiao's hair pin,” he said, then held it out. “Could you keep it somewhere hidden until we can get it back?”

“Okay,” Amber said, flying closer to put it in her side bag. “Oh, and there's a bright spot that I think is the necklace! Right there in that can.”

“Oh good, the quicker we can get down the better,” Doug said, going to get it.

“Who’s dumping cans all over the place?” Meg called from below, running into the plaza.

Amber took another can; there were some keys inside that had a spark of importance. “Hi Meg! It's us, we're cleaning out the twinkle's nest.”

Another can went over the edge when Doug kicked it over. “Sorry! We can pick them up later, I swear, but we've got to get something up here first.”

“Well you be careful up there,” Meg said, worried. Her runes said so.

“I’m fine,” Doug said, getting the right can. Then he smiled as he brought out the heart pendant necklace. “Ah-ha, got it! Oh, but the clasp looks broken.”

“That can be fixed, can't it?” Amber asked, putting the keys in her bag too.

“Yeah, but I can't do that,” he said.

Then there was a furious caw as the twinkle bird came back. It flew right at Amber, making her dart out of its path. “Hey! You're a bad bird, stealing stuff.”

“You leave her be,” Doug called, throwing the can the necklace had been in at the twinkle bird. Further angered like they were stealing instead, the bird flew at him and tried to peck at his face. Doug smacked it aside with his hands and stepped back. With the uneven surface he was on, he slipped and stumbled backwards off the roof.

And he couldn't fly. “Dougie!” Amber shouted, flying over to him as fast as she could to catch him. She managed to get hold of him before he hit the ground, but he was heavier than she expected. While she didn't think she could carry him long, she tried to at least descend slow enough to not hurt him. Then a powerful pain tore across her back and she fell the last few feet with him.

“Amber, Doug!” Vishnal called, coming over to them with Meg.

They were safe on the ground, but Amber cried out because of the pain she was in.


	66. A Stroll Through Selphia

Summer 13

Yesterday, Blossom had lectured him about not doing dangerous things like climbing onto the castle roof. Doug felt like saying that he wasn't a kid any more, but the fall had seriously scared him. That could have killed him and there was nothing he could have done about it. Instead, Amber had hurt her back trying to put him down safely with her wings. He had nothing more than a bruised ego and some soreness because of her, and a painful guilt that he'd accidentally hurt her like that. Which hurt him worse, just not physically in a way he could take some healing potions for.

Today, Blossom gave him a small charm after breakfast. “It’s a thank you for getting the pendant back and fixed,” she said. “Also a hope that you don’t have any slips like that again.”

“I sure hope I don’t,” Doug said, accepting it. “Thanks.”

“Well let’s go down and open up,” she said. “Although I have to admit, I’ve done the same thing you did when I was young.”

“What, fall off the castle roof?” he asked. If one fell off the back into the farms, it might not be so bad.

She chuckled as she started down the stairs. “Not that part. But I did climb up there to get after another twinkle bird theft. Not just any theft either, but this exact necklace when my mother was wearing it out.”

“Oh really?” he asked, smiling in spite of himself as he shut the door behind them. “Doesn’t seem like something that would be valuable to birds.”

“The twinkles don’t care what it is as long as it’s shiny,” Blossom said.

“That would explain all the empty cans this one had.”

“Now if only we could train it to pick up litter instead of people’s things,” she said, happy with the idea. “Back then, I got angry and went right to find the nest and get the necklace back. I managed to get it back and get down safely, but my mother was angry and lectured me for a long time. But she did say something that’s stuck with me all these years. Items can be important, but they become important because of the important people we connect them to. And those people will always be more valuable to us than the items.”

Wendy came in before long to continue her job training. They had worked out a tentative schedule for now, with Doug working from Tuesday to Thursday and Wendy working from Friday to Monday. With a six day week, that worked evenly. Granny would work on days she felt well, but still had Tuesday and Thursday off for certain. On holidays or days that would be busy, both Doug and Wendy would work in the store. It meant that Doug could head out whenever he wanted, but he stuck around at first to make sure things were going smoothly.

Then Dolce came into the store. “Excuse me, but I have a message from the clinic,” she said to him. “Amber’s ready to leave, but we want someone to stick around her for at least today. Would you mind accompanying her for a few hours?”

“No, that’s fine with me,” Doug said, but looked over at Granny and Wendy. “Are you two okay with running the store today?”

“It’s fine, go ahead,” Wendy said. Blossom agreed, so Doug headed over to the clinic with Dolce.

On the way over, Pico kept flitting about and poking Dolce, no matter how often she waved her off. After a sigh, Dolce said to him, “Amber’s not supposed to be flying for a few days.”

“That’s going to be tough on her since she flies everywhere,” Doug said.

Dolce nodded. “And she was so happy when she woke up with wings. In spite of that, she has some errands she wants to do today, which is why we want someone to make sure she doesn’t take off. I was going to go, but then she asked if you could. She’ll be happy to know you will.”

“Well I’m happy she can leave the clinic already, that must have been a hard fall on her part,” Doug said.

“I think she mostly wants to make sure you’re okay today,” Pico said.

It seemed to be that, since she came right over to him when he came into the clinic. There was evidence of a back brace under Amber’s shirt, but she looked okay otherwise. “Dougie, hi!” she said, giving him a hug from the side that wasn’t as aggressive as usual. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just embarrassed that I slipped up there yesterday,” Doug said with a smile. He didn’t want her to worry about him. “I’m sorry about that, I didn’t think you’d end up getting hurt from my stupidity.”

“It’s okay, I’ll not mind it as long as you’re okay,” she said.

Jones gave him the same instructions as Dolce had said, to keep by her and make sure she didn’t get too excited and fly off. Amber was supposed to take things slow and easy, not lifting heavy things (not that she ever could). While she could handle work in the flower shop as long as it was light things, she had a note to give to Illuminata about her recovery process. And today, Amber had a few things she wanted to take care of before going to take it easy for a few days at the shop.

“What do you need to get done?” Doug said, holding the door open for her to come out.

“You remember the other things we got back from the twinkle bird?” she asked. “I still have them, except for a knitting needle I already gave back to Dolce. I want to go return them first. Which means, here,” she dug in her bag until she got the rune sight glasses to give to him.

“Thanks, and that’ll make the others happy too,” Doug said, taking the glasses back without even checking if they’d been damaged as Amber had been wearing them. They were less important than her. “Where to, then?”

“The library for Leon’s hat, and I think he can help with something else,” she said, walking down the street to the crossing. “Or maybe we should talk to Bado, cause he gave me these gloves yesterday. Which means they’re mine, but then, um…” she looked up at the sky in thought, still walking.

She didn’t need to be tripping with her back in a brace. The road was clear and Doug felt like only someone like Xiao would trip up here. Then again, Amber was walking for more than a short distance when she’d gotten used to flying around everywhere. “What about Bado?” he asked, keeping an eye out ahead for her.

“Well they’re supposed to be gloves that can grab various things and I was trying them out yesterday,” Amber said. “I did grab you! But not very well. Oh, you know, I was thinking, I went in to save you like the heroes of stories, so does that make you my princess?”

If it had been anyone else, he would have gotten mad about that. Since it was Amber, he just laughed in embarrassment. “Ah, it takes more than being rescued to be a princess. Like actually being a girl.”

She laughed. “Oh yeah, there is that. But is it okay for a hero to rescue her prince?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be,” Doug said. “Though I hope I don’t have to be rescued again.”

“Me either,” she said, then hugged him again. “Hee hee, you are my prince, Doug. If you don’t mind. I might cause you more trouble, but I’ll try to make it only on accident.”

“Of course I don’t mind,” he said, putting an arm around her waist carefully. Yes, finally! “I already said, I was serious when I said that I loved you. I’ll try to keep you out of trouble too.”

“Thank you, I love you,” she said in a sweet way that was as beautiful as a sunrise.

Since he had to keep her on the ground, it was a perfect reason to take her hand as they strolled through the streets of Selphia. Bado happened to be outside of his shop, using the sunlight to polish some blades. “Hey kids,” he called while waving the polishing cloth. “Surprising to see you both on the ground.”

“Hi Bado!” Amber called, waving back. “Yeah, I got to stay walking today. Oh, and Dolly says the gloves aren’t anything magic. But they did grab lots of things. Even Doug! Though not very well. I think they’d sell better if you said they were comfortable, cause they are and I’m gonna replace my gardening gloves with them.”

Bado rubbed his forehead. “Ah… that’s good to know. I think. Glad to know you like them at least.”

“I hope that helps!” Amber called before continuing on their way up to the library.

Doug had a feeling she’d inadvertently insulted Bado with that advice, though it depended on if he’d made those gloves or not. Even if she had, it was something he didn’t mind keeping quiet about. If Bado was trying to present the gloves as potentially magical when they weren’t, then he did deserve the insult.

Outside the library, they found Leon using the protruding stone frame of a large window to do pull ups, several feet off the ground. “Why are you exercising using the architecture?” Doug called up to him.

Leon got himself perched with one foot and one hand on the window frame, in order to look down at them. “Why not? It’s here and I own the place. Did you think I keep this shape just sitting at a desk?” Then he jumped down and landed on his feet, making it look easy.

“That looks like fun,” Amber said, letting go of Doug’s hand to get her bag open. “I got your hat back from the twinkle bird.”

“Good, that’s one of my favorites,” Leon said, coming out of the bushes at the edge of the library.

“I was surprised to hear it made off with it when you were wearing it,” Doug said. But then that had been before it stole the necklace.

Leon’s ears shifted back. “Right, that bird is a complete nuisance. I thought it was kind of amusing with how little it was scared of people, but then it had to go and steal from me. Now I hear it’s stolen your ability to fly.”

“Yeah, at least for a few days,” Amber said, handing the hat back. “Here. I’ll be okay, though. I’ll just take care of some potted flowers and it’ll be fine.”

“Thanks. Hopefully you stick to it better than Lest did. I hear he went stir crazy when he broke his leg earlier this year.”

“Lest would’ve been in that cast most of spring if he didn’t,” Doug said.

“Well I specialize in flowers so it’ll be easier on me,” Amber said, taking a group of keys out of her bag. “Oh, and I was wondering, if you can tell about writers by holding their books, can you tell who owns these keys by holding them?”

“I’m not sure about that,” Leon said, taking one of the keys from her.

“Well I thought you’d do better than me because you have earth magic, so you should be able to hear metal better,” she explained.

“True, I could try,” Leon said, closing his hand over key. Silver lines flickered over his hand and face for a few seconds. “It takes more energy than the books, but, this belongs to Volkanon. How many keys did you get from the twinkle?”

“Just four,” Amber said, taking Volkanon’s key back and handing him a second.

“I can handle that.” Leon identified that key as belonging to Meg, then the third being Lin Fa’s. But when it came to the fourth (the smallest of the set), a confused expression came to his face. “This… I don’t recognize who it belongs to.”

“Oh, so it might have been one of the guests at the inn?” Amber asked.

He shook his head and passed it back. “I don’t think so. When I try to read it, I get only a faint impression of a man with far too little to identify him, just some sadness and facing a difficult problem. The key’s been buried in dirt for at least a year. A combination of digging monsters and rain brought it to the surface where the twinkle got a glimpse of it. Whoever it belongs to, they lost it a while ago.”

“Aw, so we might not find him?” Amber looked over the dirty little key. Rain must have cleared enough of the dirt to let the gold of it shine in the sun and to get the attention of the twinkle.

“It’s so small that it must belong to a jewelry box or something like that,” Doug said.

“Or a music box,” Leon said. “I think you can hear it too, Amber; there’s some song associated with that key.”

She closed her hand over it and put it by her ear. “Hmmm? Oh yeah! There is a song there. I wonder if this means the music box can’t play anymore. That is sad. Maybe I’ll keep it and see if anyone talks about a silent music box.”

“Then keep it good and safe since it’s valuable to someone,” Leon said. “Then have you found someone worth staying on the ground for?”

“Yeah!” Amber said, smiling wide at the question.

“Aw, Amber,” Doug said, feeling embarrassed. It only made her giggle.

“I hope she’s worth the embarrassment because she could get a lot more embarrassing if she wants,” Leon said with a smirk.

“But I’m gonna try to be more civilized and not be embarrassing,” Amber protested.

“Well then maybe you two won’t have many problems,” Leon said, ruffling Amber’s hair at that.

Doug thought that alone wouldn’t solve everything, though it would make things easier. After they were done talking with Leon, they headed up to the inn to return Lin Fa’s key and Xiao’s hair clip. Neither of the women were in the lobby, but Lest and Dylas were. “Hi guys, what are you doing here?” Amber asked.

“We’re working on Dylas’ conversation skills,” Lest said, waving to them. “What are you doing?”

“We’re returning stuff we got from the twinkle bird,” Amber said. “There’s something for Lin Fa and something for Xiao, so we came looking for them.”

“They’re upstairs cleaning rooms,” Dylas said.

“We should wait for them to get done,” Amber said. “Can we help with the talking lesson?”

“As long as things remain civil, sure,” Lest said. “How are you two doing after the accident yesterday?”

Amber sat on the couch with Lest once they were invited to join. “I can’t fly now and I have to take some medicines, but Jones says I’ll be fine.”

Doug felt a little wary of keeping things civil with Dylas. Then again, Amber was here and she tended to keep the peace more often than not. And if she couldn’t, Lest had the wits to cut arguments off before they fully erupted. Thinking it wouldn’t be too bad, Doug sat next to Amber. “I’m fine, thanks to her. Is that twinkle bird still hanging around?”

“I haven’t seen it today,” Lest said, a flicker of annoyance on his face. “I hope it’s gone. After you fell, I had Vishnal go up there to clear out the nest completely while I distracted the twinkle. With the three of us having fought it and its nest cleared, it should see this place as too troublesome to stay. I don’t mind monsters most of the time, but that one was a real pest.”

“Yeah, that one was mean,” Amber said.

“I heard it liked your twinkle tree too much,” Doug said.

That clearly got on his nerves. “Right. She was afraid because it kept plucking her leaves.”

“The tree’s a girl?” Amber asked, intrigued by that.

“Well some trees do have genders in different kinds of flowers,” Lest said. “The twinkle tree doesn’t, but I sense her dryad as female when I check on her. She has her own name too, but it's in tree feelings and not easy to put a word to.”

“I didn’t know trees could get afraid,” Doug said.

Lest nodded. “Any living being can feel fear when it is threatened. That goes for plants too; they feel basic emotions including fear. Although the twinkle tree is aware enough to know it was the twinkle bird snatching its leaves.

An aware tree? “Like some kind of monster?” Doug asked.

“No, monster trees are something entirely different,” Dylas said. “We fought one once in Yomikir Forest when we went to wake up Amber. The twinkle tree is special due to the magic it contains. I mean, I can’t communicate with plants like these two, but I’ve heard the twinkle tree greet me when I put my hand on it the other day.”

“She’s getting used to you visiting,” Lest said.

“Neat, I want to talk with her since she was sleepy last time I tried,” Amber said, her antenna twitching in excitement. Her wings shifted, making her wince.

“Sure, you can drop by any time,” Lest said with a nod. “Oh, and I was looking to get your help. Since your Rose of Ventuswill is growing well, I’ve been meaning to ask Illuminata to let me plant the rest she has in the central field. Since that is an easily accessed area, I’d like to turn it into a flower garden that people can visit and I’d need your help to keep the roses going.”

“That’d be fun, but I’m not supposed to be doing any big work in planting and such,” Amber said. “Hopefully it won’t be long.”

“Well if you’d come sing with me while putting them in, it’d be fine,” he said.

“They’d need a few days to soak in the elixirs anyhow,” Amber said. “What are you doing in the farms, Dylas? Checking on the plants?”

“Sometimes, but mostly it’s talking with Lest to get some practice,” Dylas said. “He speaks easily.”

“It seems to be working,” Amber said, smiling at him.

“That’s for sure,” Doug said, with half a mind to tease him. He managed to stop himself in time.

“I guess,” Dylas said with a shrug.

There were footsteps coming steadily down the stairs; it turned out to be Xiao. “Oh, he-o,” she said, smiling at them. “Helping out Dylas too?”

“Yup, but we also need to see you,” Amber said. “We got your hair clip back from the twinkle bird, and a key for your mom.”

Xiao sighed as she came over to them. “Oh, is that what happened to that key? At least she did not misplace it this time. Thanks. Are you two okay? I heard you fell off the roof.”

“I have to stay on the ground now, but we’re gonna be fine,” Amber said, having put the key on the table while she searched for the hair clip. “Oh, and there’s another key that we think goes to a music box. Is anybody at the inn missing a small gold key? Because Leon couldn’t identify or describe the man he saw in connection to the key.”

“I don’t believe that any guests has reported a missing key,” Xiao said. “I shall ask around about it, yes?”

“Well he also thought it had been buried in the ground, so it might have been lost for some time,” Doug said.

Xiao nodded. “I see. We could make a note of it on the inn’s posting board so that it doesn’t get forgotten.”

“Okay, that’ll help us find the owner,” Amber said, offering the hair clip to her.

“What are you doing, Lest?” Dylas asked, looking at the prince. “You’re softening all the runes and making the air mellow.”

“Did you just answer your own question?” Doug asked with a smile.

“Is the air mellow?” Xiao asked, puzzled.

“Um, yeah, but I just noticed,” Amber said, looking up.

Lest chuckled. “I’m just a keeper of the peace, don’t worry.”

Whether it was due to Lest or not, the conversation they had remained civil. That was mildly amazing, Doug thought as they left the inn. He even got at least one reason Dylas might be so quick to get hostile around him. Apparently at one of their first meetings, they’d talked for a short while and he had made some death joke. Doug didn’t remember that, although he did have a liking for that kind of joke. But Dylas hated them and that gave him the initial impression that he’d never like Doug. Most people didn’t seem to mind them or didn’t catch on. In the empire, they’d been pretty common among the soldiers he’d trained with. Now Doug was going to have to watch what kinds of jokes he told. But it was like he’d thought: Dylas wasn’t that bad of a guy when his temper was even. Perhaps whatever Lest had been doing influenced that.

They decided to pass through the central farm to get into the castle to return Volkanon’s key. Here, some of Lest’s work was already apparent. He had a pile of nice looking stones with flat surfaces on one side, with a few making the start of a curving path into the farm. They walked around the garden area and entered the servant’s wing. Clorica was there mopping the middle of the hall. “Hello,” she said, smiling at them. “If you want to pass through, you should use another hall.”

“We came to see Volkanon, wherever he is,” Amber said.

“Then he’s in his office, so please knock any loose dirt off your shoes before coming in,” she said, not even stopping her work. “Are you two doing okay after yesterday?”

“We’re fine, just she has to stay grounded for a few days,” Doug said. It was nice that people cared enough to ask even as they were walking around town.

“Aw, that seems like a sad thing still,” Clorica said.

“Well it’s not so bad cause I can go around with Doug!” Amber said happily, making him grin.

Clorica chuckled. “Hee, you two are cute together.”

“It’s good to see you both back on your feet,” Volkanon said, appearing out of nowhere behind them even though they hadn’t come in far enough to get to his office door yet.

“Geez, when did you come over here?!” Doug asked, nearly stumbling trying to get some space between them. Amber and Clorica just laughed.

“I’m where I need to be,” Volkanon said with a hint of pride. “What did you need me for?”

“I have a key of yours that the twinkle bird stole,” Amber said, holding out the key “Here you go.”

“Ah, thank you for returning it,” Volkanon said, nodding as he took the key back. “If you’re returning bird stolen goods, would you mind taking over some silverware to the restaurant? None of it belongs to the castle sets and some of it clearly belongs to them.”

“Okay, we were going there next anyhow,” Amber said. Volkanon went ahead into his office to retrieve a bag with a few forks and spoons in it.

While he was getting them, Doug thought of something. “Oh, Clorica, has Sven talked to you about what he plans to do with his schedule.”

“Um…” she paused in speech but not her mopping. “Oh, yes! That he was going to sleep during the day to not fight his element.”

“Aw, but then you wouldn’t get to see him as much,” Amber said, sad for her.

“Maybe, but I’d rather he go with his own rhythm than not,” Clorica said. “Besides, I work during the day and he works during the night, so we can see each other in the mornings and evenings.”

“Maybe you could work at night too,” Doug suggested.

She smiled. “Maybe someday. But for now, I have to work during the day under Volkanon’s watch.”

Once they had the silverware, they left the castle so they wouldn’t be in the way of Clorica’s work. Meg fussed over them at the restaurant, but was happy to have the key back. Porco was busy, so she had them set the silverware aside for some serious cleaning before they got put into use. As it was getting to be about noon, Meg sent them over to get Arthur so they could all share lunch together. It was a good thing, since he was the last person to return something to and lunch was an excuse to spend more time together.

Amber handed over the glasses first. “Sorry they’re smudged, I didn’t get a chance to clean them.”

“That’s fine, thank you for returning them,” Arthur said, looking over the glasses. “At least they didn’t get broken. I can’t wear these, but they are a nice pair.”

“Why do you keep them if you can’t wear them?” Amber asked.

“Well that’s part of the point of having a collection, having a whole set even if you don’t use all of it,” Arthur said. “I suppose if I really wanted, I could pull apart the frames and switch lenses for ones that work for me. But then the frames would have to be of the same size and shape to work. Besides, I think glasses are cute and I like having a variety even just to look at.”

“Maybe some glasses like those are cute,” Amber said, then looked at Doug. “Though that pair you have aren’t very cute at all.”

“Well, they’re made for their purpose and that’s it,” Doug said.

“What sort of glasses are you talking about?” Arthur asked, watching him curiously. “I never see you wear any.”

Doug took the rune sight glasses from his side bag. “I don’t often have a chance to use them, but I know I’m not going to find the like of them around here. They’re for seeing runes and chi, although even after using them a few times, I can hardly make anything useful out of them.”

“I guess they aren’t that cute, but they do seem intriguing,” Arthur said. “Rune sight? But they don’t have the rune markings that such things would ordinarily have. Is that Sechs tech?”

He nodded. “Right, it’s all their mechanics and chemical treatments that make them work.” Since Arthur still looked interested, he gave them to him for examining.

“They can go over other glasses too!” Amber said. “I know cause I wore yours and these yesterday at the same time. It was awesome and I got to see how Dylas and Lest see all the time. Or something like it. They say it’s easier to, um, filter out the information when talking with people with their regular sight.”

“If they invented these, I wonder if their technology does use some runic energy unlike we thought,” Arthur said, apparently thinking out loud. “Like Dylas and Lest, huh? They’re quite sensitive as I understand it. Would you mind if I tried them on?”

“Nah, go ahead,” Doug said.

Arthur was able to easily slip them over his current glasses, then look over at a crystal ball on his desk. He tapped it, watching the reaction. “Huh. This is something of an information overload, might even need specific training for usage. Certainly wouldn’t walk around in them, the runes get in the way of what’s actually there. Although I have some magic crafted glasses that give a very similar output.” He took them off and handed them back to him.

“Can you actually use those?” Doug asked, although he would rather keep these. It was too much of a risk if someone asked for them back and he didn’t have them. Plus, that would be a certain giveaway to his current loyalty if a Norad prince had them.

“Yes, although they’re less convenient than those because I have to swap glasses and it would be an unreasonable expense to combine my prescription with rune sight,” Arthur said. “I do find them useful to examine the runic signature of an item to assess its worth. Those are really interesting, but you probably still need them?” He probably had the same idea about buying a piece of technology from an enemy nation.

“Yeah, not often but there’s still some things to do with them,” Doug said, then mouthed thanks at him.

Arthur gave a knowing smile; it had been that. “Thanks for letting me see them, though.”

“Meg says you’ve got to come have lunch with us now,” Amber said.

“Of course, I,” he looked over the page he’d been working. “Actually, I could leave off without trouble. Shall we head over?”

“Dude, it’s just down the hall, no need to be formal,” Doug said.

Arthur chuckled. “Some habits are hard to break.”

The rest of the day seemed to fly by in a blur. They had a fun meal with Arthur, Meg, and briefly Porcoline, then headed for Carnations. After giving over Jones’ instructions to Illuminata and taking care of some flowers, Amber invited him to come upstairs to play some games with her. The talk really didn’t seem all that different from before, but it certainly felt different. He no longer had doubt or questions about why she acted around him like she did. This time, he knew she loved him, and that he loved her. After all, she was happy to be spending time with him even though she should be frustrated about being grounded and having some pains to deal with. She’d even forgiven him for the reckless decision he made that hurt her. Certainly he’d think twice before doing anything possibly dangerous now so he didn’t hurt her and Blossom again. That left just a bright happiness for Doug and a hope that this lasted.


	67. A Foreign Recipe

Summer 21

The general store kept basic items in the same locations, so Clorica tested herself on this shopping trip. While she got items from her list, she thought over breakfast for tomorrow morning. They had a regular schedule of what breakfasts to make on what day, but a change of pace would be nice. On reviewing the week's past meals and what she believed was in the castle pantry, she decided that a quiche would be good as a different breakfast. Lest's cluckadoodles were producing a good amount of eggs, although she had to consider what future plans for meals were too. That led her to add a small carton of eggs to today's shopping list in order to have enough for the quiche and other meals.

When done, she checked over her list and the items she'd gathered, making sure all were accounted for. It was, and she hadn't picked up anything unsuitable while planning ahead for tomorrow. Feeling accomplished, she smiled at Doug. “Okay, that's it.”

“All right, just a bit,” he said, still working on recording the purchases and putting together the bill. Once the sale was done, he added, “Hey, there's something I've been meaning to tell you lately.”

“What is it?” she asked.

He glanced around, then came around the counter. “Sven's birthday is coming up, on the twenty-eighth.”

“Really?” she said, feeling happy at the thought. “That's great to know. Do you want help planning a party for him?”

“Yeah, me and Granny were working on that,” he said, happy to have her help. “We wanted to make a meal he loves and got stuck on it. See, I know some things he really liked as a kid, but the trouble is that all the names I have for what our family made are in the dwarven language. Granny doesn't know what I mean and I'm not that great at describing them. So could you see about figuring out these recipes and trying to make them?”

“Sure, I'll give it a try,” Clorica said. Perhaps Leon could help as he knew so many languages. “Would you mind writing the names of the dishes down, though? I don't know if I could repeat what you say.”

He nodded. “Sure thing, I can do that now.” He took a piece of small notebook paper and wrote down a few items. “Should be enough in there to decide on a meal with dessert. Thanks a lot.”

“No, thanks for letting me help too,” she said, taking the list.

She went back to the castle to put the items away. Then she asked Volkanon about making the quiche and getting a bit of time to go check the library on the birthday meals. Surprisingly, he agree to give her some extra time right away to do so. “I think it's a worthy exception if you're researching a birthday meal for your boyfriend,” he said. “Just try not to take too long in it.”

“Okay, thanks,” she said. It would be another challenge for today.

On her way over to the library, she came across Frey looking upset. She was no longer the princess, but she was still a friend. Clorica paused to ask, “Is something the matter?”

“Oh, hi Clori,” she said, dropping her arms to her sides. “Well yes, though now I'm worried I took it too harshly. Sometimes I can't even tell if Leon is joking or not, though I hope he was. But if not, I really am going to be mad and he'd better apologize.”

“Arguing already?” she asked, worried about them.

“Yeah, but it might not be anything big. Don't worry about it; I'm just going to go do some forging and see if that clears my head so I can think about it some more. Sorry for bugging you, we'll be all right.”

“Okay, if you're sure about it,” Clorica said. “But ask for help if you need it.”

“Thanks, I might,” Frey said, then headed off to the castle.

While she wondered what they had argued about, it was probably best to leave that to them to figure out rather than interfere too much. She went to the library where Leon looked like he was moping over whatever had went between them. Clorica let him be for a moment to see if she could locate the recipes herself. At the card catalog dresser, she went to the golem who kept it. “Excuse me, do you have a recipe book with dwarven food recipes in the Norad language?”

The golem, looking much like a child's doll, considered it for longer than usual. “Search inconclusive,” it said. “Would you like language assistance?”

That meant she had to talk with Leon. “Mm, yes please.”

“What is it?” Leon called from the front desk, coming out from behind it.

She smiled. “Hi Leon. I was trying to find some recipes for Sven's birthday, but the names Doug gave me are all in their language.” She offered him the list.

“Ah, well I wouldn't be that familiar with their cooking,” Leon said, looking over it. “We should have some recipe books in the language. Give me the number on them.” The golem promptly gave him the library code to write down.

He wasn't being as lighthearted as usual, Clorica thought. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to prod a little. “Were you arguing with Frey?”

“Was she still mad?” he asked in response, looking worried.

“A little bit, but she went off to forge,” she said.

He scratched his head. “Maybe she'll calm down doing that. You don't have to worry about it, it was something dumb I did. I was trying to figure out how to apologize to her, since I'm not sure she'll take just a sorry this time.”

That gave her an idea. “Do you have your cooking license?”

“Yeah, I had to in order to grill my fish myself,” he said, looking over at her. “What about it?'

“You should get Lest to teach you how to make pancakes,” she said.

The bit of gloom he had vaporized right off. “Oh right, she did mention he used that and fireworks to bribe her into being a princess. If it worked for that, it should work for anything. Thanks, I'll have to see about doing that. But first I'll look into these recipes and see about translating them for you today.”

“Can you really do that so quickly?” Clorica asked, impressed.

“I'm sure of it,” Leon said. “Don't worry about paying me, considering it pay back for that tip. The translation part's fun anyhow.”

“Thank you, that helps a lot,” she said.

And he was right. Around 1600, Leon came in with the recipes. “These aren't anything fancy-smancy, just recipes a family would make for meals,” he said as he reviewed them with her.

“That's probably better because they're things he had when his family was still with him,” Clorica said, pausing over one. This one might count for a special meal since it looked like a lot of work was involved.

“You will want to test out the recipes first,” Leon advised. “I did try to get particular copies in order to better sense the measurement conversions, but they may not be entirely correct. If you need to adjust them, I can try sensing for them again to give you a better idea of it.”

“I think I can figure it out after trying them,” she said.

“So where is Lest?” he asked.

“He's in the kitchen because he wanted to make dinner tonight,” she said, then led him there as she wasn't sure if he'd been in this half of the castle much. As was custom, she knocked on the doorframe as she came in. “Lest, you have a visitor.”

He glanced over from his work at the stovetop. “Hi Leon.”

“What are you doing cooking when you've got three servants around?” he asked as he followed her in.

“Because I wanted to,” Lest said with a shrug. “I got some nice zucchini harvested this morning. What's going on? Frey's been trying to be mad but she's too upset to get there.”

“I did something dumb and now I need to apologize to her,” Leon said. “Clorica reminded me that she said she'd bribe you for pancakes at times, so would you give me your recipe for them?”

Lest chuckled. “That would work. Sure thing, but I don't have it written down or anything. I was taught by making them, so you come get a large mixing bowl and I'll tell you.”

Leon flicked an ear at that. “Ah, well I'd work better with something written. I suppose I'll just write it down as we go along.”

Anticipating that, Clorica went over to a drawer to pull out a blank recipe card and a pencil for Leon. “Here.”

“Oh, thanks,” he said, taking them and following her gesture to where the mixing bowls and spoons were.

She stayed in the kitchen to help them out when needed, but also to read over the recipes carefully. Aside from possible problems with measurement conversion, there was nothing difficult here. Some were quick dishes meant to be part of a meal for a busy family. Others would take some more work. But which ones? She had seven days until she had to have something decided on. But there was also work and training to do. If she would have to test the recipes out, she should focus on getting a few of them right rather than all.

Decisions... That reminded her of old memories. The first decision that was entirely her own was to stay here in Selphia to train under Volkanon. The rest of her family moved out five years ago when the trouble of keeping a prince or princess around became a problem instead of a curiosity. Eventually, her parents and older siblings decided that they didn't want to be caught up in the mess anymore. It was suggested one morning and by evening they were all ready to cut ties with Selphia. That was how they were, impulsive and impatient people who made decisions quickly and believed they were always right.

It wasn't like that with Clorica. She had to stop and think on decisions, even as simple as what earrings or hair ties to wear with her uniform. Back then, her older sister Collette had decided on her clothes every day because she took too long or fell back asleep. Clorica learned to cook from her mother, but everyone else in the family decided on meals and snacks without waiting for her input. She got assigned whatever chores were left over when her siblings claimed whatever most interested them at the time. If she'd accepted that way of things, she would have ended up in a job decided on by her mother. Probably a seamstress not because Clorica particularly liked sewing but because her mother thought designing and selling clothes was glamorous.

With all the complaining, she had foreseen that the rest of her family would decide to move weeks before they did. Clorica hadn't wanted that. The people she knew and loved were here: Forte and Kiel were her friends, as were Meg, Ellie, and Blossom, and she got to learn to cook better from Porco. Then there was Volkanon who claimed to only be a butler but was utterly amazing when one took the time to watch what he did in the background. He somehow kept the castle tidy and organized with only some part-time workers under him. When needed, he could help Forte fight off monsters, go repair or even build roads and bridges out in the wilds, put together big community events, and make it all look so effortless.

She had admired him for some time, even talking with him like he was the community grandfather. When she came to realize her family would leave and she didn't want to, she went to talk to Volkanon about it. He always listened even if she took more time. “The way things are, they're going to decide they don't like it anymore and move out in a blink. I'll end up dragged along to wherever they go without being given a moment to speak for myself. But I like Selphia and I don't want to leave.”

“That's a difficult place to be in,” Volkanon said sympathetically. “It is hard to get a word in edgewise around the others in your family even for assertive speakers. But if they left and you stayed, what would you do with yourself?”

“I'm not really sure,” she said after a moment. Because they decided things for her, having full freedom to decide what she wanted would be thrilling yet terrifying. What if she decided things wrong?

“Would you come with me a moment?” he asked, then brought her to his office where he gave her a book on being a butler. “If you're not sure, how about you train under me to become a certified butler?”

Then she would be as amazing as he was? “Huh, you'd train me?”

Volkanon nodded. “Of course, I think you have good potential in you. You're quiet and cheerful, plus I've seen that you like helping others. Read over that and see what you want. Just be aware that the training will be hard and take years. Much of my work goes without notice and that's how it should be. In order to do so, there are many things I must know and be able to do well.”

With that offer there, Clorica had been given a decision that no one else could interfere with. It took some time of reading and thinking for her to make it. But when her family decided they would go, she went to accept Volkanon's offer. However, he had to inform them that she was staying since they spoke and decided too quickly for her to keep up. Then it was five years of training where she mostly followed Volkanon's instructions. Making decisions was a little easier now, but still required thought.

She checked on Lest and Leon's progress; they were talking and seemed to be doing well. Looking back over the recipes, Clorica reminded herself that this was for Sven's birthday party. She didn't know which one was his favorite of the group and it would be a better surprise if she didn't ask him. Since it was a special day, she could set aside the quick easy dishes that were most likely every day foods. There should also be the meal and the dessert. She remembered him talking about how fruits, even dried, were hard to come by in dwarven towns. Those were special. In that, she picked out a dessert recipe that had fruit in it. It was a different kind of cake from the look of it, but she was sure she could figure it out.

For the main meal, she was left with two choices. One was a rice dish that had a lot of ingredients and took several hours to simmer together. On looking at it again, Clorica noticed that it was like something Blossom had taught her to do once, taking bits and pieces of things left from other meals to make a one dish meal with. Granny probably did something like this occasionally, so the only thing that made it different was the particular bits and pieces. Perhaps those vegetables and spices were common in dwarven households.

As for the second dish, it was the one she had first noticed out of the group when Leon gave them over. It was a bread recipe where a thick meat, vegetable, and sauce mix was spread over the dough, then rolled up to be baked. The bread had to be raised, the meat mixture had to cook to thicken properly, then it had to be formed and baked so that when sliced, the dish wouldn't fall apart. As the recipe specifically mentioned using the sealing spell on the bread after slicing off portions for the current meal, this was a food made so that all the work fell on one day and the rest could be consumed later on.

These really weren't fancy foods aside from some of the desserts if they were presented right. But they were good hearty meals that would be useful in a regular menu. She might even be able to work any one of these into the castle's routine without the others realizing right off they were from a different culture. Either one could work unless she wanted to ask Leon to look for something fancier. But then she knew Sven liked these and wouldn't know about the others until the day came.

What now? Clorica thought over her conversations with Sven to see if there was anything he'd said aside from the dried fruits. She remembered him saying that while he liked both bread and rice, Doug only liked rice. While it was Sven's party, it couldn't hurt to consider his cousin in the decision. Then again, Sven had said in the same conversation that Doug used to like some breads and the change had happened while they were separated. Perhaps he'd accept these breads. Then she recalled that he had mentioned liking a bread with meat and sauce rolled in it but he couldn't remember the name. But he hadn't mentioned anything about a rice dish like what was here. On that, perhaps it was better to try out the bread first.

With that decided, she noticed that Leon and Lest were making good progress on their cooking. “Would you like me to go get the others for dinner?” she asked.

“Yeah, I'm almost done and he should only take a few more minutes,” Lest said. “It's an odd meal together, but you two can stay over and share with us.”

“Sounds good, as long as Frey doesn't mind,” Leon said.

Clorica chuckled. “I think once she realizes there are pancakes, she won't care what else the meal is.”

“Wouldn't be the first time,” Lest said.

Volkanon and Vishnal were easy to find since they were both on the ground level. Down in the basement, Frey was at her crafting table doing some testing on a worn cloth with a few frayed edges. Before Clorica could even say dinner was almost ready, Frey showed her the cloth. “Look at this, you'd think it's normal, right? Just an old piece of cloth of the sort an orc would fancy. But it's really an amazing quality, the sort only the strongest orcs would claim if it wasn't starting to wear. It's got a lot of interesting magical factors too, which isn't that surprising since my scout golem brought it out of Rune Prana.”

Her saying that reminded her of something she'd always wondered. “Why do orcs get so possessive over cloth? Their clothes are leather or worn to tatters but they won't use the cloth they treasure and carry everywhere.”

“They're pretty smart for monsters,” Frey said. “They make some cloth themselves by claiming furs or strings from other monsters. Though why they love cloth so much isn't something I've read up on.”

“Huh.” Then she remembered why she was here when she felt hungry. “Oh right, I came down here to tell you that dinner is almost done. Well, probably done now. Lest said you and Leon could stay for the meal after he helped out with it some.”

“He's here then?” She looked sad and lost interest in the old cloth hearing that. “I was thinking that I should talk to him and explain some things. I guess if he's already here, we'll stick around for a bit. But then what's for dinner? Leon's alright as a cook but the recipes he makes are a bit limited.”

“Lest was helping him out, so he might pick up some more,” Clorica said.

“Pancakes?” she asked, hopeful and almost losing her sadness.

She smiled. “You should go up and see.”

“I hope it's that!” she said, then left the room without waiting. Clorica made sure the forge was closed before shutting the door. While she didn't like hurrying, this was an exception. This was something that would be better seen than heard.

Upstairs, there turned out to have been a mishap with the pancake lesson. Vishnal was helping Leon get pieces of a half-cooked pancake out of his hair. “I don't think that breaded hair is attractive in any manner,” Leon said.

“What happened here?” Frey asked, looking at them in disbelief.

“Leon tried to show off with a new recipe,” Lest said, having set up his part of the meal on the table.

“Well just flipping them out of the pan sounded easy,” Leon said, taking batter covered fingers out of his hair. “I did not mean to catch it with my head. Oh Frey, I decided to learn to make pancakes. Sorry about this morning; I'll explain when we get back home.”

“I have some things to explain too,” she said, going over to him. “I wasn't fully thinking it through either, sorry. But yay pancakes!” She then jumped at him in a hug, which ended up with the two of them kissing (and each with a little pancake batter in their hair now).

“Would you two get a room if you're going to keep that up?” Lest said, smiling at them. “Or join us for dinner, either option.”

While she still didn't know what the argument was about, Clorica was glad it had worked out.

* * *

 

Summer 28

As it was his birthday, Sven had the day off. He'd hoped to spend some time with Clorica, but she was busy with her work. He ended up spending the afternoon with Blossom in the store. In between helping customers, they talked a lot. “Do you have any children?” he asked.

“No, not my own children,” Blossom said. “I was married to a wonderful man, Bruce, but we could never have children together.”

“That’s sad, I think you'd be great as a mother or grandmother,” Sven said.

She smiled at that. “Thank you, dear. Even if it was sad when we first figured it out, it all worked out nicely in the end. It wasn't long after that when a family across town was going through hard times with their daughter. She tried to run away, but ended up hurt outside of town. When I found her, I brought her back here and she worked with us for three seasons until she worked out her troubles with her parents. Even when she moved back in with them, she still worked here and treated us like a second set of parents.”

“That’s a good thing,” he said. In both ways, them for taking the troubled girl in and the girl for continuing to help.

“That’s not the end of it either,” Blossom said. “Not long after that, we came across two other runaways in one week, both from different towns. Airships were new at the time and there was a romantic idea among the youths of leaving home on an airship and making a new life elsewhere. We ended up taking them both in, helping them through their troubles while they helped us realize that we didn't need our own children if we had these children to help.

“Then we had another girl show up in the shop asking if she could stay with us. She was only eleven, but she had a dream of being a priestess and had come here trying to be one for Lady Ventuswill. While Ventuswill refused to have her, she suggested that the girl come to us and study what it meant to serve.”

“That must have been a great thing for you two, having Lady Ventuswill recognize what you were doing,” Sven said.

She nodded. “Yes, it was like finding our own calling in life. She eventually moved on and became a priestess as she wanted, one widely acknowledged for her kindness and wisdom. And we kept finding troubled youths to help. At one point, we had six children unofficially adopted like that. It could be exhausting some days both physically and emotionally keeping up with them. But no matter what troubles they gave us, it was a wonderful feeling when they found their answers and could make their own way in life as happy and good people.”

“Did you take in Doug like that?” he asked. He knew that his cousin first came here as a spy and lied about various things. But he must have been troubled too, having been trained by the empire and living there for five years. Even though he suffered the loss of his hometown, there wasn't much sympathy or warmth in the empire that Sven had seen. It would have been a very lonely suffering.

“At first, but he's become rather special out of all the youths I’ve taken in,” Blossom said, a mix of sadness and happiness to her words. “I wasn't sure at first if I could. For one thing, Bruce passed away three years ago, bless his soul. We didn't have any of our kids at the time and I didn't think I could handle one on my own. But then Doug came into town and I could tell he was one of the lost youths even though he was more polite on the surface than the others. There was a coldness to him, not in cruelty but in loneliness. It was in the way he followed conversations like he wanted to join in but was forcing himself to keep quiet.”

“I couldn't imagine him being quiet,” Sven said.

Blossom chuckled. “Right, that coldness was quick to melt away as I kept showing him love and kindness. You can't just say you love someone, you have to continually show it. Maybe in small actions every day if that's all you can do, like making sure how to ask how they feel or how their day was, or listening when they're unsure of something. While Doug didn't want to talk outside of some politeness, I kept asking him little things and making sure he was taken care of. Then I got ill and I got to see his true face when he dropped all of his other plans to take care of me. I had gotten so little of his story at that point that it was a pleasant surprise that he'd care so much even if his heart was still closed up tight. With many of the others, they were so caught up in their own ordeals that it was hard for them to care about other people, even Bruce and I when we were taking care of them while they sorted things out.”

“You and your husband must be extraordinary people to keep helping the youths out even when you know they're going to act like that,” he said.

“I don't think so, we just liked helping,” she said. “Actually, I learned more out of Doug once you came than I had in all the time we'd been living together.” Then her eyes seemed to twinkle when she looked at him. “But what was your home like growing up?”

He had to laugh at the way she said it, trying to sneak bits of Doug's story out of him. “It was crowded, for one thing. There was his parents, Doug, and his two older sisters at first, then my parents moved into their attic with me when I was a baby. Once I was old enough, they set up a room for the girls in the basement while the two of us boys and his parents had the actual two bedrooms of the house, and my parents stayed in the attic room. It wasn't even as big as this building either.”

“Oh my, that's quite a snug home you must have had,” Blossom said, delighted at the thought.

“We thought it was great,” he said. “Doug and his sisters got along with my parents so well that they started calling them mom and dad, so I grew up calling my aunt and uncle mom and dad too. Then we'd get to confuse people by talking about our dad and when they asked about him, one of us would say, 'oh, we mean his dad, not mine'. I could call for my mom and both her and my aunt would answer. That was great, nobody felt left out and everybody cared about each other.”

“That’s the kind of confusion that would be grand to live with,” she said in agreement.

Sven smiled at the thought. “Yeah. Although, Doug and I were supposed to be the ones in the basement, not his sisters. But then I was really sickly and weak growing up. I fell down half the basement stairs one time because of that, so they quickly had us switch rooms. But since we were sharing a bedroom, Doug often helped take care of me too. He'd even stay in to read me stories if I couldn't leave bed.”

“He’s done that for me a few times this past winter,” Blossom said. 'He’s really good at it too.”

“Yeah, he got that from dad, I mean, his dad, because he would read to the three of them and eventually me too. Doug and I loved the adventure stories most of all, of questing across the land and finding magical places and treasures. I remember one time we ended up talking about the long story we were being read in the evenings when I got tired of running around. When I said that I could never do that, he told me, no, someday the two of us were going to go out on a quest adventure of our own. We'd even rescue some princesses and become kings, that was his plan. But even now when that's probably not going to happen, I still feel really happy to remember that.”

She laughed. “Oh, you're both young, it may still happen. Although, I can tell you that if you make a girl feel like she's a princess, she may one day make you feel like a king even if that's far from the truth of your circumstances. And it doesn't really take much to make someone feel special, just as long as you put your heart into it.”

“I’d be happy with that, I think,” Sven said, briefly imagining what it'd be like if Clorica was a princess. Although he couldn't help but think that because she'd trained to be a butler for several years now, she might find herself at a loss of what to do being on the other end of that kind of relationship.

And just then, Clorica came into the store carrying a food basket. “Hello!” she said, cheerful as always.

“Hello Clorica, good to see you,” Blossom said with a warm smile.

“Hello, hope the training's not wearing you out,” he said, smiling as well. It was hard not to smile around her.

“I can handle it,” she said confidentially. Then she hugged him. “Happy birthday, Sven! I brought over the food for your party.”

“Really, that's what you were doing today?” he asked. He wasn't about to say it here, but he did like her cooking best.

“Of course, I wasn't about to be left out of things,” she said. “I hope you like it, I've never tried cooking dwarven foods before.”

She’d actually brought in a very nostalgic meal for him, almost exactly what his own mother might make for his birthday meals as a child. While she said that they were everyday kinds of foods rather than a fancy meal, it was still special to him. It didn't take much to make a person feel special. Sven started thinking on what he could do to make Clorica feel really special and loved too.


	68. A Fairy Tale

Summer 28

The castle looked different tonight. The inhabited buildings around the plaza had their lights shut off in respect for tonight's ceremony, leaving just the moonlight and torch light illuminating the area. Around the edges, some people waited although they wouldn't be seeing any part of this. All they would see was the very start, when Forte silently reviewed them lined up in front of the entrance to the castle. Tonight, Sven was to be knighted along with Corrin and Art.

Even with reassurance from his family and girlfriend, Sven felt nervous. The town had already accepted him to serve Selphia as a knight and he'd passed their test on knowing the local laws and customs. None of the people involved would be cruel enough to bring him to this point only to reject him, he tried to remind himself of that. Still, he was a danger and they knew it. Even with his new armor on, he was prone to possessions. He also didn't entirely trust himself to not hurt someone if he got panicked enough. It made him doubt that they really did accept him.

Inside the castle, Ventuswill and Prince Lest were waiting for them. This was a formal ceremony with no detail left undone; even Lest's two fox golems had been cleaned up to fit the occasion. Forte saluted the divine dragon and prince for a silent acknowledgment from both, then took a place to the side to watch over the proceedings. Then the three of them gave a salute as well, with a deeper bow than Forte had given. It was all a matter of respect and rank; even with the age of the two others, they were joining at a lower rank than Forte. Sven had wondered how that was going to work, whether she would be the superior of all of them or just him. On a recent adventure that Forte, Corrin, and Art had gone on, apparently some agreement had been reached. Sven didn't know the full details of it, but felt it was best if he simply showed all three of them respect.

After a brief greeting, Ventuswill said, “With a population so small, we would hope that one knight is enough to protect the whole town. Yet we are currently dealing with a threat of war from one of our neighbors and a threat of despair and destruction from the ghost of my predecessor. As such, we are grateful that you three have come forward to protect Selphia in accordance to the code of chivalry. Be aware that the words spoken now will be binding. Arthur Lest Lawrence, step forward and explain your reason for serving our land.”

Art did as asked, being called first as the eldest. “Lady Ventuswill, I have taken the oath of a knight before and I still follow the meaning of it every day, to protect the lands of all Norad. A question of what makes a knight made me give up my title before, with the allowance that should Corrin be accepted as a knight of Norad, I would return to service as well. It may only be Selphia that has accepted her, but given that you also honor Forte as a knight, I have no hesitation in following my word and giving my allegiance to Selphia at this time.”

Ventuswill nodded to that. “Your reasons may be purely rational, but I see that you have the heart of a true knight. We will accept your oath, but given the allowance you have made before, we will have you step back until we make Corrin's oath official. Does that suit your honor?”

“Yes, my lady, I am grateful you acknowledge it.” He stepped back in line with the other two.

“Corrin Nolan, step forward and explain your reason for serving our land.”

She came forward and nodded her head. “Lady Ventuswill, I have lived in accordance to the knightly code of conduct I was taught as a boy. However, my reasons for wishing to protect this land are entirely personal. This community has accepted both of my children warmly, so I wish to protect them and their neighbors as my own from now on.”

“I think that’s a splendid reason for service,” Ventuswill said, nodding in approval. “We will accept your oath.”

Lest then came forward to carry out the knighting, asking his father to swear his life, loyalty, and sword to the region of Selphia and its people. Since Art had already given his reason, Lest then had Corrin go to stand with Forte and repeated the ritual with the elder knight. That left just Sven standing there, doubts trying to say that it would end there. But it wouldn’t. They couldn’t do that to him.

Finally, Ventuswill looked down to him. “Sven Geisel, step forward and explain your reason for serving our land.”

At least speak calmly, he told himself as he stepped forward. “Lady Ventuswill, your prince has saved my life and given me a chance at a greater blessing from the earth. All I have to give in return is my price as a defender, so I wish to use that to defend him and everyone else here who has accepted me with kindness.”

“That is a noble way to follow your calling,” Ventuswill said. “We will accept your oath.”

It was a given, but Sven still felt a sense of relief as Lest asked for him to kneel. The prince smiled briefly, but carried out the ritual just as solemnly as the other two. Once the ceremony was over, they moved to the servants hall to discuss a guard schedule. Most of it was as expected, with Forte and Corrin covering the day shifts and Art and Sven covering the nights.

But there was a surprise in some further training for him. “I’ve done what I can to teach you the code of chivalry, but Art will be taking over such lessons for you now,” Forte said.

“All right,” he said, but he felt honored in this. He recalled talk of Art being a famed instructor for squires and young knights back when Corrin had been a squire. He could only have gotten wiser with all these years.

“We need to talk about that tonight,” Art said. “Come over to my place.”

Art was now living near the clinic, the house closest to the archway to Dragon Lake. It was a small house, basic on the ground level. In the basement, though, he had already set up a practice area with training dummies, weights, and some less powerful weapons than his main axe. With straw mats on the floor and plenty of open space, it was good for training weapons with a wider attack range like both of them used.

But it wasn’t about weapon training that Art wanted to talk about. “I’ve heard that your old armor fought in the last war for the Sechs in spite of you still being a boy.”

“Y-yes, it would only follow select people that didn’t include me,” Sven said. Was he against him for being from the empire?

It didn’t seem like it. Art kept his eyes on him as he said, “One of the hardest lessons to teach about chivalry is that no matter what words you frame it in, be it honor or patriotism, the skills of a knight are meant to defeat and kill the enemy. Duels may occur where each participant will come away alive, but our truest call of service is in battle where death will come to any participant.”

“That’s true, even when we want to protect others, we may have to kill the threats against them,” Sven said. Although the thought started making nasty memories bubble up in his mind.

Art nodded. “Most new knights have yet to realize just how much it will affect them to actually kill another person. Some even have trouble dispatching monsters for having sympathy for them. For most people, it is not natural to want to kill another person. That’s how it should be, yet there is still conflict. But you have a completely different trouble in that you have seen the ugly side of war and no one was willing to help you deal with it.”

“The only people who knew I was in there ignored me completely,” he said, barely keeping himself from trembling.

“I’ve seen some horrific battles myself,” Art said. “Perhaps not to the extent you have. But I know it’s most important now to help you past that guilt. It will be a slow gradual process and it may always cause you some pain. Still, we will do what we can to help you continue healing.”

Just looking at him was enough for Sven to know that Art knew what he was talking about, rather than others who sympathized but had no idea what it was like to watch someone die right in front of you. That was reassuring. They talked for a couple of hours, with Art giving him some things to think over while he was on patrol that night.

* * *

 

Summer 32

Early one morning, Amber got a surprise when Sven came to visit her at the flower shop. “Did you want to see how our deal was going?” she asked him. “They're doing well!”

“That's good to know, but I have something official to talk with you about,” he said. He was trying to be formal like Forte was, but he was clearly worried.

“Did I do something wrong again?” Amber asked, trying to think of anything she'd done recently.

He shook his head. “No, that's not it. Three visitors went missing yesterday, a young couple and their toddler; Lin Fa says they never returned to their room. After asking around, I found that they had gone into Yokmir Forest. I went in to look for them, only finding them about an hour ago. However, they were captured by a fairy that teleported me away when I tried to get them back to town. I need your help to convince the fairy to let them go.”

“Maybe the fairy just thinks she's playing with them,” she said. “Okay, I'll try to get her to let them go. Um, I should bring some honey. That could help.” She went to go get a bottle of honey, then left town with Sven to go back to the missing family.

Sven knew where they were, which was good because the forest had different paths than Amber was used to. She could find some easier ways to get where they were going. Through her antenna, she could sense the air moving through the trees and tell how things were all around them. It was a lovely summer morning here, with speckles of sun coming through the trees and rich colors everywhere. But people were in trouble and she couldn't get distracted in how nice it was.

In a small clearing near the lake she remembered Ven crashing into long ago, they found the fairy with the three visitors. It seemed like they were having fun dancing. The fairy, a small normal one with rosy orange pigtails, had set up a fairy ring of mushrooms for the adults to dance in. Looking closer at them, it didn't look that fun. They had tired eyes and a misstep caused them both to fall over. Neither of them got up right away even though the musical air around them tried to rouse them into more dancing.

“ _Aw, come on, we're not done with this song yet,”_ the fairy said. As a normal one, she wouldn't have the ability to speak Norad even if she could teleport people and make fairy rings all by herself. The toddler wasn't dancing, instead taking a nap in a sunny patch near the fairy.

Amber tugged at Sven. “I'll talk to her. You sneak over and pluck a few of the mushrooms out of the ground, then pull them out through that break in the ring. But don't step in yourself. Only girls can cross in and out of a fairy ring safely, and she doesn't count because she's a mother.”

He nodded. “All right, I'll do so.”

Thinking it would help to come in a different way, Amber flew through the trees to come out behind the fairy. “ _Hello! What're you doing?”_

The fairy turned around looking angry, but then saw her hovering here. Her mouth and eyes opened wide in surprise. “ _Huh? What kind of fairy around you? You look kind of like Ambrosia, but not.”_

“ _Ambrosia was a mean old fairy who stole my body,”_ Amber said with a frown. Then she smiled. “ _But, I got it back! I'm Amber. What's your name?”_

“ _Oh geez, I thought Ambrosia was gone, leaving only that wacko Emerald as a strong fairy around here,”_ she said. “ _I'm Cerisa and I'm going to be strong and clever soon.”_

“ _Hee hee, I hope you make it._ ” Seeing Sven out of the fairy's sight taking a mushroom from the ring, Amber added, _“What are you doing with this wingless one?”_

Cerisa smiled proudly. “ _She's how I'm going to prove my worth to be one of the elementals! I'm gonna be her matron and only the best of fairies can be so. If I have a little one, then I'll be one of the best.”_

“ _I don't think it works that way,_ ” Amber said. She knew that Saffron had already been a powerful Yellow when she took her in. _“Can you really take care of a wingless one? They have to stay on the ground and they don't have powers of their own for a long time. You have to protect them from lots of things, including the weather.”_

“ _Well I'll watch her, make sure she knows how important happiness is, and maybe protect her if she gets in big trouble,”_ she said.

“ _But there's more than that! She can't even get food for herself now. Besides, she already has parents. She doesn't need a matron.”_

Cerisa stuck her tongue out at her. “ _Boo, parents are dumb. I hear they make lots of rules. Besides, the ones she has are totally boring. They thought taking a slow walk and talk through the woods was fun. Imagine that! They thought dancing was only for special occasions, not for every day fun. So I made them see how fun it is. They can dance forever until they drop dead.”_

“ _That's a dumb plan!”_ Amber said, clenching her fists. “ _They weren't doing anything wrong. And you can't become a strong clever matron just by wilting the wingless one's parents. That's not clever at all and you have no idea how to be a matron. So you don't deserve her.”_

“ _You're just saying that because you're big and can bully the rest of us,”_ Cerisa said, mad enough to turn red in the wings. At her side, the toddler woke up from the yelling and looked at them baffled.

“ _I'm saying it because it's wrong to kill others for any reason_ ,” she said.

“ _All I'm doing is returning them to the forest like any other. Hmph, you've got a stink of civilization to you. You're no fairy.”_ She crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed.

“ _Well I was a wingless one myself once,_ ” Amber said. _“Then I became a guardian so they called me Amber Yokmir, and then I got woke up and become a winged one. And returning doesn't work that way with humans and dwarves and such. They're native to this world, while all of you are native to the forest. That's why it's returning when fairies and monsters are sent there. But it's killing if you try to return the natives.”_

Strangely, that made Cerisa afraid. _“W-wait, what? You're the guardian spirit of the forest? And also loved by the earth? How did you get so strong?”_

“ _I'm not that strong; you should see my fellow guardians.”_ Behind the fairy, she saw that Sven had the parents out of the circle, offering them his own water bottle to take away a bit of their exhaustion. “ _Or Sven over there, he's strong and he's not even a guardian. I'm just one of the divine wind's friends, that's all.”_

Cerisa turned around to see that her fairy ring was broken and her captives freed. Now she was shifting to pale colors in fright. “ _Eek, you're pretty, strong, and clever! So if you say I'm unfit to be a matron, um,”_ she wailed and flew off through the trees. Amber would have felt bad for scaring her off, but then she had been planning to making the parents dance themselves to death.

Amber picked the child up; she was heavier than she thought, but Amber still brought her over to her parents. “Okay, I think she won't be staying in the forest now,” she said.

Seeing their child awake and unharmed, the mother held out her hands for her. “Thank you so much, both of you,” she said in a weary voice. “I didn't realize fairies were so cruel; she could have been left alone with that monster.”

That made Amber feel sad. She didn't want to think of fairies as monsters, although technically they were since they came in and out of the world the same way as most monsters, through gates. However, Cerisa had been cruel and didn't admit to being wrong. There had been others back in the old days that were cruel too in trying to seek happiness. But not Saffron.

“I'm sorry you all got in trouble with her,” Sven said. “Amber, are you doing well with your teleport spell? It'd be the best way to get them back to town and into the clinic if you are.”

“Yeah, I've been practicing,” she said. Although, she hadn't teleported more than herself and some items since she'd first used it. Amber took a moment to silently pray that she got them all back nicely before she cast the spell to return them to the town plaza. Sven had to support the man on the short walk over to the clinic, while the woman took their child's hand to follow.

After following them to the clinic, Amber told Jones and Sven what the fairy had been doing to the family. It wasn't nice to be speaking of these bad things, but the doctor had to know so he knew how to take care of them quicker. As exhausted as the parents were, they were still worried about their child and if she had been affected by fairy magic too. Seeing that gave Amber the sad thought of wondering if her birth parents had felt like this when Saffron had become her matron. She'd never given much thought to them after hearing that her father wanted to take Saffron's wings off. But, maybe they weren't so bad? If Amber had taught Saffron to be good, maybe she had been more like Cerisa at first. There was no way to know... unless Heather had found out somehow and wrote about it in the books that Frey kept.

It was a long shot, but Lumie said that even long shots were worth taking if there weren't many other options. She didn't need to be around the clinic now, so Amber left for the castle. Most likely, Frey would be in the castle or library. Fortunately, she found Vishnal who said that Frey wasn't around the castle today, so she could go check the library before searching the larger castle. Frey was there at the library, in the sitting area with Leon as they were surrounded by old books and scrolls.

But Frey had hers in her lap while Leon was reading from his. “The guy needs a booming voice, I think,” Leon said. “Anyhow, this is one of the parts... 'Standing fast in spite of harsh words, his brother said, Yes, you are the solitary king and that was your undoing. We are not creatures meant for a lonely life. If you gave your queen more than a ceremonial relation, you would have had her love and loyalty. If you gave your subjects more than a formal coldness, you would still hold power. I went out into the world and helped others, thus they came back to me when I was in need. The earth is forgiving, but relying on yourself alone weakens the blessings it gives you until you find yourself without them entirely. The answer to why you lost the love of the earth was because you did not have love for the earth.' Does that sound right?”

“Some of the things like 'formal coldness' aren't exact, but the wording does match the meaning I take from it,” Frey said.

“If I do exact faithfulness to translation, it might be harder to read,” Leon said.

“Especially on modern readers.” She then noticed Amber as she was listening in while standing behind Leon. Frey smiled. “Hi Amber! Did you need something?”

“Hi, yeah, if you're not too busy,” Amber said. Frey and Leon often did important things, although they did lots of fun things too. “I was wondering if something was in your collection of books.”

“I have lots of books still, but I'll give it a try,” Frey said, putting a mark in the book she had in hand. “I could use more of a break from getting through Darryl's work. What is it?”

She thought about how to ask it a moment. “Well, I met a silly fairy today, though she turned out cruel too. But it made me wonder about my birth parents and if Heather ever found out about them. I didn't really care back then, but she worried about them for me and said that she'd send letters to nearby towns seeing if they were around. Since that wasn't long before I went to sleep, I never heard about if she found them. Something like that is something Heather would write down, so if she did, it'd be in your books.”

“Actually, that sounds familiar.” Frey sat back and thought about it. “I might have read about that.”

Already? Amber's eyes went wide. “Whoa, really? But why'd you never say anything?”

She smiled. “Sorry Amber, but I've been reading about every day since I could. It's hard to remember everything that I've ever read. Then someone mentions something and I can recall what book it might have been in. Sometimes even what it was, though this is vague. Must have not read that particular one many times, or kept skimming past that section.”

“Oh yeah, Lumie says her head's not big enough for all that she's learned too. That's why she wrote it all down.” Maybe that's why Frey had so many books from her family. They kept learning too much to keep in their heads until reminded.

“Yeah, she probably doesn't have a lot of room with that ego of hers,” Leon said with a smirk.

“Doesn't quite work that way, but if that explains things for you. Come on, Amber, let's go find that book.”

“Yeah!” Amber followed her back over to the castle, staying on the ground this time. She could get there faster through the air, but the others in town couldn't keep up with her like that.

Frey brought her down to her personal library where a lot of shelves were stuffed into the room. The room was so full of magic in the shields and books that Amber could feel tingles in her antenna. Checking the side of some shelves, Frey went to one section quickly. “Okay, Heather... it would have been after the earthquakes that toppled Syra because that's when a large influx of people came to live here... this should be it.” She took one book out and began flipping through it. “One thing I should say before I let you see this is that if I remember it right, it is a sad part to read.”

“Oh, that's bad,” Amber said, momentarily wondering if she wanted to read it. But, more important than keeping happy, she wanted to know about them. “I guess it can't be helped. I want to know about them, even a bit.”

“They'd be happy to know that you're living with a lot of friends now, I'd think,” she said, stopping at a part. After flipping the page, then back, she nodded. “This is the one. Don't mind the left pages; they just say the same thing as the right ones in a different alphabet.”

Amber took the book and saw that there were different kinds of letters all over this book. At least she could read the right. “Okay, thanks.” What she found was a journal entry where Heather wrote about meeting Amber's mother.

'Not much progress on the ether sea research lately. It's more important to work together to get enough houses up for everyone by the time winter comes. There's been talk of building a castle around the shrine, which I think is a bit silly. Ven's not the sort to live in a castle, at least I don't think so. However, she doesn't seem to mind even though she's not outright agreed to let them do it. She did insist that I have plenty of farmable land within the town as that would help her too. It would be nice to preserve some part of this meadow.

'I did stumble on something I've wondered about when an old woman asked me more about the two guardians. She didn't want to say anything at first, but Rose eventually admitted that she thought Amber was her missing child. When I asked how that was when she was as old as she was, she said it was part of the fairy's curse that made her and her husband grow old well before their time. He had even died of ailments that a man his proper age should have easily been able to survive.

'As it turned out, that fairy was feared in Syra for many years. She had a habit of luring unmarried girls out of town and out of their clothes for an entire night's dance, after which the girls would come back into town in confusion. Rose herself had been taken by the fairy on several occasions, including once where she broke her foot badly enough that she never walked normally again. Once she got married, she thought she was safe. But then her husband's younger sister drowned early one morning as a result of the fairy's antics. James was furious at having his wife handicapped and his sister killed, so he called for an increase of efforts to dispatch the fairy to the Forest of Beginnings.

'But Saffron was a powerful fairy even then. She took offense and cursed Rose and James, then swapped out Amber for a small goblin before taking off south with her. Everyone in Syra searched for her, but nobody managed to find the pair. While they had been relieved that Saffron was gone, it was odd for me to hear this after the one time I spoke with Saffron, shortly after Amber became the second guardian. She certainly didn't seem like one who'd be that much of a menace. Perhaps what she said about Amber giving her a heart was true.

''I apologized to Rose for not being able to find her or not being able to stop Amber from becoming a guardian before they could find each other again. Rose said that it was nothing I had to be sorry for. In truth, she was content with having the mystery solved and knowing that Amber would get a chance to continue her life once her duty was over. She is illiterate, but she asked me to keep an old locket she had when she and her husband married so that it could be passed to Amber eventually. They didn't have her long, but Rose said they both hoped she had a happy future and learned to be kind.'

Off to the side, there was a small note with a little pocket of paper mirroring it on the left side. 'Sorry, but the locket got broken and the blacksmith cheated me by melting it down for the gold rather than repairing it. I did manage to preserve the shell portrait, so it should just need a new locket. -Lisa'

“There's a picture of my parents in here,” Amber said, holding the book out to Frey. “Um, but it's going to be really old, right?”

“Yeah, that would be frail after so much time even under protection,” she said, looking over the note from Lisa. “On shell, hmm? I remember that being mentioned in various journals, making portraits on pieces of shell. Let me get some tweezers, we'll still want to be careful with it.”

Amber found a bookmark nearby, so she marked that page and looked earlier in the book to see if she could find mention of that talk with Saffron. That would be interesting to know about. While it wasn't there, she noticed all the books had years on them. She just had to pick up the previous book and look through there to find it.

'I can forgive Mom for what happened, but I can't forgive Dad. I had noticed before when he guided her into doing things, but I thought nothing of it. After all, Mom would forget to eat and sleep if she got distracted in work. She had married him because he took care of her and didn't mind having to repeat things for her. I didn't think that was bad. With this, though, it's clear he manipulated both Mom and Amber into doing this.

'He says he did it so that I wouldn't end up making myself a guardian after I kept talking about how frail Ventuswill was getting. He didn't want to lose me. But that's not enough to have put her at the rune spring! If I did decide to become one, I would have talked to Ven first and made sure there was nothing else I was missing that could be worked on. There's also her feelings to consider. I know she gets sad at mention of Leon, and now she's really upset over losing Amber too.

'At least I managed to convince Mom that Dad did something wrong in taking advantage of them both. All he had to do was put the idea of using etherlink to make a new guardian in her head and make sure her mind didn't stray from that idea, then convince Amber to go along with it. And Amber's grasp on common sense is far different than most people. I'm afraid that he presented only the benefits to her rather than the risks. Dad's left us now, which could make things hard in trying to get Mom into a routine of picking up chores he did. However, I don't want to see him again after this.

'Anyhow, I had a visitor today, Amber's matron Saffron. That surprised me since I thought this yellow elemental disliked humans enough that I've never met her even as Amber's best friend. It turns out she's been watching us and with Dad leaving, she got brave enough to ask me what happened to Amber. Even though fairies have a bad reputation, she was clearly saddened to have her missing; I told her the truth as best I could in their language.

'Her response surprised me, but there's some things in it that I think should be recorded. As best as I can remember and translate, Saffron said, “At first I was afraid she'd meet a man and leave me, but then she gave a bit of her heart to me. It grew and I began to think that maybe that wouldn't be so bad, since that's what you humans say makes you happy. I didn't expect her to leave me by taking a long sleep like that. But she means to protect this land and the dragon? That is an amazing thing to do. Perhaps I could sleep in the forest myself to see her again in the future... but no, if I returned, memories of this world would fade into the shining glow that lures us back. The food and sun are wonderful here. Or, since I do have a heart now, maybe I will remember and be more than I should.”

'She wouldn't explain more than that. She just thanked me for letting her know and went back to the forest. Still, memories of this world fade into the shining glow that lures monsters back. Maybe that's why they keep moving back and forth? Their home is in the Forest of Beginnings, but our world is wonderful to them.'

By then, Frey had come back and was carefully taking the portrait out of the other book. “Find something interesting?” she asked.

Amber nodded. “Yeah, Heather met my matron Saffron too. My mother remembered Saffron as being a mean fairy who played cruel tricks, including swapping me for a goblin! She even made a girl so confused with dancing that she fell in the water and drowned. But I remember Saffron as being really nice for a fairy, and Heather wrote that Saffron said I gave her a bit of my heart and it grew in her. Saffron taught me lots of things, but it seems like I taught her lots of things too without realizing it.”

“People change over time; I guess that counts for fairies too.” Frey then put the portrait in her hand and cast a spell over it, making white lines appear on her skin. “And... there, the preservation spell was really weak on this, so even I could break it to put a new one on. Still, be careful with this.”

“Thank you,” Amber said, taking the portrait carefully. It was on a piece of white shell the size and shape of the fingernail on her thumb. Someone had managed to make two head portraits of her parents in tiny detail there, even making them look quietly happy together. On the left, her mother had long blond hair and green eyes. On the right, her father had short green hair and gray eyes. Amber thought she might even recognize them in person based on this. “Wow, this is amazing.”

“I know, it's such a teensy little thing, but the artist had great skill to do this,” Frey said.

“But it had been in a locket,” Amber said. “Could you make a new one for me if I did something in return for you?”

“I could,” Frey said, but smiled at some idea. “Although, this reminds me of something Lest said the other day. I'm pretty good at crafting and forging, but they say hardly anybody can top dwarves at either trade. That's why Bado is great even though he's lazy. Maybe if you ask nicely, you could get Doug to make one for you.”

That would make it even more special! “Whee, that'd be great! I'll try asking him first.” She helped put the books back in place, then hurried out of the castle to find where Doug was.

He wasn't at home, but Granny suggested that she look for him at the lake. Amber nearly got distracted when Doomgale flew up near her and asked if she wanted to race. While it sounded fun, she wanted to ask about this first. After promising to race Doomgale later in the day, Amber flew on to the lake.

And, there he was, making rocks jump across the surface of the water. “Dougie!” she called down, descending quickly to his side. “Wow, how are you doing that?”

He chuckled. “Hi Amber. It's nothing big, just in how you throw it. I can show you if you want.”

“Neat! But, there's something I have to show you first. See?” She opened her hand up to show him the shell portrait. “I found this in Frey's books! It's my birth parents.”

Just like her and Frey, he looked over it in amazement. “Really? Wow, that's an incredible miniature, and from so long ago. Who are they?”

“Rose and James,” she said, working to make sure she didn't forget that. “I got taken from them as a baby, so I don't really remember them. But now I have something they treasured, so it's like I can touch them because they touched this.”

“That's a nice way to see it,” Doug said. “It's great that you got it, but it's so tiny. You'll have to take good care of it so it doesn't get lost or broken.”

Amber nodded. “Yeah. Actually, it was originally in a locket, but it got broken and never replaced. I'd like to get it put back in one to be safer. Would you make one for me, please?'

“W-wait, why're you asking me?” he asked, tensing at the question.

“Well I heard dwarves are supposed to be good at making things,” she said. “Can you?”

“That's true, but I kind of suck at crafting and forging,” Doug said. “I would like to help, but I wasn't really taught until just recently when Sven helped me make some little whistles as an experiment. But those are easy crafts; I can only imagine making a locket to fit the picture would be hard.”

He seemed discouraged in that, which wasn't good. “I'm sure you could get better if you tried,” Amber said. “Like I thought reading was a magical thing that was beyond me until Natalie taught me how. Now I can learn other stuff with reading, like math which I thought was really hard until Lumie taught me some things and Arthur showed me how to use that abacus. I'm still learning stuff in the math books, but I can do lots of it without even writing the numbers down now. And if your race is good at crafting and forging naturally, then you shouldn't have trouble after you get some practice.”

“You really think so?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, really! You just gotta try some more. Maybe fail some, but everybody fails when learning and that helps you get better too.”

Doug smiled and hugged her. “Well if you put it that way, I have to try after all.”

“Yeah, you do it!” She hugged him back.

“I can't promise anything just yet, but I'll work towards being able to make a locket,” Doug said. “You keep that safe until I've got some skill, okay.”

“Okay, I'll wait,” she said. It would be worth it to keep patience this time.


	69. Unwanted Reunion

Summer 35

Today, Clorica had a full day off. Vokanon had complimented her on her progress in bringing her waking work speed up to match her sleeping work speed while being able to plan and converse at the same time. She definitely felt accomplished in it. In spite of having the day off, she still took some time in the morning to help Vishnal with a troublesome task, cleaning the room at the top of the west spire. The spire rooms weren't used often, but they still needed to be clean and neat in case someone wished to use them.

They were wonderful rooms, a little secret in the castle that most people overlooked. While it took time to climb the spiral staircase up the towers, the circular rooms were filled with windows. The sun shone warmly and there was even a way to turn the spire top and ceiling invisible so the stars could be admired at night. There was a pretty little circular table and three matching chairs in this room, but nothing else for furnishings.

Since the ceiling could be turned invisible, it needed to be cleaned as well. That was the trickiest part of this room once they made it up there with the cleaning supplies. The large windows could also be tough to get open to be cleaned on both sides, although Vishnal had no trouble with that part of the job. While he handled the windows and ceiling, she took care of the other tasks like cleaning the table and chairs, polishing the banister, making sure all the lights functioned well, and slowly sweeping and mopping the floor as Vishnal made his way around the room. On their way down, they'd use some tricks to get the stairs cleaned as well without it getting dangerous.

“If it wasn't so much climbing to get up there, this would be a great place to chat,” Vishnal said as he put another window back in place after cleaning.

“I don't think it's any taller than the observatory,” Clorica said. “Though these stairs are harder to climb. But I always thought that these rooms would be a good place for a quiet romantic evening.”

He smiled. “That's true. You could come up to see the stars and be comfortable, even during the winter.”

“It's nice during storms too,” she said. “You wouldn't think of it, but I came up here one afternoon when it was getting too cloudy to read outside. Then it started raining and all the water streaming down all around was beautiful. Even the lightning was nice.”

“Wow, I'll have to come up here sometime on a stormy day and see that,” Vishnal said, pulling on another window to open into the room in order to clean the outside.

Talking about this made her remember something even better. “You should. Actually, I had a dream just last night about this room. Sven had brought me up here during the Firefly Festival so that we could look down over all the fireflies glowing around the castle.”

“Maybe you should suggest it to him if he has the evening off,” Vishnal said, sounding happy for her. “Because that would be quite a sight from up here and it'd be neat to have a dream come true on a date.”

She had to laugh at that. “Maybe I will; it'd be sweet. Though I don't think my dream would come true because I dreamed that he asked me to marry him then. It'd be nice, but that may be too soon.”

“i don't know if you could say it's too soon when Leon and Frey are already married,” he said. “It would still be quick in coming too. Would you want to marry him?”

“I'd like that,” she said, caught up in possibilities. She nearly slowed in her cleaning, but caught herself and went back to work. She'd have her day off sooner the sooner this got done. “Sven's a thoughtful and kind person; I know I can rely on him already. I'm just not sure if I'm reliable enough for him. While I'm getting better, I still feel a little troublesome to him at times. He says he loves the calm peaceful way I have, though I don't know if that's enough.”

“Seems to be enough for him,” Vishnal said. “I've read that sometimes it's little things like that which attract people together, and their love grows deeper the more they learn about each other.”

Clorica nodded. “That's true. I thought he was a jumpy nervous guy when he came, which he was. Now that he's calming down with Art's help, you can see more of his real self. That's what I love about him, who he really is.”

“I think you've helped with that too,” he said.

“I don't think I've done that much for him,” she said, but still smiled at the thought. It would be great if she did help. “What about your girlfriend? Are you asking her out at the festival?”

Like with her thinking on Sven, that made Vishnal smile. “Of course. I've been planning to make a little romantic date of it, something a bit normal but I think she'll like that.”

“Normal?” Clorica asked, trying not to laugh.

But she did when he did. “Well you've heard about how it's been, not all that normal even when I tried. I'm still working on the plans and getting things ready. It's barely over a week away now.”

“I could help you out if you need it,” she said. Even if she made her own plans with Sven, she could at least help Vishnal set things up for his date.

When they got done, Clorica went back to her room to change into the apple dress that her friends had bought her in the city, along with some apple earrings and green hair ties to go with it. Then she headed to the north part of town to check out the weekly market. Not all the booths were taken, but there were still many options. There was even a familiar merchant there, one who sold jewelry. Some of the pieces were quite pricey, but there was always a good collection of interesting costume jewelry.

In looking over the latter, she found a familiar pair of earrings: the little cherry grass fans from when she couldn't decide between them and some yellow feathers. That cheered her up a great deal as she hadn't missed out on them entirely. As she was making sure she had some money with her to buy them, she noticed another pair of earrings that were also really cute. They looked like the emperor penguin monster that would come out of the mountains during the winter. Those would be really cute to have too.

She had to be decisive here, even in this small decision. While both were cute, she had missed out on buying the fans last time. They had stayed on her mind, so Clorica decided to buy the fans. Maybe the penguin earrings would slip her mind after today. If not, they might appear again like the fans did.

Then a voice she hadn't heard in a long time spoke up behind her. “Eee, Rica, here you are! I thought you'd be sticking around stubbornly.”

It was her older sister, someone she hadn't wanted to run into again. But maybe she'd changed after five years. “Oh, hello Collette,” she said with a smile. Not a real one, it was the same kind of polite smile she'd given the past princes and princesses who had been tough to work under.

As usual, Collette was lavishly dressed in a fur edged red dress that was barely in one piece with parts of it artistically trimmed. Artistically was the nicest way Clorica could think of it since she thought it showed off too much even for a modern woman. She also wore a great many gold accessories, like a hair comb, three necklaces, four bracelets, and a chain anklet. But no wedding ring.

While Clorica was taking in her appearance, Collette started chattering. “I've been hearing lots of gossip that you've got a really interesting prince this time around and he's actually trying to improve Selphia for a change. That was so shocking, I couldn't believe anybody would actually want to take responsibility for this sleepy creaky old town. This place hasn't been fashionable in centuries! But then a friend of mine was going on and on about a giant wooly shearing festival here which I thought was ridiculous at first, so telling of the rural backwoods towns all through our nation. When I started thinking about it, I thought it might be interesting just because there's apparently some artisan living here now that was making adorable wooly dolls. So I had to come see for myself.”

“Things are looking up,” Clorica said, feeling an unwanted familiarity in only getting to speak when she paused.

“Well you guys have certainly made this marketplace more colorful, that's for sure,” Collette said, looking around. “Though it's just a small market with the usual traveling merchants, nothing special that I've seen yet. A lot of it is the same old Selphia, although this prince has only been on the job since the start of spring. There's things he could have done right off to make it far better, like let an actual tavern open up since Margie keeps a tight leash on adult drink sales over there. But oh my gosh, I ran into the prince already and he's such a hick. Suits this place, I guess, but he's nothing like a prince should be. He's short, for one thing.”

“That's not important to being a prince,” Clorica said. “He's been a great one so far, like...” which time could she describe to get her point across?

Collette interrupted her in saying, “Well he's not ugly which would be worse, but there's nothing about him that looks like a prince. He even had dirt-stained fingernails, like he's some common worker. Anyhow, what are you up to today?”

“It's my day off, and I was going to buy some earrings,” she said.

She nodded. “Well your fashion sense could use updating if that's what you wear on your day out. It's so chintzy, nobody in the capitol city would wear something like that unless they were under ten years old. You're not going to attract any decent guys with that.”

“My friends bought it in the city for me and I like it,” Clorica said. Did she have to start things out by criticizing her? Maybe Collette hadn't changed much.

Like how she ignored what she said to keep to her line of thought. “Like me, you could look right at me and know that I'm a lucky catch for whatever guy gets my hand. I've been looking, but nobody worth my time has approached me. I could have been married several times over already, but I'm not about to lower my standards when I'm a self-made woman now. Did you hear that I have my own business? I left home soon after you did because everybody else was cramping my style and getting in my way. Oh here, these earrings would be nice on you.” She picked up a pair of dark pearl earrings.

They were nice, but at that price, they had to be a cheaper kind of pearl that was magically enhanced to have that color and luster. “I already picked a pair out and it's not those,” Clorica said, taking the fans to buy them. She didn't like hurrying, but in this case, Collette might bully her out of it if she didn't. Besides, she already had a pair like that.

“Aw, not even for old times sake?” Collette asked as if it was a big disappointment. But she only whined until the purchase was made and she decided to drag Clorica along on her plans to survey the town and see how things were.

She did keep coming back to the wooly dolls, although Clorica suspected that Dolce would not want to associate with Collette. But her sister wouldn't believe her if she said so. Fortunately, they came across Dolce speaking with Leon by one of the moats where the latter was fishing. Clorica knew instantly that he would be a distraction. However, his taunting wit would be of excellent use today. She might not even need to give him a sign.

As she thought, Collette quickly had eyes for Leon. “Ooo, now there's a fine man even if he's part fox. Actually, that makes him even more exotic. We should talk to him.”

“There's something you should know about him,” Clorica said. Her sister was about to do something stupid, so she should at least try to make her realize it.

She got ignored again in favor of Collette going to speak with them. Mostly Leon. “Hello, good day for fishing? It's certainly a good day for visiting and seeing what's been changing around here. I'm Clorica's sister Collette, who are you both?”

“Collette,” Clorica said, trying to tell her that he was married already. She should be able to tell, since his sapphire ring glimmered in the sunlight. But her sister just waved her to keep quiet.

Leon was attentive to that sign, at least if his ears were an indication. “Hello, and yeah, except they're harder to get to bite this time of day. I'm Leon, and these are my sisters Dolce and Pico.”

“Hello,” Dolce said, trying not to stare at Collette's cut-away dress.

“Shouldn't she be introducing you to us?” Pico asked, floating so she could cling to Dolce's shoulder.

“Never mind that, we'd be waiting all day on her,” Collette said, much to Clorica's annoyance. She looked over at Leon and got a slight smile in response. Collette seemed to miss it entirely. “What's a good looking man like you doing around this country town?”

“I love this place,” Leon said, quick to respond and keep any feeling of being insulted by the question hidden. “Besides, I can thank my looks on a good wholesome country life. I mean, just look at the two princes we have in town. You can tell by their muscles, or lack thereof, which one is the country boy and which one is the city boy. So what's a city girl like you doing around here? Just visiting family?”

“Well that was one reason to come out here,” she said. “I heard news about this place changing things, although it seems to be going terribly slow for what needs to happen. Also about some business opportunities and if there's any cute guys I want to bring back with me.”

He chuckled. “Ah, looking for a fellow, huh? Well let me ask you a few things, if you don't mind.”

“Oh sure, ask away,” Collette said, pleased that he seemed interested. Dolce rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as she watched this happen.

“First, do you have any interest in dead languages?” Leon asked.

“Uh, I never thought about that,” she said, not expecting a question like that and not sure how to answer it to make herself look appealing.

“They're dead languages, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't,” he said. “Second, are you religious in any fashion?”

“A little,” she said uncertainly. Dolce was smiling now.

“Ah, well I'm a priest so that doesn't work out,” Leon said. “Lastly, can you forge a weapon out of a sweet potato?”

Clorica giggled at that, but Collette stared at him. “Just... what? That's utter nonsense. Why would anyone make a weapon out of food?”

“Ah, that's too bad because I'm more interested in open-minded and creative ladies,” he said. “Anyhow, would you like some priestly advice since you took the time to answer me? You should listen to your sister more often. She's been trying to tell you something.”

“What are you talking about?” Collette asked, looking back at her.

She was still smiling after the sweet potato question. “I was trying to say it earlier, but you charged right ahead. Leon's already married.”

While Collette was caught frozen at that realization, Leon jumped in to say, “And I've got the most amazing wife, you wouldn't believe it. Actually, you really wouldn't because I've seen her forge a sweet potato into a staff just yesterday. It was an incredible thing and works pretty nicely at that.”

“Why didn't you say that?” Collette asked her, angry.

“You wouldn't let me,” she said. “Oh, and you were talking about Dolce earlier, about the one who made the wooly dolls.”

“You should speak up more often. But anyhow, yes, I've seen those dolls and they are some of the sweetest wooly dolls I've seen out there. Have you thought about going into business making dolls? I own a business myself and am always happy to help out a real artisan.” She was using a tactic that the rest of Clorica's family were fond of, changing the subject if it started making them look bad.

Dolce bit her lip, causing Pico to tug at her sleeve. “Aw come on, just say it.”

“Fine,” Dolce said, still not quite looking at Collette. “Pardon me for being blunt, but I find your attitude as distasteful as your dress.”

“What?!” she asked sharply.

“If I did have an interest, I wouldn't be asking you,” Dolce added.

“You're one to talk with your fashion sense matching that of a grandmother,” Collette snapped back, then walked angrily off. Apparently she didn't see the argument worth pursuing as long as she got the last word.

“I feel sorry for you having a sister like that,” Dolce said in a softer voice.

“It's okay, I was hoping she'd changed,” Clorica said.

“I was trying to adjust to the idea that fashion was not tied as tightly to morality, but that was simply ridiculous,” she said.

“Right,” Leon said. “I was wondering if I should ask what kind of adhesive she uses to keep that thing in place. But that seems like a dangerous thing to ask.”

“You think something's dangerous to ask?” Clorica asked, amused at the thought.

He nodded. “Well of course, if there's a strong chance that asking it will get me slapped in the face. I put careful thought into my careless remarks.”

“That's kind of amazing,” Clorica said.

“Rica! Are you coming with me or not?” Collette had come back a short ways, but she was staying out of the way of the other two.

“You'd better state your ground or you're getting nowhere with that kind of personality,” Leon said quickly to her.

She nodded. “Okay, thanks.” Then she called back, “Would you call me by my proper name for once?”

“I'm your sister, I can call you want I like,” she said.

“No, I'm not going to answer you if you do that,” Clorica said. “And could we actually both talk rather than just you, um...”

“A dialogue's better than a monologue,” Leon added in for her sake.

“Right, that,” she said.

“What, you're actually going to listen to him?” Collette asked, coming back closer. “You never had a problem with it before. Besides, are you really going to leave one of your family to wander around town alone when we haven't seen you in years?”

“You grew up here too so you know this place,” Clorica said. Things went hazy for a moment, so she put her fingernails into the palm of her hand. She didn't need to be falling asleep now. “You could be nicer to me after all this time.”

She wasn't going to take that. “I am being nice, you're the one being difficult today. But I guess I could let you off if you're actually going to stay awake and talk today. Sorry Clorica. Come on, let's go someplace.”

“Okay, that's better,” Clorica said, then waved at the two guardians. “Bye.”

“It was fun meeting your sister, bye,” Leon said with a smile. Dolce nodded but seemed more like she'd rather Collette go away.

Not far down the road, Collette asked, “What is with that guy, geez? He could have just told me right off he was married.”

“He is wearing his wedding ring,” Clorica said. “But he likes to tease people; you get used to it and sometimes it can really be funny.”

“Surprising to see new people around here, after hearing how people kept leaving in droves. It's odd that they both shared names with the guardians.” She glanced over her fingernails as if to make sure the paint job was still good.

“They are the guardians,” she said. “Prince Lest has been slow in improving the town because he's been waking them up and helping them adjust.”

“Seriously, they can do that now?” Collette asked in shock. “He certainly didn't seem like the magical sort.”

Clorica nodded. “Yes, he's an earthmate. Also, we can't do much as things are because the empire keeps threatening to invade us. It's kind of hard to build up the town to attract new residents and visitors with that hanging over us.”

“I guess that's forgivable,” she said. “Huh, there's more to that prince than I was thinking. What do you think we should do?”

Pleased that Collette was letting her decide, Clorica went with the first thing on her mind rather than think it out thoroughly. A risk, but one worth taking to keep up with her sister. “Well, it's a bit early, but we can go over to the restaurant for lunch. Since it's a market day, it'll be busy once it hits noon.”

She laughed. “Yeah, and it might just take us that long to get served. I remember how that guy is.”

“No, he's got a waiter now so it's almost certain you'll get your meal in a timely fashion,” Clorica insisted.

“Oh, now this I've got to see,” Collette said.

At Porcoline's, there were a few other residents who also had the idea of getting lunch early, or taking it out for later to avoid a crowd. Meg was taking care of some plants near the entrance, so she saw them first. “Hi Clorica! Oh wait, is that you Collette? It's been a few years; you look a lot different.”

“And you look the same, nice to run into you again Margie,” Collette said. “I thought by now you'd be trying some different styles than the same over-exuberant floral display.”

Having some recollection of how she was, Meg smiled politely. “It's what I like. Besides, when did you get interested in fashion? Weren't you the girl who said fashion rules were complete nonsense and would rather strike your own path?” Although a lot of her experimentation had been on Clorica, much to her embarrassment at times.

“I still feel that way,” she insisted. “But I take notice of what's in fashion so I become the trend, not follow it. I designed and made this entire outfit myself for the sake of being noticed and envied.”

“Well, I'm not sure it's sending the message you want since it's rather,” Meg said, then snapped her fingers trying to think of how to say it.

“I suppose it is too daring for outside the city,” Collette said, missing the point.

Meg shook her head. “No, it's the bits of fur in the middle of summer and all the cut out pieces. It's more like an art piece than an outfit and even then, it's rather, well, scandalous.”

“It's only scandalous if you can see where you shouldn't,” Collette said.

“Um, we came here for lunch,” Clorica said, trying to keep it from becoming an argument (or any more of an argument, that was more correct). Then the bell over the door jangled as someone else came in, briefly making her forget the trouble of dealing with her sister. “Oh, hello Sven!”

“Hello Clorica,” he said with a smile. “Um, I didn't mean to interrupt, but,”

“Oo, who's this handsome fellow?” Collette asked. Meg shook her head and went back to taking care of the plant.

“This is my boyfriend Sven,” Clorica said, happy to cut her off this time. “Sven, this is my sister Collette. She surprised me by visiting today. Do you want to join us for lunch?”

“Oh yes, this looks interesting,” Collette said, her tone seeming like it could be trouble.

“Sure, thanks,” Sven said, wary but probably not realizing the sort of trouble she was.

“Go ahead and take a table, Dylas will help you out in a bit,” Meg said.

Collette went right for a small table by the window, perhaps thinking it was a good spot to be seen. While following her over, Clorica quietly said, “Sorry about this, she's really rash. I hope she doesn't cause you trouble.”

“I was more worried about bothering you when family was visiting,” he said.

“I'd rather have the support in dealing with any of them,” she whispered.

“Come on, slowpokes, take a seat and let's get talking,” Collette said, patting the four person table. “So what kind of work do you do?”

They sat down, Clorica taking a spot by her sister and Sven taking the chair at her other side. “I'm a knight, usually on patrol at night,” he said. “I just had some business to take care of this morning.”

“So you guys finally replaced Forte?” Collette asked. “She was such a straight-laced worrywart even though that looks really bad on a girl.”

“No, we haven't replaced her,” Clorica said. “But we got three other knights because of the possibility of attack.”

“It'd be hard to really replace her,” Sven said.

“It'd look a lot better on the town if you did, since women shouldn't be knights,” Collette said.

Clorica smiled. “That's not how we see it here, since we now have two female knights and they're both great.”

“Welcome, have you seen the menu outside?” Dylas asked, stopping by their table with a notepad in hand. He was actually smiling today, quite nicely at that. It was hard not to smile back.

“No, are you included?” Collette asked.

“What?” Dylas turned pink at that. “No! I'm the waiter.”

“Be nice to him,” Clorica said. “What's available for lunch today?”

Focusing on his work and notepad so he didn't have to look at Collette, he said, “The first plate is an open face sandwich made with fried meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. The second plate is a double salad, the first with local greens, carrots, red cabbage, and tomatoes tossed in an herbed lemon vinaigrette and the second with strawberries, oranges, bananas, and peaches in a light dressing of their own juices and honey. Dessert options are snickerdoodle or peanut butter cookies.”

“Same old place, only fancy on rare occasion,” Collette said. “At least you do have a decent salad option, I'll take the second plate. Though I would like a kiss from you as dessert rather than cookies.”

“I'm not for sale,” Dylas said, only realizing what he'd said after when she started laughing. “That's not an option, okay? Stop asking.”

“Geez, have to be so sensitive?” Collette said as if that was a bad thing.

“Um, what are snickerdoodle cookies?” Sven asked.

“They're like regular cookies, but the portions rolled in cinnamon and sugar before being baked,” Dylas explained, sounding relieved to have a normal question again.

“They're good with tea,” Clorica said.

“All right, then I'll take the first plate and some of those cookies,” Sven said.

Meanwhile, she'd been thinking over which plate to order. “The first plate sounds really good, but also like it'd be a big thing. I don't like eating a lot at once, but it would be good.”

“We could...” Dylas started to suggest something.

“Oh, just give her the second plate, that's more like her kind of thing,” Collette said.

The dismissive way she said it was something Clorica used to expect all the time. But having been out from under her sister's thumb for five years, this was unwelcome and she didn't want to quietly take it. “Stop trying to make all my decisions for me!” she snapped at her. “I'm not a child anymore and I can handle things myself. You can't just come back here and expect me to just go along with whatever you want while you keep saying degrading things about me and my friends. Not only that, but I can't believe that you'd have a business when you act nothing like a respectable adult. Just leave me alone, I was doing well without all of you around.”

Collette was shocked to hear anger out of her, keeping her from interrupting this time. Her eyes narrowed, thinking over how to argue back rather than listening. Then things got hazy again and Clorica fell asleep.


	70. Fireflies and Lavender

Summer 35

One thing that Sven thought he'd never see was Clorica being furious. If she got angry, it was only briefly and she was quick to forgive and understand. But here she was yelling at her sister. Although he understood why she'd feel that way. He'd barely met Collette and already thought she was an unpleasant person. He wasn't sure what to say to this.

Then Clorica fell right asleep, still looking angry there even with her eyes closed. Tapping her fingers on the table, Collette grumbled. “Right, just like her to try getting out of responsibility by falling asleep.”

“It's more your fault than hers,” Sven said, taking Clorica's hand. She didn't react, so she was out hard.

“Why would you say that?' she said, turning her anger on him. “It's her fault she can't ever stay awake.”

“She's been staying awake just fine lately,” he said, taking a stern tone with her. “As long as you don't stress her out, she does well. You don't seem anything like family to me.” He got up from the table, tugging at Clorica's hand. “Sorry Dylas, I'm going home with her.”

“That's fine, take good care of her,” he said, helping by pulling the chair gently so she could get out easier.

“Hey, you can't just leave after saying that, you jerk,” Collette said, hitting the table.

“Darling Collette, I thought I heard your voice around!” Porcoline called from the kitchen, conveniently distracting her. “Let's not cause a further disturbance, okay? How's it been going with you? And why are you dressed up like a prostitute?”

“I am not!” she called back, letting them get out of the restaurant.

Outside, Sven thought for a moment that he could take her to her room in the castle. But there seemed to be a fair amount of visitors today, at least in the market. It might be busy back at the castle too. Thinking she'd do better with a quiet place, he led Clorica to the house he'd claimed this morning. It was over by the library, a slower part of town. He did have to bring her by the market, the noise of which made her tense. But she relaxed once they turned to reach the residential area.

He could only take a house from a particular list as his compensation as a knight, mostly homes good for a small family. At first, he'd thought about one closer to the general store. But on checking the map, it was on the platforms over the cliff line. That didn't sit well with him even if it wasn't as large a drop as that under the restaurant. This home was securely on solid ground and it came mostly furnished. With his finances stable enough to support himself in a spartan way, the latter point was important.

He brought Clorica through the front hall into the parlor, since the couch there seemed the best spot to set her. “Here, rest a bit and calm down,” he said, sitting her down on the couch.

“Mmm, okay,” she mumbled, grabbing a nearby pillow and settling into the corner.

What now? He hadn't intended on going to the restaurant after getting the house. Sven was trying to get into a habit of sleeping at ten hundred hours and getting up at sixteen hundred. However, sleeping alone in an unfamiliar house wasn't easy even if he called it home. And he hadn't eaten much at breakfast, so when he'd gone on a walk and saw Clorica, he decided to go into the restaurant to eat with her. Now he was still tired, worried about the new house, worried about her, and getting hungry. That wasn't something he could sleep on.

Sven looked around the parlor and dining room instead, seeing how the previous inhabitants had set things up. There was a bookshelf, but no books. Similarly, there was a phonograph without any records. In the dining room, there were some plates and dishes in the china hutch, but not a full set. There seemed to be enough for him and a guest to eat a meal with, although getting some new plates, silverware, and cups would be helpful. A dusty glass flower vase was hiding in the hutch too, something that might look nice on the table if cleaned up.

A knock at the door brought him back to the hall. It was Vishnal and Dylas. The latter handed him a delivery basket from the restaurant. “Here, we thought to bring this over since you got driven off after ordering,” Dylas said. “I told Porco to set up a smaller portion of plate one for Clorica. You can arrange the payment with Meg later.”

“Thanks, that helps,” Sven said, taking the basket.

“Is she doing all right?” Vishnal asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, she's just sleeping for now. Though she might be in a bad mood later. I don't know, I've never seen her that mad before.”

“Right, that's not like her,” Vishnal said.

“Hmph, well that other girl had it coming,” Dylas said. “See you around. And thanks for showing me this place Vishnal.”

“No problem,” Vishnal said with a smile.

“Yeah, see you later,” Sven said.

“He came over to the castle thinking you brought her there,” Vishnal said as Dylas was walking off. “I hope she hasn't been much trouble.”

He shook his head. “No, she's stayed where I told her to sit. Want to come in and check on her? You'd know her better.”

“Thanks, though I should only be a few minutes,” he said, following him inside. “Actually, you're better than I am at keeping her to one spot if that's true. She always walked off and started doing something if I told her to stay put while she was asleep.”

“She fell asleep on me a few times, but mostly she listens,” Sven said, setting the basket on the table.

“She does trust you a lot, I guess enough to trust you even asleep,” Vishnal said, going into the parlor to see how she was.

That gave him some thought as he unpacked the basket. With most people, it didn't matter who they trusted when they slept because they wouldn't know who was talking to them. But Clorica could work and converse when asleep, even understand what she was told. For her to relax when it was just him around and do as asked, that would be a great deal of trust. How did she come to trust him that much? Had what they done already been enough?

It was enough to keep him from feeling unsettled in this new house, he realized. The first thing he'd done when allowed to inspect the house was see if there was anything dangerous around, or if there were small rooms that would make him anxious. Or things that reminded him of the cells in the empire or anything like the Executioner. It was safe in that regards, just too quiet. Yet once she was here, even asleep, he looked around less for things to fear and more for things to use.

As he was thinking that, Vishnal came into the dining room. “She has the full day off, so she doesn't need to be back at the castle until evening. She seems all right now.”

“That's good to know, although a rough thing to happen when she was on break,” Sven said.

“What exactly happened? I just heard that it was a bad argument.”

“It was mostly her sister's fault,” he said. “They invited me to share lunch with them, although Clorica already was apologetic for me having to deal with Collette. Just about everything she said was a criticism of some kind, or being really forward in flirting with Dylas when he was working. Then when Clorica was deciding what to have for lunch, Collette rudely decided for her by giving her the opposite of what she was talking about. That was what made Clorica snap, since she didn't want her deciding things for her again. I thought it was best to just take her out of there even though Collette was trying to provoke an argument with me after Clorica fell asleep suddenly.”

“Right, that's what we've done before,” Vishnal said. “Although usually just because she fell asleep somewhere busy like that. I don't think she'll be asleep long this time.”

“That's good, I'll keep an eye on her.” Hopefully she'd wake up before he felt like going to sleep himself. He could leave her a note, but he'd rather tell her why she was here.

“I haven't met them myself, but I know she doesn't get along with her family,” he said, speaking a little quieter than normal in case she woke up then. “Since her sleep issues are affected by stress and her family caused her a lot of stress, they kept causing her trouble without admitting to it and ran her life for her. Volkanon would know more, though I'm not sure how much he'd say. He helped her out by taking her on as an apprentice when they were going to move out of town.”

“That's not how a family should be, causing each other problems like that,” Sven said. “It's not something I thought could happen.”

Vishnal nodded. “Right. But she's happy with all the friends she had now, especially you, so I'm sure she'll be back to her normal cheerful self once her sister leaves.”

Sven smiled. “Yeah, I hope so. Though I could make up for this day with the Firefly Festival if I can make that day special for her.”

“That would be a great way to do that,” he said. “Did you have anything in mind?”

“Some plans,” he said. “I already have Amber helping with some flowers. I figured, you guys do a job that's supposed to stay unnoticed, so it'd be nice for her to feel noticed and special at times. It's just, I've not been in Selphia much, so I've been trying to figure out a place that wouldn't be as busy but we could still see the fireflies.”

“Right, there's several couples in town now, so if you wanted something quiet,” he put his hand to his chin. “Oh, I know! There's a room on top of each of the castle spires. Most people don't know they exist, or just don't think of them. But they've got large windows all the way around the walls for a great view over the castle and town. It's enough to make anyone feel like royalty, even for servants like us. I remember her saying that she loved those rooms.”

A room in the castle spire; that did sound romantic. “That's a great idea,” Sven said. “But would I need permission to be there?”

He thought about it. “Um, I believe the spire in the servants' wing is technically in public space. The one in the royal wing is definitely private. But it wouldn't hurt to ask Lest about it even if you use the western spire room.”

“Right, I'll talk with him later. Well, I'm still planning it, but if I needed it, would you be okay with helping me arrange some things up there?”

“Sure, I'll help you however I can,” Vishnal said. “I'll even show you up there tomorrow if we can find a time when she doesn't notice.”

“That'd be good to see first, thanks.” He didn't want to keep Vishnal any longer since he was working today, so saw him to the door before going back to eat.

It was quiet in the house after that, making him think. At first about getting some records just to have some sound around, but then about Clorica and making a special date for her during the festival. The silence did make it easy to hear when she was waking up, first some mumbling and a stretch. Sven got up and by the time he got into the living room, she had her eyes open and was looking around in half-awake confusion.

“Good afternoon, Clorica,” Sven said.

“Good af'noon, Sven,” she said, looking up at him. “Where are we?”

“This is my new house,” he said. “Got it just this morning. Dylas brought our lunch over, it's in the dining room if you want.”

She nodded but didn't get up from the couch yet. “That's good. What happened to Collette?”

He shrugged. “I don't know. I just brought you out of there soon after you fell asleep. After that argument, I didn't think you'd be happy to wake up near her.”

“That's true,” she said, getting up. “It's embarrassing, though. I'm not supposed to be yelling at anybody, it's not good.”

“It didn't seem like she was taking what you said seriously until you did,” Sven said. “And I guess not even the quietest person can stay that way when someone keeps pushing them.”

“Maybe,” she said, following him around the couch to the dining room. “She started to listen after Leon made fun of her. Though, I am glad I did say that to her. I wanted to for a long time but never could.”

“Well now that it's out, maybe it won't bother you so much?” he said, thinking aloud.

Clorica chuckled. “That'd be a good thing. Oh, he got me the sandwich!” She smiled again as she sat down where the still sealed plate was. “It's hard to see in him, but he can be thoughtful.”

“He even got it made smaller for you,” Sven said, glad to see her back to normal already. “And you didn't say anything about wanting the cookies, but they sent along quite a few here. Take some if you want.” He nudged the small bowl he'd put the snickerdoodle cookies in.

“Good, though I'd like either of them.” She took two before undoing the seal on her plate. “It must be nice to have your own house now. Will you show me around after we eat?”

“Sure, that's fine,” he said. “Although, I was thinking it was really quiet to be living alone. I'm not used to that, well not in terms of living in a house. There's a phonograph, but I don't have any records. All this quiet was making me too nervous to sleep; that's why I was out walking around earlier.”

Clorica seemed to be thinking, so he waited on her to respond. “I don't remember any merchants having records at the market today,” she said. “Arthur could probably help you buy some if you talk with him. Until then, I might be able to sneak you some from the castle.”

“You don't have to do that,” Sven said, smiling at her thoughtfulness. “I wouldn't want you to get in trouble.”

“Well as long as they got back, I think it'd be okay,” Clorica said. “I can always ask Volkanon and Lest what they think. Is there anything interesting in the house?”

“It's got a crafting room on the second floor,” he said. “That's part of the reason I decided to take this one from the list, since there's a whole wall of drawers for storing materials and tools in, then a nice big table to work on. Lately, I've been helping Doug with the crafting manuals that he inherited from Niam. He never learned much about it growing up, even though we're dwarves and it's normal for dwarven children to be drilled in crafting from an early age.”

“You don't look much like a dwarf except the beard,” she said, though her smile made it seem like a nice statement.

“My whole family is mostly dwarves, so I'm one too,” he said. “I learned some crafting from my parents and this has gotten me interested in it again. We probably won't be masters of a trade like Bado is, but it's still nice to keep some clan traditions.”

“Then it is nice to have a crafting room all ready to be worked in,” Clorica said, happy for him.

After finishing lunch and giving her a short tour of the house, Sven knew he really should get some sleep. She said she'd take the restaurant dishes and basket back, as well as take care of the tab, so left to do that. He tried to think back over his plans for the date, but ended up falling asleep sooner than he expected. This time, nothing disturbed his sleep. Not even dreams.

Compared to how his sleep usually went, he felt grateful for that as he was waking up. The light outside the window was dimming. A look at the clock on the wall showed that it was almost nineteen hundred hours. He'd slept that long? Still, it was a welcome feeling to be fully rested and calm. There was sound in the house, someone singing. But he was in his own house, not the general store.

He soon recognized that it was Clorica. Although he wondered why she was still here, it didn't bother him as he got geared up to take the night patrol. Sven came downstairs ready to head out the door and get right to work, but he took a moment to come into the dining room where she was putting dishes back into the china hutch. “You're still here?” he asked.

“Oh, hi!” she said, turning with a smile. “I was wondering how long you were going to be sleeping. But I didn't want to disturb you; you seemed very peaceful.”

“Yeah, that was the first peaceful sleep I've had in years,” he said. “It's nice, but now I'm almost late to report in to Forte. What are you doing?”

She went back to work putting the dishes away. “I knew you'd be busy as a knight, so I felt I should clean up your new home to help out. Get all the dust from the old inhabitants out so that any new dust is all yours.”

That made him laugh, and go over to hug her. “Thank you. Though I didn't want to have you working on your day off.”

“It's okay, I like cleaning and it'd worry me if it wasn't done,” she said. “I also did some checking on what you have in household supplies. You should be okay for now, but I've made a list on the table there of what you might want to think of getting or replacing. But mostly for the kitchen, bathroom, and general cleaning. I wouldn't know what you'd want in the crafting room.”

“Sometimes I'm not sure what I'd do without you,” he said, making her get embarrassed and try to laugh it off. He'd said it partly as a joke since he was in a good mood. Then he kept thinking through the night that perhaps there was more truth in it.

* * *

 

Summer 41

For crafting important things, it was best to gather the materials yourself. That was what all of the crafting manuals said was part of a craftsman's philosophy. Following that philosophy, Sven had gone out the previous day on a trip to Delirium Lava Caves. He had told Forte that it was a training exercise, which worked out as he needed to clear monsters out of his way to get to better mineral deposits. He'd managed to find some silver easily, but finding a gold deposit in the glowing sweltering lava caves had taken several hours. When it came to gemstones, rubies were the most predominant. He didn't think a ruby suited Clorica, but he found some amethysts that, while more common overall, were a rich violet that he thought she'd like.

It was a quiet night and he was more alert in the dark, so he worked on crafting the three rings in the earliest part of the morning. The silver rings were technically a harder craft since it was easy to get them misshapen and the crafter couldn't rely on the strength of emotions to overcome that. However, he found the crafting part simple for them. It was harder to get the engraving part right since he needed to make clear letters on the inside of the rings. He'd written down the phrase 'for my friend in gratitude' in dwarven on a piece of paper to make sure he didn't misspell it in the rings. Thankfully, he'd located a good small engraving pen in his crafting room, as well as a glowing magnifying lens to clamp onto the worktable.

Then there was the craft for the engagement ring, where he had to think of his love and why he wanted to marry her along with the formation of the ring. The crafting book said that he should clear any doubts from his mind or it would ruin the process. Having thought over this decision for a week, Sven felt certain of what he wanted. He took a portion of the gold and a piece of amethyst without a worry that this would mess up.

At first, it had been Lest's oracle reading that drew him to Clorica. She was a peaceful person and he started finding some peace being with her. Those feelings grew until just being around her made him less nervous while others either made him nervous to talk to or didn't change things either way. Even with this house, he only started feeling comfortable with it once she was here. He'd like it if she would stay here with him, even if their work schedules only let them be together a few hours out of the day. If she were here to help protect him from himself, he would be more confident in protecting her and everyone around them. He might even come to the point of having a normal stable life with her love supporting him.

Sven was now holding onto an engagement ring, another step in his plans completed.

Later that day when others were awake and the stores were opening up, he stopped by Carnation's to check on the lavender. Amber seemed worried. “Sorry, I've only got enough regular ones to make a small bouquet. It'll still be pretty, but I had been trying to make a big one.”

“It's okay, as long as it's pretty,” Sven said. “But what do you mean by regular ones?”

Her worries dismissed, she smiled wide as usual. “Well, I planned for extras since not every seed will sprout. I got a whole bunch at first and Kiel was telling me about experiments, so I decided to do an experiment by singing normal earthmate songs to one pot and singing a different kind of song to the other pot. The first pot grew up normal and happy, and the second pot is happy too. But it's really not normal! Come see!” She then grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the greenhouse.

He had far more physical strength than she did, but didn't resist it. In the glassed-in space, Amber brought him to two large flowerpots of lavender spikes. One was like what he'd bought at the wedding, lovely purple blooms clustered on a tall stem. The other had the same shape, but instead of purple, these flowers had captured a rainbow and marbled the colors all together. He had to touch them to make sure they were real.

“Wow, they are like a dream,” he said to let her know. “It's only because of a different song?”

She nodded. “Yeah, the hymn book said it was for creating art with flowers by shifting their colors, maybe even their patterns if you have lots of practice. But I couldn't decide what color to make them so I just thought of rainbows to see what would happen. And, they became rainbow! But they lacked confidence because they're not normal. I had to keep singing extra songs for health and happiness to keep them thriving. Now they know they're special and feel like they should do something special in the world. Plants don't have a big imagination, so I have to figure out what special to do with them. I'll probably preserve them soon for a special occasion, it doesn't seem right to sell them.”

While that gave him another idea, it had the risk of letting Amber in on a bigger secret. She'd been doing well in not letting news of the lavender get to Clorica, although she'd done so by telling almost everyone that she was working on a secret plot. It worked out because people thought she was playing a game. Could she keep up the image of a game with such special flowers?

If it had to do with flowers, she would. Sven felt sure of that due to her blessing price. “Actually, could I use them instead? This has to stay a secret too, though. I've changed my mind about this date and I want to use it to ask her to marry me.”

“What, really?” Amber said, wide-eyed in excitement. “That's great, she loves you bunches and talks about you a lot with me and Lumie!”

“Shh, it has to be a surprise,” Sven said. “It's more special that way.”

“Oh, okay, like in the books I'm reading,” she said, lowering her tone.

He touched the rainbow lavender again. “One thing I was told was that it'd be good if I treated her like a princess even if her job is as a butler. So I've been trying to think of how to do that, everything from where to go and finding some way to get her to dress up a little for the evening. But maybe she doesn't have to be dressed all fancy. What if she had a crown of these rainbow lavender sprigs to be a princess with? If I gave that to her and then told her how I feel, would that be special enough for the flowers?”

Amber stared off into the lavender blooms in imagining it. “Whoa, that would be beautiful. And really like a fairy tale princess. Yeah, it'd be a little harder to tie these together, but I can do that. And preserve them so that you can keep them for the wedding veil. That should make the flowers really happy to be a part of something that special. I'll do that.”

“Great, thank you for all your help,” Sven said, grinning and feeling like some part of this fairy tale had already begun. Then he gave her some instructions on what to do when the bouquet and crown were ready, as well as the squeaky hammer he'd promised her.

Illuminata badgered him later that evening for giving Amber something to be extra annoying with, to which he could only say that it was completely worth it.

* * *

 

Summer 43

It seemed like nearly everyone in town had plans for the Firefly Festival even though much of the day was spent waiting. Strangely enough, one of those who didn't was Lest since he wasn't dating anyone. Sven was spending much of the day asleep as usual, so Clorica waited with the prince for evening to come. She didn't have official duties as it was a festival day with no special preparations aside from gathering the fireflies (and that job had been claimed solidly by Porcoline). Keeping Lest company was close enough.

“I hope you don't think it's too weird to be spending the morning like this with one of your servants,” she said while messing with his hair. He'd mentioned it was getting a bit long for his liking, but she liked it. Thinking it might convince him to go with long hair for a time, she was going to pull it into a small ponytail for him.

“No, I find it weirder to think of you three like that,” he said, keeping still. “Assistants is the best I can handle, and I'd prefer to stay friendly with you.”

Clorica smiled. “It might be because you grew up in a normal family rather than nobility. But that makes you nice to work for, especially compared to who've we had in the past.”

“Well I'm glad for you since I wouldn't know where to start in keeping this massive place going,” he said, making her laugh. “Are you all right with spending the day with me instead of your boyfriend?”

“It's fine, I'd rather he have a good sleep after patrolling last night,” she said. “Plus he said that he had something special for us planned when we do get together. It's really like you said with your love fortune, that I'd find someone happy to take care of me if I took care of him. It made sense when I saw that we're both good and bad at opposing things. We haven't even argued seriously.”

“I'd be surprised if that last point kept true because lots of couples argue at one time or another,” Lest said. “It's only natural with two different people learning to work together. But I've seen many times that those willing to keep honest talk between them can stick together in spite of that.”

“You know, sometimes you sound a lot older than you are,” Clorica said. “I mean that in a good way, of course.”

He smiled. “I know. It's because of my empathy, as I've always been able to see a lot more of what's going on around me rather than what people just have on the surface.”

“It's kind of strange that you can do that but haven't found your own sweetheart yet,” she said. It did worry her, especially with how his oracle act in the spring had encouraged all of the new couples in town this summer.

“Actually, seeing a person's real feelings can be a fast way to lose someone's trust,” Lest said, losing his smile. “No one likes to feel manipulated or exposed. There's a number of people who've learned of my ability and would go out of their way to keep away from me because they feel too vulnerable. Then there's those who I might have feelings for but I know they have feelings for someone else. Swaying their feelings is a risk, but so is waiting it out and seeing if the one they love responds to them favorably. Just because I know people doesn't make it any easier to attract someone. It does make things different so regular advice might not apply to me.”

“I hope it does work out for you,” Clorica said, thinking it'd be sad if he ended up as the odd bachelor out. “Anybody in particular you interested in?”

“Not enough to talk about,” he said, embarrassed to admit that. “I've been trying to help the others, so haven't spent much time thinking about myself.”

“Well you shouldn't stay that way,” she said.

“I know,” he said, as if it was something another person bugged him about. Maybe his sister. “I have been thinking about someone occasionally, but right now it's too much of a risk. Too much else to, well, interfere and maybe hurt somebody.”

“Sometimes a risk can be good to take,” Clorica said. “I took a risk in apprenticing to Volkanon, and Sven took a risk asking me out when we hadn't known each other long and I was just starting the therapy to overcome my narcolepsy. I don't like taking risks either, but both of those have worked out really well.”

He nodded slowly. “Right.” Although he managed to change the subject shortly after, so she couldn't figure out who he was interested in or why he was so uncertain.

As the sun began to set, the fireflies began glowing in the air. Clorica went to the library street to meet up with Sven. Usually they met up for dates outside the castle, but he'd asked that she come to outside his house this time. He hadn't explained except that it was part of the plan. This part of town was quiet so she got a few still moments with just the fireflies flitting about with their warm glows. Though it was odd. In the past, people would already be scattering around town to see the sights, even here.

Sven opened the door not long after she arrived. “Good evening, thanks for coming here,” he said.

“It's fine when I get to spend the whole evening with you,” Clorica said, happy just at seeing him. “Where are we going?”

While he took a step past the door, he didn't fully come out. “Just wait a moment, it's a special night and you're wearing your uniform?”

“You haven't had a problem with that before if we had a date on my working days,” she said, wondering why he did now.

He smiled. “Well I think you're beautiful any way you are, but it's a festival for romance. Come in here, I've got a couple things for you.”

“Really?” She wasn't expecting presents, since this festival was a simple affair. Maybe he just wasn't used to it. But when she followed him into the parlor, she found an elegant purple dress waiting for her, as refined as the uniform but more like that a genuine lady of nobility would wear. “Wow, you got this for me? I can't believe it, it's so beautiful.”

“Yeah, it's one I asked Dolce to help make sure it fit and looked even better. You can borrow the bathroom to change.”

“Okay!” she said, taking it with excitement. And some admiration for his thriftiness. A dress made like this might carry a high price, something she'd feel bad in accepting when she knew he was still making sure his finances were secure. But she'd adapted some clothes to look nicer than they started; Dolce would have the talent to make such a project even better.

When she came back out, he was wearing his armored coat, boots, gloves, and helm. The metal parts of the set gleamed as if recently polished. “That looks wonderful on you. How do you like it?”

“It's great, it's like I could be a princess for a few hours,” Clorica said, her happiness like bubbles of joy. “But why'd you say I couldn't wear my uniform and then wear your armor?”

“If you're going to be out as a princess, you should have a knight with you, right?” he asked, thrilling her so much that she had to hug him. He patted her shoulder, but didn't let it last long. “Although a princess should have a crown too, shouldn't she? Here, this is the next part of it.” He then handed her something incredible: a flower crown of rainbow lavender.

She had to smell it to make sure it was real lavender, which it was. “How... how in the world then you get this? It's like something I could only see in dreams, but here it is.”

“That was Amber's doing,” he said. “You know how she has that squeaky hammer now? She grew these for me and made the crown in exchange for that, although neither of us were expecting to get rainbow lavender when she experimented with earthmate magic. But I couldn't pass it up when she showed them to me.”

“You got a lot of help in this,” she said, glad he was making friends.

Sven helped set it on her head. “I told them it was for you and they were happy to help. Not just them either, although I hope I kept them from guessing all that I was doing. Come on, for the next part we need to go to the plaza. I hope it's all ready.”

“What's there?” she wondered aloud as she took his hand and followed him out of the house. “I didn't notice anything different.”

“That's good,” was all that he'd said.

Back in the plaza, she noticed why there weren't many people in the western part of town. A number of them were hanging out in a group there. The fireflies were already out, but the sun was still visible. Some of the couples were obviously hanging out together, like Leon and Frey sitting together on a bench. Others were part of the group in being with friends. Perhaps everyone was waiting for the sun to fully set before going off to be alone with the one they loved.

Meg was the one who first noticed them coming to join the group of friends. “Ah, Clorica! You look so beautiful tonight!”

“Wow, it's like a whole different Clorica,” Xiao added.

This was a lot different from the days when she was just part of the group, the one who helped with the setting up and cleaning after. Now everyone was noticing her and Sven. “Only for a little while, but it's wonderful,” she said.

“You two look like you stepped out of some fairy tale story book,” Kiel said, smiling at the thought.

“That's what I hoped for,” Sven said, glancing over the group. “Well I was going to look for certain people before sundown, but this works too. It's important to show gratitude, so I wanted to do a particular custom from our clan.”

Doug grinned and Kiel recognized it. “Oh, you mean that one we were talking about the other day?” he asked. “That's great!”

“What one?” Vishnal asked, looking at Kiel.

“You should remember, since we were talking about the books I had and crafting customs,” Doug said.

“Crafting...?” Then he recalled it. “Ah, that one about the three.”

“Which one?” Leon asked.

Kiel grabbed Vishnal's arm, maybe to keep him from saying something. “You'll see,” Kiel said.

“Uh, yeah, go for it,” Vishnal said with a smile.

“What is it?” Clorica asked, still wondering what he had in mind.

“You'll see,” Sven repeated, taking something from his pocket. “You have to show gratitude to your family, so,” he then said a few words in the dwarven language that she didn't know. “Thank you for always believing in me, please accept this.” He then handed Doug a silver ring.

Doug replied to him in their language, then laughed. “But really, I'm glad you came here too.”

“I'm glad you were here,” Sven said as he took out a second silver ring. “Now, I'm supposed to show gratitude to the family of the one I love, but I'll have to go with someone who's more like your family than your actual family.”

Clorica giggled. “I guess so.”

“Right, so this one is for Vishnal,” he passed over the ring with the statement that sounded similar to before. “Thank you for being so helpful, even when it's not asked for, please accept this.”

“You're welcome, that's my duty,” he said, then paused in thought. “Am I supposed to use your language?”

“You don't have to,” Doug said.

“If you want to, I believe that was,” Leon then said something that made Sven laugh hard.

“I said nothing like 'thanks for all the fish',” Doug said to him. While the rest were laughing, he went over to Vishnal and quietly told him the right words.

Vishnal repeated it once things quieted down. “Was that right?”

“Close enough to know what it was,” Doug said.

“Just have to ruin the fun, don't you?” Leon said, shaking his head. Doug shot him a harsh look since he'd tried to make a fool out of Vishnal, which only amused Leon.

“I don't know if I could've pronounced what you said,” Vishnal said, thinking about it and seeming not to realize it was done to make fun of him.

“Then that leaves the last one,” Sven said, taking out another ring and turning to her. “Clorica, thank you for everything you've done for me, for being the peace I've been seeking. I don't think I could have improved as I have if you hadn't been there for me.”

“Aw, but you've been working hard at it,” she said with a smile. He really had, in training with Art and finding some way to lessen his panic attacks.

“I needed your help at times,” he said, smiling back. “Still do in some ways. So, Clorica, will you marry me?”

What, didn't he say this was a custom about gratitude? But was it a way for engagement? He wanted to marry her. While Clorica felt really happy and surprised, it was also surreal and she wondered for a moment if she was dreaming. This fairy tale set-up on an evening where the fireflies set up a golden glow all over town, it was almost too good to be real but he had taken her hand and the warmth of it certainly felt real.

“I'm sorry, I don't translate excited bab...ow!” Leon had tried to comment on it, but then Frey had tweaked his ear for disrupting the moment.

Clorica just started laughing. “S-sorry, I didn't know what to say,” she said. “Yes, I'd love to!” Then she hugged him and she could hear a few others cheering in celebration for them.

When the sky was fully dark and the group split up for the couples to find a good place to sit, Sven took her up to the room at the top of the castle's western spire. It was quite a different view for this night, watching the dance of glows below them. On the table, there was a vase from her room filled with a cluster of regular lavender flowers and some snacks for them to share. Clorica wondered for a moment how he'd set this all up without her notice, but then recalled that he had given one of the rings to Vishnal. He had probably helped get the things up here while she had been talking with Lest.

Sven opened up one of the windows so they could feel the evening breeze. “Sorry if that was embarrassing asking you in front of everyone,” he said. “I meant to ask you up here after I gave them the other two rings. But then Vishnal mentioned three and I was sure that if I didn't give you the ring, somebody would ask about it.”

“Oh no, that was wonderful,” Clorica said, putting her arm around him. “I'm happy you had to courage to ask in front of everybody.”

“It was scary at one point, but then I had a feeling that you'd say yes,” he said.

“I thought for a moment that I had to be asleep because I've had a dream very much like this not that long ago,” she said, watching the fireflies outside and thinking they could have been on a cloud. “Heh, but I'm not losing my days to dreams anymore. Being here is better than any dream.”


	71. The Second Wedding

Summer 45

“This is so exciting, to have two weddings in one year!” Meg said at the slumber party they were having for Clorica's wedding tomorrow.

“The year's not even half over, so you might need to amend that,” Frey said with a grin.

“Heh, there's certainly enough couples around town for that now,” Clorica said. It was strange that they were having this party and then a big event tomorrow, but she had done nothing for the preparations. Although any time she thought it was strange, she quickly changed it to wonderful because she was the bride this time.

“You want to take bets on who'll be married next?” Pico suggested.

“I heard Bado say something like that and told him that he'd best be joking,” Forte said.

“It'll be either Xiao or Dolce,” Wendy said.

Dolce paled at that while Xiao gave a sheepish laugh. “Ah, it would not be that simple to guess, no?”

Wendy laughed. “Well that's just based on the couples that formed in spring. Forte and Amber are kind of recent.”

“Not too recent in Amber's case, if you consider how much she shadowed Doug in spring,” Clorica said.

“Hee hee, I didn't realize it at the time, but I did!” Amber said with a big grin.

“And didn't Clorica start going out with Sven after the others got together?” Meg said. “Except for Amber and Doug.”

“It just seemed like a natural thing for us to stick together,” Clorica said. “I didn't even have to think hard when I was making his ring. Oh, thanks for helping me with that Frey.” All she'd really thought about was how she felt so safe with him; Sven would protect her from danger, from her family, and even her own narcolepsy. He already had. Although once she had the ring finished, she also thought of how sweet and kind he was, and how there was nothing to fear in him being tricky.

“No problem, you did nicely,” Frey said with a nod. “Which also shows that you two do go nicely together.”

“Yes, though I never did get to find out what that mess yesterday was all about due to working on that and other things,” Clorica said. It was a mystery and what she'd heard was chaotic.

“Eh heh, that was Leon's doing,” Xiao said, rubbing her hands.

“Aaa, don't remind me!” Meg said, squeezing her eyes shut.

“That was fun to watch!” Amber said excitedly. “He was having a good time.”

“Most of us weren't,” Forte said, exasperated at the reminder.

“I just know that it took a lot of time to clean up, although it was definitely different,” Clorica said, recalling having to climb ladders to untie some strings. “But it must have taken a lot of time to set up too, all over town.”

“Well that wasn't his original plan because I had to talk him out of it,” Frey said.

“Wasn't his original plan on a smaller scale before you stepped in?” Wendy asked.

“Hey, don't reveal that!” Frey threw a pillow at her, which Wendy ducked under and laughed.

Meg then threw a pillow at Frey. “That better not be true!” Though she laughed too.

“Whee, pillow fight!” Amber said, enjoying this.

“Let's not resort to childish antics,” Forte said, but then got hit on the side of the head with a pillow. Dolce was grinning and already reaching for a second pillow. But Forte got one first. “Very well, you will regret that challenge.”

Clorica laughed and threw a pillow at Pico to see what would happen. It passed right through her, but the ghost caught it still and tossed it at Amber. Who cared about it being childish? It was fun.

* * *

 

Sven and Doug came into Arthur's room and found they were the last to arrive. Immediately, Doug pointed at Leon, “I've still not forgiven you for yesterday.”

“It was my birthday, of course I was going to have some fun,” Leon said with a smirk.

“Well he did help clean it up and told us where it all was,” Vishnal said. “Well, almost all of it.”

“Hey, I told you where they all were, just not that a couple hadn't been sprung yet,” Leon said.

“That was a waste of all the stuff you used and Meg was crying,” Dylas said sternly. “Cleaning up won't make up for all that.”

“I'll take the penance without complaint,” Leon said as if it were a noble thing.

“Do you mean to say that we need to come up with a more severe judgment to deter this kind of behavior in the future?” Arthur asked with a worrying glint to his eyes. At least, it would be worrying to be the subject of that glint.

“Ah, not necessarily,” Leon said, actually worried.

“You should, it was a security risk to town for distracting the knights on duty and causing false alarms,” Sven said. Although he'd been asleep at the time so he had only dealt with the tail end of it.

“I've been giving it some thought and shall have something arranged in the near future,” Arthur said.

“Aw come on, you can't really do that since you're not an authority in town,” Leon said.

“I'm giving him permission to in this case,” Lest said, though he was smiling. “That snowball effect you set up was impressive, but I'd rather that creativity be turned to more constructive efforts.”

“You're learning too well from Arthur,” Leon said, putting his fan in front of his face.

“It was neat, I mean troublesome,” Kiel said. “But, why squid?”

“Some things don't need to be answered,” Leon said.

The slumber party was fun, although they had discussed for a while if they really wanted to do this. After all, Sven's schedule meant his day was just starting. But most times would conflict due to that, so he agreed to come hang out with them until they started going to sleep. He wasn't scheduled to patrol tonight, so he planned on some practice and study after the party. Art was having him read through a few books to see how others dealt with war and battle.

Partway into the party, Leon and Dylas went downstairs to pick up some snacks and drinks left in the kitchen. While they were gone, Arthur got up and handed a marker to Sven. “We don't have much time to discuss this, but it's about his punishment,” Arthur said. “I told Dylas to make sure Leon sleeps soundly tonight; he can do that with some magic. Since you're the only one we can be certain will be awake when others start drifting off, write on his face when he's asleep. That marker is tough to get out of skin.”

“That's a classic, but good one,” Doug said, grinning at that.

“No, you don't want to write on his face,” Kiel said, leaning forward where he was sitting. “His blessing price is language and he'll be able to tell who did it if there's words on his face.”

“That's a good point,” Arthur said. “Once you're done, just put it in the shallow drawer of my desk downstairs.”

“All right, I'll think of something,” Sven said, accepting the task.

Leon tried vainly to make sure he wasn't the first one asleep, but whatever Dylas had done gradually made him drowsy until he fell asleep sitting up with his back against the wall. Nothing was said in case he was faking, though a few of the others tried to get him to go ahead with the revenge prank. Sven held off until everyone else but Kiel was asleep. Kiel lay down and started to sleep himself, so Sven went over quietly to where Leon was.

To make sure he was asleep, Sven put an enchantment over his eyes to interpret runes. Leon had a high enough level of sleep runes that he felt safe in doodling little hearts all over his face. With words out, this was the silliest and probably most embarrassing thing he could think to do. To finish it off, he put a drawing of a squid (or the best he could do at making a squid) on Leon's forehead and surrounded it with a big heart that ended on the bridge of his nose. Leon didn't stir the whole time.

* * *

 

Summer 46

Normally, weddings in Selphia were held in the late morning so the celebration after could begin with lunch. Their wedding was going to be held late afternoon as otherwise Sven would be tired through the whole ceremony. Clorica got to spend the day with her friends so it didn't matter much to her. Since the event was still being set up, they took turns between talking with her and getting work done.

Eventually, Volkanon and Vishnal were done with their tasks and took a break to talk with her. “I've been feeling really restless today with everyone else working around me,” Clorica said, rubbing one hand with the other. “It really doesn't feel right but everyone keeps telling me to take it easy.”

“We'd rather have you enjoy your special day,” Vishnal said with a smile. “Though it is a pity we have to wait.”

“Are you both going to be fine with opposite schedules like this?” Volkanon asked in worry.

“We've been fine, so I'm sure it'll be fine,” Clorica said. “It's not like one of us is always asleep when the other is awake. Although, whenever I do get done with training, it'd be nice if I could take on a later schedule to match his better.”

“It might be possible if you stick around,” Volkanon said, thinking about it.

Before they could continue their talk, Leon came into the servant hall where they were sitting. For some reason, he had a squid and a whole bunch of hearts drawn on his face. Clorica couldn't help but giggle at it. Vishnal smiled and Volkanon tried his hardest to keep stoic. Leon tried to ignore that. “Sorry to bug you, but would you happen to know how to get marker off skin?”

“You know, I didn't understand what Lest was saying earlier,” Clorica said, trying to get it in before Volkanon tried to help. “But I see now. He said to not help squid-face today since it's part of his punishment. Sorry, but it's Lest's orders.”

“Ah, in that case just don't scrub your face too hard or you'll end up doing more damage to your skin,” Volkanon said.

“Wait, it's just part of it?” Leon asked, looking worried.

“I don't know the plans, but that's just what the prince said,” Clorica said.

“You really shouldn't be disrupting the community on a joke,” Volkanon said, then went into lecturing mode. Early on, Leon's ears turned back and it seemed like he'd try to leave. But it was difficult to leave when Volkanon had his full attention on one. It was a force of personality that couldn't be ignored.

When Volkanon finally let him go, Vishnal chuckled. “It was really hard not to laugh first thing in the morning when we woke up to see it on him before he even realized it. But somehow we all got out of the building without letting him know.”

“Heh, I'm glad I got to see it before it started fading,” Clorica said with a smile.

Volkanon finally laughed too. “It's quite a sight! I just hope it gets him to tone down his plots.”

Not long after, Meg and Dolce came in to help her with the wedding dress. While the same plans were used for such clothes for every wedding in Selphia, Dolce had managed to work the rainbow lavender crown into the veil for her. Then she made some fabric flowers that had rainbow petals to match. It was gorgeous and Clorica loved that she could be like a princess for another memorable evening.

* * *

 

Sven got up shortly before 1500 hours, which was starting to be early for him. But he had to be awake early or he'd delay his own wedding. For now, he was alone in this house. But it was the last time he'd be waking up like that as it would soon be Clorica's house too, their home. Smiling at the thought, he got up and started getting ready.

At ten after, Doug and Blossom arrived with some breakfast for him and a snack for them. “Did you actually get to sleep or were you too excited?” Doug asked with a grin.

He laughed at that. “I actually did sleep, though I got up before the alarm went off.”

“As long as you're in good shape for the day, that's fine,” Blossom said.

“How was Leon?” Sven asked, getting them both to laugh.

“That was a real memorable sight,” Blossom said. “The poor boy was trying so hard to bluff off his embarrassment that anybody could see right through him. He just couldn't make light of being covered in squid and hearts even though it was just rewards from his birthday prank the other day.”

“Yeah, you got him good and he can't figure out who actually drew on him last night,” Doug said. “Don't worry, not even Kiel is gonna reveal that.”

“Wouldn't be the first time since I don't think he even figured out who messed up his prank way back in spring,” Sven said. “Though I didn't know it was his doing at the time.”

After they finished eating, he went to get dressed. He could handle most of it on his own, though he had Doug help him make sure it was all neat and in place. Dolce had somehow worked in one of the preserved rainbow lavender sprigs to stick out of a small pocket on the chest. As a sign of his knighthood, the pocket also had a patch with the insignia of Selphia nobility, a floral pattern that matched what was on the plaza in front of the castle. “You're looking great, especially with that sign of being posh upper-class,” Doug told him.

“I don't think I count as posh,” Sven said, not feeling particularly upper class either. But the touch of lavender did make him feel like being in a story.

“Your happiness today does lend you a noble air,” Blossom said with a smile. “I hope you both can keep that kind of happiness.”

“I hope so too,” Sven said. “It does remind me of a memory that was always precious to me. You remember when we were kids and played around the Sparkling Fountain whenever I was up to it? There was one day I got too tired and had to sit there, but then you kept me from feeling down by saying that someday we'd go off on adventures together and become famous.”

“I think I remember that,” Doug said, smiling in memory. “Heh, we really dreamed big back then.”

“No kidding,” Sven said. “We thought we'd go find some captive princesses to rescue and get married to so we'd become kings, then become legendary adventurers from there. I held onto that hope for a really long time.” It made him tear up a little. “Sorry, I just... at some point I started feeling like I'd much rather have a peaceful life in a quiet town. You know, where a big problem is taken care of by drawing on the perpetrator's face.”

“Selphia is a wonderful place that way,” Blossom said, a twinkle in her eye. “Though you could make a legend of yourself just in protecting the town. I'm sure you can do it.”

“Yeah, gotta keep the peace so silly stuff like that can keep happening without worry,” Doug said, though he seemed to be feeling a mix of emotions himself from his small smile and teary eyes.

“I know I can now,” Sven said. “Besides, I have a princess here now that I have to protect too, even if after today I'm the only one that sees her that way. She'll help me out if I have troubles again too, so I'm not as worried anymore.”

“Heh, you two do make a great couple,” Doug said.

“What about your princess?” Sven asked him, smiling again.

That got him to brighten up too. “Hah, I'm still working at making the locket for her. The recipe I found for one is a moderate level, but I've got a lot of catching up to do to get there. Though it's going along a lot better than I expected. Crafting always seemed like a pain to do, especially this kind of jewelry with teeny tiny parts. But I managed to make a silver necklace chain yesterday in only one try.”

“You are doing some nice work,” Blossom said, patting his arm. “Those pennywhistles you two made sell really well with children.”

“That's when they're most fun, when adults get annoyed at the racket,” Sven said, remembering times like that. “And you are the full-blooded dwarf here, so it's going to get easy on you.”

“I always thought that was some kind of racist superstition, but maybe not,” Doug said. “Guess I never had a big reason to be into crafting before. Though I don't want to be thinking of marriage right now.”

“Why not?” Sven asked, although he could guess.

Doug shook his head. “It took so much effort and so long to get the concept of dating through to Amber that I don't want to think of what it'll take to explain the difference between that and marriage.”

“If you're not careful, she'll bring it up out of nowhere like she tends to do when curious about something,” Blossom said.

“Yeah, you might want to figure out how to explain that ahead of time,” Sven said.

“Sheesh, I don't think there'll be an easy way to do that,” Doug said, his eyes wandering off in thought.

Sven shrugged. “Maybe it won't be that bad? Because she's friends with Frey and Clorica, plus Leon's her brother. She might figure something out talking with us.”

“Well if she does start asking questions, be careful what you say,” Doug said. Which was a real worry, given what she'd done when she started being curious about love and dating.

When the time was near, they left his home to go to the western side of the plaza. Clorica was going with Volkanon and Vishnal as her attending family, not any of her blood relatives, so she was allowed to enter the plaza from the servant's wing of the castle. They still met up in the center of the plaza when Lest called on them. “You look like a dream princess,” Sven said to her quietly when they were close enough to hold hands.

Clorica had a sparkling smile right then, only adding to her beauty today. “Hee, it's not a dream. I know because you're better than any dream I've had.”

He felt himself blush at the praise. “That's true because we won't be waking up from this moment.”

Then they took hands and headed towards the castle, ready to start a new life together.

* * *

 

Summer 58

Clorica woke up that morning and the house was quiet. It was strange. So far, Sven had made sure to be home by 545 hours when she woke up to prepare to head into work. That would give them time to share a meal and some time together before she went off to the castle and he either went back on patrol or stayed home to settle down for the day. She made breakfast for both of them as usual, then ate alone and wondered what was keeping him.

As 700 approached, she had to leave to report in to Volkanon. She sealed Sven's breakfast and left it on the table for him. Still, she took a quick jog around town to see where he was. Volkanon might excuse her for being a few minutes late if she explained about that.

She made a near complete loop before pausing to catch her breath in the town plaza. Then she finally saw him, coming in the south gate with a serious look on his face. It wasn't quite that detached look he had when there was trouble, but his eyes looked that sharp. Clorica went down to meet with him. “Sven? What's wrong?”

“Morning, Clorica,” he said, letting himself sound worried since it was her. “Sorry I was gone; I have to report in to Lest.”

“He's usually at his farm work for another hour at least,” she said. “I haven't checked in myself yet.”

He nodded. “All right. Well,” he glanced around, seeing she was the only one close by. “I spotted a Sechs mechanical scout trying to fly over town. I cast a spell to damage it, then tracked it southward. However, it either sensed me or the one it was to report to was further away as it began to move erratically shortly before losing its flight functions. I just hope nothing came into town while I was following it.”

“Forte's probably on patrol already, though it wouldn't hurt to find her and make sure to search the town carefully,” Clorica said. Although, the thought frightened her. Was this a precursor to an invasion?

Sven saw that, and came closer to grip her shoulder. “We'll do our best to protect Selphia,” he said. “But, well... I was hoping I'd have some more time before I had to talk with you about this. With this scout, though, I shouldn't keep you out of it any longer.”

“Out of what?” she asked. What was he keeping secret from her? If it was something with his work, she understood. There were parts of her work that she couldn't tell him.

Quietly, he said, “You've probably heard about it, the possibility we could become the opening stage of another war between Sechs and Norad. Which means I'll be fighting against the empire's soldiers. If it's the mechanical ones, they're not much different from monsters. But if they're humans or other peoples, I'll have to kill them. I don't want to kill, but it's a fact of war and being a knight. And I'll have to do it as myself, not as a puppet of the Executioner.”

Hearing that made her want to cry. But she felt she should be strong for him. “I'd rather you not do that, but it is your duty.”

“Right, I swore to protect this town and everyone in it,” Sven said. “However, if it comes to that, there might be times I go stay with Art rather than come back home.”

“Why?” Maybe training?

It was something more serious. “I've seen a lot of death and getting into a battle with other people will most likely throw me into bad flashbacks or dangerous moods after my mental defense relaxes. I'm sorry, but I'd be a danger to you like that. If I'm with Art, he knows how to help others through those times and he's skilled enough to disable me if needed. Even if it doesn't get that bad, I'll need some time to sort out what happened. You should talk with him about this too.”

“That makes sense, but I wish I could help you more with this,” she said, squeezing his arm.

That made him smile although the worry was still there. “You help in just being you, being here so that I know I have a home and loving wife to come back to. And I promise, I'll do everything I can to make sure I come back home if I have to leave town.”

“Well I'll find the best way to help you that I can, even if it is just that,” she said.


	72. Intermission - A Problem For Scholars

Summer 22

“One trouble I have in this line of work is that most people are interested in either the simple potions or the potions that just don't work. I often got large orders for healing potions of all sorts from Jones and Arthur, general and ailment specific. Once I get all the needed materials, those take hardly any time to put together. Then there's the food seasoning mixes that really aren't alchemical in nature. Herb mixes and spicy powders can be mixed up by anybody even without equipment. A knife, mortar and pestle, and a clean work surface will do for most of it. While sour drops and sweet powders take a bit more work, it's still more kitchen oriented. Even the healing drops that Frey taught me are more candy-making than alchemy. Sometimes I think I should just work as a specialty chef with desserts and those simple concoctions. But aside from some desserts, that would hardly be challenging.

“Then there's the folks who are interested in love potions, which are potentially dangerous or addictive if made with true alchemy, or can lead to embarrassing mistakes done in irrational states, or just a placebo potion that some con artists pass off as the real deal. But really, the milder love potions wouldn't work for someone hiring me to complete them. It's the process that makes them work and a big part of that is more talking to the person you're interested in and thinking on them. From what I've read, the lengthy and complicated process is either going to be a deterrent or an example of dedication. A lot of people apparently give up in the middle of it since it takes so long or because it can smell funny. Or the infatuation wears off and they don't want it anymore.

“But I'm interested in alchemy itself, the process of studying the world through understanding all the parts that made it up. How runes interact, how objects interact, what changes one thing to another; brewing potions is only a small part of it. A very useful one, true, but about as mundane as making basic rice is for a cook. Supposedly the Sechs Empire is quite advanced in their alchemy studies since they haven't done as much in magic itself. They're big into mechanics and alchemy. But I only know of two people from the empire and neither can tell me anything about alchemy.”

Leon hid a smile behind his fan while Kiel had to catch his breath. “I asked what you were doing, not for an oral dissertation.”

Laughing, Kiel kept making notes on a chalkboard. It looked like a serious of complicated formulas. Unfortunately, Leon didn't know how to interpret the symbols without getting past the lab screen and touching the board. “Sorry but I'm going to be like this for a little while longer, maybe a couple more minutes. See, the correspondence course I've been taking asked me to do my own experiment based on a part of alchemy that I'm interested in and then write up a full report on the results, using the standards of alchemy scholars in writing the report. I'm at the end of one experiment and it didn't quite go as planned, but I think this result is interesting even though it's getting tiring being made to talk constantly and I'm really thirsty.” He stopped and tried to keep himself quiet to take a drink. He ended up coughing while trying to swallow. “Ack, that wasn't pleasant.”

“What did you do to yourself?” Leon asked. Maybe that would get him to explain better why he was being compelled to talk constantly.

“One of the portions of this course was on inversions, how to make runes that do one thing make the opposite effect. Actually, I found in my research that there is an accessory from magical crafting that can have an inversion effect, the Talisman. It should more properly be called the Talisman of Inversion since the word talisman is a synonym of the noun charm, but the crafting books I checked all call that particular accessory just Talisman even though it's a crystal pendant, I guess because it's a standard craft in some circles and getting it the more accurate name would require a lot of cooperation between craftsmen and traders.”

“What did you do, invert a lamp squid's poison?” he guessed.

Kiel grinned. “Wow, how'd you know? Yeah, that's it. But my actual idea was to find a potion that when drank would temporarily give the user the ability to speak and understand any language. It'd be more complicated than just inverting one ingredient, though. I thought that since the lamp squid poison prevented a person from speaking, then inverting it might enhance their speaking and the right tweaks would allow for speaking in multiple languages at once, like the divine gift of speaking in tongues. But it definitely needs more tweaks since a straight inversion strongly compels the user to talk and explain things more than necessary. The runes did suggest that it's a temporary effect that will fade on its own and I even calculated a time period of fourteen to sixteen minutes based on my magic rating, pool of rune points, and body mass.” He took a deep breath, then drank some water again.

“That sounds like a fun potion on its own,” Leon said. “Is the time up?”

“Almost. I think. It's been twenty minutes so I didn't account for something.” He paused again, trying to keep himself from talking. “I wonder what would happen if we gave the inversion potion to a quiet person like Dolce or Dylas?”

He grinned, since that was exactly what he was thinking. “That could be interesting to see. They'd probably be mad about it and rant. Still, it'd be good to see if it simply compels a person to talk or if it can get them to talk about things they wouldn't talk about otherwise.”

“It felt like it only compelled me to talk, not about any particular thing,” Kiel said. “Of course, I wasn't trying to avoid any subject. I think it's passed now.” He finished off his drink, then left his lab to refill the glass.

Leon hadn't been about to go into the lab, so he followed Kiel into the store's office where a small fridge was. “Well now that you're not going to ramble on tangents, what are you doing today?”

He chuckled. “Working on this experiment since I don't have a customer's order to fill. Did you need something?”

“No, I was just bored and this made me not so bored,” he admitted.

“That's good, I think,” Kiel said. Then Dolce happened to come in, Pico tagging along as usual. “Hello, how's it going Dolce?”

“Fine,” she said.

“Hey, you ought to try this potion Kiel's been working on,” Leon said, not about to miss the chance.

“What is it?” Dolce asked skeptically.

“An inversion of the lamp squid's poison that makes people mute,” Kiel said.

“Oo, so it makes people really chatty?” Pico asked in interest.

“No, I'd rather not try it,” Dolce said.

“Come on, live a little,” Leon said teasingly.

She shook her head. “No. I came here to see if I could get your help, Kiel.”

“Sure, what is it?” he asked. Agreeing before knowing what was being asked was dangerous, but that's how Kiel was. Leon worried about him being like that sometimes, but then it also made it easy to get Kiel to help him with having some fun with others.

“You might have heard that I've been putting powerful ghosts to rest in Obsidian Mansion,” she said.

Kiel nodded. “Yeah, I heard Meg helped you out one time and Clorica's little club did another.”

“Right, those were times I was dealing with the ghost of an owner. I've managed to track down another owner in the library. But we're having some trouble talking with this one; he's an artist who's very intelligent and scatterbrained.”

Pico sighed. “Right, we have no idea what his issue is because his mind's all over the place. So we need someone else along who knows a lot of things on different subjects than Dolly knows.”

“I see, so you need me to talk with him so we can figure out what's keeping him here together?” Kiel asked.

“Yes, that's it,” Dolce said. “Do you have some time today?”

“Sure, once I make sure the lab is cleaned up and everything put away,” he said. “Although, if you need people who know different things, don't you think there should be others besides us that go along? That way there's definitely a variety of subjects that someone will understand.”

“That would be helpful, if we could get everyone to come into the mansion today,” Dolce said.

“I could help if you like,” Leon said. “Besides, I owe you for the help back with Telliarc's ghosts. Might as well help you with your ghost.”

“And you know, Elly knows a good amount about art history, so she'd be good to ask too,” Kiel said, already back in his lab. “Plus flowers and other plants. And then if you got Arthur, he has to know a lot on many subjects to be a trader. The six of us would have a really good spread of knowledge then, so somebody should know something of what this ghost is talking about.”

“Yeah, that'd work out!” Pico said, happy to be included in the count.

“You'd have the least to contribute,” Dolce said to her. “I might be able to get Elly interested, but Arthur would be hard to pull away from his work.”

An idea was coming to Leon that he liked. “No, you get the elf and leave Arthur to me,” he said. “I might be able to convince him to come along today. Besides, it'd be good exercise for him.”

Dolce smiled. “Thanks. Would you both be able to meet up in about twenty minutes outside Obsidian Mansion?”

“Sure thing,” Kiel said.

“I'll give it my best shot,” Leon said. It meant he had to hurry over and hope Arthur didn't have any clients in. Or scheduled to come in today. Still, the challenge of getting him to leave his office and do some different work was too interesting to pass up.

There was someone who didn't live in town in his office, but they seemed to be wrapping things up. Leon waited, examining an odd statue of a turnip that was sitting in the room. An inscription stated that it was a sacred image for the God of Turnips, a god he'd never heard of. But who knew? The ways of the gods were kept to themselves and the divine dragons operated in their own different ways.

Once the visitor was gone, Arthur came over to him. “Good afternoon, Leon. How's the translation work going?”

“Still going at the Book of Guidance, since it's lengthy,” he said. “Also working at the scrolls we pulled out of the tower, though none of those have been interesting yet. But I'm here on other business today. How would you like to do some ghost hunting?”

“Ghost hunting?” he asked, puzzled. “I'm afraid I wouldn't be of much use for that.”

“This time around, you might be,” Leon said. “Dolce's working at putting the souls of the owners of Obsidian Mansion to rest, in order to break the evil power the house has accumulated. Today, she's after an intelligent artist who's stuck in the mansion's library. We're not sure what keeps him there, so we need people with a variety of knowledge to figure it out.”

Arthur was thinking about it, but said, “I see. But I have quite of lot of work today.”

“Any of it need to get done today absolutely?” he asked.

“Well no,” he admitted. “But I'll get behind if I don't keep working.”

Now to get him off-balance. “Of course, but you're doing this voluntarily.”

“Yes, this is what I chose to do,” Arthur said, wondering what he was getting at.

“What if you didn't get the choice, hmm? And you were locked in this room with no way out even into another room, having to work on something you can't complete because you're missing a few vital pieces? Can't eat, can't sleep, can't stop, that's what the existence of ghosts like this are. It's why it takes someone like Dolce to get them the missing pieces of their puzzle. But she doesn't know where to start with this one, which is why I'd like to get her any possible help even if one of us ends up not able to contribute much.”

“Oh, well,” it seemed to be working at his sympathy, but Arthur was still weighing it against his business work. “Who else are you bringing along?”

“Me, Kiel, and Illuminata,” Leon said.

“And if it's an artist... I know some about art, but I usually consult an art historian or critic if I need to figure in a sale of a piece of art. Does someone know about art in this group?”

“Apparently Illuminata does.” He shrugged. “I can't say how well, but Wendy's the artist in town and I didn't see her on the way here.” And he couldn't be sure how well Venti knew human art either, but Arthur didn't know about that.

“If the ghost is mostly peaceful, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try talking with him,” Arthur said.

“Great, so you coming? We've got to be over to the mansion soon if you are.”

He nodded. “Very well, I'll see what I can do.”

When they entered Obsidian Mansion, the place seemed really quiet. Not the kind of quiet where it was like they were being observed, or a quiet before a storm. Just quiet, the absence of activity and energy from a formerly busy place. Dolce had to be doing well on putting the ghosts to rest, Leon thought. There weren't even any traps until they got close to the library and had to disarm a spear throwing trap so they could safely open the doors to enter.

This library was a sad sight to see. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere; tracks from Dolce's earlier visit were still visible on the floor. While there were windows, they were stained up and made the lighting odd. Some of the shelves had fallen apart into a pile of disintegrating wood and paper. Other shelves had books that were rotting or torn apart. Finding a readable book in this mess would be quite the search.

Certain shelves had been pushed aside and against each other, all to clear a space near the windows for a painter's workplace to be set up. While the cans and cups of paint all seemed too old to be usable, the ghostly nature of the artist allowed him to keep painting. Some of his works were kept around, but in as poor of a shape as the books in the library. The ones on the easels were best, including an incomplete portrait of Dolce. The artist himself was visible, working on a painting of a mansion's theater.

“This is Ignis the artist,” Dolce said, gesturing to the ghost. “He's the second owner of the mansion who got trapped here, having acquired the house after the original owner Handel Obsidian died. I wasn't able to find out a lot else about him.”

“Oo, wait, you mean Mad Ignis?” Illuminata asked eagerly. “Looks like his self portrait, somewhat. Lived and died in the seven hundreds.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows. “Ah, that's interesting. I know that particular artist, as one of his most famous paintings is 'Divine Spirit Met On The Road', one of the images of Leon and Ventuswill traveling.”

That got his recognition too. “I think I've seen a print of that one. Rather too romantic for the reality, but it was nice and even had Maria in it, which similar pictures missed.”

“Recently a painting of his named 'The Fall of Syra' sold at auction for quite a price tag,” Arthur continued. “Although that's the extent of what I know of him.”

Illuminata was rubbing her chin in thought. “Right, those are two of his more famous works. 'The Fall of Syra' in particular is notable for being a major turning point in his work. Many of his early paintings were romantic and idealistic in nature, like 'Divine Spirit' and 'Noticed by Runeys'.”

“That was her before her ruin,” Ignis mumbled, making them pause. Then he had noticed them; it hadn't been certain because he kept painting. “Marionetta.”

“Wait, that was Marionetta before she died?” Illuminata asked in shock.

Ignis nodded, then gestured with his hand. One of the few whole books appeared in the air near them. “See for yourself if you don't believe it.” He went back to his work.

“Neat, a book of his complete works,” Illuminata said, taking the book and turning to find the painting. Although first she found the one of Ventuswill. “Right, so that one's 'Divine Spirit'. Bright colors, lots of flowers and greenery, idealized forms, this is definitely early Ignis. And...” she continued searching for the other painting.

“Wow, you could really see how darker your hair was back then,” Kiel said with a smile.

“Hey, it's not like I'm centuries old with nearly white hair now,” Leon said with fake indigence, making the others chuckle.

“I think all of us had darker hair before,” Dolce said. “Although I can't explain why that lightened when we were frozen in time.”

“Some powerful magics can drain color from the user or target, but it's a rare effect,” Kiel said.

“Probably has more to do with the fusion that resulted in our current looks,” Leon said.

“Here we are,” Illuminata said, showing them the 'Noticed by Runeys' painting. It had a teenage girl with short violet hair sitting barefoot in a grassy field. There were a number of runeys around her, delighted at having a friend for their brief lives. While Marionetta had been masked and dressed in a wild costume, the girl in the painting seemed nothing like that monster. She looked too innocent, like she'd be a nice sweet person.

In fact, “She looks kind of like Pico with shorter hair,” Leon said.

“You think so?” Pico asked, tilting her head while looking at the book.

“Yeah, she does,” Kiel said.

“Of course she does,” Ignis mumbled.

“Why is that?” Illuminata asked, looking over at the artist.

“Course she does,” he mumbled again. “Paintings.”

“Hmm,” the elf looked at the book.

“Should we keep looking through these to find something?” Arthur suggested.

“That'd be a good place to start,” Dolce said.

“Sure, although I have a feeling the early works won't help as much as the later,” Illuminata said, flipping slowly through.

“Hang on,” Kiel said, then cast a spell that let the book float and pages turn without one of them having to hold it.

“Thanks,” Illuminata said, but then put a finger on a page when another painting of the purple haired girl showed up. It was another early type, so they kept flipping until she stopped it again. “Okay, here's 'The Fall of Syra'. See how different it is? This kind of violence and darkness is hardly present in the early works.”

It was an unsettling painting to see, in part because Leon had walked the streets of Syra himself. He'd even fished in the lake there on peaceful summer days. To see it like this, with demons and warped monsters killing the unarmed citizens, it made Leon feel sick. He closed his eyes and waved his fan to calm himself.

“It's good, but I don't see why someone would pay a high price for that,” Dolce said.

“As she said, it represents a significant change to a famous artist's style,” Arthur said. “That makes it valuable even if it's an unpleasant subject.”

“Hey, look at that,” Kiel said. Leon opened his eyes back up to see him pointing at a shadowy black creature that was like a dragon's head. “It's one of Storgane's hate spirits. But they're mostly known for appearing here in Selphia on rare occasions, not elsewhere in Norad.”

“Syra is in Selphia's lands, at least now the remains are,” Dolce said.

“Hey, you alright Leon?” Illuminata asked, unfortunately calling attention to him. “You seem pale.”

“Sorry, but I knew that town well once,” Leon said, keeping his fan close. “Wasn't expecting to see it in that light. Shouldn't be a problem with the rest, depending on the subject.”

“You can step aside, but please don't leave the library for now,” Dolce said. “Even now, you don't want to be wandering this place alone.”

“I know,” he said. Fortunately, Illuminata had let the book continue to turn.

Before long, Dolce's eyes went wide and she made the book turn back to a particular painting. The why of it was immediately apparent: it had the girl from before as a young woman, but also had another girl who was more obviously like Pico. The pair were in more somber dresses than the early Ignis paintings, like a precursor to Dolce's era with fashion and attitude. Not only that, but this was a family portrait with a black-haired man by their side, and a collection of shadows like a horrific prison behind them.

“That's one I haven't seen before,” Illuminata said, checking the side. “No title to it.”

“That's Handel Obsidian, like some of the portraits out in the halls,” Dolce said, looking at Pico. “Are you his daughter? You never told me.”

“I don't remember my life?” Pico said, although she seemed disturbed at the portrait and had gone closer to Dolce.

“What do you know about Pico, hmm?” Illuminata asked Ignis. “Or about the Obsidian couple here?”

Ignis tensed and his spirit briefly darkened. But he kept painting. That made Leon think of something. “Hey Kiel? Can you summon items to you?”

“Yeah, why?” he asked, turning to him.

Leon pointing his fan towards the ghost. “Could you get one of those mist sprayers and hit him with your inversion studies potion?”

“Hmm...” Kiel thought it over briefly. “It might work on a ghost, but maybe not as long.”

“And if we do get him talking, are you going to be okay with it Pico?” Leon asked, just to be sure. “Because if this potion works, there's going to be no stopping his words until it wears off.”

“Sounds a little underhanded to me,” Arthur said. And he hadn't even been aware of Kiel's work on this before, at least to Leon's knowledge.

“But we need to get this guy talking or we ain't going to figure out the mystery of freeing him,” Illuminata said.

“I guess, as long as Dolly holds me,” Pico said, still clinging tight to her.

“Fine, if you're going to be a baby about it,” Dolce said, although Leon doubted she was as reluctant as she sounded.

Kiel had called on a small spray bottle, the potion, a mask, and some gloves. Excusing himself in case of fumes, he went off a few feet to pour some of the potion in the bottle, then spray it over Ignis' ghost. “Okay sir, what do you know about Handel, Marionetta, and Pico?”

The ghost darkened again. As he realized that he could no longer clam up about it, he got angry and slashed his brush across the painting he was working on. The paint had spontaneously turned red. “I was jealous of him, all right?! ****, I wish people would shut up about it. I am not obsessed with her, I'm just really concerned about leaving her and her daughter in his care. And I was right, you fools. I should have been the one to marry her, she was in love with me. But then that rich bastard had to flash a few coins at her father and arrange to steal her from right under my nose. Everyone paid for that mistake, but not as badly as those two.

“He was worried about me, see? Because I know why she started wearing that mask and they asked that I paint her there 'as normal', because they all would have known when they saw what his foul rituals to the dead divine wind did to her. And he didn't will this place to me out of friendship like he claimed, no, he knew exactly what he'd done to this place and wanted to drag me into this hellish curse with them. That doesn't matter, though, because I've found a new calling. I'm going to paint all the greedy fools and foolish innocents who've fallen into the curse and they will be in this house forever. We'll all keep each other company and remember how we were.

“But not them! ****, why did she have to say that she loved him more than me? That's not true, she had to be lying by the strings he'd put on her soul. If she was cruel, it was only because he crushed her heart and mind and then poisoned their meals for months until they passed away without a blemish, all so that he could keep them as beautiful puppets to use on this beautiful stage he made. But it's evil, all of it, I swear!

“Hah, he twisted her poor soul so much that she threw Pico out of the mansion out of jealousy because Handel was putting her in more of his games than Marionetta. She kept telling him that the girl would come back, even though she knew she made sure she couldn't and would eventually fade to the Forest of Beginnings. I knew the truth, but do you think I would have ever told him that? Hah! But then the girl found a spark of hope from some noble's infant and forgot all about them in finding a new family to be happy with. Happier than she'd ever been with those two betrayers, I know because I've seen it.

“And Marionetta was absolutely furious about it because in her broken state, she thought that everyone should admire her most of all. Well I did but she kept ignoring me while she managed the will to get out of Handel's power to go kill the family that had stolen her daughter. But that was a mistake because the parents of the baby girl knew a lot better than she expected and utterly destroyed her. Messed with Pico's head for a little while, but that was better for her in the end because she lost identity with this place and that hollow family. Handel thinks they're going to come back to him any day and I'm not about to correct him. Although he finally seems to be cluing in as he's losing more and more of his puppets and can't put on the torture dramas he likes anymore.” Ignis then gasped and quieted. He looked at the panting he'd been working on as if it was a foreign thing now.

“They were really my parents?” Pico asked, uncharacteristically scared.

Ignis looked at her and all of his paintings started to fade. “Oh... don't concern yourself with it, Pico. You really are better off as you are now. I had a chance on a few occasions to take you away from them, when you were alive, but I was a coward and could never do it. I'm sorry. Still, Handel is like Marionetta: he's not as strong as he seems. He's cruel and selfish, yes, and clever. But he's grown used to having the full power of this place and all its inhabitants at his command, to use as he wanted. As such, he's not all that dangerous right now unless he can manage to trick someone into falling under his control. He's going to be even less dangerous now that I've managed to tell you all this and apologize. I really wish I could have done something while you were still alive.”

Pico looked up at Dolce; they smiled at each other briefly. Then Pico flew over to Ignis. “Well, it's okay. I really don't remember them at all like you said. And everything's wonderful now that I'm back with Dolly! Thank you for letting us know.”

“If it turned out well then I don't need to worry about you anymore,” Ignis said, then faded away entirely.

* * *

 

???

Nobody wanted her anymore. She put on her best and brightest dresses, but no one saw her. She talked and smiled, hoping to be noticed. No one noticed her. In a fit, she kicked plates off a shelf and threw turnips. No one scolded her, no one punished her... no one loved her.

Why not?

Not caring anymore was cold. As people walked by without seeing her, she felt cold and alone. But she couldn't care about it. Life was a blur around her, something she couldn't touch. She used to hate it. Now she could barely think about it. She watched them, not sure what she wanted. Someone... someone who loved her... someone she could vaguely see the face of in her mind. But that face was often accompanied by nightmares and memory of pain, it didn't seem like love. Unless that was love.

“Huu aah.”

“Hmm?” She didn't much care, but looked to the sound out of habit.

There was a baby nearby, barely managing to sit up on her own on a blanket. With fine red hairs and large brown eyes, she was much younger. The baby reached a hand out to her, watching her with a kind curiosity. But she was a baby, probably more curious than kind. Still, something spoke to her about this baby and she brought her hand to hers. It'd probably pass right through like it did all the rest.

It didn't. The baby latched onto her hand, a warm loving grip. Smiling with the barest starts of teeth, she seemed so happy.

Someone loved her and Pico didn't want to let her go, ever.


	73. Love at First Sight, Doubt at Second Glance

Spring 28

The first time he'd seen her, Vishnal had been washing the windows in the servant's wing. As it was a nice day, he was able to open them up to dry faster. He had been looking at the glass to make sure there were no spots or streaks, but movement on the street caused him to look through it. It was Lest and Leon, already back from their trip into Obsidian Mansion with Dolce and a small ghost girl. Already Leon had turned out differently than he'd imagined the guardians being, from his fox traits to his teasing words. It was no surprise that Dolce wasn't quite like how people thought either.

Vishnal thought she was a lot prettier than he'd imagined. The guardians were recognized as saints, thus it seemed like they'd always be more than ordinary people. But not attractive like this, a perfect image of a lady of nobility even though her peach pink hair was in wavy pigtails. And despite the slightly macabre touches added to her, like the skull pins on her dress or the marionette control bars dangling from her almost elven ears. Still, that made her even more intriguing. She had some unsteadiness in walking, needing Leon and Lest's help to get up the few stairs onto the plaza. Perhaps it was because she'd just woken up; she was trying to have grace.

Fortunately, it was quiet in this part of the castle and he was in a good position to overhear Lady Ventuswill eagerly welcome Dolce back home. It was very different to hear the divine dragon speak like this, like a cheerful older lady rather than a physical goddess. But Vishnal had overheard her like this with Lest before and any oddity it had was ignored as he tried to hear more from Dolce. She had a soft voice so he couldn't make out her words as distinctly as Leon or even Lest. What he heard only further interested him; she wanted to be a teacher and on learning she couldn't, wondered about assisting Jones and Nancy as a nanny.

“Vishnal, how's it going?” Clorica asked sleepily, walking over and having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

He quickly went back to cleaning the windows. “Uh, going just fine, thanks. I've got this.”

'Hmm?” She came up by him, then smiled. “What's the silly grin for?”

“I do not have a silly grin,” he insisted, although now that she said it (and was giggling at him), he realized he did. “It's, it's nothing. Really.”

“That doesn't sound like nothing,” she teased him.

He managed not to say it, but Dolce would not leave Vishnal's mind that day. He wondered when he might get a chance to talk with her.

* * *

 

Spring 34

The chance didn't come around for a full week because Lest and the guardians headed right out to get Dylas, and then Amber. With the party being planned tonight to welcome them home, it was certain that he could have a chance to talk with her. But could he? The idea made Vishnal nervous. He might say something that made him look dumb, or trip up on something. He wasn't always a klutz, but it seemed like whenever something important came around or he was hoping to impress someone, he ended up less than graceful. Still, he had to try. Nothing got done if you did nothing.

In this case, he was asked to go find the four guardians and tell them that the party would be starting in half an hour. Amber was with Elly, so that was easy. Vishnal got lucky and came across Dylas hiding in the marketplace. Although, he had such a harsh look that made Vishnal wonder if he disliked people. At least he said he'd be at the party. Then Leon was with Kiel at the library, so Vishnal simply had to remind them that the party was starting soon.

Nancy thought Dolce was at the lake and that was where Vishnal found her. She was looking over at Obsidian Mansion, quietly talking with her ghostly friend Pico. Seeing her again made him feel flustered even though she hadn't even seen him yet. Would she see something in him too? Good or bad? He could tell himself that love didn't work at first sight; the person could turn out differently than imagined, most likely would. Still, there was a hope in him that maybe it did work sometimes.

“Excuse me, Dolce?” he said on coming closer to her.

She tensed as she turned, probably not expecting someone to approach her. “Yes?” she asked, her voice filled with a chilly politeness.

That was unnerving. Though she didn't know him, so not that surprising. “The welcoming party is going to start in about twenty minutes, if you need to prepare anything.”

“I don't have anything to prepare, but thank you,” she said.

“And who are you?” Pico asked, floating closer to him.

Smiling, he said, “I'm Vishnal, one of the castle butlers. Although, I'm just an apprentice right now, not a fully certified butler.”

“Butlers need certification now?” Dolce asked.

“Not necessarily, but the nobility won't hire an uncertified butler,” he said. And since few outside the nobility could hire a personal servant like that, there wasn't much of a point to being butler without a certificate.

“Well if a normal task for a butler now includes building bridges in a few hours, they'd need proof of ability,” Pico said. “Can you do that?”

“I'm not far enough in my training to know that,” he said.

Pico looked back at Dolce, who shrugged. “Seems strange, but if that's how things are now,” she said.

“I suppose bridge building is unusual,” Vishnal said. “But for this area, it's quite useful and Lady Ventuswill would rather we be able to.”

“So what's it like serving Ven?” Pico asked. Dolce didn't seem as curious, looking back at the mansion.

Still, he didn't mind answering a few questions. “I can't fully speak on that, but even though she sometimes asks for difficult things, she's kind and thoughtful. And she doesn't ask for impossible or irresponsible things, so it's wonderful to be able to serve her.”

Pico seemed like she'd ask something more, but then Dolce interrupted her before she even started. “We'll be at the party, thanks for letting us know.”

“Is there going to be cake there?” Pico blurted out.

Vishnal smiled. “Yes, made by one of the best bakers in town. It's sure to be a treat.”

“Oh ho, I bet that is exciting to hear,” Pico said, turning to Dolce.

“Jerk,” Dolce muttered at her, although it just seemed to make Pico happy.

“Well, we'll see you there,” Vishnal said. “Pardon me.” Then he headed back into town.

She was very polite, but very cold about it. Vishnal felt a little disappointed in that. Still, she was pretty and there might be a chance she could warm up to him after a while. It was something to consider, if not as much as before.

* * *

 

Out of all the people she'd met in the week since she'd woken up, Dolce found that the three butlers were the most proper people in Selphia. At least, proper to her view. That was if one discounted the fact that Clorica wore pants in a uniform identical to her male counterparts. She was at least well covered up. And if one discounted that Volkanon was overly emotional when he was supposed to be the master. Was that more sincere than being stoic? Dolce wasn't sure.

Then there was Vishnal, who... well she couldn't find a problem with him yet. In fact, she'd been a little attracted to him the first time she saw him at the lake. He was tall and handsome, with a really nice voice too. And he was one of the castle butlers, which meant that if she started talking to him, Dolce might get a chance to speak more with Lest... no, no, she couldn't be thinking like that. That was fake, and maybe the little attraction to Vishnal was fake due to his connection to the prince. But that just went to show how powerful magic could be.

Dolce met with him again at the party itself, speaking to the lady knight Forte. “He's been following his family's goals, so that's why he wanted to finish this quickly,” Vishnal said.

“Yes, but I do wish I could have been more help,” Forte said, then noticed her nearby. “Oh, hello Miss Dolce.”

“Hello again,” Vishnal said with a smile. “How are things?”

“Fine, I guess,” Dolce said.

“Where'd you get that armored dress?” Pico asked, going over and poking at Forte.

Forte shivered a little. “Er, I, I had Bado adapt the design to something more fitting for a knight. It's been a style of armor popular among some adventuring ladies, usually made with leather or lighter metals. Except, they generally have some rather questionable design additions for aesthetic purposes. I told him to make it practical instead.”

“Aesthetic like what, something to make it sexier?” Pico asked.

“In some cases,” Forte admitted with disgust in her tone. “There was one that had these, well, tabs in the chest area that were just bizarre, with absolutely no reason for them to be there.”

“Seems like you haven't changed all that much over the years,” Dolce grumbled. The ghost never fully matured, but somehow she picked up a strong sense of perversion as if she were an ill mannered teenager. If Pico was either more childish innocent or more mature mannered, she'd be far more tolerable than she was in this in-between state.

“Why would you make armor sexier?” Vishnal asked. “That doesn't make sense when you're wearing it into battle. For one thing, it wouldn't matter to monsters at all what your armor looks like.”

Forte frowned. “It is ridiculous. Although, you do have to be careful of capes or long ribbons in bright colors. Those can incite some monsters to be more aggressive. Though they're both impractical even without considering color as they can get caught or grabbed more easily than armor like this. Mage cloaks have similar issues, although if a mage is letting anything get that close to them in battle, they need more training.”

“Sexy armor might be more useful in some arenas,” Pico said with a big grin.

“If it is, then your opponent is an easily distracted idiot,” Dolce said. And how would one make an armored dress anyhow? She looked over Forte and tried to imagine how it was put together.

“Very much so,” Forte said.

“I think the armor's neat!” Amber piped up, jumping into the conversation without warning. “Are you going to go rescue a princess and marry her and live happily every after?”

Forte paled at that. “Ah, no, not at all.”

“But that's what knights do,” Amber said, pouting in disappointment.

“Maybe in fairy tales, but not in real life, not often,” Dolce said.

“My job as a knight is to protect Lady Ventuswill and the town,” Forte said. “I'm not an adventuring knight.”

“That's too bad,” Amber said. “But I guess it helps to have someone protecting the town from bad monsters. Can you fight nightmares?”

“Only my own, I don't think it's possible to fight other people's nightmares,” Forte said.

“That would be amazing,” Vishnal said.

“What about winter, can you fight winter so it doesn't come?” Amber asked.

She actually smiled at that. “No, that's not possible. No matter how strong a knight is, he can't fight a force of nature.”

“But you're a girl knight, so maybe you could!” Amber suggested eagerly. “Doomgale says she'll destroy typhoons someday. You can learn from her?”

“I'm not sure if I could,” Forte said. “I'll leave battling weather to the little dragon to learn. It would be a useful skill.”

“Vishnal!” The old butler was looking over the crowd for him.

“Excuse me,” Vishnal said to them, then hurried off to meet with Volkanon. On the way, Xiao Pai got out of her seat, accidentally making Vishnal trip over it and knock her over too. So maybe he was clumsy. But no one was perfect.

* * *

 

Spring 42

It was odd at times to think of herself as a servant, but that's what Dolce was doing. Her family had had a maid and a butler because her parents were important people. Back then, she'd barely spoken to those two. The maid did her work quietly, often unseen. The butler was restrained and spoke little unless he was delivering a message. With how little they interacted, the servants might not have been there at all.

Now she was a nanny and she expected that she'd speak to Jones and Nancy mostly about Alice and keep out of their way. But, that wasn't how things were working out. Nancy insisted that she and Pico join them at the table for breakfast and dinner. She even set a place for Pico even though she couldn't eat. While Dolce's parents had done the same, they were working for this family, not a part of it. It was nice to be included, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was appropriate.

And the things they talked about weren't just work related. “Would you like me to teach you about modern kitchen appliances?” Nancy asked her. “You'll need to know them if you want to get a cooking license.”

“I haven't considered that license,” Dolce said. Except that she had. It'd be a nice bit of familiarity to be cooking again, plus she could repay Jones and Nancy some for their kindness by making meals on occasion.

“It's a good thing to know, so I think you should try,” Nancy said. “Besides, I don't think it'll be much harder once you learn what everything does. It's certainly safer. Then you can cook for those you love and make them happy.” She giggled. “Especially if you've got your eye on a boy in town.”

“Any boy who dates her has to meet my approval,” Pico said proudly.

“Another way you trouble me,” Dolce said, irritated at that. Although she was right about the last boy.

“Well don't get too much in the way or you won't make her happy,” Nancy said.

Pico pouted. “Aw... but I wouldn't want that.”

“Any of the guys you think are sweet?” Nancy asked, looking at Dolce.

Should they really be talking like this? It was more of a conversation between friends, not an employer and servant. It was kind of her; she and her husband were really sweet like that. But sweetness could be too much. After an uncomfortable moment, Dolce had to answer, “I can't say right now due to that magical influence I have from Lest. Though that is weakening.” Like her heart didn't go all fizzy with happiness on hearing him anymore, though a bit was still there.

“That's too bad,” Nancy said. “But you know, he is a cute man with a good personality, and such charisma! Not to mention that he's the prince. If any girl wants to go after him, they're sure to have lots of competition and need to have any advantages they can get. Cooking would be a good one since he's a farmer and would appreciate someone who can make nice dishes with his vegetables.”

“I don't want to consider that with the influence still on me,” Dolce said, embarrassed at the topic. “But modern cooking would be nice to learn.” A license would help when Alice could start on solid foods, she told herself. Then it would be part of her job as the girl's nanny.

Nancy sounded really happy to finally have her agreement to the lesson. “Great! Let's start with the mixer, and then we can talk about the stove. Those will help us put together dinner for today.”

The mixer was very handy. Dolce was quick to notice that, since it took a lengthy task like fine chopping, mixing, and even butter making down to a simple task of putting ingredients in, putting the lid on, and pushing some buttons. At the end, the mixture would be smooth, perfect for making mush from fresh foods for a baby. Then the stove was like a better contained fire that didn't leak as much heat and was a lot easier to control for temperature. This was how Nancy was making meals in less than an hour when it would have taken Dolce's mother Grace the full afternoon to make something similar. The cooking license might be easier to get than she thought.

While making dinner early had been a spontaneous decision, it turned out well as some tourists came in with a crying child that had been hurt. That made Alice upset, so Dolce put her in a blanket, grabbed the baby bag just in case, and took her outside. It was still a bit cool, not bad on Dolce with her layered outfit. Flower petals were scattering on the sidewalks and the public flowerbeds were full of color. On a nice day like this, it was good to take a walk.

Though whatever the day was like, she had to deal with Pico. The ghost immediately started prattling about the lessons. “Sometimes I think I should have come out of the house more, because all these devices we have now are great! Just think about it: with all those new kitchen appliances, you could have cake every day if you wanted.”

“It's not ladylike to be a glutton,” Dolce said, although now that she said it, she realized that it might be possible. That sounded really good... but it would be better to be able to make bread easier, she told herself. That was the better view as bread was healthier than cake.

“But you could be and that's the great thing!” Pico said in delight.

Dolce sighed. “If you could eat, you'd ruin your teeth and figure within a year.”

“Hee hee, I wonder if I'd be cute when pudgy.”

After a short walk, she wondered if it would be time to come back to the clinic. Then Alice complained again, but it was her own troubles this time. Dolce glanced around, but the nearest place that would help was a bench where Lest and Vishnal were sitting, the former with a book and the latter with a clipboard. Going over, she said, “Excuse me, could I borrow the bench for a couple minutes?”

“Oh sure, go ahead,” Lest said, getting up with Vishnal.

“Thanks, hope you're not too squeamish,” she said as she set Alice down there to change her diaper.

“No, it has to be done,” Lest said, no concern or embarrassment in his voice.

“Right, and I've taken care of babies enough to not care,” Vishnal said.

“That's surprising,” Dolce said. Although it was good of them, another of the nice things about men these days.

Vishnal smiled. “Not really, since I have nine younger siblings.”

“Then it is seriously nine?” Lest asked, surprised to hear that. “Wow, I've never run into a family that big.”

“I know, but that's what our parents wanted,” he said, proud of it.

“I'd feel sorry for them, but they got what they asked for,” Dolce said.

“We had fun in living together,” Vishnal said. “Now that I'm away, they write to me regularly. Actually, I've been working on some letters back to them today. The hardest one is trying to figure out what to write to Aria, as she's the youngest.”

“How old is she?” Lest asked.

“She's four, so someone has to read the letters to her,” he said. “Normally I wouldn't write her specifically, but she's learning to read and write. Aria was really proud of mastering the alphabet and wrote it all down for me as a letter with some drawings. It was so cute! Orion even helped her write her name and mine so that it's a proper letter. I definitely want to write her back for that.”

That was really sweet of him, Dolce thought. He seemed like the kind of big brother than any kid would love. For that age, the little girl wouldn't care what he wrote her as long as she got a letter all to herself. But she'd probably be ecstatic to hear that he was proud of her in such a letter. Though was it proper to tell him that? He did seem like he would take some advice, but she only knew him a little bit. Pico poked at her for that, which Dolce tried to ignore.

Fortunately, Lest had no problem in being open. “Right, that'd make her happy. Maybe if you just compliment her on her skill with the alphabet. She is just four, after all, so that's a big deal for her.”

“I was thinking of that, also that I have to be careful with my words so she'll understand it,” Vishnal said.

Pico poked her again, making Dolce wave her off before she made her slip with the diaper change. “Don't use a word longer than alphabet and it should be okay,” she said, since Pico would just keep bugging her if she didn't say anything. “And try to make your print a little larger than normal so she has an easier time trying to read it herself.”

“That sounds good, thanks for the suggestions Dolce,” Vishnal said.

“My lady's taught children before, so she knows what she's talking about,” Pico said proudly.

“Not long enough to be entirely reliable,” Dolce said, since most of her teaching had been in the year she helped Venti and the town children.

“I heard about that,” Lest said. “What kind of things did you teach?”

“Are you always this nosy?” she asked him, though it was nice to have someone interested even in small ways.

Lest laughed. “I'd have to say, yes I am. It'd be hard for me not to be.”

“It can be rude,” Dolce said.

“I don't think so, he's just interested in what people are doing,” Vishnal said.

Lest nodded. “Right. Besides, it's my job to be concerned about the community and everyone in it. I can find ways to make things better by asking people questions.”

“I don't recall the king or queen of my time being like that,” Dolce said.

“Maybe I just like being more involved than most royalty,” Lest said. “And it's not like the region is that large; it's no trouble to me to work like this so far.”

“Though if you end up successful, it might become too much,” Vishnal said, sounding like he hoped Selphia might get that far.

“I'll handle that when and if the time comes,” Lest said, not worried about it yet.

Once the task was done, she excused herself and headed back to the clinic with Alice. She also thought about Lest on the way there, specifically that it had been a relatively normal conversation with him. No inappropriate thoughts about a man she wasn't dating and no foolish girlish thoughts of trying to date him. Maybe the infatuation was past? Lest was an angel in ways, able to awaken them when no one else was capable of it in working alone. He hadn't asked anything of them and he was interested in helping people without a thought of what he got in return. In turn, that made him rather nosy in getting himself involved in other people's business. And he had that empathy, meaning he could tell exactly how one felt no matter how one tried to hide it behind propriety and manners. That was scary, as was his being a rune breaker to ruin spells and enchantments if he didn't keep good control over it.

Then it was past. Dolce felt a little relieved in it. But she couldn't feel entirely happy about it, not when she recalled how easily her mood lifted just because she was talking with someone she was in love with. Would she be able to find that easy happiness again if she feel in love for real next time?

“I love you Dolly!” Pico called, flitting closer to her. There were a few others out on the sidewalk, for which this would have come out of nowhere.

Dolce suspected the only reason Pico didn't grab her in a hug was because she was holding Alice. Glaring at the ghost, she said, “That's not it.”

“But you never ever have to doubt my love because you've had it all your life,” Pico said, joyful in saying so.

That was true, and a nice thing about her. She could rely on Pico because she'd always be there. Though that was a problem in itself. “I know, but that's still not it.”

“Then what issss iiiit?” Pico said in a sing song way, keeping ahead of her so she could see her face.

“I can't say,” Dolce replied.

“That's always been the problem, hasn't it?” Pico said, seeming concerned. It would have been touching if she didn't then grin and added, “Well then, how to make the others see your twisted but kind personality for themselves...?”

“Don't,” she warned, but felt like it was already too late.

* * *

 

Spring 48

Vishnal had not even placed in the cooking contest with his apple curry rice. However, he did get some complimentary reviews from the judges, even some surprise from others that it was his dish. That pleased him greatly. But the thing that was most on his mind today was Lest being an oracle of love and the message he'd given specifically to him. Part of it wasn't clear, but part of it was. Specifically that things could be slow to start as moving too quick would close the possibility. That made sense, though not the part about once things got moving, moments of clarity would show what is best even if it means stopping.

He hoped that was an if because his mind kept returning to Dolce and how there seemed to be some warmth underneath that chilly attitude. It made sense not to start moving too quickly with her as she was used to more formal courtships. These days, those kinds of interactions were only seen in books. But he had to start things moving somehow, right? Vishnal had started considering this attraction seriously after Pico's sign antics. She'd apparently complimented a number of people for Dolce on that day. If he gave a small sign of interest in return, would that get her thinking of him too? Lest's message made him want to try.

In the evening, he walked around town trying to seem like he wasn't doing anything in particular when he was trying to find Dolce. She and Pico were at the lower observation platform near the inn, looking at things through the telescopes. They were the only ones down there, so it seemed a good chance. But, why would he be down there so that it wasn't obvious he came for her? That didn't take much to decide as part of his tasks was to check on these telescopes occasionally. The first one he checked even needed a bit of cleaning for a smudge on the far lens, so Vishnal was able to do that as an excuse.

“I bet we could identify someone fishing at the water rune spring's lake from here!” Pico said.

“We could certainly tell if it was Dylas from the hair,” Dolce said. “Maybe some others.”

“You can identify an airship by its flags with these well before it gets in,” Vishnal said. “Though we usually use the ones up on the windmill observatory for that purpose.”

Dolce tensed as if she'd not realized he was there. He smiled at her, then moved on to see if the next telescope needed cleaning or maintenance. “That would be useful,” she said.

“Hi Vishnal, whatcha doing?” Pico asked, not as concerned.

“Making sure things are in good shape over here,” he said. It seemed a good a time as any, so he added, “Oh, Dolce, you know I've been thinking that you really do look great in that dress.”

“It's a pattern my mother picked out for me,” she said, like she didn't notice it was a compliment. But he didn't get a chance to feel disappointed as Dolce went still as she realized that it was. “Erm, but... it's not really modern fashion...”

“Well if you like it, what does it matter what kind of fashion it is?” he asked. Though she'd probably look good in clothes more like what the other girls in town wore too.

“I guess,” Dolce said, blushing. She left off looking through the telescopes and started to head up the stairs.

“Vishnal?” Pico said in a worrying tone, from just out of his sight. As he turned quickly and tried to step away from her, the ghost had a toothy grin but angry eyes. “You'd better be careful walking around alone late at night...”

“Pico, leave him alone!” Dolce said, although she didn't wait for her to follow.

“Just saying,” Pico said, then darted off after Dolce.

Feeling his heart pounding in fright, Vishnal hoped that was the ghost's idea of a joke. The compliment seemed to have worked, if not quite how he wanted as she walked off. The next step had to be getting Pico to like him because it seemed dangerous otherwise.


	74. Memory of Hate

Spring 53

Tomorrow, he'd be heading out to Medritarc with Doug, Sven, and Kiel. Vishnal felt confident he could fly the airship in spite of some advance weather reports of a possible storm in their flight path. There was little chance it could interfere as it was predicted to arrive in the Selphia region in the late evening and they should return in the early afternoon. With that not a worry, he spent this evening reading through a book on dwarven culture. Volkanon had recommended it as a good way to figure out how to work with a guest that was a traditional dwarf. Although neither Doug nor Sven were very traditional for their heritage, it was still an interesting read.

A yelp from just outside his window startled him. Immediately, his paw cat Maple jumped into his room with her brown fur all fluffed out in fright. “What is it?” Vishnal asked, setting his book aside to go to her. He wasn't sure if she trusted him enough to hold her when she was scared like this.

Maple hissed when the tip of a purple hat appeared at the bottom of the window. “Gah, stupid cat,” Pico grumbled, coming up so her head was seen. “You can't hurt me, what were you thinking, pouncing on me like that?”

“Um, maybe she mistook you for something else while she was hunting?” Vishnal suggested, staying near Maple. The cat was still watching the ghost warily. “What were you doing in the farm anyhow?”

“None of your bees wax,” Pico said, making a face at him.

“Are you still mad at me for being nice to Dolce?” he asked. Might as well get right to the issue.

She still frowned. “I don't mind people being nice to Dolly. I love people who are nice to Dolly. But I don't love people who keep trying to steal Dolly's attention from me!”

“That wasn't my intention,” he said.

“Well then what do you want from her, huh?” Pico asked, now leaning over the windowsill partly in his room. “Trying to get her to do naughty things for your enjoyment?”

“N-no nothing like that!” Vishnal said, feeling his face get warm. “I'm just interested to know more about her, that's it. She acts so cold and polite, but she's really warm and gentle around Alice and sometimes it seems like that's more of who she really is.”

For a moment, Pico's anger softened. “Yeah, she's not too good at expressing who she really is, but she's so wonderful at heart.” Then her attitude got worrying again when she smiled. “Her love burns like fire and her hugs are so painful it's like I'm being strangled in affection. Can you handle that in a girl?”

“Um, I think that's just how she is with you,” Vishnal said, although now he was worried if Dolce really expressed her love that way.

“Because I'm closest to her, don't you ever forget that,” Pico said. Then she vanished.

“I hope she was exaggerating,” Vishnal said, petting Maple's fur down. The cat waited a minute to make sure the ghost wasn't coming back, then jumped back outside to go check on her kittens.

* * *

 

Spring 54

Jones seemed regretful. “It's sad to say, but whenever I hear that Forte's been cooking, the first thing that comes into my mind is, 'Who's going to show up in the clinic and with what problem?' Though this is the first time I've seen someone hallucinate from her work.”

Looking uncomfortable but not in his usual way, Dylas nodded grimly. “I thought something was off, but... guess I'll listen to that sense now.”

“That would be best,” he said. “For now, follow my instructions and take it easy the rest of the day. Dolce, would you mind walking with him back to Porcoline's place? He should be clear-minded, but best be cautious.”

“That's fine, whenever you're ready to go,” Dolce said to him.

Since he clearly wasn't well, she kept quiet and led him across the plaza, just in case Forte was outside and around her home. They didn't run into her, but they did find Leon near the general store. “What's with the downcast atmosphere?” he asked as they walked by.

“Normally I'd complain about putting the two quiet people together,” Pico said before either of them could explain. “But there's nothing funny about food poisoning so I won't.”

“Yes, Dylas found out that Forte shouldn't be allowed near a kitchen,” Dolce said. “He's been in the clinic all afternoon.”

“Yeesh, sorry about that,” Leon said, thankfully not about to joke about it either.

“And it was right after Porco told me I should keep trying new foods to be a better cook,” Dylas said, though he didn't seem to have the energy to have a temper about it.

Leon decided to follow them up to the restaurant. “That seems like a solid plan, though hopefully you can avoid bad foods after this. So anything we can joke about to lighten the night?”

“I don't know,” Dylas said. “I just want to lie down and have some inner calmness.”

“I hope you get that,” Dolce said.

“You can help me find a way to keep Dolce away from that boy,” Pico said, clenching a fist at the thought.

“You're terrible,” Dolce said, glaring at her. There was no reason to bring that up with her brother guardians right now. Or ever.

Unfortunately, that got Leon's interest. He gave a slightly toothy smirk. “Who exactly are we talking about with 'that boy'?”

“It's only a big deal in her eyes,” Dolce said, hoping to disinterest him.

“And it's a really big deal,” Pico said with her hands on her hips. “Vishnal's trying to steal her from me and I'm not gonna let him.”

“You're blowing things out of proportion this time,” she said.

“But he keeps talking to you and saying nice things about you that get you all embarrassed and cute and then his dumb cat attacked me last night, gah! I don't like him.” Pico tugged at her pigtails and acted like this was a full blown disaster.

“What were you doing to get his cat to attack you?” Leon asked. “I've never seen it outside the farms.”

“Were you trying to scare him from me?” Dolce asked.

“Maybe just a little,” Pico admitted, meaning that she really had. Dolce sighed. Vishnal didn't deserve that kind of attention.

“Are you dating him?” Leon asked, putting his fan to his chin. “That is a quick recovery from getting over Lest's magic influence.”

“No I'm not, which makes her behavior even more ridiculous,” Dolce said. “Vishnal just...” How did she explain this? He was attractive, but she wasn't sure about it. Leon poked her with his fan, making her glare at him. “He's trying to be friends, I guess. He is a nice guy, though I am kind of worried about him.”

“He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to pressure a girl or mistreat her,” Dylas said. “But if he is,”

“No, not that,” Dolce said quickly. “He's on a trip by airship today which wasn't supposed to last long. They left in the morning and were supposed to be back hours ago. But as far as I've heard, there hasn't been a word from them even from the radio.”

Leon nodded. “I've heard about that. Also that Amber was a stowaway on their trip. I wonder what kind of trouble they ended up in.”

“I hope it isn't trouble, especially if Amber's with them,” Dolce said, getting more concerned.

“Do you like Vishnal?” Leon asked. “He's rather naive from what I've encountered with him. Far too easy to pull a joke on him, it's almost not worth it.”

“He has his good points from what I've seen,” Dolce said. “I don't know.”

“Of course she has a crush on him!” Pico said, pulling at her pigtails again. “I wouldn't hate him like this if she didn't!”

“Pico!” Dolce snapped, grabbing her and pulling her close to keep a hand firmly over her mouth.

Leon chuckled. “You're going to have to give her up someday, you know. Or would you rather deny her happiness in love?”

“It's nothing like that yet,” Dolce said while Pico whimpered at the question.

“But if you want it to be, you'll have to try,” Leon said, still being a pest in his tone. It reminded her of Lest's oracle message enough that she punched him and Pico got away.

“Um, do you need a moment to calm down?” Dylas asked.

“Don't worry about it,” Leon said, although there was a partial grimace after the punch. “Some people hurt those they love most of all.”

“I wouldn't if you all weren't so embarrassing,” Dolce said, wanting to disappear from the spot.

“Oh, I kind of feel sorry for Vishnal now,” Dylas said, getting a smile out of Leon.

“If you weren't sick, I'd slug you too,” Dolce said.

“See what I mean?” Leon said, having already gotten back to his smug self.

In the restaurant, they got Dylas upstairs to rest. Back downstairs, they found Lest setting up a radio. He'd heard from Vishnal and the others and was going to listen to them coming in. Thankfully Leon didn't tease her about it openly. He did poke her with the fan again until she grouchily agreed to stick around and listen (as she wanted to the moment she heard about it from Lest). Besides, Jones and Nancy had come in on hearing from Forte about it.

Much of the radio conversation wasn't that interesting, although it was a relief to hear that Amber and Vishnal were okay. As well as the other three, but Dolce would admit only to herself that the other two were a bigger relief to hear about. Then came a few terrifying moments when they reported the sudden appearance and attack of the Sechs warship. Dolce had no idea what such a thing would look like, just that it was a more intimidating airship built to shoot down other airships. For a moment, they might have lost one of their siblings and four of their neighbors.

That didn't happen. Sven and Kiel somehow attacked the warship back and caused it to explode. After that, Amber came in and had Jones hurry back over to the clinic to take care of Kiel. But it seemed he was the only one badly hurt after the trip. Dolce felt glad they were all back safely.

As she had been left with Alice in the hurry to get Kiel help, Dolce searched around the tables to make sure nothing had fallen out of the baby bag or that they'd left nothing behind. Leon came back up to her while she was doing so. “Are your feelings clearer now?”

“You don't need to butt in on this,” Dolce said.

“Yeah, really,” Pico said, sticking her tongue out at Leon.

Leon just did the same back to her. Then he smiled at Dolce. “Well sorry, but I'm your big brother now and I'm going to worry about you all the same. I think you really should go speak with him, with honesty from your heart.”

“I can't do that,” Dolce said. “It's not proper.”

He simply shrugged. “Maybe not. At least tell him that you're glad he's alive. That might get him to speak honestly to you.”

She wasn't sure if even that much was proper, although she felt like she really wanted to do that.

* * *

 

It had been a long and stressful day for Vishnal, but it wasn't over yet. Leaving Frey downstairs to make sure there were no problems left from summoning the hell gate, he was helping Lest back upstairs and to his room. The hell gates were supposed to be hard on those connected to them, but right now, Lest seemed like he was wakened from his own nightmare. Fear and a plea for reassurance were in his eyes even if he was trying to keep calm and quiet. The rumble of thunder outside wasn't helping any. Not only that, but Vishnal had to keep his arm around him to make sure he stayed on his feet while climbing the stairs.

As he opened the bedroom door, Vishnal remembered that the Harvest Goddess had said there was someone living who had a powerful enough hate to feel even in a memory of him. Lest was strongly influenced by the emotions of those around him by his empathy. At one point, Doug had hated and distrusted Lest, enough that he'd been shaken for a couple of hours from walking by him. But even when Lest wouldn't say who it was to Vishnal (and he knew it had to be Doug), he did say that he knew there was some reason behind it and it wasn't bad. A powerful living hate would be extremely painful to him and then he had to cast this damaging spell after. Lest could use reassurance and gentleness now, rather like dealing with a child just woken from a nightmare.

“You should go to sleep early tonight,” Vishnal suggested, keeping the last thought in mind as he spoke.

“Y-yeah,” Lest said, though he sat on the bed in a daze.

Vishnal went to get his pajamas for him and closed the door. “Do you need some help?” He was trembling.

“I'll be okay,” he said. But when he didn't do anything, Vishnal went ahead and helped get his jacket off to get him to change the rest. It was simply what had to be done when his master was in bad shape like this.

“Do you want anything else?” he asked, taking his hand.

“I, uh,” he looked down and shivered. “No, I... I really shouldn't be alone right now. It wasn't even him but that venomous hate still strikes hard.” Then he jumped closer to Vishnal when someone knocked on the door to the hall.

“Who is it?” Vishnal called, although he suspected it was Volkanon or Frey come to check on Lest.

“It's Volkanon, may I come in?”

Lest nodded a little, so Vishnal said, “Yes, but keep the door closed.”

“What's the matter?” Volkanon asked in concern, coming right over and sitting on Lest's other side.

When Lest didn't answer, Vishnal did. “He encountered a memory of a powerful hate in the hell gate. And with his empathy, that's really painful.”

“It's a hate that wants you to die on the spot,” Lest said in a quiet shaken voice, then sobbed. When Volkanon put his hand on Lest's shoulder, the prince immediately clung to him and kept sobbing.

For a moment, Vishnal wasn't sure what to do. This wasn't the kind of thing they had lessons on, although he would have let Lest hug him following his thought on treating it like one of his siblings had a nightmare. Volkanon let him stay there, keeping his arm around him. “Vishnal, would you go have Clorica make some relax tea?” he asked.

“Sure,” he said, getting up and shifting his armband to find her as quickly as he could.

Once he was out of the room, he felt a little bad that Volkanon hadn't asked him to make it. He was working on getting better at it. But then, Lest was in a bad state and it was best they got someone who certainly could make relax tea well to prepare it for him. Vishnal could only say that his might be good, and it wouldn't be as good as Clorica's even at his best.

He found her coming up the stairs with Frey. “Clorica, would you make some relax tea for the prince?” Vishnal asked. “If it could help him get to sleep, it'd be best.”

“Sure, I'll get to that,” she said.

“Is this about the hate he encountered?” Frey asked in concern. “Is he acting sick?”

He was supposed to keep his master's privacy. But then, this was Lest's sister and she might know something more to help him. “He was really weak just coming up the stairs and is crying right now because of it,” he said.

“Really?” Clorica asked, a little upset at the thought.

“It's the empathy, he can get really sick with a strong enough negativity,” Frey said. “I'll go in and see him. The tea should help, but it's best he has people who love him nearby right now. And don't leave him alone, someone should sleep in his room tonight. He'll be a complete wreck tomorrow if not.”

“Okay, would you help me get the tea done quickly Vishnal?” Clorica asked.

He nodded and followed her to the kitchen. While she sorted through the tin of tea leaves for the right amount and gathered other ingredients, Vishnal got the water heating and set up a tray to take over. This didn't need two people and one couldn't really rush brewing tea. But even a few seconds shaved off by working together might help.

A visitor came in while they were working. It was something they were prepared for at any time, as much of the servant's wing was considered public space. Although, it was unusual as visitors usually didn't come in as it was starting to get dark. Dolce was there and oddly enough, Pico was nowhere to be seen. As a ghost, she may have been hiding in the walls. “Oh, you are here,” she said.

'Hello Dolce,” Clorica said with a smile. “Can we help you with something?”

She glanced aside nervously. “Um... I came to talk with Vishnal, if that's all right.”

While he was still worried about Lest, he couldn't deny that hearing that made him feel happy. Maybe he had encouraged her enough? “I need to be working right now, but I can talk for a couple of minutes,” he said, going to the door. “Is that all right?”

“Sure, I guess,” Dolce said, stepping away from the kitchen. Vishnal followed her out. “Is Lest okay? I heard from Sven and Doug that he didn't look well.”

“We're taking care of him, including Frey,” he said. “Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow.”

“Right,” she said. For a few seconds, she didn't say anything, which worried him that she'd only wanted to ask about that. But her eyes kept shifting around like she was thinking. “Sorry. I don't always find it easy to put things into words. But... I'm glad that you came back safe too. I was worried about the time it was taking, and then listening to the radio...”

“That was a scary few moments,” Vishnal said. Flying at the edge of the storm didn't worry him too much. The air was turbulent, but it was a good airship and they hadn't been far from home. But then having the warship emerge from its cloud, with no way to fight it back and the experienced navigator only able to tell him to turn in the same direction as the warship to be less of a target and to pray, that had been the most terrifying moment of his life. “I hope Kiel's going to be okay.”

“Jones was still working on him when I was last in the clinic,” Dolce said. “But...” Finally, she sighed. “Could you meet with me sometime tomorrow so we can talk more? I'll try to have my thoughts together then.”

Maybe she was interested him, just shy about saying it? “Tomorrow,” he mentally reviewed his work schedule, “I have an hour off for lunch starting at 1130. Will that work? Otherwise I don't get off duty until 1700.”

“I don't think I can do lunch at that time,” she said. “But I can meet you at 1730. Would you be okay if I made you dinner?'

“Sure, that'd be great,” he said. That was even more promising.

“Good, I'll see you then,” Dolce said, her cheeks a little pink as she turned away. “Good evening.”

“Same to you,” Vishnal said.

Clorica came out with the tea tray as Dolce was walking off. From the smile on her face, she'd overheard that. “Got a date tomorrow?” she asked quietly.

“Sort of, maybe?” he said, smiling. It had been a long stressful day when he had to stay calm and strong for others, but this was a point of happiness for him. “I hope so.”

Lest wasn't sobbing when they came in, although he still had that frightened posture to him. On drinking the tea and talking with them, he calmed down enough that he seemed like he would go to sleep in minutes. He asked for Vishnal to stay with him, so he went back to his room to get pajamas, a clean uniform, and a book to study while the others changed one of the sofas to a temporary guest bed. Maybe there wasn't a lesson for this kind of situation, but he felt it might be one of those times when it was excusable to act as a friend rather than a perfect professional.

As he was coming into the halls for the royal wing, Volkanon met with him. “May I have a quick word with you?” he asked.

Vishnal nodded. “Of course, what is it?”

“I have to say, I've been concerned about some of your actions recently,” he said. “Not being entirely clear with me what you were doing and planning this big trip out with your friends, I was worried that Lady Ventuswill and the prince were being too indulgent with how kind they are. But you've been working all this time to uncover Doug's hidden motives and bring him around to Ventuswill's side?”

“Well I am his friend, but that was the goal I was given and being his friend seemed to be the best way to accomplish it,” he said. “I even knew that he thought all of his family was gone before Sven came here. He was in a tough position and I worried that if I worked directly against him, he would feel entirely alone and might get desperate.”

Volkanon nodded slowly. “I see. But that is the way of the butler, helping people rather than hurting him. Actually, your actions today have been exemplary even if it was mostly in indirect service of your masters, in being prepared for anything and keeping a humble confidence the whole time. It may inspire them to have more trust in you since you did so well.”

“I simply served as you taught me,” Vishnal said. For all that he'd worried about it, Vishnal felt sure that if Volkanon had been asked to do something similar, he would have done even better.

That made him smile and hug him. “You've come a long way, Vishnal, and I'm proud of how you're turning out. There's a lot left for you to learn, but keep at it and I know you'll reach your dreams.”

“Thanks sir,” he said, smiling himself. Had he improved so much? Maybe from how he started. But there was a lot left to learn, and important things to be done even tonight.

Back in Lest's room, Frey and Doomgale were still in talking with him. The two of them soon left Lest to his watch, so Vishnal changed in the bathroom and came to sit on the guest bed. “Guess it's like a pajama party with just the two of us,” Lest said, smiling a little.

Glad he was feeling better, he smiled back. “Yup! Though probably not as much talking since you look ready to crash at any minute.”

“Just about,” Lest said, not able to keep his eyes entirely open. “I was just curious, though... I asked you to stay because you seem happy in spite of being at the end of what must have been a long stressful day. What happened?”

“It's not certain, so I don't want to build it up too much,” Vishnal said.

“Well it feels nice to be around a happy person after that hell gate, so just tell me,” Lest said, smiling wider.

He laughed. “I guess it would. Well actually, I've had a bit of a crush on Dolce since I first saw her, the day you brought her back. Though I didn't know if it'd work out, I've been talking to her some and trying to be nice so she talks back. While we were out getting the tea for you, she came by and asked to speak with me tomorrow. Even said she'd make dinner for me, so I'm hoping that she's interested in me too.”

“That's great, I hope it works out for you two,” Lest said warmly. “She really has a hard time speaking her mind, so if she can't say it herself, you can tell her how you feel. That may make it easier on her to be responding to your confession rather than trying to confess herself.”

“I'll listen to her at first, but keep that in mind in case it's like that,” Vishnal said. “Though along with that, I'm glad and relieved that things are working out in other ways, like with Doug and Sven today. And Mr. Volkanon complimented me on what I'm doing. So it has been a long day, bad in some ways and I'm worried about you, but there's been enough good things that I'm happy with how it's turned out.”

Lest yawned. “Sorry. That's good to hear. There's bad things, but yeah... enough good things that we should be happy with how things are going. Good night, Vishnal.”

“Good night, Lest,” he said, shifting a lamp so he could read at his bed after turning the main light in the room out. It wasn't long before he got tired as well, so he turned the lamp off too and drifted off to sleep while wondering what he should tell Dolce tomorrow.


	75. Tongue Tied

Spring 55

Strange things continued to happen around Dolce, at least strange by her standards. Just this morning, Kiel seemed like he was flirting with her. That was a potential mess considering he and Vishnal were close friends; she did not want to end up in a love triangle that wrecked a friendship. Thankfully, that cleared up quickly as Kiel simply wanted to thank Pico for saving him and his sister several years back. He promised to make Dolce a cake based off her name because he couldn't make one for Pico. That was good, though not the kind of good that a proper lady should admit to liking.

When Dolce got back from her walk around town, Alice started giving her a hard time. The baby wanted to be held but kept dozing off. Any time Dolce tried to put her down, she'd wake up and cry until she was picked up again. Was she that familiar to the child already? It was a nice feeling. But, one would hope the child would be like that about her mother. Having to hold onto her made it difficult for Dolce to look up recipes.

After a little while, Nancy came to take Alice. Thankfully the baby didn't fuss over that. “She wants to be held today even if she's sleepy,” Dolce said.

“I wouldn't mind taking a nap with her,” Nancy said, smiling as usual. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for something to make,” she said.

“She's looking to break my heart!” Pico said angrily, but the kind of angry that could poof out of existence easily.

“Oh dear, should you be doing that to your ghostly sister?” Nancy asked, apparently finding it amusing.

“It's only an issue because she's making it one,” Dolce said.

“What is it about, hmm? Is she worried some boy's going to steal you from her?”

Dolce frowned. Meanwhile, Pico went over to Nancy. “Wow, you're psychic! Yeah, she's making dinner for him and she's not making anything for me.”

“I gave you a bracelet just yesterday,” Dolce said. Well, she'd partly given it to Pico. Dolce had woven the bracelet from some stray thread ends and beads, then let Pico copy it to add to the outfit she projected on herself. She was delighted with whatever she was allowed to copy if Dolce had made it. That constant gratitude had been nice when she had been young, but the endless nature of it got on Dolce's nerves now.

“But he's gonna steal all your attention and leave me with none,” Pico said in a whiny tone. “You even tricked me yesterday to talk with him. We've been together forever in love, isn't that good enough? We're like... we've been together so long, don't you think we could count as common law married? Just think about it, we could have a big fancy wedding with the most extravagant dresses! Wouldn't that be great?”

Unfortunately, Nancy laughed at the suggestion. Dolce groaned. “That's not how it works and you know it,” she said. “And if I hadn't sent you off, I wouldn't have gotten a chance to really talk to him.” Although she ended up not able to actually talk with him. Even with the biggest distraction gone, she just wasn't sure if it was right for a girl to initiate a relationship.

“Bah, I bet you didn't even talk with him because you're still all worried about it,” Pico said. That may have been actual concern there.

“Don't you think it'll make you both happier if you encouraged her instead?” Nancy asked Pico. Alice was already asleep with her head on Nancy's shoulder. “Who are we even talking about?”

“Vishnal,” Pico said with absolute vitriol in her voice.

“Ooo, Vishnal?” Nancy asked, delighted at the news. “He's a sweet young man, very responsible. A little clumsy at times and his cooking is, well, hit or miss in extreme ways.”

“I don't care how sweet he is, he has to be great to have a chance with Dolce,” Pico said. “Oh, but you know him, right? Come on, tell me all about him! Any dirt you've got so I can talk her out of it?”

“Why do you always have to be like this?” Dolce asked.

“I was right about the last guy, wasn't I?”

“Hmph, that was more chance than insight,” she said.

“If you want to know about him,” Nancy said, drawing Pico's attention to her, “Well he moved here two years ago in order to train under Volkanon. So I don't know him really well. Still, he's honest and straightforward. You won't get any surprises out of him and I doubt he has anything to hide. So no dirt that I know of.”

“Aw, that doesn't help,” Pico said, pulling her hat down over her eyes. “Except that he sounds kind of boring.”

“He sounds reliable to me,” Dolce said. That was a good thing to find in a young man.

“As long as you're happy with whoever you end up with, that's the important thing,” Nancy said. “Are you going out with him?”

“I didn't get to hear them talk last night,” Pico said. “They're meeting up today but it doesn't seem like they're dating. I don't know!”

“I tried to talk with him, but we couldn't talk long since he was busy taking care of Lest,” Dolce said, a little surprised at herself for talking. But, she was at a loss of how to handle this and Nancy seemed to be on her side. “I did get him to meet me for dinner tonight and was trying to figure out what to make for us.”

Nancy came over to the bookshelf where she kept her cookbooks. “Ah, I see. Here, how about I show you how to make curry rice? I know he loves that.”

“I'm not familiar with that food,” Dolce said. “Which one?”

“Get my family's collection, the one with the dark green binding there... yes, that one.” She headed into the kitchen, still holding her baby. “It's a really nice recipe to make for a family, or increase it to feed a large group.”

It took some work to put together, but it wasn't all that hard in Dolce's mind. In following the instructions exactly for this first time, she ended up making more than two portions. She left the rest for Nancy and Jones and packed two lunchboxes for herself and Vishnal. After Pico kept pouting, she brought along a third lunchbox but left it empty. A few minutes ahead of time, she headed out to wait on one of the benches in front of the castle.

Vishnal came out a couple minutes late, still dressed in his work uniform. “Good evening, Dolce,” he said happily. “Do you want to eat out here or did you have somewhere else in mind?”

“I'd like to go to the observatory,” she said, getting off the bench. “Though we have to deal with Pico tonight. I hope she's not too much of an annoyance.”

“I annoy because it's adorable,” Pico said.

“She can be funny sometimes, though not so much when she's threatening me,” Vishnal said, nervous about that. But it seemed he was interested enough to tolerate the ghost to be with her. Was it that way? Dolce couldn't help but hope so.

“I won't let her bother you,” Dolce said, giving a look of warning to Pico. The ghost frowned, but followed after them quietly. That was worrisome by itself.

After the storm last night, the sky was cloudy but the breeze was fresh and cool. The sun was coming out of the clouds and heading for the horizon, giving a warm glow to the landscape below them. It was a beautiful sight. However, they weren't the only ones who had the idea to come up here. Xiao was there by herself, but she got up as they came out the door. “Evening,” she said with a smile. “Um, excuse me, I should be going somewhere, yes?” She waved and headed down. “See you around.”

“Sure,” Dolce said, glad that she left without being asked. Maybe she could tell they'd come here to talk alone? Now if only she could have convinced Pico to go with her. Since it was just the two of them now, she passed him one of the lunchboxes. “Here, I tried making something new today.”

“Thanks,” Vishnal said, glancing over one of the benches and brushing off some leaves before letting her sit down. He sat next to her and when he opened up the lunchbox to see what it was, he immediately grinned like a child being allowed a treat. “Wow, how'd you know I liked this? It smells delicious.”

She ended up smiling in response. There was something nice about seeing him be all proper and courteous, then switching right over to being enthusiastic about a simple meal. While that didn't match up with how she thought men should be, it was like Jones being openly affectionate, a welcome change. “I heard some things,” she said, offering Pico her empty lunchbox before opening her own. “I hope it turned out well.”

After giving it a taste, he seemed to be in approval. “It's like Nancy's recipe, though not the same spices.”

“You can tell who made the curry by one taste?” Dolce asked, not sure if it was a thing to be impressed about. He certainly loved curry then. “I worked based on her recipe, but she said she usually does it a bit different than written.”

Vishnal shrugged. “Well I can't always tell, but I can get pretty close. There's lots of different curries out there and just about everyone will make it a bit different to how they like it. Even so, it's all curry and that's one of the nice things about it.”

She tasted it herself while he was talking. It was nice, a good meal for a family as Nancy had said. Though personally, she'd like it sweeter than it was right now. Maybe some different vegetables in it to get that, and a smaller amount of the spicy heat. It was good to hear that the basic recipe could be altered and it'd still be curry. “I'll have to look into it more; it's good.”

“Isn't it?” Vishnal said, happy she liked it even though she was the one to make it and she should be happier than him that he liked it. Though she was happy about that. “You could ask Nancy, she's a really good cook.”

“She does make really delicious smelling meals and pies,” Pico said, sitting on the floor with her lunchbox open in her lap.

“I'm not so sure about that,” Dolce said.

“Why not?” Vishnal asked, seeming genuinely curious. “She can be strict sometimes, but she has a good heart.”

“It's not quite that,” she said. She thought about not saying anything more, but then had the thought that he might understand where she was coming from. “I'm just not sure how much of this is appropriate. I came from a noble family, where we had a couple servants, but now I'm working as a servant for another family. Except our servants didn't interact with us much and Jones and Nancy don't treat me anything like a servant. It's like they're trying to be friends, but I'm working for them and I don't know if it's right.”

“Well, we have to stay professional while working, making sure our behavior and appearance remains proper,” Vishnal said. “Though I like it better when a master would rather treat me as a friend. Or at least be considerate of what a butler does.”

“I thought you hadn't been doing this for long,” Pico said.

He nodded. “It has only been two years, but we've had two princes and a princess in the time that I've been studying, along with Lady Ventuswill. Two princesses if you count Frey. The first princess did not want to see or hear us unless she specifically called for us. And she was quick to lecture and complain if something wasn't exactly how she wanted it, not easy to get along with when I was just starting out.”

“That would be worse, I suppose,” Dolce said. Nancy did like things to be a certain way but she was considerate, explaining how and why she did things as she did.

“Actually, the prince before Lest was worse than that,” Vishnal said. “I kind of don't want to speak badly of him because he got killed over at the border with Sechs earlier this season. Then again, he did abandon the town without warning and he was rotten while he was here. I don't think anybody liked him, but the three of us had to deal with him on a daily basis and keep a polite positive attitude in doing so. He liked to make things hard on us, like being really messy on purpose and expecting everything to be perfectly straight and clean later on.”

“Isn't that what you're supposed to do?” Pico asked, opening and closing her lunchbox repeatedly.

“Yes, but that takes time,” he said. “Even more when someone's intent on making the clean-up harder. On the other hand, Lest has been really considerate of us and doesn't try to make things hard. There are some things that aren't as easy in working with him, but I can't talk about that.”

“Like what?” Pico asked, acting innocent (even as she was getting annoying with the lunchbox).

Vishnal chuckled. “I can't tell you. He does speak to all three of us like a friend if he doesn't have anything for us to do right away, so I want to serve him as best I can. Isn't it like that with you and Nancy? If she treats you well, you want to treat her well in return.”

It did make sense, although there was still some uncertainty. “Maybe. But, you have a clear knowledge of where things should be professional and where it should be friendly. I'm not sure where that line is with us.”

“Maybe it's more blurred because you're a nanny?” Vishnal wondered aloud. “You're taking care of their child, which is a really personal matter. I'm from a big family and some of our neighbors would often be over to help my parents with all of us kids; those neighbors felt like family too. Maybe they see you more like family since you help them with Alice.”

“That seems really soon to be considering me like that,” Dolce said, feeling a little uncomfortable with it. At the same time, there was a lonely voice in her that hoped it was like that. It was like the infatuation with Lest all over again, knowing one thing in her head but feeling something entirely different in her heart. Not wanting to show that weakness, she blurted out, “And this isn't really what I wanted to talk to you about either. It just came up.”

“That's okay, what did you want to say?” Vishnal asked. There was a warmth in his voice that briefly made her feel that happy bubbly feeling again.

But if it was too soon to be finding a new family, wasn't it too soon to be finding a new boyfriend as well? Dolce did want to be loved; even with the company of the other guardians, the ether sea had been so cold and hostile with Storgane's presence. Being free to live her life and be around an honest and warm (and quite handsome) person like Vishnal, that made her feel like a moth drawn to a flame. But it would look desperate for affection and closeness, or maybe even shallow for wanting to be with someone she hadn't known long. Half of what she knew about him was from what Nancy and others said. Besides, she could take care of herself. She didn't need a man to make meaning of her life, unlike some she'd known in the past. Yet she hoped that Nancy was right in him being reliable and honest.

While her thoughts got all tangled up and she wasn't sure which one to start talking with, Pico took advantage of the opening to slam her lunchbox shut and hold its handle in both hands. “Well I want to say that you have no right to be stealing Dolly from me!”

“Um, I'm not trying to do that,” Vishnal said, watching her lunchbox warily.

“Well you're trying to get her attention and that amounts to the same thing,” Pico said. “I'm always with her and I'm never leaving her side. If you want to be around her, you have to be around me too, no matter what.”

“In that case, I hope it's peaceful and friendly between us,” he said to her. Dolce thought that wouldn't work as he thought.

Pico glowered at him. “Hmph. And besides, what's got you interested in her, huh? Somebody has tried before you and he chickened out because he thought she was obsessed with death because we kept going into Obsidian Mansion to try putting the restless souls there at peace. And we're planning on doing that again since a lot of souls got freed recently, making it easier to talk to the rest.”

“Well, I haven't dealt much with ghosts myself,” Vishnal said, a bit of nervousness about death in his words. Most people were like that. However, he then added, “But, I think that's brave and kind of both of you to go help them out.”

“It's the right thing to do, something I got trained to do as a priestess,” Dolce said, feeling embarrassed at the compliment. It wasn't that brave, especially when she got along with ghosts better than most adults.

“I have had people think my passion for becoming a butler is obsessive,” he said. “But I won't let that stop me. It's the same way with you, right?”

“I guess,” she said.

“She is very passionate at times,” Pico said, smiling at the thought. “But you didn't answer the question of why you're interested in her!”

Vishnal didn't say anything for a moment, but when she looked at his face, he seemed to be thinking it over. “Well, I'm not sure how to answer that. Sometimes your heart feels things that don't have much reason to them. Though Dolce, I've been interested in you since I first saw you. I, ah, I overheard you, Lest, and Leon talking with Lady Ventuswill when you arrived. It might not have been much to go on, but you've said and done things ever since that keep me wondering what you're really like. So, um, I'm happy to talk with you because of that.”

So it was mostly curiosity? Was that a part of love? Maybe. Dolce thought that she was curious about him too. Like how he would react to a more conventional ghost or if he really had nothing to hide as people thought.

“That's a boring reason,” Pico complained, shaking her head. “You could have said something like how she seems like a dangerous lady with a mysterious allure. Bah, I'm going to do something more interesting. Like fishing!” She took off, taking the lunchbox with her.

“Is she going to catch a fish with the lunchbox?” Vishnal asked, apparently mystified as how that would work.

A laugh escaped her, since that was something that Pico would try. Then Dolce clenched her hand tight to remind herself to keep proper. “Who knows? I suppose we should be grateful she left us alone.”

“Seems like her way of being nice,” Vishnal said, tapping his fork against the edge of the lunchbox in his lap. “Well, since she did leave, Dolce, would you go out with me?”

“Go out where?” she asked before thinking that it might be a modern phrase.

“I mean, would you start dating me, please?” His smile turned nervous. “Sorry, I didn't think the wording would change much. I do love you, and I keep thinking about you and wondering if I'll see you around. Maybe it hasn't been that long, but I really want to know more about you and be closer to you.”

She had to say something now, decide which side to take. At his words, the side that worried about being proper was quickly drowned out by the side that didn't want to be alone. “I, um, I don't always articulate my words well,” Dolce said, feeling awkward in just saying it. “And I'm not really sure how courting works these days. But, I, I like what I've seen in you when we've spoken. I feel the same way, about wanting to know you better. So, all right. I'll... go out with you.” It was a different phrasing, but it caused the same kind of excitement as formally accepting a suitor as she knew it.

Vishnal immediately beamed and hugged her. “Great, thanks! I'll help you out, with whatever you need. Just ask me.”

“Good...” then she had to catch his lunchbox before what was left of his dinner fell out. “Watch it.”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, letting her go and getting a better hold of the box himself. But he still had that wide and nice smile on his face. “That makes me really happy. I hope you feel the same.”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling a little. Maybe more restrained in not letting it out, but that happy feeling of being in love was back, real this time.

* * *

 

“Hurry up and decide before you go dripping moat water all over the floor,” Dolce said sharply to Pico, stopping before going back into the clinic.

The ghost herself couldn't get wet and drip, but she could hold onto the metal lunchbox which was constantly leaking now that she'd submerged it fully before closing it over a fish. “I want to give it to Nancy for being nice to us, but it's got to stay fresh and wet to be good,” she said.

Sighing, Dolce knelt down and took the lunchbox from her. When she opened it, water sloshed out and a cherry salmon tried to flop itself out of its too small prison. “That's why there's a decent food sealing spell now,” she said, putting the fish out of its misery before sealing it securely. She let Pico take the fish while she dumped the rest of the water out and left the lunchbox outside to dry out.

Jones and Nancy were sitting at the table eating their dinner late. “How'd it go?” Nancy asked, looking oddly hopeful for something that didn't involve her directly.

“I got you a fish as a present!” Pico said, flying over to offer her cherry salmon.

“How nice, we can have it as a part of lunch tomorrow,” Nancy said, leaving her meal for a moment to put the sealed fish in the fridge.

“I don't think that's what she meant,” Jones said, smiling at them.

“Right, what was your date like, Dolly?” Nancy said.

She was a bit irritated at the nickname, but not enough to say anything about it. Especially not when she was feeling happy. “It wasn't a date. But he did ask me to start dating him.”

“That's wonderful; did you agree to it?” And Nancy wanted to question her on other things about the meeting, although Dolce didn't want to talk about all of it.

Later that evening, Nancy talked with her about various things. It was nice, but brought up her concerns from before. “Do you think this is appropriate?”

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked.

“Well I'm working for you,” she said. “Shouldn't our talks be less personal?”

“I don't think so because we're all living under the same roof. It's like we're all family here, don't you think?” Nancy smiled like she found the idea wonderful.

“But we're not,” Dolce said. Though it was a nice way to view it, much like she was.

“Maybe it might not seem that way logically, but we could be,” she said. “Just look at Blossom and Doug. They aren't even the same race, but when you see them together, aren't they just like a family? Especially now that Sven is with them. Blossom was actually in a bad way early last year, from her age and being left alone after Bruce's death. But she's improved a lot ever since Doug came to her. It's wonderful how being close to someone else can change a person; I'm sure you'll agree before long now that you've got a boyfriend.” She seemed delighted at the thought.

“Seems so,” she said, thinking over how happy she had been with her old boyfriend, and then with Lest even if it wasn't real. “I'm not sure if this kind of talk is proper behavior.” Though she wasn't sure what proper behavior for a nanny was since she'd mostly taken care of children of family or friends.

“I'm not sure of what would be proper here either,” Nancy admitted with a smile. “Though I don't really care. I think manners are a good guideline for getting along with people until they get too restrictive and don't allow you to express yourself. So be informal with us all you like! And feel free to ask me anything if you need help, or even just want someone to listen. I'll be here for you.”

“I'm not a child,” she said, feeling patronized. But also thinking that it would be really nice if she could express her feelings more, if she could find the words to put them in. Far too many times, she found herself tongue-tied for the right way to say what was on her mind in a well-mannered way. Bits of anger usually were the easiest to get out, although possibly one of the worst feeling she should could let out. Yet if she said nothing, whoever was angering her would just keep angering her until she really did something regretful. It had happened before.

“Anyone could use some friendly help like that, even if they're not children,” Nancy said.

How much of what she said was rote, things she said because other people said them to her often and it seemed proper? How much was sincere? How much was that balance for other people? Dolce thought about it that night while she was trying to get to sleep. It was a problem she dealt with before she became a guardian, only now she had no idea what the normal repeated ideas were. In the ether sea, they sang through their hearts and that was undoubtedly sincere. But even with her fellow guardians, she could see this in how what they said didn't fully match up with how she knew them, even though they knew each other. Then again, she spoke far more easily there than here.

Manners could bind people into not expressing themselves. Dolce agreed with that. After all, that was how she started doubting how things were. She wanted to speak her mind and people kept telling her that it was improper, that she would be a failure in life if she just said anything. She also saw it in her friend that recited how wonderful motherhood was when adjusting to it had broken her spirit. While the recitation was what everyone said was best and moral, it wasn't reality. It was dishonest even when one of the mannered recitations was on how one should be honest.

However, social judgment was a powerful force. She had already been suspected by society as a dissonant factor with her excursions into Obsidian Mansion and that she had not been married at her nineteenth birthday. It wasn't damning, but a few more years and the people around town would have written her off as a spinster for life, to be seen as a strange antisocial person even if she got approved as a dragon priestess. In this time? She wasn't sure what people thought. Though Jones and Nancy certainly saw her having a boyfriend as a good thing.

It was a good thing. Though Dolce wasn't sure if she should say that kind of statement so early on. She was still learning about Vishnal. But so far, she liked what she knew about him. He was a bright presence that was welcome after centuries of darkness. She was grateful for the other guardians, but there was always a loneliness of not having anyone right there next to her, able to touch her or really speak. Now there was a loneliness born of not being a part of those songs and not knowing what others expected of her anymore.

However, it was hard to think of that loneliness when she just had to think of Vishnal's sincere smile to feel happy. Or about his brotherly pride in little accomplishments. Would he think something like that of her in the future? Thinking of that and what else could be eased her mind and let Dolce fall asleep shortly after.

* * *

 

The new barn in the central yard was quite nice: no drafts, no leaks, and a lot easier to keep clean. Lest had them work on a small project in here, setting up an area for cluckadoodles to nest and lay eggs. While none had been tamed yet, Maple and her kittens were still settled inside, now right near the door as the kittens were starting to walk around. Vishnal had come to check on them, maybe talk to the cat for a little while. But on coming in, Maple was walking around cautiously and making sure things were safe near her kittens.

“Did something happen here?” he asked, glancing around the barn. “We're in town, so I wouldn't think it was monsters. Unless it was one of the hell gates.” That could be troublesome to deal with. Then he spotted something out of place: a sign that was hanging still in midair. Recalling the last runey day when Pico had run around town with a sign, Vishnal went over to it. “Hey, Pico? I can understand it if you want to cause problems for me, but don't go scaring Maple. She has kittens to watch over.”

The sign shifted towards the door, catching Maple's attention. White letters appeared on the board. 'I apologize. I won't trouble the cats again.' It then moved out the door and off into one of the other farms at walking speed.

Making sure it went, something didn't seem right. “That seemed awfully polite for Pico,” he said. “All well, maybe she actually likes cats. You should be okay now, Maple. Anyhow, I had a great thing happen today!” He spoke with her and Maple wanted to be held for a little while. It was nice that she was that comfortable with him now.


	76. Counterspy

Spring 56

Vishnal left the castle and soon saw Dolce in the town plaza, with Pico and Alice. It made him realize what books meant when they talked about someone's heart going aflutter with joy. Even though he was working and she was obviously working, just seeing her made the day seem brighter. “Good morning, Dolce!” he said to her, taking a moment to stop near her.

She smiled a little, but he'd learned that she was very restrained. That little smile might be a sign of big happiness. “Good morning, Vishnal.”

“Yeah, morning thief of hearts,” Pico said with a glower, putting her hands on her hips like the sternness would attack him.

Maybe if he'd had a power like Lest's, it would. Feeling grateful that he was normal, he nodded. “Good morning to you too Pico. What are you three up to?”

“Just being out in the sun,” Dolce said. “You?”

“I have to get a message to someone else, but I thought I'd at least say hello,” he said.

“Well you have, so no need to hang around any longer,” Pico said.

“Don't be rude,” Dolce said to her, being kept from hitting her due to holding the baby. “Though that is too bad; it might have been nice to talk.”

He had to think on that. “Well, we might be able to talk longer in the evening again. Although, I can't guarantee it today like yesterday. I have a waiting task that will require me to be ready to leave town at a moment's notice.” And it was the same task that had him sending the message and retrieving someone right now. It was far out of his ordinary chores; Vishnal hoped he was up to the task.

“Like what?” Pico asked.

Vishnal shook his head. “Sorry, I can't say.”

“Aw come on, don't you need to be honest with the one you love?” She looked at Dolce for some reason. “Don't you?”

“Leave him be,” Dolce said. “Even back in our day, it was important for a butler to keep his master's privacy. Must be more important now since they seem to expect butlers to be capable of anything. In that case,” she glanced at him, “good luck in that.”

“Thanks,” he said, feeling a little more confident with her words. “How about I come by the clinic in the evening if I do have the time free?”

“That will work,” Dolce said. “I hope I see you then.”

“I hope so too,” Vishnal said, giving a bow before excusing himself on his task.

For that, he had to go into the Sincerity General Store. Blossom was at work as usual, cleaning some shelves with Doug. “Hey there, Vishnal,” Doug said with a wave, glad to see him.

“Hi Doug,” he said, smiling over at him. “You too Blossom. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Doug, Prince Lest and Prince Arthur would like to speak with you now if you have the time.” Most situations, the etiquette would want for Arthur to be mentioned first as a prince of Norad rather than just the region. But with Lest as one of his masters, Vishnal was required by etiquette to mention him first. “It's about the request Lady Ventuswill has of you, they're ready to discuss it.”

“Well now, doing some work for our town's goddess?” Blossom said proudly. She must not have been told yet about what was going on. “That's quite an honor.”

“Eh, I kind of owe her for something big,” Doug said, embarrassed. “You got everything okay here? Since if the two princes want to talk, I'd better go over now.”

“It's a slow day, I'm sure things will be fine,” she said.

Once they were out of the store, Vishnal quietly said, “Are you going to tell her about this?”

“Maybe not right away,” Doug said, worried about it. “Though I may not get a choice, what with Kiel knowing and all. It's just going to be hard, especially if Sven's around. I got him to tell me some more about his time as the Executioner. That was a hard thing to believe, since Sven's nothing like a heartless killer like that armor was.”

“T think she'd prefer to hear it from you first,” he said. “She's an understanding person, plus if she knows what's going on, she can help you with Sven more.”

“Maybe,” Doug said, uncertain but he was thinking about it.

Almost as soon as they got onto the plaza, Vishnal got hit on the shoulder with a turnip. “That's what you get for not making promises!” Pico called.

“It's nothing I can help,” he called back. “But I hope you keep your word not to trouble Maple and her kittens.”

“When did I say that?” Pico said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Stupid cat.”

“Your cat has kittens?” Dolce asked him.

He nodded. “Yeah, I can tell you about them later.”

“Pico, you know how I feel about messing with cats, especially a mother cat,” Dolce said to Pico in a stern voice.

“It was the cat's fault this time!” Pico whined.

“It seems I need to make that clearer in a little while,” she said. Whatever she had on her mind was probably not doable while she had Alice.

“Huh?” Pico asked in shock. “Are... are you going to not hug me for a week? No!”

The conversation between them got blocked off as Vishnal and Doug entered the castle. “I really need to get Pico to accept me, or learn to dodge turnips.”

“Good luck with that, I'm not sure what to suggest,” Doug said. “That Dolce can be an interesting girl, you know, but she's also kind of scary at times.”

“She's not that scary,” Vishnal said with a smile. “Except maybe to Pico sometimes. Then again, Pico is melodramatic and I'm sure they really care about each other.”

Doug gave him a worried look. “Yeah, but what if she acts like that to anybody she's really close to? Including you at some point.”

“I think it's really just Pico she argues with like that,” he said. Especially with how polite she was with everyone else; he'd only seen her lose her temper around Pico, so it seemed like a situation of an annoying little sibling that one liked anyhow. And better once the sibling had been away for a little while. Maybe that was the problem between them, that Pico was too clingy and they'd get along better if she spent a little time out of Dolce's sight.

“Unless you're into that kind of thing,” Doug said.

“What do you mean?” Vishnal said, wondering how that was connected to the conversation.

“Ah, never mind then,” Doug said, a bit embarrassed. “I hope it works out, but I'll be there to back you up at any time.”

“Thanks, that's good to know,” he said. Although he still wondered what Doug had been talking about.

Even though this meeting was supposed to stay secretive, Lest still asked Vishnal and Volkanon to stick around while they spoke. “This is a complex situation, so I want you to know enough that if I ask you to do something about it, we won't need to discuss things long,” Lest said as they were taking seats around his desk.

“Of course, we won't let you down,” Volkanon said. Vishnal nodded, feeling a little excited that he was being trusted this much even as an apprentice. Whatever happened here could have effects past Selphia's borders.

Lest nodded. “Thank you. Though Doug, this is something I have no background for dealing with, so Arthur will be explaining much of it. We'd like you to work as a counterspy if you're willing. If not, we'll still help find some way to safely cut you off from the empire.”

“Though the best way to handle that may be having you leave the region to be further from the empire's borders,” Arthur said. “Sven's presence is easier to downplay with the loss of the Executioner armor, but they know you're here.”

“If it's the only way, but I'd rather try to stay,” Doug said, reluctant to accept the suggestion of leaving. “What kind of thing would you have me doing?”

“Let me explain the situation as we understand it first,” Arthur said, turning their attention to the map spread on the desk. “From the testimony we've gotten from you and Sven, plus some information I've gotten from the court, the Sechs Empire is in bad shape. The people haven't been well cared for save for those in the military and even that may be dropping due to a marked decrease in ability of the soldiers we're seeing in this conflict. At least among the humans; the machine soldiers are more like monsters, but tougher and more powerful than most of them. Even so, this has not stopped the emperor from pursuing his campaign of overthrowing Norad, with the other nations of the world following. His people are wearing out, but he still threatens us.”

“If his soldiers are wearing thin, I wouldn't think he'd be as much of a threat,” Doug said.

Arthur shook his head. “On the contrary, his tough position may make him more dangerous in forcing him to use more desperate measures. The patrolling knights in the countryside already report that Sechs machine soldiers are far more common than human. From the preliminary survey of the downed warship, it was entirely automated without any living being on board. Ethelberd may not need his human forces and we don't know about his capabilities in machine production. That would be good to know, but the information we're hoping you can find is about a Sechs building on our land, over here near Maya Road.”

Recognizing that, Vishnal said, “That's where Clorica got shot earlier this spring.”

Lest nodded. “Right, so we've been wary of sending anyone that way. We're lucky that Jones knows how to handle gunshot wounds, although that's because he's seen them more often than most healers in Norad.”

“Currently, this building is a huge risk as a forward base to an invasion,” Arthur said. “We know little about it, just the testimony of Clorica and a few knights who weren't able to get close. It's got a large concrete wall with barbs on top and a walkway for a watchman with a gun to patrol, and it's about the same size as Selphia Town; that's pretty much it. With so little information, we have no way to plan a way to overtake or eliminate it.”

“Doomgale tried to fly near it, but they shot at her too, thankfully missing,” Lest said. “She didn't get close enough to tell much more than that.”

“I've only heard about it here, not from my handler,” Doug said.

“Even so, that person could be our best way to find information on it,” Arthur said. “We'd like you to see what you can find out, perhaps in mentioning that we've spoken about it. That's not a risk to tell as my father and the royal court have been trying to sort this out diplomatically. Still, your best shot will be if you have information they see as valuable or helpful, so that you look like you're doing your job.”

“That would help a lot,” Doug said. “Though I don't want to cause trouble for the town in doing so.”

“We've got something that they have proven interest in and also wouldn't risk our position much. But that's on Lest to explain now.” Arthur nodded to him.

“It's about the rune spheres,” Lest said, pointing to the entrance of Yokmir Forest on the map. Then he traced out a path deeper in. “They want them, but it should be impossible to remove them from the rune springs due to the way I integrated them into the ether. In Yokmir, there's a path that will lead almost directly to where the wind rune spring currently is. I'd like you to take your spy handler there to attempt taking the sphere.”

“How is that not dangerous?” Doug asked. “They could find a way.”

“I know, and that would be useful to me and my sister to know about,” Lest said. “They're not entirely tangible right now, phasing in and out of the world. If you do manage to remove them, then there's a whole new problem on your hands: they have so much power in having a direct vein into the ether sea that most people are unnerved at their touch. Frey says that people have heard phantom voices from the spheres and I saw both Dylas and Leon touch one. They said it was like trying to hold onto a hyperactive fish and they did not want to touch it again. In the unlikely case that your handler can touch them without trouble, we can always station someone to watch over the meeting and call for assistance if the sphere might leave the forest. I can get it back in place.”

“Although that is also the one that's hanging high in the air, isn't it?” Arthur said. “They may give up simply in not being able to reach it.”

“Right, I had to toss it into the spring's structure since, as the air spring, it was well above my head,” Lest said. “Whenever I get Amber to face her hell gate, it's going to move far from its current position. Now would be the best chance to go see that one. The water spring is too far and too powerful to attempt taking the sphere and the fire spring is too close to town. And the earth spring is practically inaccessible, plus the corrupt runes are dense. I would openly warn our enemies against going there because it's too dangerous without the right skills.”

“They can make up for skills with equipment, but I'll see about mentioning that about the earth spring,” Doug said. They discussed how to handle the meeting and for the sake of security, decided that someone should keep an eye on them.

* * *

 

Spring 58

Sneaking around the castle to get work done unnoticed was something Vishnal hardly thought about now. It was all in the way he walked and took advantage of the uniform (Volkanon said that people tended to screen out common information and most wouldn't be able to identify which of them had been in the room if they didn't say anything). However, sneaking around a forest to keep an eye on someone was a different task. There was uneven ground littered with natural debris that could give away his position, plus the same trees that gave him cover made it hard to watch. Volkanon had drilled him in how to do this ever since the meeting about Doug's spy work. Still, this was the first job requiring that skill and there was a good chance that things could turn very badly.

The man that Doug met with on the road outside Selphia didn't seem remarkable. He did well in using plainness to do that, Vishnal considered. From his plain black hair to the common jeans and plaid shirt he wore, nobody would be able to remember him well as long as he kept quiet. Even the suitcase he carried was worn and old. Vishnal himself was plainly dressed today too, in drab pants and hooded jacket that would blend into the colors of the forest. He hoped he'd go as unnoticed as the spy handler.

“Hey man, it's been a while,” Doug said, smiling and shaking his hand as if meeting with an old friend.

“Sorry about that,” he said, taking the friendly tone as well. “Some people at work got fired without getting replaced, so the rest of us are getting spread thin. What's with the ladder?”

“I was fixing some of the streetlights just now,” he said, glancing to check their surroundings. Vishnal was crouched behind a tree and some bushes, with a birdwatcher book in hand and binoculars on a strap around one shoulder in case he did get spotted. “Though we are going to need it today,” Doug added quietly. “I found the locations of the other ones and the only one we can reach in a reasonable manner needs a ladder to actually get to it.”

“For you, maybe,” the handler joked, as he was tall for a human.

“No, I think you'll need it too,” Doug said. “Come on, it's in the forest.”

“Good.” The two of them headed down the road. Vishnal left his spot, being careful in how he stood to avoid brushing against the bush. Then he followed them from the trees.

Both he and Doug had checked the route, so they knew what was coming. The hardest part for Vishnal was near the waterfall, where a creek sat in a deep ditch. While a bridge had been recently added for tourists, there was also an old tree fallen across the ditch that could be used to cross. Trusting Doug to keep the handler's attention ahead, Vishnal diverted his path to the fallen tree. He watched for them to reach the end of the bridge, then quickly crossed over and got back close to the trail. He accidentally stumbled onto some dried leaves, making some noise. Hoping it was mistaken for a monster, Vishnal watched his steps more closely.

It seemed to work since he heard the handler say, “Now where are the other rune spheres?” He was entirely about business now.

“There's this one ahead and the one in Obsidian Mansion I told you about,” Doug said.

“I still don't see how you could have failed to get that one,” the handler said.

“It wouldn't budge, I swear,” he said, sounding nervous. “You might see it with this one. Anyhow, there's also one inside Karnak Tower. But I've been hearing some bad stuff about that place, like the presence of corrupted runes that sometimes get so numerous you can see a black mist around it. I had to try several questions to find out that the sphere is inside the tower itself. The only ways in are a huge stone door that no one's been able to open in over a thousand years and a pair of entrances way up on top that are guarded by giant golems. Lastly, there's one that's at a new lake about a day's walk north of town. It's out on an island but the talk is that it's fully integrated, unlike the mansion one or this one here.”

“What do they mean by that?”

Doug shrugged. “I don't know. Something about it connecting to the ether, magic stuff that I don't know much about.”

“Might be worth a look, but this one sounds easiest to get at,” the handler said. “Might be able to bring the tower down, if we have to. It'd be a shame to bring down such a magnificent landmark. Anything else you've found out?”

“It's not much, but people are getting really worried about some building near Maya Road. They've been trying to get a better look at it, with the warship being one of the biggest deterrents.” Meanwhile, the trees were getting larger, the path was starting to descend, and Vishnal had to take bigger risks to keep trailing them. It was quite a task, trying to keep an eye on them to see where they saw as well as an eye on the road to avoid making noise.

“No surprise, but there's nothing they can do about it with the limited army they have,” the handler said, amused at the idea. “It's hardly an army at all, just one girl with antiquated equipment and a bunch of knights who are tied up with bureaucracy. Though the building itself isn't much they should worry about, being a prison. No, the cave nearby is where the advance force is being gathered, plus there's all the creepy things on Maya Road now. Gah, about the main reason I haven't returned to the empire is because of them.”

“What creepy things?” Doug asked.

“I don't know, the science guys call them cryptids. But physical attacks end up making them stronger. Not even guns are working to stop them and I'm not licensed to wield one.” He shook his head. “No, I'd rather go all the way to Kardia to get back into the empire if I must. It'd be safer.”

They made it to the rune spring, Vishnal still managing to keep hidden. But that was no reason to let down his guard. This was the point he was most likely to be seen even with the forest cover. In the small opening in the large trees, Doug set up his ladder underneath the shining rune sphere. It was still several feet above the top of the ladder, definitely out of the dwarf's reach.

It was in the handler's reach, just barely when he got on the very top of the ladder. “Be careful up there,” Doug said, hanging onto the ladder due to uneven ground.

“I'll be fine,” he said, grabbing hold of the rune sphere with both hands. Vishnal already had a rune sight enhancement on, revealing that the sphere didn't react much to being touched. The runes it was moving were diverted some, like a stone parting a stream. However, a stream of water wouldn't go right through the stone as well. It agitated the man's runes, causing a reaction much like a person who was sick from an infection. It was too much for him and he slipped. With the magic so powerful around him, his body descended slowly and his mind was in a daze.

“Hey man, you okay?” Doug asked, letting go of the ladder once he started falling.

The handler didn't react at first and it seemed like Doug might give him the signal to come help. Waiting, Vishnal noticed something interesting. The suitcase was on the ground a few feet from them and the ladder. In fact, he might be able to sneak in, take it, and get back to his hiding place. It had to have something useful in it. But the princes had been worried about using Doug this way, putting him in danger with revealing his change of loyalty. If the suitcase went missing here, it would be suspicious. Vishnal wasn't willing to risk it even if it had valuable information.

“You okay?” Doug repeated when he seemed more alert.

“What the hell was that?” the handler said, putting his hand on his head. “There were voices and strange things I saw... just like you said.”

“It might not be worth it to take them out then,” Doug said.

“No, you knew this would happen!” the handler said, gripping one of his hands. This didn't seem right, so Vishnal got to his feet and tried to circle around out of the man's sight. “Are you trying to get rid of me, huh? Did you finally listen to those peace-loving idiots over there? Is that why you're finally giving us something useful to work with?”

“H-hold on, it's not like that,” Doug tried to fib.

“Well I don't care if you are or not,” he said, still focused on something about his hand. “It was right, you know, what it showed me. I have nothing. My family were all eliminated as rebels or threats to the empire even though my father fought loyally during the Kardia affair. Ha, I had to work for them or I would meet the same fate, never complaining no matter what nonsense got piled up in my assignment files. Especially this nonsense with killing the divine wind in any way possible, or getting these rune spheres.”

“Why are you still working for them if you feel like that?” Doug asked. Vishnal came into the meadow, but waited to see if he could talk his way out of this.

The question incited the man further. “I told you, I have to! It's all I have! Except this, heh. I'll show them my loyalty even if I have to take down the dragon myself. Here, watch this, Omnigate!”

Doug backed up while he was talking, letting him stand up. The ladder got knocked over with a burst of energy, centered around what seemed to be a ring on his finger. Although he should intervene, Vishnal was caught by surprise at the spell he cast. He'd heard of it from Frey and Lest, but they made it seem like only an earthmate could cast that spell. But it still worked, making a green burst of light appear in front of the man, calling up a wooly. While it was an odd choice, this was a very odd wooly. It looked fine on the surface, but its runes were strangely empty. It was missing a mind, or maybe a soul.

“You're... going to take on Ventuswill with a wooly?” Doug asked, dumbfounded at the idea.

“I can at least sow chaos in that town with this wooly!” the man said, still dangerously unstable from whatever he saw on touching the sphere. “And I'm not done. The most impressive part hasn't come... Etherlink!”

That definitely was a spell that only earthmates could cast, one that only Frey should even know about. The green energy returned, forming a bond between the man and the empty wooly. In a strange transfer to watch, the man's body began to empty to fill the wooly instead. Then there was a red snap from the man's ring and the spell started to go horribly awry. Both the man and the wooly screamed in pain, each turning sickening shades of green and brown. The man's body even melted, absorbing his clothes to form a large slime monster. At the end of it, both were corrupted even down to the runes.

“Holy shit, what happened?” Doug asked, drawing his dagger.

“The Etherlink spell failed,” Vishnal said, right before he brought out his twin swords and attacked the slime. The corrupt runes acted strangely, as if they were being healed rather than hurt. “I think these are the cryptids he was talking about.”

The wooly launched itself at Doug, causing him to attack back. The runes on his weapon activated and disrupted the corrupt ones in the cryptid. “They're certainly creepy enough.”

Vishnal dashed over to Doug's side, casting a spell to boost his friend's attack power. “Your dagger's working against them; you should be able to take them out.”

“Good,” he said, striking the wooly again and dispatching its corrupt runes to the Forest of Beginnings. It left behind a strange bag that turned out to hold ashes, while the slime left behind two rings. One had a cracked red gem while the other bore signs of being a wedding ring.

As Doug believed that the suitcase was booby trapped in case it got stolen, they left it closed while heading back to town with the evidence. They were able to get Lest, Arthur, and Volkanon together quickly to give their report. Lest couldn't explain how the handler would have been able to cast either spell without being an earthmate, which was certain as no chi lines appeared during his spell. After handing the ring and ashes over to Frey to figure out those mysteries, they managed to get the suitcase open safely. It confirmed what the handler had said about the building being a prison. Not only that, but a prisoner list inside showed that it was all citizens of Sechs being held there, the combination of the Maya Road cryptids and being in enemy territory used to keep them from escaping. There were even some names underlined among the deceased prisoners that further confirmed that the handler had been speaking the truth.

It was unnerving. The emperor was using his own people as hostages to make sure things were getting done as he wanted. Who could be that cruel? And that was just considering the case of this contact Doug had; there was also Sven being a reluctant war veteran while younger than Vishnal, and Lest having gotten sick years ago just because the emperor was so full of hate. That was the kind of demon that was threatening Selphia now, although he was human just as much as most people here. What made him that way? And how were they going to fight him when he finally got his forces mobilized?

Though that was really on Lest to be worried about. Vishnal's duty was to serving him while he had such large problems facing him. And, Lest wasn't prepared for this war. He could handle the farming and helping out the people just fine, as those needed his strengths. War with another nation was something that needed a better education out of a leader, someone like Arthur. They might make it through this challenging time on the cooperation of both. For his part, Vishnal knew he really should focus on taking care of the castle and Lest as was his duty as a butler. Though that meant worrying about him too, trying to help him however he could.

He took some time to think it over in the evening, walking out to Dragon Lake to do so. Not long after he got there, he noticed that he'd been followed. “Hello Dolce, and you too Pico,” he said.

“Hello,” Dolce said in her usual soft voice.

“Hello?!” Pico said, balling up her fists. “Is that all you can say, hello? After you asked her out and then got so busy that you couldn't take the time to come talk to her? Ugh!”

“Sorry,” Vishnal said, feeling bad about that. “I really couldn't help it, since Volkanon wanted to give me extra instruction and drills on stealth.”

“You're expected to know stealth tactics?” Dolce asked, surprised. Maybe even impressed.

“Of course,” he said. “It's best if we can perform all the small chores like cleaning and cooking in a way that doesn't get noticed at all.”

“Guess that makes sense,” she said.

“Next thing you'll be telling us that you're prepared for an assassination,” Pico said, shaking her head.

“Um, that's rather advanced and I'm still considered a novice,” Vishnal said. “Plus it's optional, as many who might hire us would trust us better if we didn't know those skills. There's been too many fictional stories that misrepresent butlers, which makes it even riskier.”

“I wasn't being serious!” Pico said.

He laughed. “Maybe I wasn't either. But thanks, I could use a joke like that.”

The ghost growled at him. “And why are you even thanking me? Geez, we're supposed to be bickering enemies in a heated rivalry for the lovely Dolly's heart, not being nice and polite to each other. Aaaaah, I can't stand this!” She then took off across the lake.

“Nice work,” Dolce said, coming closer to him.

“I'd rather us be friends, but she's hard to get through to,” Vishnal said. “Do you know of anything that would make her friendlier to me?”

“Maybe...” She gave it some thought, then smirked. “There might be, but no. This is much more entertaining. She'll probably give in after a while anyhow. Just give it some time to sink in.”

“I hope so.”

For a moment, it seemed like she was going to take his hand. But she refrained from doing so. “Hey... you okay? You seemed down, so I followed you out here.”

“It's been a messed up day,” Vishnal said. “I finally did get that task done, but it's only made things more complicated. I'm sorry, but it is being kept quiet for the time being.”

Her eyes softened in concern. Then she touched his forehead. “By my duty as a dragon priestess to Lady Ventuswill, I will not speak of anything that is exchanged between us as a confession.” Taking her hand away, she rubbed it with her other hand. “Well, I've not acted as a full priestess, but I had my training about finished. And I know how to keep quiet.”

“Right, though you could stand to talk a bit more,” Vishnal said. When she seemed surprised, he got embarrassed. “I, I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just, you're really thoughtful and kind, and I know more people would like to be your friend if you spoke up more often.”

“If I could find the right things to say.” She shook her head. “Later. What's been messed up about today?”

“Well, I got to see some politics in action today, and how much Lest is trying to learn how he goes,” Vishnal said. “It's a struggle for him, especially when the advice he gets goes against what his heart tells him. But more than that, I saw someone die today.” He tried to keep some specifics out of the story, but told her about the spy contact messing up the Etherlink spell and turning himself into a cryptid split between two corrupt bodies. That led to talking about the prison in the southern part of the region and the preliminary plans on what to do about it.

“They're not doing anything right now?” Dolce said, concerned about that. They were now sitting on the bank of the lake, among some of the trees as others had come out to fish this evening.

He nodded. “Lest really didn't like that, and neither do I. But, we can't act too swiftly on this. Someone in town risked a lot to get this information for us. If we move right away, the Sechs might suspect them more strongly than if we wait and scout out the situation more. And no matter when we act, we really don't have enough capable people in town to take on a fortified prison, plus whatever they have going on in the cave. We have to share the information with the capitol and get permission to use their forces to do something about this. All the while, we need to be careful of provoking the emperor into ordering the invasion.”

“That really can't be good on Lest,” Dolce said. “He cares a lot about people, even those trying to kill him. It must be a nightmare for him to be considering leading the region during a defensive war.”

“That just makes me even more determined to serve him as best I can,” Vishnal said, some of his enthusiasm returning. It had been a bad day, but was looking up now that he'd talked about it. “I can't do much about a war, but I'll do my best to take care of his home and defend the town if need be. Even if it means leaving cooking his meals and snacks up to the other two, since I'm not quite up to snuff there. Just whatever needs to be done to lessen his worries even a little.”

Dolce smiled warmly; it was such a pretty look, especially considering her usual dour expression. “Maybe you should pick up on assassination skills in case of war.”

He laughed. “Maybe. I'd rather get better at cooking, that'd be more useful in the long run.”

“I might be able to help a little,” Dolce said. “I'm not great and I'm still learning modern appliances. But we could work together on it, if you'd like.”

“That'd be wonderful, thanks!” A reason to be with Dolce and improve his skills? There was no way he was turning that down.

It had been a bad day, but this evening more than made up for it.


	77. Marionetta's Threat

Spring 60

Vishnal heard hurrying footsteps behind him, the only thing that let him turn before his arm got grabbed. “I have some questions for you,” Frey said, her expression very serious.

“What is it, princess?” he asked. She'd not wanted to be called that at first, but he had convinced her that it would be easier to accept if she let them call her princess while working.

She didn't even react to it this time. “It's about those cryptids you and Doug fought. You had a rune sight enchantment on during that battle, didn't you?”

Vishnal nodded. “I thought it might help me see more information about his contact, but aside from the deadlock trap on his suitcase and the red ring, there wasn't much unusual about him.”

“There wasn't any evidence of his being an earthmate?” she asked.

“No, there were no marks on his skin when he cast,” he said. “I did see him fall slowly, but that was because the rune flow at the spring was enough to do that.”

She let him go. “Well it is the wind spring, that may have helped too. It had to be the ring then; it was set with a shard of a rune sphere.”

“How would he have something like that?” Vishnal asked, shocked at the idea. Her family was the one responsible for making them and they had kept them safe. Why would the Sechs, long known to be wary of magic, be making bits of a rune sphere?

“They stole them from a fountain in Medritarc, part of the reason they destroyed the cities so thoroughly,” Frey said. “Another part of the reason would be that the Telliarc dwarves were keeping larger fragments as well. There were a lot of failures in crafting the rune spheres over the generations, and that's where those pieces ended up.”

“That's still odd, since he said he didn't have a license for a gun,” he said. “Why would they give him a ring like that? It'd be more powerful than a gun.”

She shrugged. “Can't tell right now, so I'm figuring out just how much of a threat these rings or whatever else they have are. Did you hear about the cloaking machine we salvaged from the warship's wreckage? It was using over a hundred of rune sphere shards in order to produce that large of an effect, as well as reduce the pull of gravity on the heavily armored ship. Most of them are about the same size as what was set in the ring. So tell me about the moment his spell failed, if you can remember.”

Vishnal reviewed that scene in his mind. “He cast omnigate without much trouble, unless you consider getting just a wooly as a bad result.”

“He may not have been able to call on a specific monster, just what was local to the area,” Frey said. It didn't seem like a big deal from her tone.

“It was a strange wooly,” he said. “It looked fine on the surface, but in its runes, it seemed empty, with very little density to those runes. I thought it lacked a soul or mind.”

“Did it have any runes that were a sign of life?”

“I don't quite remember that, sorry,” he said. “It didn't react at all until he failed to cast etherlink. I remember seeing a bright green connection trying to form between him and the wooly. Then the ring flashed red and the spell failed. As his body melted into the slime, they were screaming the whole time.” He shuddered.

“That is nasty,” Frey said, not liking that. “From the red flash and what I see in that ring, it seems like the shard's connection to the ether sea was snapped. Not a big surprise, since it had to be frail from being a shattered failure in the first place. So if it worked, they'd get a monster with a human mind, maybe. There's humans that are part monster, but it's hard to say if normal humans could handle becoming a monster. And if it fails, the person dies and turns into a cryptid. In that case, it's not something you'd give to your best fighters or workers.”

“That's really cold,” Vishnal said.

“Oh, sorry,” Frey said, blushing. “I get caught up in the reasoning and logistics and everything else flies out of my mind.”

He smiled. “I didn't mean that to be about you. About the emperor or whoever's running his forces. And there's supposed to be a lot of those cryptids on Maya Road, so they should know the risk.”

“It does seem to be a wasteful use of the shards,” she said, already back to reasoning things out. “If you're going to make rings with them so that ordinary people can cast like an earthmate, you should at least make sure the shards are strengthened to reduce the risk of further shattering. And give the person some extra magic defense, with ways to reduce the stress of wielding that level of magic. If you don't, it'd be like launching incendiary rounds with a paper catapult. You're more likely to destroy the weapon than the target.”

“That's an interesting metaphor to use,” he said. Certainly not one he'd think of.

“Sorry, I have catapults on my mind today too,” Frey said, although she didn't seem as sorry as last time. “Anyhow, back to the subject. Those cryptids, they really were healing on being hit with a regular weapon?”

Vishnal nodded. “Their runes reacted as if they'd been hit with a healing spell and the slime immediately reformed as my weapon passed through it. Much faster than a regular slime at that. Doug's weapon seemed to disrupt the corrupt runes.”

“From the ashes, I think any spell or elemental weapon would damage them just fine,” she said. “Though there isn't going to be an easy chance to test that theory. I hope we can, before somebody here in town ends up encountering one unexpectedly. Anyhow, thanks for the answers. Seems I need to read up on failures in summons or possessions and see if there's any similar results. Or maybe Heather's notes on her plant tests.”

“If you need any more help on that, just ask,” he said.

Frey smiled at that. “That's good to know, although unless you have a master's knowledge of magic and can understand a scholarly treatise on the subject, there's not much more than the usual you can help me with right now.”

He laughed. “Well we'll leave that part of the study to you.”

As it was already dark, they parted. Frey might be going to her study, so it'd be a good idea to check down there in a few hours and try to keep her from staying up too late. Although, that was hard to do sometimes. Vishnal went to his room to study his own books. He sat by the open window as that was where his favorite chair was currently. He got through a few pages of his book on naturalistic magic (spells relying on the natural way runes liked to bond, meaning these had a higher chance of working on Lest) when a shadow moving in the farm got his attention.

When he looked, he saw a sign slowly drifting near the window. Vishnal got up to lean on the windowsill. “What are you up to this late, Pico?”

The sign came closer as the ghost was addressed. White letters appeared. 'Sorry, that's not my name.'

“I guess you are more polite than her, and you use white charcoal,” he said. Then he realized, he was speaking to a ghost that he'd never encountered before. Pico no longer bothered him in being a ghost since he'd spoken to her many times. But realizing this was someone different made a shiver travel along his skin.

'I mean you no harm, please don't fear me,' the ghost wrote. Once he calmed at that, the letters were erased to add, 'Although you are in danger, young man. An old enemy of mine has been watching you. You should be careful.'

Since this ghost seemed friendly (much more so than Pico), Vishnal asked, “Who do you mean? If I know, I should be able to get help with it.”

He had to wait for the sign to be completely erased and rewritten, a few times for this statement. 'Marionetta was an enemy to all who were captive in Obsidian Mansion, dead or alive. She and the original owner were cruel in life and only got worse in the afterlife. To make matters worse, she attached herself to the guardian who once slept in the mansion so that she could never be fully dispatched. She may be gone for good once the hell gate of fire is destroyed. She's been given a mission to make the guardian despair, thus you have accidentally made yourself a target in recent days. I got displaced when the guardian was awoken, so I've been alert enough to chose to haunt this area at night to deter Marionetta from attacking you then. But I can do nothing during the daylight hours.'

“I had no idea, thank you,” Vishnal said, a twinge of fright in him but not about this ghost. What it wrote made a terrible sense as he realized it. Marionetta was known for manipulating others and drawing them into deadly traps. Now that he was dating Dolce, the monster she'd been connected to would see him as a way to attack her.

'It's my duty as' The sentence hung there incomplete; the sign even seemed to shiver.

“Is something the matter?” he asked, worried about this helpful spirit. “Who are you?”

The air took on an extra chill, maybe because the ghost was upset. 'I'm afraid that I can't answer that. I made an unfortunate deal to become an owner of the mansion in exchange for my name after death. At first, it didn't seem that big of a cost. But my memories are so hazy that I'm no longer sure of who I was at all. I was a man of Selphia, I know that much. Things come and go otherwise. It's why I can't be seen and can only interact with you through the sign. This is my fate as a nameless ghost, unless I find my name again.'

“I wish I could help you on that, since you helped me without asking,” Vishnal said. “Were you a knight of some kind? Forte sometimes says she does things for her duty as a dragon knight, so what you nearly wrote reminded me of that.”

There was a pause before he responded. 'That sounds right, a dragon knight. Sworn to protect Lady Ventuswill, and the town that she watches over to maintain the peace that she wishes for. That was' then it was all erased. 'I can't keep this up for long. But I will keep watching over you until she is gone.' The white letters grew fainter until they no longer appeared, then the sign faded away as well.

“If you're a dragon knight, that gives us an easily found list of names to try out on you later,” he said. Maybe once Dolce got rid of her hell gate, she could help identify this ghost. Now how did he help her to get ready to do that?

* * *

 

Spring 61

As Vishnal had today off of work, he was coming over today to work with her on their cooking. Dolce looked forward to it, but also wasn't sure what all they should talk about. He said he wanted to know more about her, so about herself? But listening to people talk just about themselves or their family could get boring. She'd endured far too many social gatherings where the older ladies went on and on about minute subjects, ignoring that others were getting bored. She did not want to end up that way. About the cooking? That'd be there, but there could be times when there wasn't much else to say about the work.

There weren't any patients so far today, so when Vishnal arrived, Nancy was there with Alice. “If you have any questions, feel free to call me over,” she said. “I'll be happy to help.”

Dolce disliked the patronizing, plus she was supposed to be spending the day with her boyfriend. Didn't that mean that they should be left alone? On the other hand, Vishnal didn't seem bothered. “Thanks, you're a really good cook, so I'm sure you could help.”

“Well, I was in a position like you once, not good at it,” Nancy said, her eyes far off in memories again.

“Really?” Vishnal asked, surprised. “I thought someone like you had always been good at it.”

The older woman chuckled. “Heh, well few people start out good at anything. But I kept working at it, even if I thought I should give up at times. Have fun, and don't burn the house down.” She then went off into the clinic area.

“If anything, I've gotten good at putting out fires before they become a big problem,” Vishnal said, a little embarrassed. “What are we going to make today?”

Dolce would have really liked to make some sweets, but she didn't want to leave a bad impression on him. “I picked out a couple of bread recipes that look good,” she said, indicating two cookbooks she had open on the counter. “This mezzaluna bread has lots of herbs, and the hearty country loaf seems good for sandwiches.”

“Bread's a handy recipe to know,” he said, looking over the recipes carefully.

“Like they used to say, a good housewife should know how to make good bread,” Pico teased. “Are you trying to be a good housewife, Vishnal?”

He laughed. “Not exactly, but it would apply to a good butler as well.”

Coming closer to the counter, Dolce said, “Although in those days, you would mix up the dough, let it rise, then take it to a baker to use their brick oven. If your family got large enough, you'd have to do that every day too. You'd become good at it just because of how often you made it.”

“Yeah, my mother often said that modern sealing spells were a godsend for keeping enough good foods around for everybody,” he said. “We bought lots of bread, and she and Izebel became really good at using up bits and pieces to make sure nothing was wasted.” He pointed to one of the recipes. “This mezzaluna looks really good, but it needs to raise twice and is going to take longer overall. The country loaf only raises once, so, we could mix up the mezzaluna dough first, then the country loaf while that rises, and then bake the country loaf while the mezzaluna is in its second rise.”

“Right, but we should get meis en place for both first,” Dolce said, reaching for a group of small bowls that she'd gotten for this.

“Get what?” Vishnal asked, confused at the foreign words.

“Everything in its place,” she translated. “I've already made sure we have enough ingredients, so we measure them all out separately first so that nothing gets missed in mixing them together.”

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense,” he said, then looked around the kitchen to see where things were.

“I only really know Norad,” Dolce said. “But Mother would use terms like that when she was in the kitchen to make things seem fancy. Even ordinary things like getting organized here.”

“Though I've come to wonder how much her or we are actually pronouncing it right,” Pico said, so far keeping out of the way. “I bet Leon would tease us if he heard it.”

“He'd tease us for any reason he could find,” she said.

They worked for a while, mostly talking about cooking or food. As the time went on, Dolce felt more relaxed in talking about whatever was in the conversation. It never seemed to bore Vishnal. Although it did bore Pico on a few occasions and she made them have to remeasure the flour after she tried to make things fun (or so she claimed). Thankfully, Vishnal was really handy at cleaning things up. He had the dishes washed up and dry so quickly that she had to ask him at one point if a mixing spoon was clean before she used it.

While they were cleaning up Pico's mess, Vishnal brought up something unexpected. “Hey Dolce, I've been meaning to ask, could you help me out with a ghost?”

“You want my help on a ghost?” she asked, hardly believing that she'd heard it right. He didn't even sound disdainful in asking.

“Wow, is there an echo in here?” Pico asked, nearly laughing.

“Thirty minutes of quiet,” Dolce said sternly, adding onto her punishment for the flour prank. Pico frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, but managed to stay quiet.

Vishnal was trying not to smile, probably finding it funny too. “Yes, that's it. I thought at first it was Pico since all I could see was a sign floating around. But he writes in white and is very polite. From what he wrote, he got displaced from the mansion when you were awakened and has been hanging around the southwest farm near the castle.”

“Usually you can free a ghost by finding what keeps them here and fixing the problem,” she said. “Has he been trouble?”

“No, aside from spooking Maple once,” he said. “Actually, he's been watching out for me since he's there anyhow. It seems like Marionetta wants to mess with you through me and this ghost decided to act against her.”

Marionetta? This news put chills in her spine. “That sounds like her,” Dolce said, trying to sound brave. Or at least indifferent.

“I haven't had much trouble with her, maybe because he protects me at night,” Vishnal said. “So I'd really like to help him. Though first, is there anything I can do to help you with the hell gate? I know Lest's supposed to help you out, but if there is something I could do, I'll do it.”

“I'm not sure because I'm not sure what I'll be facing,” she said. It could be any number of things, since Storgane would attack from any angle where he thought there was an opening. Even using arguments that were in conflict with each other.

“Why don't you ask Dylas and Sven about it?” he suggested. “I think you'll beat it, though. I have a good feeling about it.”

“Just a feeling, that's all?” she asked.

“I think it'll turn out all right.”

Making two breads in one afternoon made lot, so Vishnal said they should pass some out to their friends to see what they thought. This brought them to Sven, who was looking tired as he was standing on a street corner on watch. “I ended up napping this afternoon, but not for long,” he said. “Then Forte got angry with me being late to when I was supposed to start working, which just made me feel more tired.”

“I know some people get bored listening to her, but not tired,” Vishnal said.

Sven shrugged. “I'm trying to learn, but she's strict. Thanks for the bread, though. It's looks like a little crab.”

“It's supposed to look like a moon crescent,” Dolce said, disappointed. “It's in the name, mezzaluna.”

“Well it looks like a crab to me, with one claw larger than the other,” he said. “Tastes pretty good, though.”

“Good, we can work on the looks after we get the taste right,” Vishnal said. That was a nice thing about him, that he tried to see the positive in everything. Dolce would like to be that optimistic again, but hadn't felt like it since she was a small child.

“Sorry for changing the subject, but could you tell me what it was like in the hell gate?” she asked. “I'd like to get mine broken soon.”

“It's okay,” Sven said. “Actually, it was a lot scarier for me in anticipating it than actually being in it. I think Storgane doesn't have a good grasp on how to really make mortals despair rather than with just sheer overwhelming power that he no longer has. See, he had the Executioner armor talking to me, trying to get me to accept it again. But it had long ignored me and I finally had a chance to ignore it. So that's what I did: ignored it until Lest found me and we figured out how to break it.”

“He hasn't held you for as long as he's held us,” Dolce said. Although he had a point. If the old dragon kept changing his tactics, maybe he didn't really know how to control them. He could never stop them from singing and keeping hope.

“You should be entering with Lest, so you won't be on your own for long,” Sven said. “I think it's important to keep in mind why you need to break it. For me, I wanted to keep my gate from hurting or scaring others. That meant that when the images there threatened Lest, I knew immediately to dispatch them like any other monster to protect the prince. You can do something like that.”

“I guess, since as long as mine is around, Marionetta might return,” she said. And that puppet monster would be working for Storgane, who would want her alive and in despair. That put Pico, Vishnal, and even Nancy and Jones in danger. The prospect of any of them getting hurt or killed as a result was far worse than whatever she might face going into the hell gate herself. “Thanks, I think I can handle it now.”

“Good luck in beating it,” Sven said, smiling in encouragement.

Leaving the knight-in-training to get back to his watch, they went around town to offer the rolls and bread slices to whoever was willing to try. This eventually brought them to the alchemist shop where Kiel was working on brewing a large batch of medicinal potion, with Xiao hanging out to chat with him. He looked over the pieces of mezzaluna bread. “It is really hard to get perfect looking rolls, especially when you get into shaped ones like this,” he said. “When you've got a loaf or muffin pan, the best thing to do is know how much to fill them to get a good top, and definitely not overfill them. But how much they raise can vary by recipe, so don't worry about looks so much until you've got everything else going well.”

Xiao nodded, having already taken a bite of hers. “Yes, yes, going by what makes one nice makes another lopsided and another burnt on the bottom. It seems that this one would not matter as much as the smell of it is heavenly, much more appetizing than any way it could look. It's a nice one, may I have a copy of its recipe to try too?”

“Sure, I'll write it down for you later,” Dolce said, glad to share a recipe. “The process looked more complicated than I'm used to, but the equipment Nancy has made it easier than I how used to bake and cook.”

“What was that like?” Xiao asked, curious.

Explaining the how of things was a lot easier than explaining how she felt, Dolce thought. “Much of it was done by hand, from chopping to mixing. And while you have seasoning mixes and oils for sale, few things in those days came ready to use. Like flour always had to be sifted. Sugar was really expensive, so even a family like mine used honey more often than sugar. Then there were all the big heavy iron pans to cook in, on a wood stove or in a fireplace. It was a lot harder.”

“Today's kitchens are much safer too, yes?” Xiao said. “There have been times when I was trying to cook when I dropped a pan on my foot. It would be much much worse if all pans were cast iron. When I use the few we have in the inn, I have to take caution.”

“And there was a risk of catching your clothes on fire too if you weren't careful,” Dolce said. That was a point in favor of modern fashion, although house gowns were usually closer fit to avoid such risks.

“It might not be so bad with my alchemist gloves,” Kiel said, pointing out a pair of leather gloves that he wasn't wearing at the moment. “Those can stand up to glass shattering with a risky liquid inside. I actually use them sometimes when I need to use bigger or heavier pans in baking so I don't get burnt.”

Later on in the conversation, Vishnal asked, “Oh, Kiel? Could you get me a list of the dragon knights who have served Selphia? I need it to identify a ghost who lost his name.”

“Sure, that won't take long,” he said.

“A ghost of a dragon knight?” Xiao asked, intimidated. “Wow, that would be a powerful one.”

“At least he's on Vishnal's side; I doubt he'll be trouble,” Dolce said.

Vishnal nodded. “Right. He got displaced from the mansion and is currently watching for Marionetta.”

Oddly, that caused Kiel to brighten in recognition. “Oh wait, you mean the dragon knight who haunted Obsidian Mansion is hanging around town now? Cool! One time I went looking for him based on stories my dad told, but that's how I ended up trapped in the mansion as a kid. Is he the one you either can't see or can barely see in a mist, and he only communicates with signs?”

“Sounds like him,” Vishnal said. “Though I haven't seen him in mist, just on clear nights so far. Or rather, I see his sign. Maple can sense him.”

“Feline monsters can sense ghosts easier than others,” Kiel said. “If it is that one, then you're in luck because you don't need a list of all the dragon knights of Selphia. I don't remember if anyone else positively identified him, but I do know that this ghost occasionally worked with the Red Knight when he had business in or around the mansion. So you just need a list of the dragon knights before Sir Branden Leland.”

“Who's this Red Knight?” Dolce asked. “He has the same surname as Dylas.”

“Neat, I hadn't thought of that,” Kiel said. “Maybe they were related and knew each other. I should ask him about it. Anyhow, the Red Knight was one of the most famous of dragon knights, and even of all the knights in Norad! I've read lots of stories about him and he's really fascinating. He was known by that nickname because he favored a peculiar sword that completely red as if it was rusted through. But that was just looks as it was actually a strong sturdy weapon. He lived in a dangerous time for Selphia. However, the town was safe the entire time because the Red Knight protected them. He was even alone in this for a few years as other knights had been killed off by raiders from the Sechs territories. But there were those in Norad who doubted him, out of jealousy or lack of knowledge. It's a really great story, I know some books that tell it well.”

“Wasn't he the one who helped make the current code of chivalry what it is?” Vishnal asked.

Kiel nodded. “Yup, although someone else wrote it down in part based on the Red Knight's actions, and he said it was partly based on what this ghost told him. Isn't it neat?”

“Hey wait, if it's any knight before Dylas' time, there's a bigger chance it might be milady's father!” Pico asked.

“Wait, that could be,” Dolce said, suddenly wondering if that could be.

“He did say he had a reason to be around the mansion,” Vishnal said.

“That was, Anthony Amaretto, right?” Kiel asked, thinking about it. “Huh, might be. He was the very first dragon knight, getting known as such because he renounced his original oath of service to Selphia's king in order to swear that he would protect Lady Ventuswill and the town on her behalf when she wasn't doing well. He was known for a lot of things, including dispatching the first form of Marionetta before you became a guardian.”

“Wait, what?” she asked, confused by that. “How did Marionetta exist before me?”

“I'll have to look that back up,” he said. “I can remember that she was first known as a cruel ghost that would possess dolls and lure people into the mansion with them, to empower the place.”

“That sounds scarily familiar,” Pico said, her voice trembling. “Though, hazy. Must have been in the days before I met Dolly, which I never cared about anymore once I did.”

“I remember hearing about the doll possession, but not the name,” Dolce said. And it had been a really scary story to her as a young girl, the idea that her dolls might be overtaken to put her in danger. In trying to overcome that fear and understand more about Pico, she had learned more about ghosts and eventually lost her fear.

“If it is your father, then that's just another reason to help him out,” Vishnal said.

“Right,” Dolce said. She wondered if they should go and ask if he was right this evening.

“Um, maybe you should wait on giving him names to try out?” Xiao said. “I mean, Dolce, didn't you say that when a ghost's problem in this world was solved, they usually pass on in peace? But if he is currently protecting the area from Marionetta, it seems that the hell gate should be the first thing to solve. Um, are you going to be okay in there? I've been praying that you and the others get through them okay.”

“I've got plenty of reasons now to get rid of it,” she said. “I'll talk with Lest about it tomorrow.”

“I've been worried too, although more about Leon,” Kiel said. “He's been acting odd ever since you all went to rescue Amber from her gate, being reluctant to go do things and talking in confusing tangents.” Then he smiled. “But you seem fine, Dolce. Once you get rid of yours, I'm sure you and the other guardians can help him out.”

“Thanks, we'll try,” she said.

There were still some doubts in her heart. As she had told Sven, Storgane would know the four of them better after having them captive for centuries. There wasn't a way for their songs to reach into the gates, so she would be alone until Lest got to her. But she had to hold out against whatever Storgane and Marionetta had in store for her. There were too many people that she cared about in danger because of the hell gate's presence. Even Clorica, Sven, and Wendy had gotten in trouble because of her gate and of the three, she only knew Clorica as an almost friend.

That night, though, she heard something that she had sorely missed: one of the other guardians singing with their heart. It was Dylas, telling them that it was time to face themselves, as well as some of what he'd faced with Storgane's torment. But more important, he said that they weren't alone. They had always had each other, but only as voices. It left a painful loneliness at times. Now? Now she had friends, maybe a new family if she could find a way to fit in better. And even a boyfriend who believed in her and wanted to help however he could, instead of only caring abut how they appeared in society's eyes.

Even when she found that she couldn't sing with him tonight, his song let her shut those doubts out so that she could face her darkness tomorrow and feel sure of beating it.


	78. Ghost in the Rain

Spring 62

That afternoon, Vishnal found it difficult to focus on his work. The guardians, Lest, Frey, and Clorica were off dealing with Dolce's hell gate. He had said he believed in her but that didn't stop him from worrying now that she was probably inside it. While he had wanted to go, Volkanon had sent Clorica instead as he wanted her to see what Lest was doing and to make up for the time she got herself and Sven trapped inside the mansion. Then their master had to add that if Vishnal went, he'd probably be more concerned about Dolce when he should be looking after Lest as his duty. Which may have been true, but this left Vishnal to wait and not be sure of how things were going.

He ended up in Ventuswill's chamber taking care of the plants there, and telling her about his worries. “I tried to help her by encouraging her yesterday and today, but now I can't do anything but pray while she's in a dangerous situation,” he said. “And try to keep working like normal so there's no problems when they get back, but it's tough.”

“It is,” she said, in a voice like a wise but friendly grandmother. That was another thing that had changed with Lest's coming: Ventuswill was being informal with him more often. It made her seem like a friend rather than a master, just like the prince. “Generations of people have felt the way you have, in war and even in peace. No one can do everything, so you do your best with what you can do.”

“I suppose I should be grateful, knowing that this will take a couple of hours at most,” Vishnal said, making himself smile. “Those people who had to stay to take care of home while their loved ones were off fighting a war, they had to suffer with this uncertainty for a long time.”

“I hope we can avoid what this war might bring,” Ventuswill said, worried over that. “Hmm, but... well, I'm sure Dolce will be fine. She's quiet and restrained, but she has a strong warm heart underneath that chill. Heh, but I'm sure you've noticed that already.”

That really made him smile. “Right, she does. She can be either blunt or formal when talking and you might think that's it, but then sometimes she has this lovely smile that's warm and soft. And she seems even more so when she's around Alice, so if she lost a bit of that frosty edge, I'm sure a lot of people would like her even more.”

Ventuswill chuckled. “It'd be nice to see her relax to that point. Maybe you can help her with that; you are glowing right now.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Vishnal asked, a bit embarrassed.

That made her laugh even more. “You're thinking of her and praying for her safety when you love her. It makes your runes vibrant, though only a few can see it. Kind of a shame, since it's a beautiful sight.” Ventuswill lowered her head some. “But even if most, like you and Dolce, can't see it, you can feel it at times. She may feel your light and not realize it; such a thing can change people, both her and you. I hope it works out for you.”

“Thanks Lady Ventuswill,” he said, still embarrassed but happy with what she said.

“The hell gate is broken, I just felt it now,” she said, straightening up. “That's a worry you can leave behind now. How about I call you when they get back in town?”

“Thank you, I'd like to talk to her then,” he said. And if he hurried up on his tasks, he might be able to sign off on the day's work once they were sure Lest was resting.

This time, the prince was doing a lot better. They had briefly stopped right by the marketplace in order to let Lest and Clorica avoid going up all the stairs, thanks to the masterful work of the post crew. Still, he didn't need to be supported this time and wanted to go see Ventuswill before he rested. “You told me the guardians had spoken to each other last night,” Lest said, seeming worried. “It helped Dolce get the confidence to do this, but Leon is in bad shape emotionally right now. He's too defensive for me to figure out much of it, but I felt some cracks form when I first told him about the hell gates. I don't know if he's ready for this yet.”

“There will be pressure on him now that all of the other gates are broken,” Ventuswill said. “Although that could make it worse. I've spoken with him too and what I see is that this is going to be tough to work out even with our help. It's all in how he doubts his own perceptions of reality.”

“How do you doubt that?” Vishnal asked. Reality didn't seem like a thing that could be doubted. Clorica was nodding slowly, for some reason.

“He was in the ether sea the longest, and was there alone for some time,” Ventuswill explained. “He would have experienced a lot of insane things for that time. In fact, all of the others have told me separately that they knew Leon was protecting them from something they couldn't easily explain. The ether isn't something the human mind is fully capable of grasping; only a few can come close.”

Lest nodded. “And I was acting mostly blind getting him back. With all that against him, it doesn't surprise me that he's having trouble accepting this as real. We're still acting blind in helping him accept it since the guardians are a unique circumstance in the world. It may be something we need to get the whole town trying to connect to him as more evidence of what's real, when he works against that with the ways his emotional defenses work.”

“I wonder if we got the other three to talk about him with the others to see about getting him better accepted,” Ventuswill said. “There is the problem there of both Dolce and Dylas being taciturn, but I think once they hear it's to help Leon, they should cooperate. Amber won't mind talking.”

“We might get Kiel to help, since he already considers Leon a friend after he helped him learn to properly read runes,” Vishnal suggested.

“That's a good idea,” Ventuswill said. “You work with him on it. The more we can spread the word that he needs help, even if he's not happy with it, the better chance we have of actually helping him.”

“At least to keep people from agitating him further,” Lest said.

“They're coming in,” Ventuswill said, nodding towards the large door to the plaza.

Not long after, Dolce and the others who had gone with her came into the chamber. She didn't have the ghostly chains any longer and while her expression was as neutral as ever, she didn't seem as tense. “Lest, I thought you were going to rest now,” Dolce said.

“I can relax and chat with friends,” he replied. “I'm still alert enough for that.”

“If you say so,” she said. “Venti, I just came by to show that I have gotten free. The rune spring moved right where we predicted it would.”

“That's wonderful, I'm proud of you,” Ventuswill said, her toothy dragon's smile beaming.

“Once I decided that I would break it, it wasn't a big task,” Dolce said, although the way her eyes shifted showed that she said it mostly for Leon. He did look distracted, even leaving his feather fan in its belt loop rather than fiddle with it as usual. Then she happened to look over at Vishnal. “What?”

He'd been trying not to make a scene, but her question broke his resistance. He grinned and went over to quickly hug her. “Sorry, I'm just really happy you got through it.”

There were a few amused laughs around them while Dolce seemed indecisive between being annoyed and being happy at the hug. “Did you have to hug me in front of everyone?”

“Sorry,” he apologized again, letting her go. “I was going to wait, but couldn't resist once you looked at me.”

She was blushing all across her cheeks as she tried to look away. “Um...”

“You shouldn't be sorry because hugs are awesome!” Amber said, then promptly hugged Leon to his surprise.

And Vishnal felt the thwack of a turnip on his shoulder. “Well he better be because he hugged my Dolly,” Pico said threateningly.

“Where are you getting all these turnips?” Vishnal asked, picking up the one that had just hit him.

It vanished almost as soon as he had it. “I don't have to say anything about it,” Pico said, turning her head aside.

“Where?” Dolce asked, a bit of sternness.

“They're produced out of my love for you which is way more than what a boring guy like he can do!” she said.

“You've got a pretty powerful love for that,” Vishnal said with a smile. It was impressive, even if he didn't like turnips in particular. Pico growled at him.

“You three have a weird relationship,” Dylas said, getting Ventuswill to burst into laughter.

But when that meeting was over, Dolce stuck with him. “I was wondering if you would mind staying up with me to see if this ghost appeared tonight,” she asked.

“That's fine, I was hoping to spend some time with you as well,” Vishnal said, feeling happy. “And Pico, to see if there's some way we could bury the hatchet.”

“Maybe in...” she started to say.

“Don't even say it,” Dolce said sharply, getting her to pout. “Thank you, Vishnal. Where should we be?”

“In the southwest farm, outside my room,” he said. “Although it's supposed to rain tonight, so let me get my umbrella. Do you have boots for mud?”

“No, but I've got something better now,” she said, crouching down to touch her ankle boots. “I was given a blessing price in crafting with fabrics, so I can cast an enchantment to repel the mud much easier.”

“Wow, so you have a passion for sewing like Lest has for farming?” he asked. No wonder her clothes were so nice and unique; maybe she made them herself.

“Sewing, knitting, yes. Some other fabric crafts too, although others I've only admired or wondered how to do. This could make it easier to figure out.” She was smiling now, like it was a great blessing to her.

“Then you can make even more beautiful things for both of us, you and me!” Pico said, flying between him and Dolce.

“We'll see,” Dolce said, standing back up. Once Vishnal had his large umbrella (he liked it for having several bright colors on the panels), they headed out to the royal farm.

The southwest field was still a big mess as Lest hadn't gotten the time to fix it up. While a large old tree lay across the ground, it didn't look safe or clean to sit on (especially not if it was going to get soggy in a late rain). There was a stone bench here, which Vishnal had cleaned earlier and made sure it had cushions that would resist getting wet. Since they had to wait on night to fall for the ghost to appear, they got some time to talk.

Mostly he talked, because Dolce brought up an interesting question. “Why are you training to be a butler? Most people would not aim to be a servant, from what I know.”

“Maybe not, but for those who know, butlers are very respectable people,” he said. “In order to be certified by the board, you have to pass very rigorous standards in many different skills. Not just anybody can get certified either; I've heard that a number of students give up because it's too challenging.”

“You even have a board of certification like doctors?” Pico asked, astonished at it.

“Yes, very well organized as may be expected of a group of butlers,” Vishnal said.

Dolce frowned. “Then why? Especially if it's high standards for a position of service to others.”

He smiled, used to having people ask if it was worth it. “But don't you think it's an admirable service? I see it as a great kindness and dedication to help someone else attain their full potential. And I want to become the greatest butler in the world, capable of doing anything needed of me without trouble!”

Although she covered her mouth, she laughed a little. “That's a different sort of ambition.”

“I think you mean bizarre,” Pico said.

Vishnal laughed too. “My family thought it was too at first. But then I explained about it and my parents saw where I was coming from. They've all been a great support to me this whole time. Plus Volkanon and Clorica have become like family too, so either town is home to me now.”

“How does that work, I mean if you're not related but still family?” Dolce asked, swinging her feet a little.

He thought about it a moment. “Well, we live with each other and work together every day. It's hard not to see each other as family with that, don't you think? Volkanon's like the best grandfather you could ask for even when he's strict and Clorica is great for cheering you up no matter what's going on. So I work to help them like any of my family.”

“I guess,” she said. “So, um, how'd you get that dream to be the greatest butler?”

“Aren't we being nosy tonight?” Pico said, getting Dolce to try shooing her away.

“That's fine, I don't mind talking about it,” he said. “Though I'm curious to know more about you too Dolce.”

“Um, maybe later,” she said, blushing again. “You can talk tonight.”

“If you're okay with that,” Vishnal said, although he worried about her feeling left out. Maybe next time they cooked, he would ask the questions. “Well, it started when I was eighteen. My father worked as a doctor and my mother was a farmer. I wasn't doing too well learning to be a doctor, but I still wanted to be something great helping others. My parents did so all the time, even when their time and funds were restricted in raising all ten of us kids. Guess that in helping them with that, we all wanted to keep helping others.

“One day, there was an airship that crashed outside of town. There were only two people on board; they got rescued and put in my father's care. One of them was the man who built and flew the first airship in his youth, but I soon made a connection to the other man, his butler. Sebastian was a stubborn man but graceful and kind all the same. Even though he was injured, he kept trying to assist his master who was worse off. Since I was doing chores around the house and clinic at the time, I ended up working with him often.

“And he was really impressive! It seemed like he could do anything that needed to be done. Even one time when a group of bird monsters were making a racket outside the clinic, Sebastian went right out and dispatched them with little effort. And he told great stories too. When I told him that I thought he was a great man too, he smiled and said that he was nothing compared to his father who was a butler to a goddess.”

“You mean Volkanon?” Dolce asked.

Vishnal nodded. “That's right, Sebastian is his son and was trained by him. He told me some things in seeing if I'd be deterred, like that butlers should not be noticed for what they do and all of their effort must be given to making their master shine even brighter. That just made me more interested. I mean, I'm not sure that I could do anything great on my own; I don't have any talents like a lot of great people do. But like I told him, if I could help someone do amazing things too, then wouldn't that be a great thing in itself? When he and his master were ready to leave town, Sebastian gave me a book that Volkanon had written and told me to study it if I really wanted to be a butler.”

“Did your board of butlers find you that way?” she asked, following the story with interest.

“Sort of,” he said. “I know Sebastian said something to them, though I'm not sure what. But a couple years later, my parents were planning a vacation for the whole family. On the day before we left, they finally told us that we were going to Selphia because they knew Volkanon worked here as a master butler. They wanted to give me a chance to talk with him and see if I could get into training. That made me really happy, but my parents are so busy that we all insisted they take the first day to enjoy themselves, just the two of them.

“That left me in charge of all my siblings, keeping them well mannered and entertained. That only got more urgent when night fell and our parents still weren't back. Forte offered to go look for them and I thought about going with her. But the littlest ones like Aria and Liron were fretful, so I sent Julius and Rani with her since they weren't that good with the younger kids. Turns out that my mother broke her ankle in a fall and neither of them knew the right sort of magic to teleport back to an unfamiliar town; they were having to take things slow getting back to avoid worsening it.

“Because of that, I had to delay meeting up with Volkanon to take some of burden off my mother. On the last day we planned on being there, she told me to go ahead and speak to him as it was my best chance of finding a master butler to study under. I told him about how I'd met with his son and how I wanted to be a great butler too. And you know what he said? He'd already heard about me from Sebastian and had seen how I'd worked to keep my family happy in spite of what could have ruined the whole vacation.”

“It's hard to see how anyone could miss a family of twelve being around a small town like this,” Pico said.

He chuckled. “That's true. Because of that, Volkanon said he already had a good idea of me and he'd offer to take me in as a student if I could answer one question: was I willing to stay in Selphia while my family headed back home after our vacation? I told him that I'd have to speak with my family about it first, since we hadn't planned on this being a parting already.” He smiled wider, recalling the happiness of that day. “And Volkanon said that was exactly the answer he wanted to hear, since if I said yes without objection, I didn't have enough consideration for those I cared about to be a butler. So after I talked with all of them, I did end up staying behind as they went back home, with their blessings. I don't regret it one bit.”

“It's good that you stayed connected to them,” Dolce said.

He wondered if she was jealous of him. “It'd be nice if you had some connection to yours,” he said, trying to be nice in it. “Although, since your father was the first dragon knight, with you and your mother as the last to serve lady Ventuswill as a dragon priestess or priest, I'm sure there's writings about them around. Maybe in the library, or even in the castle vaults. I might be able to help you look in the latter if we can get permission to search the files.”

“That might help,” she said, then went still and looked into the rainy field. “He's here.”

In the late spring rain, there was a fine mist in the air. It took a few seconds for Vishnal to notice a discrepancy, a shadow of emptiness in the dark rain. Trying to find him better, Pico flitted around. His sign then entered the range of the lantern they'd brought out, with white letters soon appearing. 'You've done well to overcome this trial.'

“I had some help,” Dolce said, fidgeting with her hands as if she wished she had her knitting needles with her. “We may have found your name, but since we don't know how long you can last after, we'd like to ask you some questions, please.”

He took a moment before writing, 'I will answer as best I can, but my memory of my life is dim.'

“That's fine,” she said, then looked to Vishnal. “Um, would you ask? I'm not sure I could...”

“Sure, no problem,” he said. “Sir, have you encountered a dragon knight named Branden Leland?”

'With the rust red sword?' After Vishnal nodded, he added, 'A different kind of person, but an excellent knight. We worked well together.'

It seemed odd, but that question was mostly to confirm what Kiel had said about how long this ghost may have been around. “All right, that helps. Next, you mentioned about being an owner of the mansion. Would you explain that better, since it seems to be more than a simple possession of property?”

The writing came fairly swift to answer, but he did pause before erasing parts to make sure they had read it. 'That's correct. Those who held a deed of ownership got more than they bargained for as it tied their souls to the mansion. Any person who died on the property remained trapped there, but the owners were always drawn back in no matter where we died. And we were often caught in terrible deaths, many of which remain told in legend. Every owner of the house adds power to it after death. However, some of the owners were released with the young lady here, and several more were released with the move of the rune spring.'

“How many owners are still tied to the mansion?” he asked.

'Five, including the original owner and myself. I may be outside the mansion currently, but I can feel it pulling on me to return to mindless patrols of the halls. I would like to remain outside for as long as my will holds out, as my awareness is relatively clear now.'

“Then if we get all of you owners freed,” Dolce said, “the mansion should lose all power?”

'I think that is so. If you mean to try this, then be aware that you cannot safely deal with the original owner until the other four of us are gone. His mind is what has warped the mansion into such an evil place. I just pray that none of us get caught on the endless road.'

“What do you mean by the endless road?” Vishnal asked. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't think of where he'd heard the term.

'I'm not sure.' In the fine rain, the ghost even seemed to shake his head while writing. 'Some of the other ghosts spoke of it, a place that unwitting souls could get trapped forever on, or a crack in the world where a crafty soul might find a way out of a banishment. It doesn't seem like much of a change to be tied to the mansion and then lost on this strange road.'

Dolce brought a fist up to her chest, looking anxious. “That sounds like what Frey says about Rune Prana, except about souls getting trapped there.”

“Oh, that place that she and Lest are trying to access to make sure it's properly sealed?” Vishnal said. “That's some scary stuff; not even the princess knows much about what it really is and she's probably studied it more than anyone alive now.”

“I'd rather souls not get trapped there, but that's an uncertainty while one certainty is that Obsidian Mansion must be broken down and fully exorcised from the world,” Dolce said. “Even without Marionetta, it's too dangerous.”

'I can't explain it but I have a strong faith that you can do that, guardian.'

“Of course she can, and we'll be helping her!” Pico said, going back to Dolce's side.

“We?” Vishnal asked, uncertain of the prospect. “I don't know a lot about ghosts. But, I'll do what I can to help, just ask when you need it.” He smiled, trying to dismiss his nervousness with that.

“I don't know how much help you can be, but I appreciate the offer,” she said. “Pico and I should be able to handle it. That was all the questions we had, unless you had something more you wished to write?”

'I can't be sure of what I wish for,' he wrote. 'Save for finally coming to an end to all this wandering haze now that Marionetta is gone.'

“Well, then,” she shivered a little. Dolce seemed fine talking about ghosts in general, so it just had to be who they suspected that they were dealing with. Thinking it might encourage her, Vishnal took her hand and squeezed it. Her eyes widened in being startled, but then she took a deep breath and said, “We think that you may be my father, Anthony Amaretto.”

There was a moment where it seemed the only movement was the rain, falling from the night sky and dripping off the side of his umbrella. There almost seemed to be color there, though the only thing for certain was that he had orange hair. Then he vanished back into the mist, trying to write something although his lines were shaky now. 'Ah, yes I'm sorry girls it was a moment of weakness but I had to make sure you were going to awaken someday. But you seem to have found good company' the message ended there and the sign fell to the ground.

“Father!” Dolce cried, going over to the sign and trying to get it before it got too muddy to read. Vishnal tried to keep the umbrella over her, putting his hand on her shoulder when he got to her side.

“Sheesh, couldn't you give him a few minutes more?!” Pico shouted, apparently at the clouds. Then she came over and took Dolce's arm.

Vishnal hugged her when she got up, offering to walk her home as it was still dark and rainy. But Dolce didn't say anything, perhaps also upset that they'd not gotten a chance to really speak to him.

* * *

 

Spring 66

Vishnal had slipped into Lest's office while the prince was reading some letters and documents, in order to start some cleaning. It seemed like he was doing well, but then Lest started speaking. “Oh geez, you're just now telling me that you'll get around to investigating the Maya Road cryptids and the prison? I hope it's just the message that was delayed. Hey Vishnal, are there any other entrances to Maya Road or is that one by the prison the only one?”

“Um, I suppose if you were really good at mountaineering or rock climbing, you could get in another way,” he said. “Heh, and here I thought I'd managed to get in to do some work without you noticing.”

Lest chuckled. “You're thinking about Dolce, aren't you? I could tell the moment you walked in the room from that.”

He laughed too. “Not much I can do about that. We're getting together after lunch to search the document rooms, hoping there might be something from her parents left in the castle's care.”

“Good, I hope you two find something. How's she doing?”

“I'm still figuring out how she expresses herself since she's restrained unless you surprise her,” he said, thinking about that. “She's talking more freely with her hell gate gone, but I still have to rely on Pico sometimes to know how she really feels. At least Pico has started accepting me, I think. She throws turnips at me sometimes, but her insults seem more playful now. I just see the turnip throwing as an extra chance for some training. Got to be prepared for anything!”

“That's fun,” Lest said, smiling and setting the papers down for a moment. “Though I've been wanting to tell you something about her. She's getting used to this time slowly and improving, but her troubles are far from over. Their place in the ether sea was dark and nightmarish due to the influence of Storgane, so all four of them have been suffering for a long time. If you love her, you'll end up dealing with a lot of her troubles too.”

“I'll do my best to help her, then,” Vishnal said, not having to think about it.

Lest nodded in approval. “Actually, I'm glad you two ended up together. I think you'll be good for her, at least from what I can tell of you both. Feel free to ask me for help if you need it, or just to talk about things.”

“Thanks, I'll remember that,” he said. “You're really generous for a master. I mean, I should be the one who's helping you.”

“You are, in a lot of different ways,” Lest said. “But I can't just take help without offering help in kind, whether it's paying it back or paying it forward.”

A few hours later, he met up with Dolce in the entrance hall of the servants wing. After asking how she was doing and noticing that she seemed tired, he asked, “How's Leon doing? I haven't seen him myself, but I've heard from several people that he hasn't been well.”

“It's mostly mental,” she said, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. She still sounded worried. “Though that's worse in some ways since there's no easy way to heal that. But he is better today, actually talking and joking some. Not as much as usual.”

“I see. We're going downstairs, follow me.” As he led her to the basement stairs, he added, “I hope he recovers soon and can break his hell gate like you did. I'd talk to him and see if I could help, but I don't know him all that well. Maybe I could talk to him with Kiel since they know each other.”

“He's wiser than he seems, just be prepared to be taunted a lot,” Dolce said. “Though I suppose even that can't protect a person from everything.”

“You could sign his charm if you want to help Leon out anyhow,” Pico said, floating along with them.

“What charm?” Vishnal asked, starting down the stairs.

“Dolly made it to protect him in the hell gate this time!” she said proudly.

“It was Dylas and Leon's idea,” she said. “A little something to keep him grounded and assured. I suppose getting more signatures than just the three of us could help too.”

“Sure, it'd be good for him to know that a lot of people are thinking of him, not just his family,” he said. Later, he should make sure Kiel at least knew about Leon's charm. He'd want to sign it and spread the word so that even more people could show they cared.

Down in the first basement under the servant's wing, they came to a room that had a magically sealed door. Made of a strange white alloy made from alchemy, it repelled magical and physical attacks. They weren't sure if Lest's power as a rune breaker would mess up the vault doors, but he'd promised on being told of them to restrain his power if he came near. Most vaults simply had a rune panel to the side to authenticate those who wished to enter. This vault had the rune panel and a number and letter panel because the document storage was a different kind of room.

“The castle is almost a thousand years old and there's documents from every year it's existed,” Vishnal explained, placing his left hand on the rune panel to prove he had permission to access this vault. “There's not enough space in one room to store and protect it all. So this vault has shifting shelves that can transport documents between this and deeper vaults. We just need to put in a year range that we want documents from before opening the door.”

“That's impressive,” Dolce said, taking a notepad out of her dress pocket.

“That means the years your parents were most likely to have stored something here for you are what should be put in,” Vishnal said, watching the wall. When it glowed with a particular pattern, he knew it was unlocked and ready to have the years set.

“Um, actually, I want to search for something else now,” Dolce said.

“Huh, what do you mean?” It was strange because her parents were very important to her. That much was clear.

“I, um, I decided it could wait a bit longer,” she said, closing her eyes while she thought of how to say something.

“Kiel lent us a book with stories about Mom and Dad!” Pico said, excited to share it. “It's really great!”

She smiled. “Yes. It even explained about Marionetta.” That made her more serious. “As it turns out, she was originally the wife of the original owner of Obsidian Mansion. She went insane in life and even mutilated her own face, which is why she wore that ghastly mask. Her husband killed her and trapped her ghost there, starting the curse on the house. For a long time, she wouldn't leave the mansion and just tortured those who came in. But when I was an infant, her ghost actually came out several nights in a row trying to steal me. My parents worked together to trap her in a warded space and Dad dispatched her for good. At least, until Storgane decided to give Marionetta my body for some strange reason.”

“I don't even remember that all that well,” Pico said. “Then again, there was a time early on in our relationship where things were still hazy. It probably happened then. And that was way too short for showing just how awesome that story is!”

“I'll ask Kiel if I can borrow the book after you to see it,” Vishnal said. “Then what do you want to search for?”

“The remaining owners of Obsidian Mansion,” she said. “I... I feel like Dad would have left that job to me, if he had more time to write to us. Fortunately, I managed to find a gossipy ghost still in the mansion that gave me their names and the years of their deaths. I hope that's enough to find information on them.”

“It should be,” he said. “Having their names should get the vault to sort what it thinks matches closest to the door. Who do we start with?”

“Handel Obsidian.” Then she glanced over at Pico. “You're being remarkably well behaved so far. Haven't even hit him with a turnip yet.”

“Oh yeah, I thought I was forgetting something,” the ghost said with a grin. “But now that you've said it, I'm gonna have to wait for a better opportunity. You just wait, Vishie.”

He smiled in response while putting the name in. “I was thinking that it's nice that you're being friendly today. And we should celebrate if that keeps up! Like we could go out to dinner at the restaurant together.”

“Aw, but if you get a date out of it, why should I be nice about it?” she pouted.

“I meant you too, not quite a date,” Vishnal said, thinking a bit more as it had been a spontaneous suggestion from Dolce's comment. “Like, that time we had dinner on the observatory and you got a lunchbox too. We'll ask Dylas to set a place for you at our table even if you don't eat anything. That'd be fun, right?”

Dolce actually smirked at this. “You can't deny that you enjoy that treatment.”

“B-b-but,” she sputtered, then dropped down to sit on the floor. “Aw, but now I have to be nice to him today. That's not fair.” Although even with the complaint, she ended up being nice to him and not throwing any turnips that day.

The next morning was a totally different story...


	79. A Day in the Clinic

Summer 51

This summer was like a dream. Spring had been waking from a nightmare and dealing with the lingering phantoms. And then, everything changed for Dolce. She no longer felt out of place in the bright and cheerful town, sometimes even feeling cheerful herself. The days were fun, from watching Alice grow and become aware of her loving family (maybe even Dolce and Pico being part of it?) to being free to do what she liked and not get scolded for being unladylike. As she whittled down the power of Obsidian Mansion through freeing its owners, she felt a sense of accomplishment and pride. As she helped the others in the sewing circle improve their skills, she learned what it meant to serve the earth and all who lived on it as an earthmate. She even got to learn new fabric crafts from Blossom.

Though what made this season most like a dream had to be Vishnal. Dolce had thought that her last relationship had been proper and good, but now she looked back on it as too formal, stiff, and cold. There really wasn't anything secret about Vishnal like Pico had suspected out of jealousy. However, that made Dolce feel comfortable in being with him, maybe even depending on him. He was goofy and his enthusiasm could be like a child's; so could his fright and embarrassment, which made it so satisfying to tease him.

More than all of that, he was warm and optimistic. Maybe he didn't always understand what she felt, but he would hold her and listen to whatever she had to say when she felt overwhelmed. It had surprised her the first time since she thought such an embrace wouldn't happen as soon as it did. But it was a great relief, a feeling that he was trying to protect her from the nightmares in her past. One time that closeness dared her to kiss him. She did and did not regret it one bit.

Dolce was watching over Alice this morning, but the little girl was doubly occupied in chewing on a doll and watching Pico do tricks with toy blocks. This led Dolce to daydream a bit more than she probably should have. There had just been so many good things happening. In fact, she could almost say for sure that it had all turned around the afternoon she unexpectedly heard Leon singing of great joy from his heart. He had just proposed to Frey and they were walking back to town to announce their engagement. That joy was infectious, only growing when she got the plans for the wedding attire and got to work on those gorgeous and important clothes. While she was excited for her guardian brother, there was a different kind of happiness when Vishnal had offered to dance with her after the wedding. It had been a little clumsy and she could imagine what sort of criticism would be said of it. But no one there had cared, especially not the two of them.

Then there had been the Firefly Festival. That had been a fun time because Vishnal had been trying to plan a 'normal' date but not make Pico be sulky while Pico kept plotting ways to wreck his plans. It ended up with neither of them getting what they wanted, although Dolce was amused by the whole scene.

A cough interrupted her thoughts again, so she put a hand gently on Alice's forehead. “Are you okay?” she asked. “You keep coughing like that and making me worry.”

“Nnmmmhmm,” the baby mumbled through the Pomme doll's ear. She looked tired.

“Though you're doing well keeping cheerful in spite of that,” Pico teased her, doing a handstand on a pile of blocks.

“I might have been a little distracted,” she said, but touching her had changed that. Dolce picked Alice up, letting her keep the doll. “This could be a problem.” The baby nearly cried, but soon was trying to keep as close to Dolce as possible.

“What is it?” Pico asked, flying after them down the stairs.

“I don't know,” she said. She went into the clinic area; only Jones was back here. “Jones? I think she's running a fever, and she's been coughing for the past hour.”

“What?' he said, getting up from his seat and starting to get into a fright.

“You might need your clip, if only to keep impartial,” Dolce suggested with a calm voice. It was worrying her too, but they didn't need to panic.

“Right, right,” he said, taking a clip with a shell on it and placing it on the headband he used for examinations. It was the result of her project into finding something to counter his fear of blood, although they had yet to have someone come in to truly challenge its effectiveness. “It's not always easy when the case is right in one's home. So it hasn't been long?”

Dolce kept hold of Alice while Jones checked her over. “No, she seemed fine this morning. She only started being cranky about it a little bit ago.”

His fingers lingered on the baby's forehead, then he gave Alice a light kiss there. “She's got a cold, but thankfully we've caught it early. It shouldn't last for long once I get her some treatment. Though, I'd better check on that; being this young, we need to be careful.” Jones went over to a bookshelf and got out a reference book to skim.

Hearing that gave Dolce a chill. When one of her younger brothers had died as an infant, it had started very much like this. “I see. I hope she gets over it quickly.”

“We should...” Jones mumbled while he checked on the reference. “Pico, could you get Nancy in here? I'd like to check everyone else in case she's not the only one sick.”

“Alrighty,” Pico said, taking off to find her.

Jones set the book down and came back over to cast a spell on Alice. She did start crying at that. “Sorry, it must feel strange to you. You'll be okay, we'll all take care of you. Dolce, she should be resting soon as a result of the spell. Be sure to stick close to her and get whatever toys or items she was near clean. In three hours, bring her back down so I can treat her again.”

“Okay,” she said, although it was a bit disappointing since she was hoping to do some other things today. Maybe she could work on some sewing instead, or reading the books on earthmates she was to study. “Hey, um, if Vishnal comes looking for me, do you mind him being upstairs with us?”

He smiled at the question. “That's no problem. If he comes in, I'll let him know you're there. Now how have you been feeling?” He turned his attention to examining her in case she had the cold too.

“I've been fine today,” she said. “Oh, I had a bruise from yesterday when I was trying to find more on how to get to the last ghost owner in the mansion, but it's nothing.”

“Right, that's nothing to worry over,” Jones agreed. “You're fine, but you should drink some orange juice and make sure to keep your hands clean while taking care of her. If you want, I can give you a face mask so you don't breathe it in.”

“That's probably for the best,” Dolce said. No sense in risking getting this cold and passing it back to Alice, or someone else.

The front door opened noisily as Nancy came in with Pico. She looked paler than normal, even more worried than Jones had as she hadn't gotten a chance to calm down. “Is she all right? What's going on?”

“Calm down, it's a cold we caught early so she won't be sick long,” Jones said, trying to reassure her while he started checking her over. “I want to make sure the rest of us are okay. You certainly don't look well.”

“I'm just a bit tired, that's,” then she coughed.

“No, you've been coughing too,” Pico said, worried about her.

“You've got this cold too,” Jones said, gripping Nancy's shoulder. “You should really rest today; I noticed you've been having some trouble sleeping lately.”

“I'll watch over both of them,” Dolce said.

“All right, if I must,” Nancy said, reluctant and a bit embarrassed while Jones cast some curative magic over her neck and chest.

“Let me get some face masks for both of you then,” Jones said. “And Pico, would you mind running some more messages? You're the best one of us for it.”

“No problem, I'll help however I can,” she said cheerily. “Nancy, you and Alice rest up good!”

“We will,” she said, relaxing either from the treatment or Pico's assurance.

Jones nodded. “Good. Then please go tell Blossom and Doug that there's a cold in town. She's the most at risk from it. After that, tell Xiao about it. I'd inform Lin Fa too, but frankly I'm afraid she'll forget about it in a few minutes and one of their guests is most likely to be the one who brought the cold into town. They'll need to make sure the guests are well and see if they need to be extra cautious in cleaning.”

“Okay, should I check to see if anybody else in town is sick?” Pico asked.

He considered it. “Well, we don't want to cause a lot of worry if there's not many who have the cold. But if there are a few others who are sick, we'll definitely need to be on alert to protect everyone else. Look around to see if anyone else looks tired or is coughing to send them my way, but try to keep quiet about it for now.”

“Gotcha, sneak mode on!” Pico twirled around to turn into a faint shadow, then rushed from the clinic on her errand.

“Heh, it is nice having both of you around,” Nancy said, sitting down in one of the chairs. “I was starting to think we'd never really have a full house, but we've been greatly blessed this past year.”

Hearing that made Dolce feel uncomfortable. It was nice to think of this place as her home sometimes. But, was that right? She looked down at Alice, who yawned into a cough, then tried to snuggle closer. Dolce shifted her hand to make sure the baby would feel secure in her arms. Maybe she was part of this home already? If this girl was like her younger sister... well she was worried either way. It wasn't good for a baby to be sick, even if her parents were healers.

“It has been a struggle at times, hasn't it?” Jones said, coming over with one yellow face mask and two blue masks. “Dolce, do you mind if I put this on you?”

“Go ahead, my arms are full,” she said with a small smile. “You're adapting to family life well; I've seen it be really hard on couples who had children early on.”

“You've been a big help in all this,” he said, briefly taking her hat off so he could slip a blue mask over her face. He was good about not tugging hard at her ponytails while getting them through the band.

“It's a big change either way,” Nancy said, putting the yellow mask on herself. Perhaps the color was an indication that she was sick and they weren't? “It was hard on me being the town midwife, since I've been called on to deliver the babies of other families. Even a few who were only visiting. We had to go see others to figure out why we were having such trouble; we're getting up there in age to when it might have been impossible to start a family.”

“At least we did find some wonderful people to help us,” Jones said warmly.

Even with the mask covering her nose and mouth, Nancy's smile could be seen in her eyes. “Yes, and now we have three lovely daughters here, it's just wonderful.”

“Um, I am nineteen, so I hardly count,” Dolce said, though she could feel her face warm. She hoped she wasn't blushing obviously, but her skin had always been fair.

That made Nancy chuckle. “Well Blossom's called me her daughter sometimes, so age hardly matters for how you care about people.”

“Guess not,” Dolce said, just as the door to the clinic opened again.

This time, it was more worrisome. Vishnal was bringing Frey in, supporting her with his arm. She did look pale and tired, more so than Nancy. “Excuse us, would you look her over?” Vishnal said. “She nearly fainted while she was working at her forge.”

“I'll be fine if I get some juice or something,” Frey said, annoyed at being fussed over. “There was probably some fault or something in the materials that made the craft harder than it looked. It is new stuff I'm studying.”

“Sorry, but I do think this should be checked over,” he said.

“Yes, you really look pale,” Jones said, waving him to bring her over to one of the beds. Dolce moved out of the way, gently rocking Alice in hopes she'd fall asleep and ignore what was going on around her.

“I don't think it's bad, but he got me with a trick question,” Frey said, frowning as she was sat down on the bed.

“You really should have been able to answer it if you were in good condition,” Vishnal said, worried. “Oh, but Leon might be coming soon. Pico popped up by us and asked if we were going here, so I had her go tell him we were.”

“Dolce, would you go make her a smoothie from fresh juice?” Jones asked as he started the examination. “You need a bigger boost than just plain juice. What were you doing at the forge? Your rune points are really low when you have a considerable pool even for an earthmate.”

As Dolce handed Alice off to Nancy to make the juice, she heard Frey reply, “My scout golem came back with samples of really fascinating minerals from Rune Prana, might even be the legendary dragonic stone. I was forging a basic sword from it to see its characteristics better. Just a basic sword, no additions or anything.”

“Um, Leon told us to keep an eye on you if you were in the crafting room this week because he was worried about you,” Vishnal said.

“I told him that I didn't think it was anything to worry about,” Frey said, but Dolce didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation as she had to go into the kitchen to put together the smoothie.

Since she had been asked to drink some fresh juice too, Dolce made a large batch of juice from a couple oranges, apples, strawberries, and grapes. She poured it from the blender into a pitcher, then put a small serving back in with some yogurt and honey to make the smoothie for Frey. As she was placing some cups with the juice pitcher and the smoothie on a tray, Leon came in. “Frey's here?” he asked, his tail and ears twitching in concern.

“In back,” she said, picking up the tray to bring back. When she got in, Frey had been talked into sitting with her back against the bed's headboard. Jones was checking his references again, this time quietly talking with Nancy about something.

Leon went over to Frey's side. “I told you we should have come talked with them sooner.”

“It's not a big deal, I probably just had too many things going at once,” she said.

“No, you nearly fainted so I think it's more serious,” Vishnal said.

“Really?” Leon asked, looking at her like he wanted to rebuke her but at the same time didn't want to be harsh when she didn't look well.

“Nearly's not the same as did,” Frey said, shaking her head.

Dolce handed the smoothie glass to her. “Here. I've got some regular fruit juice if any of you want it.”

“Thanks,” Frey said, nodding in gratitude. “Maybe I do need some rest, but I'll be fine.”

“Could you pour some for Nancy and I?” Jones said, setting his reference aside to come back over. While Dolce quietly worked on that, he nodded to Leon. “Good thing Pico got you over here, since we need to speak with both of you. How long has she been fatigued like this?”

“About two weeks,” Leon said, fanning himself although it seemed part to calm down. “Usually it's worse in the morning, as she's been really sluggish in getting up.”

“Anything else unusual about her in that time?” Jones asked, doing some extra checks on her condition by checking over her lungs and stomach.

“I don't think so,” Leon said, although he didn't seem sure.

“I've been trying to eat some different things to see if that helped,” Frey said. “Though since I was just feeling extra tired, I don't think it's big. Certainly not this cold you're talking about since I haven't coughed.”

“You'd better take extra care to not catch this cold as you're going to be vulnerable to it,” Jones said. “And you will want to be more careful when working at crafting, especially with the forge. I know you'll need to keep doing some work, but your rune point regeneration has dropped considerably from its normal level, even at rest.”

“That sounds more serious then just fatigue,” Leon said

“Fine, that is more troublesome,” Frey said, now worried herself. “But what's with that? I was casting really potent magic every day for the past few years, so even if I'm not doing that anymore, my regeneration shouldn't change that much in a couple weeks.”

“It's a natural change,” Nancy said, somehow amused at it. Then she yawned.

“Right,” Jones agreed. “That's because, you two are going to be parents. Congratulations.”

Leon and Frey didn't seem sure what to say about that for a moment. Dolce felt surprised to hear this too, though it wasn't too shocking given that they'd been married for several weeks now. Then Frey grinned. “See, I told you it wasn't anything bad!”

Laughing, Leon sat down by her and put an arm around her. “You should still be more careful,” he said.

“It's early enough that you should be fine,” Nancy said. “Once I'm over this cold, we'll have a good long talk together about this, okay? Still, I'm really happy for you both.”

“You should come upstairs and rest,” Dolce said to Nancy, picking up two glasses of juice. “I'll put these upstairs and come back for Alice. Heh, but Leon, now you're going to have to be more responsible as a father.”

“Aw, do you have to bring that up already?” he said, smiling at her. She smiled back to let him know she was happy for them.

“I'll go let Lest know you're okay, but I'll leave it up to you two to tell him the news,” Vishnal said, giving a small bow. But then he followed Dolce out of the clinic area. “Seems busy over here.”

“Mostly because Alice and Nancy have gotten sick,” she said. “I need to be looking after them both and cleaning up before the illness sets into the house. But, um, if you want to visit for a bit, you could come upstairs later on. We'll just need to keep quiet so as not to disturb them.”

“Sure, I'll come by a little later,” he said. “I hope this cold doesn't trouble them long.”

“We caught it early, so it should be okay,” Dolce said, although it felt like she was reassuring herself of that.

Alice was easy to put to rest since she was already asleep by the time Dolce got back downstairs to carry her up. While Nancy was clearly tired, she was fretting more and was harder to settle down. Dolce ended up sitting by her bed to talk with her, in their disorganized but homey bedroom. With this day's events, family was heavily on both of their minds.

“I'm really worried about those two now, as happy as I am for them,” Nancy said, lying on her side so she was facing Dolce. “Their relationship has been dramatic and I really want to root for them. But it all happened so fast too and now they're even expecting a new member. It's going to test their limits.”

“It was pretty clear that they hadn't even considered the possibility yet,” Dolce said, recalling the initial shock to them both. And herself in a way.

Nancy nodded. “Mm, and the way I see both of them, it's going to be hard to settle into a domestic life. Leon talks about traveling around and it's clear he'd like to go back to that life, while Frey is still tackling mysteries of the world that barely make sense to ordinary folk like me and Jones. And I'm sure he's still working through things from that time he was catatonic here; that's not something you can just rest on for a couple days and be back to normal.”

“Right,” Dolce said, her fingers twitching a bit. She'd not gotten into that bad of a state, but there were still moments of feeling unsettled. And homesick, she wanted to go back home but her old home didn't even exist anymore.

“Oh, sorry, I wasn't thinking right for a moment,” Nancy said, genuinely apologetic for reminding her of that. “Are you doing okay?” Her eyes were starting to droop again.

“Mostly,” she said, but wasn't sure how to start talking about it to Nancy. How was she supposed to see her? As a friend, as a master? Or as a sister... or even a mother? She might be old enough, though Dolce wasn't sure and felt it was rude to ask about. Besides, she might fall asleep at any moment.

“We're family, so you can tell me anything,” Nancy said, then yawned. “Oh, sorry. I, uh... I'm happy our family has grown. But there's a sad thing yet. Remember that trial of love around the cave outside of town? Shortly after I talked Jones into going there with me, I proposed to him.” She chuckled, half-asleep already. “He was such a quiet man, even more so in those days, I think it really shocked him. But we've been happy all these years even though it took so long for us to have our own child. I was wondering... if something wasn't right with me, it was really depressing.”

“It would be,” Dolce said, feeling a pang of sympathy. She looked sad even remembering it, so much so that Dolce couldn't resist leaning closer and putting her hand on top of Nancy's.

Her eyes opened back up at that, but she really was almost asleep. Still, she smiled. “I used to think new parents could exaggerate so. Silly of me, a midwife needs to be supportive. But I don't think so now. Alice and Jones are the greatest blessings of my life. And, it would be an even greater blessing if you and Pico saw us as family too. It's a nice dream, maybe just a dream but I want to keep working for it. Heh, it's so nice to have a cutie-pie like you taking care of me. A sad thought about that cave falling apart right before we got happy news of our own. I was really looking forward to finishing it by writing all of our names in the cave when she was old enough.”

Once both of them were asleep, Dolce got up to gather the doll and blocks for cleaning. She kept rolling the conversations around in her mind because it didn't seem right to leave them alone. But if it came to discussing them later, could she? She could think over things and come up with what she wanted to say when she was alone. Or even if it was just Pico with her. Once she came face to face to talk with someone, though, she couldn't help but worry about what was proper and what they were thinking of her words. She was still so tied up in manners that the strings she had might as well be controlling her unless she was alone.

That made her think of her hell gate with all the prim older ladies giving polite but stern lectures on her behavior. In a way, that was a memory too, a blend of several. Sometimes it was her aunts trying to talk her out of her work in Obsidian Mansion. Sometimes it was the other ladies of the sewing circle saying that every young lady needed to be properly appeal to a good young man for marriage. Ever since she turned ten, it seemed like there were endless lessons on social graces. Even her mother was in on it, although she was more lenient as long as Dolce kept up her studies as a dragon priestess.

To make matters worse, she was no longer in that time and social norms had greatly changed. Dolce had observed what those norms were now, but making the change in her behavior wasn't easy. She couldn't be entirely sure she was correct because people talked about manners less often. In that way, she felt sympathy for Amber, lost trying to find what was acceptable because people didn't talk about it. While Amber simply kept trying because she was free-spirited, Dolce was hesitant. She had been told so many times by older ladies that she didn't want to be seen as improper and unmarrigeable that she was long sick of it. Yet it was still a control string tied tight in her mind.

Pico got back in while Dolce was washing the blocks in the bathtub; the doll needed a bit of patching from being chewed on once it dried off. “Mission complete! It seems like a few of the guests in the inn are sick, but so far it's just these two in town and maybe Frey who are sick.”

In spite of her thoughts, Dolce smiled at that. “She's not sick, she's pregnant.”

“Whaaaat, already?” Pico asked, plopping herself in the bathroom sink.

“It's not that unreasonable,” she said.

The ghost still laughed. “Well those two seem to be getting along well if that's any indication. Oo, does that mean we get to be aunts? Awesome!”

“If you think about them, their kid is probably going to be a clever little terror,” Dolce said, although the idea made her happy. “We may have to see about getting them some manners.”

“I'm a clever little terror, aren't I?” She leaned over the sink's edge waiting for an answer.

“Not too sure on the clever or terror part, but definitely on the little,” Dolce said, flicking her hands. “Hmph, my hands are going to smell like this cleaner.”

“As long as you don't end up smelling like sick,” Pico said. “You're bothered by it too, aren't you? About another baby you're taking care of being sick.”

“It won't be that bad,” she said, though it still caused a pang to her to recall that poor little boy. “It won't last long and Jones knows better how to care for her than we did. Besides, it's different. I'm older, and rather more responsible for taking care of Alice and Nancy this time.”

“But that is more reason to make you worry, me too,” she said, sliding down to rest her arms and head on the edge of the sink.

“Well if I'm responsible, there's more I can do than just worry,” Dolce said. Right now it was cleaning these toys. Later it would be making dinner. Maybe some chicken soup with rice as that would be good and light on Nancy. Did they have everything for that? She thought so, but needed to check. She'd also need to check on laundry, ask if there was some way to make sure germs were definitely out of the clothes.

Then again, the responsibility was a burden. Caring for a family illness when her only real connection was living in their home and being paid to help them out, did she really care about them or was it just a job? Did she just take care of things around the house, or did she try to keep their spirits up? Jones was having to work alone downstairs while Nancy was sick, and Nancy obviously was worried about her daughter and Dolce. Worried about her daughters? Dolce liked being worried over and cared about like that; Nancy really was a warm caring person, albeit she fussed over others a bit much. But she loved her real parents too and didn't want to give up her connection to them.

How much of a connection was it? They were separated by nearly seven centuries now. Dolce had the sign her father's ghost had been using; it still had the shaky message he'd been trying to finish before he couldn't stay any longer. She also had her old dress and hat in her closet, even if she wore her newer clothes more often. While there were stories and books written about her parents, it was all in past tense and nothing directly from them. And, there was herself. Maybe Pico too, as she had been a part of their family.

When Vishnal came back to visit, she and Pico were in the living area near the bedrooms, in a spot where they could keep an eye on Nancy and Alice without disturbing them too much. He had a box under his arm, but put it on the table and came over to her immediately. “Are you okay, Dolce?”

“I'm fine,” she insisted, although it felt like her heart was crying and she had to fight to keep it inside.

“No you're not,” Pico said, sad. “I've been trying to talk to her and make her feel better, but she's got herself all worried and homesick now.”

“It's not like that,” she said, the words spilling out almost beyond her self control. “It's, um, I probably shouldn't have told them I could work as a nanny. I've looked after younger children even when I was ten, but my mother was always around to help me out. I wasn't on my own and certainly not supposed to be managing the whole house when there's an illness here. Sorry if I'm babbling, but she just keeps bugging me about it and I don't know if I can do this.”

“But you're not on your own,” Vishnal said, having hugged her while she was babbling. “You've got me and Pico, and Jones is downstairs cooking right now since Nancy can't. And, I'm sure anybody else in town would be happy to come over and lend a hand if you all want it.”

Feeling really vulnerable, there was a feeling in Dolce's heart of wanting to run, throwing him off and getting out of this strange place. This wasn't her home, wasn't her family. But, he was hers and his gray eyes had some pain on seeing her in pain. “I don't want to be here, I want to go home but there's no way back,” she said, but gripped him tighter and cried.

Pico didn't leave them be this time, instead coming up behind her and clinging to her shoulders. “We have to find home now, in this time,” she said.

“What's keeping you from feeling like this is home?” Vishnal asked.

Dolce hadn't wanted to answer that question before. She knew what the answer was. Could she trust him knowing it? And then trust him enough to help keep Pico quiet about it, since the ghost did honestly care about her but didn't think things through enough. “Sometimes I do,” she said quietly. It was odd, but crying some did help calm her. Or maybe it was because he was warm in holding her. “But then I get afraid of forgetting my real family and home. They were really important to me and I don't want to replace them. But I feel like I'm forgetting them anyhow; I thought their memories would stay vivid and strong, but when I think on them now, they seem faded and it's hard to feel what I did back then. But I have to remember, as it's my responsibility towards my family.”

“I see,” he said.

“No you can't,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and nearly pushing him away. “You're away from your family, but you can just write them any time you want.”

He did pull away from her, but it seemed more to look into her face. “That's true. But, I think I can still help. Actually, you should see what I brought over. I found what you were going to look for in the castle vaults, something your family left for you both.”

“Really?!” Dolce said, her sadness getting shaken sharply to where it just about broke. At her shoulder, Pico echoed her in sync, then gripped her tighter in joy.

Letting go so they could go over to the table, Vishnal explained, “Well I was thinking about you earlier when I was cleaning up in my room and I had the thought, if they did leave something for you, then it had to hold their love too. It would be something important to them and you. I had tried before on my own to search their names and the right time, but due to their positions, there was a lot of documents related to or written by them in the vault. Most of it wasn't that interesting, day to day business in their work. So I talked to Lest and brought him to the vault. With his senses, he was able to pick out this box immediately.”

“That makes so much sense,” she said, looking over the box. It was old and a bit dusty, but still intact as it had been in the vaults. In black ink, she saw her name in her mother's handwriting.

Vishnal had a pocketknife that was able to get the box open so they could see what was inside. While he did that, he said, “Oh, and there's something else I've been meaning to ask you. I have told my family about you in my letters and they're curious to know what you're like. Actually,” with the box cut open, he set his knife down and searched the inside of his coat to bring out a small envelope, “Kirana and Aria wanted to write you; they're fourteen and four years old. So this is for you too.”

“Oo, we could make pen pals, even with the four year old!” Pico said, delighted at the idea.

“That could be fun,” she said, rubbing at her eyes. Vishnal quietly offered her a handkerchief, which she took. “Thanks; they must be nice kids.”

While the letter from his sisters was something she wanted to read, that would be later on. Dolce opened up the box from her family and found several letters and small gifts inside. It included a bundle of fabric squares, along with plans for making a quilt out of them. While she would have to finish it, it was an expression of their love and something that they would work together on.


	80. Expert Spirit

Summer 53

Things were going surprisingly well for Vishnal. He had a wonderful, beautiful, and clever girlfriend (who some people insisted was a bit scary, when he didn't see what was scary about Dolce). With her starting to feel happy, she was starting to accept this time. She even thanked him for helping her do that. He had friends around both new and old that liked to be around him and were fun to talk to. After a rough time trying to handle most of the castle's chores on his own while Clorica was doing some self-improvement, Vishnal could see how he was improving. He got things done faster with less mistakes. He was even doing better with cooking.

“Are you certain you got it right this time?” Volkanon asked. Even if he was improving, they were skeptical of the strawberry shortcake he'd made.

“Absolutely,” Vishnal said, trying not to feel hurt at their doubt.

Lest then came into the kitchen where they were having a tea break. “Excuse me, I wanted to work on some pickles,” he said, then noticed what they had. “That looks nice; may I have a slice?”

“Sure,” Vishnal said, happy to share with the prince. He cut a small slice and set it on a plate to offer him as Lest had his hands full with a basket of vegetables and canning jars.

“He did make it,” Clorica said, not having touched her slice yet.

“So?” Lest asked as if it wasn't a worry. He was really nice like that. He even said, “Thanks,” when given the plate and took a forkful of cake and strawberry to try.

“Is it okay?” Clorica asked, watching him. Volkanon also seemed worried.

“It's fine, I followed the recipe exactly,” Vishnal said. There hadn't even been a burnt spot and he'd gotten it out of the pan cleanly, which made him proud of it.

“It's good, though I'm heavily biased with strawberries from my fields,” Lest said with a big smile, taking another bite before setting the plate down to start his pickling.

Clorica and Volkanon had even admitted that he'd made a good cake this time. Not great, but good was a lot better then where he'd been. If he kept working at it, he was sure to become great eventually. Even the greatest ever, maybe not in cooking but it was his dream to be the greatest butler ever. He knew others thought it was silly because butlers weren't supposed to be noticed. But, when one became great enough, like Volkanon himself, other people had to notice. It really helped to have a great master as well; Vishnal hoped that he could stick with Lest and Ventuswill, since he felt more confident just in working with them. Though there was another reason he was feeling confident lately.

After the break, they left the kitchen where Lest was working for Volkanon's office. Their teacher had something to tell them. “It's time for your board reviews,” he reminded them. “I believe that both of you have been improving well this year, but you'll need to be at the top of your game for this review. And I do mean both of you since you'll both be under examination.”

“We'll do our best,” Vishnal said, starting to feel excited. If he passed the yearly review, then he could earn his full certification even if he'd only been training for two years! That would be an incredible achievement, an auspicious start to becoming the elite among elites.

“Yes, but when does it start?” Clorica said.

“It's already begun,” a new voice said. An inconspicuous man walked by them to stand by Volkanon on his side of the desk. He wore no uniform, rather being in drab red-brown clothes with nothing about him that stood out. But in his posture and movements, he was much like Volkanon, a butler through and through.

“Yes, this fellow has been watching over you for a few days to start with,” Volkanon said with a nod.

“Just keep at work as usual until I call on you for a specific test,” the examiner said, not even bothering to introduce himself. “And don't let anyone know of this, especially not your masters.”

“Erm, it's a bit late for that,” Volkanon said, causing the man to raise an eyebrow. “The prince is highly sensitive as an earthmate and he picked up on your presence the day you arrived. That's how I knew you were in town, actually. He was agitated about someone lurking around the castle with a critical eye. Sorry, but I had to inform him or he would have exposed you much sooner.”

“Hmm, unsettling to know that I was noticed,” the examiner said. “But very well, at least he's kept quiet on it.” He then gave them some additional instructions. For the most part, they were to keep working as usual.

Although this was a major test of his abilities, Vishnal didn't feel worried. This was because he had a guardian spirit who was going to help him become an expert. An expert spirit, as he sometimes thought of it. A few days ago, he'd found it in Bado's shop. The blacksmith had trimmed down much of his wares to make them better, but he still had odds and ends that were interesting to look through. Including the expert icon that Vishnal had bought from him.

It was something that most people would have overlooked, a small statue of an elk. It stood on snowy ground with snowflake crystals clinging to its brown coat and grand antlers. On a closer look, there was clearly something mystical about the hooved beast. The snowflakes sparkled occasionally and although it was made of clay, there was something soulful about its eyes. Bado said that it had been passed around from person to person, and each person managed to become something great while they owned the statue. While there wasn't anything immediately magical about it, it housed this special spirit that inspired others, guiding them to greatness.

Now that Vishnal had it, this yearly exam would surely be a cinch.

* * *

 

“Oh, what are you writing?” Nancy asked, coming from behind and putting her hands on the chair Dolce sat in. “A love letter?”

“No, just a letter,” Dolce said. “Two of Vishnal's sisters were curious about me, so I'm writing them back to answer their questions. And aren't you supposed to be resting still?”

Chuckling, Nancy went to sit in another chair. “I think it's mostly over for both of us and I'm tired of resting. But it's good to be nice to the family of your sweetheart. What did they want to know about?”

“Various things,” she said, about to leave it like that. But Nancy was watching her and Pico poked at her to explain more. “Kirana was wondering if it still worked to pray to me as a saint for healing because she's seen people do so in their family's clinic. Saints are supposed to pass on prayers to the divine spirit they're linked to, or maybe intervene themselves if they have the power to do so. While I couldn't ever do the latter, it might work to reach Venti through me still. Although, she really can't do much beyond Selphia's borders, so hopefully the act of prayer helps too, or some other god decides to answer it out of benevolence.”

“We used to do that here sometimes if someone was doing poorly,” Nancy said. “Like when Lest first arrived, he'd jumped off an airship and the spell that was supposed to let him descend safely broke apart in spite of him trying to hold back his breaking powers. And Clorica was here at the same time, unconscious from a gunshot wound. Though it would be a little strange now that you're living in this clinic.” She smiled. “But then, maybe your saintly presence has helped all along.”

“I don't feel much like a saint,” Dolce said. “And it was other people who decided I was and what prayers I specialized in, probably those who'd never met me. I'd think it'd be more appropriate if mine and Dylas' roles were swapped.” Because Dylas was supposed to help with lost children but she wasn't sure how he was around children. Although given the way he had become a guardian and his note on the memorial stone, people might have interpreted him as a lost child who became great.

“I don't think anybody can decide to be a saint, since they become honored as one after death,” Nancy said. “Though you four are exceptions. Would you even count now?”

Dolce shrugged. “I don't know. Probably not because we are alive and in the world again. People can see better that we're not entirely saint material, especially Leon.”

“But he is wise when he gets serious,” Pico said. “It's just getting him to be serious is the trouble.”

“Right,” Dolce said, writing a bit more. “Then Aria wants to know what kinds of cookies I like. She's four years old, so that's an important matter to her.”

“Of course it is,” Nancy said, her eyes lighting up at something she found cute. “What are you going to tell her?”

The thought did make Dolce smile. “When we had a tea party that was to be really special, my mother would bake lemon cookies with a strawberry glaze. Both the lemons and the strawberries had to be in season for it, so we didn't have them often. They're really good though. She actually sent the recipe along with some others that I like with their box.”

“Oo, so we could make them now!” Nancy said, eager at the idea. “Lest has got a lemon tree in the orchard and strawberries in the fields, so we could ask to buy some really fresh.”

“That would be nice, once we're sure you're well,” Dolce said, feeling eager to be making those lemon cookies herself.

“And you should send a copy of the recipe with the letter so they can try them too,” Nancy suggested. “I think that would really delight those girls.”

On hearing the idea, she instantly liked it. “I was thinking that it'd be nice to make pen pals with them. Even if they're younger, they seem like nice and curious girls through the letter. And I would sure be happy to get a recipe for a tasty cookie from a new pen pal.”

“Of course,” Nancy said.

“Hee hee, so we'll have friends in town and friends far away!” Pico said, twirling about while holding her toes.

“With the airships, it won't take long to get the letter to them,” Dolce said, smiling although she felt a tear trying to come out. “There's things about this time that are really nice.” She rubbed at her eye, not wanting to be seen crying, especially over something so silly.

“I hope you can feel at home here soon,” Nancy said, reaching over to pat her arm. “And I'm really happy to have you both around. Especially these past few days. One of us being sick in the past would turn the whole house to chaos, and it would only be worse with Alice around. But you were here to take care of us and I'm grateful.”

“I've just been doing what I must,” she said.

“Well it was tough on her, but I managed to keep her cheerful,” Pico said. “And Vishnal too, I suppose.”

“Are you starting to accept him, hmm?” Nancy asked, a playful gleam in her eye as she looked at Pico.

“Well he makes her happy, which makes me jealous,” Pico said with a frown. “But I guess he's not that bad. Still boring in my opinion.”

“You don't think a man who's learning household duties, stealth tactics, and rapid engineering all to be a servant is interesting?” Dolce asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I heard that he had to perform an on-the-spot exorcism of an evil spirit in an emergency,” Nancy said.

“But he's sooo into it and doesn't have any interesting hobbies,” Pico said. “Milady is interested in lots of different things, so you're never boring.”

“You're a perverse stalker, so of course you think that,” Dolce said, making Pico grin. “And he can do a lot of different things, which is interesting too. Actually... Nancy, you said the other day that you proposed to Jones. How does that work?”

“Is that on your mind?” Nancy asked, leaning towards her.

“WHAT?!” Pico asked, shooting up from her chair, then hovering over the table. “Geez, already?”

“Pico, no floating over the table when people are sitting there,” Dolce rebuked her. Once she went back to her seat, she added, “I've been thinking about it. In my day, a girl of my social standing would offer her suitor a challenge before he could ask for marriage officially. I have an idea and I'm pretty sure he can figure it out. But I've only seen Sven proposing to Clorica and heard about what Leon did; I'd rather be sure of what people do today.”

Nancy nodded. “Well, it's pretty simple but it still holds a lot of meaning.” She held up her right hand and touched an emerald ring she always wore. “You need to make a ring like this, so you'd want to ask someone like Frey or Bado how to do that. I'm sure they'd both know the recipe and can help you with making it. Then you ask if he wants to marry you however you'd like to set it up. It's really nice to make it memorable, either private or public, whatever you're both comfortable with. If he says yes, then it's up to him to make a ring for you so that the marriage can be performed.”

“That is simple,” Dolce said, although it was nice in how open it was. “You don't even have to make arrangements with family?”

“It's good to be considerate of them, but it's all between the couple these days,” Nancy said. “Though I'm sure he'd want his family to be here for the ceremony, like how Frey asked to hold their wedding back for her father to come to town. They're a good bunch, from what I remember.”

“I see, that should work nicely,” she said. Then she needed to speak with Frey, preferably before she put her own idea into action.

“I think I told you part of how I proposed to Jones,” Nancy said, sitting back and thinking. “I asked him to go with me on the cave ritual on Tanabata. Usually people didn't go in there during the winter, so it was just the two of us from the moment we left town. We even brought some hot chocolate to drink on the way back into town as a celebration of doing it right. Of course, since it was Tanabata, we went out that night to make a wish on the stars. I asked him if we could make the wish silently, then while he was looking up at the highest star, I pressed the ring into his hand.” She smiled in memory of that. “Oh my gosh, I lost hold of the ring and it nearly slipped. Might have fallen of the observatory and onto the snowy streets, or even way down below the cliff! But Jones had clenched his hand tight when he felt the ring and kept hold of it until he could better see what it was. He was stunned right into silence, so I got to declare my undying love for him loud and proud! People even heard it on the streets below! But while I had a full speech ready for that moment, all he said was that he didn't want to be with anyone other than me for the rest of his life. But that's how we are and it was a really happy day.”

“That is like you both,” Dolce said, smiling at the thought. That was the important thing, that the moment fit them both.

Later on, when it seemed that Nancy was well enough to be left on her own with Alice, Dolce went over to the castle and down into the basement. She didn't see Vishnal, but she did find Clorica and Frey down in the crafting room. That was good, what she was hoping for. “I hope you're not doing anything major,” she said as she came in.

“Don't worry, I've got my eye on her,” Clorica said with a smile. Since she was falling asleep at random less often, she was a good watcher.

“As long as I moderate what I'm doing in here, I'll be fine,” Frey said. She was working on a flowery headband at her crafting table. “I had to give the minerals from Rune Prana to Bado and he's pretty sure it's dragonic metal too, which is just awesome because you can make the stuff of legend out of that material as long as you have the skill. Though it seems to be just out of my range yet, especially right now. Bado isn't even sure if he can work the stuff right. What's up?”

Since it was Clorica with Frey, she felt safe in talking about the matter. “First of all, Nancy can meet with you sometime tomorrow. Do you want to talk in the clinic or at your home?”

“Either way's good, I'm usually in the library with Leon in the mornings working on translations and the tower scrolls,” she said. “That'd be a good time, sometime in the morning at home... late morning, I'm kind of foggy before nine.”

“I'll let her know,” Dolce said. “Also, this is something I want to keep quiet for a bit, but, would you help me with making an engagement ring?”

“Eek, are you going to ask Vishnal?” Frey said, immediately grinning in excitement. “I'm sure we would have heard about it if it was him proposing.”

“That's the plan,” Dolce said with a smile.

“That's awesome. Sure, you can even use some materials I have since it won't take much if you can get it right on the first try.”

“Of course she can, because she's Dolly,” Pico said.

Frey and Clorica laughed, which nearly made Dolce laugh too. “It's surprising that you'll let this go through, Pico,” Clorica said.

“Well I'm always going to be Dolly's number one, so he'd better know his place,” Pico insisted.

“You'll always be my annoying little sister, you mean,” Dolce said.

“Would you want it any other way?” Pico asked.

“Guess not,” she said.

“Wh-wh-wait, what?” Pico asked, staring at her wide-eyed.

Ignoring that for the moment, Dolce went over to the crafting table. “I don't think a ring would be hard to craft, even if I'm more use to fabric crafts.”

“Right, and the engagement ring recipe is meant to be simple enough that even someone who's never crafted with magic before can manage if their feelings are true,” Frey said, moving her right hand in a peculiar fashion. A book appeared and she quickly grasped it to search through.

“Was that an actual straight-up acceptance of my love?” Pico asked, rushing to grab her arm.

Dolce immediately threw her off. “Take it when you can get it.”

“Thank you, I love you bunches!” The ghost started singing and twirling, thankfully out of reach.

Finding the recipe, Frey set the book on the table. “Check it over, but the basic idea is that you need to know your feelings and your reasons for wanting marriage. Also to have no doubts in them. You do know why you want to marry Vishnal, right?”

“Of course,” Dolce said, putting her hand on the book to read the recipe. “He's mine and I'm going to make sure he knows it.”

“Sometimes you say the most worrisome things,” Frey said, although she was smiling. She started summoning bins of small scraps. “Okay, I've got lots of metal and gem bits, so you just need to decide what to use.”

“I'm thinking of silver and aquamarine,” Dolce said. “I'm working on clearing Obsidian Mansion, but the ghost that's left is the cruelest of all. Someone tied to me should be protected however I can protect them and silver would best hold an enchantment against that. I just think the deep blue of an aquamarine would look good on him.”

“Those are both good reasons,” Frey said, soon getting a piece of silver out. The aquamarine took some more searching.

“Oh wait,” Clorica said, coming over to them. “I just thought of something. If you're going to propose to Vishnal, this week isn't good.”

“Why not?” Dolce asked, glancing over at her. Although with what she had in mind, it could take some time.

Clorica bit her lip, bothered by something. “Well... I can't really tell you why today. Or this week. It's important for our training, and very tough, so we need to be ready and focused. He really shouldn't be distracted by anything this week. So, um, don't take it personally if he declines to talk to you long.”

That was disappointing, but Dolce nodded. “Very well. If it's important to him, I'll wait on it. When would be a good time, after this training ordeal?”

“Ordeal's a good word for it,” Clorica said, nodding back. “That's hard to say. I know: I'll send you a message when it's definitely over. It shouldn't take longer than a week.”

“That'll work, thank you, Clorica,” Dolce said.

“Ah-ha, how about one of these?” Frey said, showing her four small pieces of aquamarine she'd pulled out of her scrap bins.

Dolce picked out one that she thought had the best blue to it, then worked on the ring by the instructions. Form the ring with thoughts of the one she loved and reasons why... it had only been two seasons that she'd been in this time, but she already knew that she loved and could rely on Vishnal. He was a good anchor to her uncertainty about this time and everyone in it. Once she had accepted him, it got easier to see the positive things and account for the negative. As long as he was by her side, Dolce felt like she could find her place in this time and even love it. There was also his endearing smile and admiring eyes; she didn't want to lose any part of his presence in her life.

And with that, the ring was done. It even already had the enchantment she had wanted to place on the silver, a ward to prevent ghostly possessions and curses. Once he had this, he would have little to fear from ghosts and she wouldn't need to worry about spirits trying to get revenge on her through him.

After talking to the other two girls for a little while, Dolce went upstairs to the servants wing. Maybe she couldn't talk to Vishnal for long today, but she wanted to wish him well in whatever they were doing. She heard him and Lest talking in his room. That made her hesitate a moment. But maybe that kind of caution was old and silly too. She went to the door and stood there briefly.

Vishnal's room was very neat and orderly. There were lots of signs of his presence, such as handmade decorations (probably from his family) and some books on a desk. In the open window, his brown paw cat was sitting to watch both the room and the field, like a little queen watching her domain. Vishnal and Lest were standing near a small table that seemed like a nice place to put a flower vase. Instead, it had a ceramic statue of an elk on it.

“He has gotten better about only selling good quality items made from his blacksmithing,” Lest said, looking at the statue. “But he's still trying to get the most money from the least effort from anything not done with blacksmithing. Hi Dolce, Pico.”

That made Vishnal notice she was there. “Oh, hi Dolce! Come on in, we're just talking.”

Nobody asked how Lest knew it was her when she hadn't said anything and his back was still to her. After all, she thought with a smile, it was obvious that he'd pick up on the connection between them and know who was at the door because she saw Vishnal. “Hello,” she said, coming in with Pico. “I came to visit Frey, but Clorica mentioned that you two had some kind of ordeal in your training this week.”

“She told you about that?” Vishnal said, surprised and worried. Probably about Clorica saying something.

Dolce shook her head. “No, just that you'd be busy this week with it. I thought I'd drop by for a moment and wish you luck in it. So, do well, okay?”

That made him give a handsome smile. “Thanks! And I'm sorry about being busy with it, but it's really important.”

“I understand,” she said.

“But what is this ordeal about?” Pico asked with pleading eyes.

Dolce smacked her for it. “No, don't make him say it if he's not supposed to.”

“Well it's not that big of a secret, but we're supposed to act like normal while being ready for it,” Vishnal said. “I'll tell you about it when it's over.”

“I think you'll be fine,” Lest said. “By the way, Dolce, what do you think of this statue?”

She shrugged. “It's nice, I suppose. A bit gaudy with the tinsel, but not bad.”

“There isn't tinsel on it?” Vishnal said, confused about the comment while looking at the elk statue.

Pointing out the glimmers in the coat, she said, “Those sparkles are caused by bits of tin in the glaze. Though normally when I say tinsel, I mean threads of metal woven into a fabric to make it sparkle in the sun.”

“That word's changed some in meaning,” Pico said. “It's also a sparkly strand of decoration, probably what he was thinking.”

“Right,” Vishnal said, now disappointed. “So you don't think there's anything special about it either?”

“No, why would you think so?” Dolce asked. “I admit, it has nothing to do with spirits or fabrics, so I'd have to put on a rune sight enchantment to know if it was enchanted.”

“Well it looked like it could be special to me,” Vishnal said. He must have believed whatever he'd thought of it since hearing that made him upset. It made her feel bad, though it'd be better to figure out what this was about now. “And Bado said that it could help inspire me to become an expert like many of its other owners, then I've been doing really well ever since I bought it. But now both of you are saying it isn't special.”

“I mean, Frey would know for certain, but then you'd have to listen to her technical explanation,” Lest said. “I think the main reason it has any power is because you believe it does. Yeah, you've been doing well lately, but it's all been on your efforts. I know you've been working and studying hard. Plus, you've done some amazing things before you got this statue. I'm not worried about either of you in this ordeal because I have confidence in both of you. You should go return the statue to Bado and get a refund because he did cheat you. Just be careful if he tries to talk you into something else to get out of the refund.”

“Well, I guess so,” he said. “Though I really did feel confident in the statue... and I thought he was going to give up this kind of thing.”

“Just on the blacksmithing, I believe,” Lest said.

Now that Dolce had a better idea of what this statue business was about, she had an idea of what to do to make up for the blunt statement earlier. She took Vishnal's hand and before he fully reacted, pulled it around his back. “If you're really worried, I can do you one better than belief in a statue,” she said as she pulled his sleeve back.

“That's nice, but do you have to pin my sleeve there again for it?” he asked. He did keep his hand still.

“No, but it's more fun like this,” Dolce said.

Lest laughed at them. “Oh my. Well, I won't say anything about that... well, one thing. You might not want to let some of the others know about this, especially not those like Leon. You'd get teased horribly for that kink.”

“It's not a kink, just a little mischief she does sometimes,” Vishnal said. She hadn't thought of it that way either, but now that Lest said it, she laughed and made him blush (although she was probably blushing too on getting called on it). “Um, right?”

“Oh dear, you really are naive,” Pico said, shaking her head as if she pitied him.

“After the first couple of times, you didn't really complain about it,” Dolce said, taking a woven bracelet out of her pocket. She'd meant to give this to him as a challenge. However, it seemed like it might be better given as an encouragement. As she tied it securely to his wrist, she explained, “I made this for you as a blessing, but I'm not going to tell you what kind of blessing it is right away. It should help you out. And this item will be a bigger blessing when you find out what it is about, not a disappointment. I can promise you that.”

“I'm sure I can trust you,” Vishnal said, smiling although his face was still pink. Once she let him go, it didn't take long for him to get the threads undone to free his hand to look at it.

Lest, still in the room in spite of teasing them, smiled at them too. “Right, that is quite a blessing you've got now.” Maybe he could already tell she intended to propose to Vishnal? It wouldn't surprise Dolce.

* * *

 

Summer 58

“Vishnal.”

The voice seemed to come from the shadows as Vishnal was cleaning up in the public parlor. Glancing over, he saw the nondescript examiner standing against the wall. “Yes sir?” he asked, continuing his work.

He came over to stand on the other side of the couch. “I'm just about complete with my observations, but one question I thought to ask you for the last part should be given some thought. So I don't want an answer here and now; I want you to start thinking about it. Got it?”

“Yes, what is it?” he asked.

“You seem to be in good standing with your master in Prince Lest. However, it goes far enough that you're informal and friendly with him, which can be seen as unprofessional and sloppy on your part. We definitely don't want to be a hindrance to a master, but being so friendly could be a problem in the opposite direction. For instance, your position here isn't guaranteed once you become certified; the board may require that you be transferred elsewhere. Then we have to take into account that the position of this community leader has changed hands many times. He may not be here in the future and given his other work, you certainly wouldn't be working with him if that happens. How would you explain this situation and what might be done to correct any unprofessionalism?”

“Well...”

“Remember, I don't want to hear your answer now,” the examiner said, walking away. “Just consider it and be certain of your answer when I ask again.”

There was a part of Vishnal's mind that was certain this wasn't a problem. He wasn't worried about Lest giving up on being a prince like the last two (and many before them). After all, Lest clearly enjoyed it and everyone in Selphia appreciated him being there. But there was that point about having a professional attitude and that he might have to reluctantly leave Selphia if the board thought he'd be best off elsewhere. Even if he got to stay, he didn't want his reports to have such bad marks as being socially sloppy or too informal. Was it that bad, though? Wasn't it better to have a strong connection to the one he served?

Thinking on it, he paused a moment to slip back his sleeve and look at the bracelet Dolce had given him. It seemed like a simple thing, a colorful assortment of threads and beads twisted into two strands, then further twisted so the two strands became like one thin rope tied to a large silver bead. The large bead could be screwed apart so he could take it off, though he'd worn it as much as he could since she gave it to him. It was pretty and both she and Lest had said there was really some blessing in it. Though the way it was twisted together made him think. He and Lest were connected as friends like they were as a master and butler. He and Dolce were connected as sweethearts, and then Dolce and Lest were connected in that he'd brought her out of the ether sea and they were friends.

Like lives twisted together... like the threads here. There were a lot of people he was connected to: his family back in his old town and elsewhere, the family he worked with in Volkanon and Clorica (and Lest, for that matter), the friends he had in town (like Doug, Kiel, and Sven), and even some people he was affected by in spite of only knowing them a brief time (like Sebastian). And there were a lot of people Dolce was connected to, now and in the past. Some of those people were the same, but those were just further connections between them and the community as a whole. That was quite a blessing, one that made him smile. Connections of love on various levels like Lest talked about. Although, if she really meant this bracelet to mean something like that, did she also mean that she wanted to be tied even closer to him?

As in married... no, maybe he was thinking too deeply on it. Although, his heart fluttered at the thought and he wanted it to be true. But he had this test and had to focus on it. Letting himself smile, he kept working at getting the parlor clean until his armband shivered and lights raced across it. Red and orange ones; this was an emergency signal to meet with Prince Lest and he wouldn't use that kind of signal lightly. Trying to put all the questions out of mind, Vishnal took off to where the armband directed him, to the restaurant.

It already looked bad when he, Volkanon, Clorica, and Forte arrived. It didn't seem like the restaurant had many customers, yet it was tense and busy. Over at a table, Corrin was taking care of Doomgale; the little wind dragon was wounded and visibly shaken from something. Dylas was by the counter outside the kitchen, singing an indecipherable melody. Arthur was there, alert but not sure of the situation yet. Meanwhile, Lest and a couple of visitors were near a table, all of them in deep concern. Lest seemed like he was thinking through some thorny problem.

Once Art and Sven (surprisingly) arrived, Lest let them in on the situation. “We're still waiting on some more information, but that Sechs scout robot that appeared this morning wasn't alone,” the prince said. “There's a group of Sechs soldiers between here and the mushroom forest; they've captured Blossom and Doug, and Amber is out near them though not yet captive.”

Nothing else that had been on Vishnal's mind seemed to matter on hearing that; the war that had been looming over them all year had arrived.


	81. Sparks of War

Summer 58

Checking over the public notice board in the general store, Doug found a new notice. 'Due to an unspecified threat, all citizens and visitors of Selphia are advised not to leave town on foot for Summer 58 to Summer 60. The threat is highest in the southern areas such as Delirium Lava Caves, Autumn Road, Idra Cave, and Maya Mountain Road, but travel is currently dangerous anywhere in Selphia's territory. Please take care and watch for unusual occurrences. The time of this advisory may be extended and further restrictions may come in the near future.'

“That's a bummer,” he said to himself, wondering what the threat actually was. “Hey Granny, we might not be able to go out today like we planned.”

“Oh, what is it?” she asked, leaving off packing a picnic basket to come over. Since they had Wendy here to watch the store for a few hours, the two of them were going to go out near the mushroom forest, mostly to do something different.

“There's a notice from the castle that travel outside town is dangerous,” he said, pointing it out. “Though they're not saying why for some reason.”

“Oh dear, I had been looking forward to gathering some fresh mushrooms,” Blossom said, taking out a pair of reading glasses to look over the notice herself.

“Yeah, I have a bad feeling about going out of town today,” Wendy said, fiddling with a pencil out of nervousness. “I can't quite say why.”

After looking over the message a couple of times, Blossom rubbed her chin. “It is odd they're not saying why. Maybe it's something they're not sure of? But then, all these places are at least a day's walk south. We might be okay if we stick closer to town than planned.”

All south... when Doug looked back, he saw that was true. And that it included Idra Cave, where his contact said the main threat to town was. Plus every adjacent area to that and the prison. Maybe the Sechs soldiers were becoming active? But they wouldn't be able to get to Selphia Town today most likely. This might be the only day they had to go out on this picnic before the town had to turtle up its defenses. “Maybe. We could stay in sight of the drawbridge, along the road.”

“You'd better stay close,” Wendy said. “And if you're not back in a couple of hours I will send Forte out after you.”

“Dear, you don't have to be that worried about us,” Blossom said with a smile. “Doug will be with me.”

“Yeah, I can handle whatever monsters are out there,” he said. Although there was the worrying thought of if the soldiers were that close already. He might be able to bluff still being allied with them to protect Granny. But if he couldn't... no, all those areas were too far south and Ventuswill would know if the soldiers were that close to town. Today, they'd be okay as long as they stuck close to town.

* * *

 

Off in the castle, Ventuswill grumbled. “If you'd come here, I'd tell you why you shouldn't leave,” she said quietly.

When she'd woken up this morning, she found that she couldn't sense Sven. It was just an oddity at first that she couldn't find the spot of dark runes surrounding him. Then she got a glimpse of his runes out in the plains, and immediately lost him again. The air out there seemed normal. On focusing her senses that way, she found that the picture of the plains was blurry. Something was trying to hide there. Then Sven came back and said he'd been chasing a machine soldier from Sechs. Could they blur runes enough that she couldn't see them clearly with her senses?

The blurring did mean that Blossom and Doug could be in danger if they left town. She had half a mind to tell Lest to pull the drawbridge and drop the gates. Perhaps she should send one of the knights out to scout around the area she couldn't sense. Then again, there were signs other than runes that would tell them if there was an invasion force coming. There was no such signs yet. While things were uncertain, it couldn't be confirmed to be a threat. It could be just as bad to worry the townspeople unnecessarily. Advising them to stay in town was the only certain thing they could do.

Well, maybe not the only thing. Ventuswill whistled, sending a breeze out to search for her student. Doomgale arrived in a few minutes, greeting her with a happy wave of her tail. “ _Hi, what did you want?”_

“Hello,” she said, nodding to her. “There's something important that needs to be done, but you must be very careful about it, okay? The runes to the south of town seem blurry to me; something's interfering with even my senses. I'd like you to fly around and see what it's like. If you can figure out what's making the runes blurry, come back immediately. On the other hand, if you run into someone from town outside, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on them.”

“ _It's more important to see what's being blurry?”_ Doomgale asked. When Ventuswill nodded, the little dragon said, “ _All right, I'll go fly around and see what's what!”_

“Be careful,” Venti said. She didn't want to see Doomgale hurt. Then again, it was important to see how'd she do in a potentially dangerous situation.

* * *

 

It really was a nice day. While it was hot, there was enough breeze moving the air around and clouds occasionally blocking the sun to make it tolerable. The plains were beautiful, a lush green full of plants and mostly friendly monsters. To the east, the forest rustled in the wind. To the west, the giant fox tower could be seen in its centuries long vigilance. Plumes of bright colors, mostly red and yellow, showed the area in the south where the giant mushrooms liked to grow around Keano Lake. Everything seemed at peace; nothing spoke of the danger that the notice worried about.

“We might be able to reach one of the closer mushroom spots with a five minute walk,” Blossom said after they finished their lunch by the drawbridge.

“Are you going to be okay in this heat walking out that way?” Doug asked.

“It's not that hot,” she said. “I'm sure I'll be fine.”

“Okay, but we should only check out that spot,” he said. As much as he'd like to enjoy the day with her more, there was still that uncertain threat around them.

“I'm worried too, but I'm sure Lest would have let us know more if it was a more immediate danger,” Blossom said.

“Right.”

As they started down the road, Blossom asked, “Are you worried about it being people from the empire?”

“Well yeah, given the areas they were warning about,” Doug said. “I don't know how much of a force they have down there, so the whole town could be in danger. Though they might focus on trying to get me because of my old connections.” At best, he'd end up in a perilous bluff where they tried to get his cooperation again. But it was more likely he'd be asked to go back to Sechs lands or at least Idra Cave to be questioned on his handler's disappearance. Or they might even want to kill him for treason.

More worrying than that, he didn't want to lose a second home to war. Just the thought of that made him queasy with fear. He'd have to do all he can to keep Selphia safe, including trusting all those around him to feel the same loyalty.

“I hope we're ready for them,” Blossom said. “At the same time, I hope it's not them already. But I've been considering that possibility ever since you told me about it. If it gets too dangerous, we could move out, further away from Sechs so they don't get a hold of you.”

“But I thought you said you'd never want to leave Selphia as your home,” Doug said. If they left like that, he'd feel really guilty for taking her from the place she loved.

She took his hand, her grip firm in spite of her frailty in age. “Yes, but I'm more worried about losing you. I'd rather keep you safe.”

“Aw, you'd need to be protected more than me,” he said, feeling embarrassed. At the same time, it was like his mother fussing over him about leaving town all over again. “Besides, I wouldn't want to leave Selphia either unless there was nothing else we could do. There's too many people I care about who'd want to stay as long as they could and I wouldn't want to leave them behind.”

“That's true,” Blossom said with a smile.

They got to the mushroom spot and found that some had sprouted up. While she was instructing him on how to tell which ones were the safe ones (like in the texture of the top and the pattern underneath the cap), the small blue and green dragon that often flew about the castle approached them. “Hi,” she said, in a clumsy tone like someone who had learned the Norad language recently. “Ven say watch. Bicarfu, fog.”

“Did Lady Ventuswill send you to watch over us, Doomgale?” Blossom asked.

“Kinda,” the dragon said.

“Well thank you, we mean to return to town in a little bit,” she said, patting the dragon on the head. That seemed to please her.

“I don't think there'll be any fog today,” Doug said. “Too hot for that and not muggy enough.”

“No,” Doomgale said, then took a moment of trying to figure out which words she could say. “Rune fog. I watch.”

“Wonder what that's about,” Doug said, then heard a snap from a patch of tall grass nearby. He reached for his dagger, but a blue flash came to his eyes and a familiar sensation of getting struck by electricity overcame him briefly. Before he knew it, he'd hit the ground.

Things happened around him but he wasn't able to do a thing about them. Blossom dropped her basket to come over to him, calling his name. Doomgale gave a shrill cry of alarm before sending a storm of wind blades into the grasses where the attack had come from. In spite of that, a soldier in Sechs armor rushed out of his cover and struck the small dragon to the ground with a large metal mace; violet sparks fired between the mace's spikes. Then two others emerged, one with a cut on his cheek from the spell. One roughly grabbed Blossom's arms and yanked her away from him.

Another one took the dagger away from him before giving him a paralysis medicine. “Don't try anything heroic,” he said. “You're going to meet with General Teo.”

If he was on his own, Doug would have bolted the moment he had a chance. But they brought Blossom as well; the soldier with her could easily hurt her before he had a chance to reach her to cast Escape. The solider hadn't even given him a fully effective medicine as he still felt stiff and numb when pulled onto his feet. There wasn't a thing he could do but go along with it and hope they let her go at some point.

Silently, he prayed to Ventuswill.

* * *

 

Amber sat on the south gate to rest her wings a moment. She spent that moment watching the air flow through the small windmills nearby. At one time, she would have thought they were just like spinning flowers up here. But as her senses as an earthmate developed, she could see more. The wind blew by, hitting the white blades and pushing them into a spin. Once the windmill got spinning, the air started to be drawn to it. The runes got pulled towards the motion, then pushed along faster once they passed! She wondered if a powerful enough windmill could actually make wind instead of being pushed by it. Was that how the propellers on the airships worked? They looked like windmills and were attached to big machines.

Seeing a motion of blue in the air, she looked back over the road and saw Doomgale flying towards town. Smiling, Amber flew to meet her. “Hi!” Then she noticed the blood on the dragon and fright rushed through her. “Doomgale! What happened to you?”

“ _Amber!”_ she cried in the dragon tongue, going up to her. _“Th-there's some scary soldiers on the road! And they captured Doug and Blossom!”_

She cast a healing spell over Doomgale while she had been speaking, which was good because the last bit slammed through her heart hard. “Wha, they...?”

“ _I couldn't hurt them and they smacked me onto the ground,”_ Doomgale said with tears in her eyes.

They would even hurt Doomgale. Why would anyone want to hurt another person? It was bad, even if most of the fairies she grew up around thought hurting others could be funny. Did the soldiers think it was funny? That thought caused a powerful feeling to burn strongly in Amber's heart, made her clench her fists. This wasn't right! They weren't going to get away with hurting Dougie and Granny.

“Go tell Lest, I'll take care of them,” Amber said, feeling fierce with determination. “Where are they?!”

“ _They went down the road towards Keano Lake,”_ Doomgale said. With Amber's healing, she managed to fly a little better. “Bicarfu!”

“I will!” she shouted, flying above the road.

She was going to stop them and rescue Doug and Blossom, just like in the story books. But they were stronger than Doomgale and she had never battled on her own. What could she do?

A memory came to her and Amber knew exactly how she could win, even alone.

* * *

 

In the afternoons, Lest usually walked around town with Sano and Uno to see if anyone needed help or wanted to talk. He had found that even simple tasks like making a quick delivery across town or helping with repairs in someone's home would result in more prince points being accumulated on the order tablet. The biggest jump in points came when he did something official and public, like early this summer when he had approved of and announced the updated maps for the region, or when the request box had come in. Still, the little tasks added up. The more he talked to people, the more they might trust and like him; from that, there were more points on the tablet to improve things for all the people around him.

More importantly, he needed people to trust him now. Sven had reported a machine scout in town before dawn today. The sparks of war were falling dangerously close to home, threatening to break out fully in the near future. While Arthur had been trying to prepare him for this with his lessons, Lest felt nervous at the news of the scout. Was he ready to lead a town at the front line of war? This was going to be rough; the fear, stress, and anger of others would be buffeting his senses when he needed to remain calm and clear-minded to keep them all safe. And those emotions would also be inside of his own heart when the others would be looking to him for reassurance and guidance. Was he ready? Did the others trust him enough when their lives could be in danger?

“Excuse us,” a strong voice said, one that was used to being treated with great respect. “Would you happen to be Prince Lest, the town's ruler?”

He turned and saw a couple approaching him. They were elegantly dressed, classy to every fine detail such as the man's engraved pocket watch and the woman's refined pearl necklace. Past that, he felt a runic pattern that he often found in members of nobility. Arthur had that pattern, as did Forte; Kiel's was a bit broken in casualness, but the pattern was still in him. It was a respect for tradition and formality. Thankfully, they had some hints of curiosity and potential for open-mindedness that meant it'd be harder to ruffle their feathers. The foxes didn't even seem too worried about them, so they had no weapons.

Stopping with a smile, he said, “Yes, that's me. Who are you both?”

“I am Lord Baldwin of Denra,” the man said with a bow. “And this would be my lovely wife.”

“Lady Victoria of Denra, of course,” she said, waving her fan in a manner much like Leon. “We're very active members of the royal court, advisers to the king and queen as well as avid promoters of the unity of Norad. It has been a worry in the past decade how unstable Selphia has been with how important it is as a home to a divine dragon. When Prince Arthur came up as a potential leader, we thought he could do quite nicely here, but then we heard that he'd given it up to a young farmer said to be quite enthusiastic. So of course we had to come check things out ourselves.”

“Ah, well I'm learning as I go, since the best aspect I had for the job when I arrived was being a farmer,” Lest said, thinking that this friendly couple would be very good to establish connections to. “I've got my field and office work done for the day, so would you like to come over to the restaurant to chat for a while?”

Baldwin grinned at that. “Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking of doing. I've actually been trying to get in to eat here for the past ten years as one of the top food critics and lovers in Norad.”

Lest laughed, then started walking with them to the restaurant. “That doesn't surprise me. Though you might be surprised since he's got some help now that means most customers who come in actually get their food. And at a decent time too.”

“Wow, we've been looking forward to that,” Victoria said. “This should be fun.”

Although they talked about the food, they only ordered drinks when they got seated in the restaurant. Lest had read some articles from food critics about various restaurants in Norad and from his guess, even a place that didn't try to be classy would want some warning of a big name food critic coming in for a meal. He did notice that Meg recognized Baldwin and Victoria, then grabbed Dylas to go back and talk to Porco in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Lest simply talked to the two nobles like he would anyone else.

“Does it bother you that you're considered royalty but not among the noble ranks?” Baldwin asked at one point.

Lest shook his head. “Not really. I wouldn't know what to do with a noble title, to be honest. When I got the position as prince, I was told that it was more of a community leader. That's fine with me; I wasn't looking for even that much authority, but it does help with what I wanted to do here. Plus this a great town, with lots of history and good people. It's more important to me to take care of that than to be treated as some social elite that I'm really not.”

“Some of the social elite could do better by learning from you,” Baldwin said, nodding in approval. “We'd like to see all regions of Norad doing well and having good relations with each other. A few are still mired in old rivalries, but things can get better.”

“Of course,” Lest said.

Before the conversation could continue, the door got blown open in a gust of wind. That was odd, but then it turned out to be Doomgale flying in. And she was injured. “ _Lest!”_ she cried in fright.

“Excuse me.” He immediately flipped open his bracelet to call his father to him. “Doomgale, what happened to you?” he asked, shutting the bracelet and taking her into his arms.

Shaking, she put her head close to his shoulder. “ _I was checking things outside of town and found Blossom and Doug out by the little mushrooms. Venti told me it was dangerous, so I was going to keep an eye on them. But then some scary soldiers popped out and attacked us. They got captured and taken to Keano Lake, and, and, I ran into Amber on the way here and she went after them! I wasn't strong enough to protect them.”_

The invasion was here, striking a cold hit of fear in him. But no, he was the town's leader and he had to be doing something. It was Amber, so he got up from his seat. “Dylas! Get in contact with Amber immediately! Ask her what's going on.”

“Uh, all right,” Dylas said, bewildered at the order. But he stepped out of the kitchen to focus his mind on singing to reach her.

“What's the matter?” Meg asked, coming to the kitchen counter.

“Doomgale's spotted some other soldiers from Sechs just outside of town,” Lest said. “Go get Arthur here, I'll need his help.” He turned to Baldwin and Victoria. “Sorry, it's an emergency.”

“Of course, this is troubling,” Baldwin said, edging his chair closer to his wife so they could talk quietly. Meg ran into Arthur's office to see if he was there.

Corrin then arrived, concerned when she saw Doomgale's condition. “Oh no, what's happened to her?” she asked.

“Would you take care of her?” Lest asked, passing the dragon to her. “I'll let you know once we get the others here.”

“Sure,” Corrin said, rubbing Doomgale's head and taking her to an empty table to examine better.

“ _Scary soldiers with lightning weapons,”_ Doomgale murmured.

The obvious thing to do was close the gates to town and make sure it was secure. But what kinds of soldiers did they have? Human soldiers on foot should be stopped by the town walls, but machine soldiers that flew wouldn't have a problem. Then there was the issue of having at least three of Selphia's residents outside the town in spite of the warning he'd sent out this morning. Granted, it had been vague because they couldn't be sure how immediate the threat was. Maybe he should have taken the chance to post a more severe warning. There was no redoing that, however. Now they had this dangerous situation that had to be taken care of quickly.

Fortunately, those he'd called here were quick to arrive: the three butlers and the rest of the knights (even Sven, disheveled as he should have been asleep at this time). Even the examiner for Clorica and Vishnal's review showed up, slipping in silently and hiding in plain sight. Lest told them all, “We're still waiting on some more information, but that Sechs scout robot that appeared this morning wasn't alone. There's a group of Sechs soldiers between here and the mushroom forest; they've captured Blossom and Doug, and Amber is out near them though not yet captive.”

“How did they get so close without us noticing?” Forte asked, concerned and keeping a good grip on her fear. This was likely the first time she'd had to protect the town from this serious of a threat.

“Doomgale says the runes are all blurry outside of town, which hampered our ability to know they were out there,” Corrin said, coming over to them. Doomgale now had a bandage wrapped around her chest; she stayed sitting on the table to rest. “The soldiers have some kind of device to do so, she spotted a few in the grass but wasn't sure what to do with them.”

At that point, Dylas came over to them. “Lest, this is kind of crazy, but Amber says she's captured the whole unit of soldiers that had Doug and Blossom.”

“How did she capture them?” Lest asked, shocked to hear this. Amber only fought if someone was with her as she didn't like conflict.

“Leon says it's the butterfly dream curse,” Dylas said, his ears twitching. “Seems like she cast it over everyone in her range, then took it off the two of them.”

“Well that kind of solves the issue, but what do we do with the captured soldiers now?” Arthur said, shifting his glasses and thinking on that.

Dylas rubbed his head. “Well, Amber wants to invite them to a tea party so we can all talk and find a way to stop fighting; you know her.”

“It's rather more complex than to be solved that way,” Arthur said, though he smiled at the idea.

“I've heard of that curse,” Art said. “Would you have her ask for more specifics on the group of soldiers she's captured? How many there are, who their commander is, what unit they are, what machines they have, that should help clarify things.”

“And how long does she think she can hold the butterfly dreams in them,” Lest added. “Seems like it would be a costly spell.”

“Right,” Dylas said, stepping back to contact her again.

“If we've got control of these soldiers, it should be a piece of cake to have them hand over their weapons to lessen the threat,” Corrin said. “And possibly get more information on what they mean to do in this invasion.”

“Even so, she's holding them captive to their very thoughts,” Lest said, crossing his arms over his chest. “No matter who they are, I don't feel right keeping them like that long. Just long enough to get our people back and see what we can do to blunt the invasion force.”

“We could take them as prisoners of war, but that depends on how many of them there are and how much secure space we have to hold them,” Arthur said.

Dylas came back to them. “They're Unit 937 under the command of General Teo Denare. Twenty-five men in all with just the machine scout that Sven wrecked this morning. Amber thinks she can hold onto them for a couple more hours; Leon and Dolce are trying to support her in that.”

“It might not sound like a lot, but 937 is recognized as an elite unit,” Art said. “They've been a formidable bunch for the twelve years that Teo has been in command. In that way, we're lucky none of us expected that girl to hold such potent mind control magic. They could have taken the town easily.”

“And, uh, Amber also says they all seem to have tiny bits of power on rings, like the rune spheres,” Dylas said, his ears shifting as he still listened to the others singing. “Frey's with Leon and she thinks it's the fountain fragments.”

“Oh dear, that,” Arthur said, frowning in worry.

That worried Lest too, since it was like what the Sechs spy had. But something didn't add up. The rings had potential for great power, letting a regular person almost function as an earthmate mage. However, they also had the potential to turn the wearer into those cryptid monsters if the ring failed. And all members of this elite long-standing unit had been given one? And there was the name Teo Denare, and Unit 937. He'd read about them before. That meant...

This could be a huge risk, Lest thought. But if these connections were right... and even if they were enemies, they were still human beings. They would have the same emotions, anxieties, and cares that anybody else would have. Maybe better control over them as trained soldiers that had served their country for years. However, he knew something that could be extremely valuable to them, something that could turn this whole situation on its head. It was gambling on a small chance that he had the card Teo most wanted.

Thinking on it that way, he recalled something one of his old friends in North Oaken had said. It had been about card games but the guy had said it applied to so much more. When chance handed you a poor or even nonfunctional hand of cards, you could still win. If you had the confidence and outward calm to bluff a risky hand, other players would fold even if it ended up you had the worst lot. A little confidence and calm went a long way.

“It may be best to call on the air patrol and have them bring in a vessel that can hold them prisoner to send to a more secure prison,” Arthur said, talking with the others. He had a strong uncertainty, even cracking his normally calm exterior. Perhaps he was better trained for this, but he wasn't expecting it either.

“No, we're not going to do that,” Lest said, much to Arthur's surprise. He smiled at them, keeping his calm and acting like he had a much more secure plan than he had. “Amber's the one who captured them and she wants a tea party. We're going to invite them here on a tea party.”

“Uh, what?” Arthur said, utterly confused by what he saw as a foolish idea. So were some of the others. But they heard the steel in his words and couldn't find it in themselves to immediately rebuke him for it.

“Unit 937 and Teo Denare, we know something more about them, don't we?” he said, looking straight at Arthur. “Perhaps even something they don't know. If we set this up properly, we won't blunt their swords against us. Rather, we can set their swords back on the unstable emperor. The fact that they were sent out with the rune fragment rings in spite of the risk of turning their bearers into zombified slimes hints that they could listen. But we have to do this right and I need everyone's cooperation to pull this off. Got it?”

“What do we know about them?” Arthur asked. Lest reminded him of it. “Oh... oh! I get it. In that case, it might just work.”

“Yes, we're at your service,” Forte said, giving him a salute. The other knights and the butlers did the same.

“We will protect our master, do what you must,” Uno said. She and her twin were keeping close to him, so he could send all four knights out on tasks without being left undefended.

“Good,” Lest said, nodding to Forte and Uno in acknowledgment. “Firstly, Porcoline! I need you make a smoothie, something that Amber would like. I have a feeling she's going to need that kind of support to keep control of the situation.”

“Got it, one sweet honeyfied smoothie to go coming up!” he said, going to fetch ingredients.

“Art, Corrin, you two scout out the town and airfield to make sure things are secure here now,” Lest ordered. As they acknowledged it and left, he went on. “Forte, Sven, you two are to head for where Amber and the soldiers are once we've got the smoothie for her. Sven, get Doug and Blossom back into town, and the clinic if either of them need it.”

“Will do,” Sven said.

“Forte, you'll stay with Amber just in case there's trouble and she needs to get out quickly. Keep calm and treat the soldiers with proper respect. Although, if they're really in the butterfly dreams, they probably won't notice.”

“Right, I will,” Forte said.

“Dylas, I'll need you to relay the plans to Amber and Forte eventually,” Lest said. “But first, contact Leon and Frey and ask about looking up a song to shortcut baking. She'll know what I mean since we knew someone who could do it, but neither of us know the actual song. If we're having a tea party, we should have some kind of cake but we don't have time for full preparations. So I'm leaving you in charge of the cake if you all can find that song.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Dylas said. There was some anxiety in him at having the responsibility, but he too was reacting to Lest's confidence, which gave him enough confidence to go back to singing to get what he needed for the cake.

That left the butlers to give orders to; they were most important to getting the tea party pulled off quickly. “Volkanon, get word to Lady Ventuswill on what's going on and what we plan to do. Ask her to see if anyone else is missing or not in town. If so, inform Art or Corrin so we can find them as soon as possible. Then go get Illuminata; I'll leave you two in charge of flowers and tea.”

“Excellent, what kind of tea should we be looking at?” Volkanon asked.

“Uh, you'd normally pick the tea first then the snacks, wasn't it?” Lest said, trying to recall those lessons. “Since we're having to scramble to put this together, wait on picking the tea out until we know what's available.”

“We can handle that,” he said with a nod.

“Good, go ahead. Clorica, go by the general store and buy all baked goods they have out today. Hopefully we get plenty of bread. Then you get small sandwiches or spreads together. Take what I've been making or what's in the castle pantry. If there doesn't seem to be enough, ask around town for more.”

“Got it,” she said.

“Then go for it. Vishnal, I've got a bunch of small tasks for you. First, let Jones know that he might be needed when Sven gets back with Blossom and Doug. Then go spread word around town about the tea party so that people show up. While you're at it, ask if they have blankets that we can use to style this as a picnic in the plaza since it's sunny and nice outside. Talk with Kiel in particular about if he has any snacks he can make quickly, I think he was doing something that could end up helping the tea party out. Once you know that, come back to let me know what he's making and I can tell you what's being made here so Volkanon knows. I'll probably have you start setting up the plaza then unless something else comes up.”

“Talk to Jones and Kiel, let the townspeople know, ask about the blankets, and then make sure you know what Kiel's got, right?” he repeated.

Lest nodded. “Right, go ahead. Meg, you can provide the music, right?”

“Of course, not a problem,” she said, grinning.

“And Arthur, got anything you can spare to help us? I'm planning on speaking to General Teo directly during the party, but I would like you to help keep things peaceful.” Lest smiled. “While we'll have the knights around, it's a party and a negotiator like you will be more vital to smooth things out.”

“Yes, that shouldn't be a problem for me,” Arthur said, smiling back. “I believe I have some jams and spreads that I can write off for this event, so I'll get those to Clorica. And some dishware and blankets in case more are needed. I'll go down and have a look.” He left to go to his storage cave.

By then, Porcoline had come over to give the smoothie to Forte, letting her and Sven leave after they'd made sure of where the soldiers were. “Got anything else you'd like me to whip up for our lovely soiree for our neighbors over the mountains?” the chef asked.

“Anything you can get together quickly for tea party snacks, or blankets for the picnic,” he said. “And let me know what you've got so I can pass the word along.”

“You know, I think I can put together a lovely fruit and creamy cheese salad in record time,” Porcoline said, heading back to the kitchen. “Let me make sure I've got everything.”

“Don't we have a good stock of almonds right now?” Dylas asked, going into the kitchen himself.

“Yes, what's on your mind?”

“Almond cake,” he said. “They've found the song for me; Frey thinks it's going to be a hefty rune price, but I can have the cakes ready to eat and decorated in a few minutes as long as we have all the ingredients.”

“How about I throw in a veggie smoothie for you, with extra carrots?” Porco asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Dylas said.

As Lest was feeling excited that this was falling into place so far, he heard a chuckle from the table he'd been sitting at. “My, what an exciting turn about,” Victoria said, tapping her fan against her chin. “This seems like it could be a delightful unexpected party.”

“Certainly, I'm looking forward to it,” Baldwin said.

“Well it's the first tea party I'm hosting, so I hope it goes well,” Lest said.


	82. A Soldiers' Tea Party

Summer 58

Dolce was singing with the other guardians, on a very strange matter. “I can't believe that this tea party is going to happen,” she said to them.

“It's gonna be great, with lots of new friends!” Amber sang.

“Surely somebody would have objected, like Arthur or Forte,” Dolce said.

“Maybe everyone just wants to relax and chill a little?” Leon said. “I for one am looking forward to this unique event.”

“You weren't here to see Lest just now,” Dylas said, strong admiration in his notes. “Once he decided on doing it, there was no way to argue against it. The only questions he got were on how to make it work, not how risky it is. He makes it seem possible. Heck, even I'm ready to do this crazy spell work I've only heard about just now because Lest told me to do it with complete confidence.”

“The need for a prince has brought out the prince in him,” Leon said, seeming inspired by the idea. “So you're really ready?”

“Yeah, you guys can support me?”

“Right, you can make a great cake!” Amber sang; she even pumped a fist in the air and they knew it.

“Heh, a cake to make peace with the enemy, let's go for it,” Leon said.

Dolce still felt it was a little ridiculous, but their eagerness was infectious. “Don't think of them as the enemy,” she said. “Since we are inviting them to our home town as guests, think of them as guests. They're also human. If all that talk about the rings and such is right, then we also hope to help them in spite of the reasons they came to us.”

“Right, a cake to make them feel welcomed and safe,” Dylas said. The connection shifted as his song changed, from a conversation in song to a magical creation in song.

Perhaps because they had been focused on singing together, Dolce visualized the restaurant even though she was currently in the clinic. There were people there, Porco, Lest, and two nobles. But clearest of all was Dylas, standing at a work counter with an assortment of ingredients in front of him. He was bringing all of his attention to the spell to craft a complete cake while cutting out a lot of the process. Feeling a tug at their bond, Dolce focused her magic on supporting him. This might be impossible for him to pull off alone, but with their backing, he would be able to do it. She had confidence in him.

Dylas's chi shone a brilliant blue on his skin as he brought his hands up over the ingredients. He imagined the process. In response, the runes stirred themselves into a storm of activity, making reality match his imagination. The ingredients for the cake were mixed together in separate groups, wet and dry, until he brought them together and forced them to bake to perfection in seconds. The resulting base was set on the counter where most of the ingredients had once stood. For the tea party presentation, it was then quickly and cleanly sliced into many individual portions.

Turning to the glaze, he guided that to mix to a consistency that he could spread over all the individual cakes in one motion of his hands. Whole almonds were then place neatly on the center of each cake. With that in place, the glaze was then dried to a glossy finish. A set of tea cakes that might have taken a full morning to put together were brought into being in less than three minutes.

It wore Dylas out, but he was able to draw some rune points from them to keep stable and Porcoline already had a drink to help him replenish his own stock. “There, it's done!” Dylas sang.

“They look nice and yummy!” Amber said.

“That is some nice work, but it seems a bit much to do every day,” Leon said.

“For an emergency tea party, it's perfect,” Dolce said, amused herself.

She had to keep singing to continue to support Amber, as she was doing major magic as well in keeping the soldiers captive until the tea party was ready. But it seemed everyone else in town was busily getting it together. When Lest gave word through Dylas that they were ready to bring everyone to the plaza, Dolce left off singing to go over with Jones, Nancy, Alice, Sven, Blossom, and Doug. While Doug was now bandaged up from some rough treatment before Amber got to them, he was well enough that he could come too, as long as someone kept an eye on him around the Sechs soldiers.

One of the last to come into the plaza was Lest and the two stone foxes, coming from Venti's chamber. He'd actually gotten changed, from his usual casual clothes to the dressier set with the feathered cloak he used for official business as the prince. And Dylas had been right, he was different. Normally, she felt comfortable around him and didn't mind giving him sarcastic statements. Or even messing around with Vishnal if it was just Lest and Pico with the two of them. Now, he truly had the poise of a prince and if he would ask her to do something, she'd immediately agree to it unless it was really against her principles. Sano and Uno were especially in their element as guardians at his side.

Lest even got the entire gossiping and curious crowd to go silent just by raising his hand. “Good afternoon, everyone, thanks for helping us get this spontaneous event going. Right now, our main guests are coming to join our tea party. And I insist that they be treated and honored as guests of the town while they are here and well-mannered. I will be going out to meet them on the road and extend the invitation to them, leaving it up to them to accept or decline of their own free will. While we will be taking precautions in case it is declined, we hope that they will accept in good faith. For today, they may not be foes, but friends here for a brief visit. Are there any objections to this plan?”

While she had thought it was silly, listening to him made Dolce believe that it could actually work. He was confident enough that he had to know something more. She was willing to trust him to make it work. In fact, no one objected. Doug and Blossom didn't even seem bothered in spite of what they'd just been through.

“Good, then I'll be going out to speak with them,” Lest said, waving for Corrin, Frey (who had her gate in a bottle on her back), and Vishnal to follow him out the south gate.

“He must have some crazy plan in mind,” Doug said as the chatter around the plaza started up again. “Though I don't know if he's crazier for thinking it up or if we're crazier for believing him.”

“He really does have the charisma for royalty, doesn't he?” Blossom said in admiration. “You see hints in him of it occasionally, but I don't think anyone will doubt him now.”

“No one who is here will, I'm sure of it,” Nancy said with a smile.

Dolce found herself thinking that whoever did earn his love would be a very lucky girl indeed. Yet she wouldn't want anyone but Vishnal, that was certain as well.

* * *

 

It was like he'd never seen true royalty until this day. Vishnal had served under three different rulers, knew of Arthur, and had even met one of Arthur's brothers before he'd ever come to Selphia. However, none of them, not even Lest before today, could match how Lest was now. What had changed in him? He was a cut above everyone now, moving through the gate to meet with the renown company of Sechs soldiers with dignity and bravery. He got everyone to pull off an improbable tea party when they should have been battling an invasion. Seeing this made Vishnal feel truly honored to be serving him.

After waiting a couple of minutes on the drawbridge, Unit 937 of the Sechs Imperial Army arrived a few feet from them, along with Forte and Amber. The soldiers kept in a well trained march, but the darting and dreaming looks in their eyes betrayed the presence of the butterfly dream curse. “Okay Frey, bring them out,” Lest said.

She nodded, having already opened up her bottled gate. Reaching in, she brought out a weapon rack, a large wardrobe, and an anti-magic box with a strong padlock. All were enchanted pieces to store more than they appeared.

Lest looked over the soldiers. “Amber, instruct them to take off all their weapons and armor to place them in the storage boxes. They should also take off the rune fragment rings and hand them to Frey. They can keep the boots on.”

“Got it, you all put your dangerous stuff away like he said,” Amber told the soldiers. Vishnal went over to help the confiscations go smoothly. This left the unit in short tan t-shirts, dusty brown shorts, and the heavy leather and metal boots. Frey then placed the weapon rack and wardrobe in the gate, shut it in the bottle, then took the bottle and locked box with the rings to hide away.

“And while we've got a moment, this is an exception, but you must avoid using this curse in the future without discussing it with others first and making sure it's an acceptable use,” Lest told Amber. “And pranks are not an acceptable use.”

“I understand,” Amber said, bowing her head. “It feels really weird and people shouldn't be turned into dolls like this. But, they were going to kill Dougie and I couldn't let them do that.”

“Right, that's what makes this an acceptable use,” Lest said. “I had a couple questions to ask them like this. Bring General Teo forward.”

Amber nodded and one older gentleman came to face the prince. Without the armor's metals and bands that set him apart, he didn't seem much different from the other men in his unit. Teo had black hair peppered with gray strands and thick eyebrows. Scars and callouses were a testimony to his military service. Even though the only thing remotely useful for battle he had now were the boots, he seemed like he could still hold his own if it came to a fight.

“Is the spot by Keano Lake where your unit is currently camped?” Lest asked first.

Amber mouthed the question along with him, getting Teo to nod.

“And what is your connection to Idra Cave?”

“We were instructed to avoid it,” Teo answered.

“How about the large complex by Maya Road's Selphia entrance?'

“We were instructed to avoid it as well.”

Lest nodded. “Fine, I believe any further questions can wait. Amber, release them from the curse, then head back into town. Forte, stay out here with us.”

Since Vishnal hadn't been given any instructions to leave, he stayed there to see what would happen. At first, it wasn't much. The soldiers seemed to be coming awake, having a brief moment of calm before their awareness kicked in. Then they realized what was going on, that they were stripped of their gear and faced with the prince of Selphia. There were a lot more of them, but both Forte and Corrin looked formidable in their armored dresses and stern expressions. Vishnal got himself to where he could quickly grab Lest and pull back, though he doubted there'd be trouble.

“Are you clear-headed now?” Lest asked pleasantly. “You are Unit 937 of the Sechs Imperial Army under the command of Teo Denare, as I've been told. Well I'm Prince Arthur Lest Nolan of Selphia; welcome to our town!” He even gave a warm smile and bow as if greeting a new friend rather than an old enemy of the land.

That further confused them, even the general. Teo bowed in response, perhaps on reflex. “Y-yes, that's correct. What's the situation?”

“One of our residents put you under a mind-bending curse,” he said, now apologetic. “I'm sorry about that; we had no idea they were capable of that kind of thing. They wanted a tea party to discuss matters with you, so I decided to honor that request. Although you did capture two of our residents, so we had to take the precaution of removing much of your gear. Don't worry, you have my word that we will return most of it to your base camp whether you accept our invitation or not.”

“Invitation?” Teo asked.

Lest nodded. “Yes, to our tea party in the town plaza. We had to rush things a little, but we did the best we could for such a number of honorable guests. There's tea made by a pair of master brewers as well as some lovely scented almond cakes, plus various finger sandwiches, fresh fruit and cheese salad, red bean dumplings, and a few other small treats. Don't worry, no matter what's been happening, you will be our guests for this afternoon and be treated well if you accept.”

There was still a lot of confusion among them about how this went from an invasion to a tea party, but even Vishnal could tell that they were considering it. Either Lest's friendly manner or his description of the treats was seriously tempting to them. Teo was the one who seemed to have the clearest head, uncertain of it. But he did glance back at his men, probably taking note of their interest. “That's... it's quite an unexpected offer and it hardly seems polite to turn it down after your work. But, what interest do you have in being nice to us when our nations are poised for war?”

“Well people are people, no matter what the politics are,” Lest said. “I believe in treating people well. More to the point, I have heard of you before. While you were under the curse, you said that you'd been ordered to keep away from the large building near Maya Road.” When Teo nodded, the prince went on to say, “After your warship went down, we were able to confirm that the location is a prison, although not for prisoners of war from Norad. We even managed, after much risk, to get a list of prisoners held there. Though I would rather not speak much more on that unless we have a common ground of courtesy as befitting a host and guests.”

Vishnal didn't immediately see how that connected. But then it became clear: the revelation that Lest had a prisoner list got the attention of all the soldiers. Some of them even seemed hopeful with that. “I see,” Teo said, interested in seeing that list as well. “Though one more question, if you don't mind. You said you'd return most of our gear, so what aren't you returning?”

“The rings made from fragments of failed rune spheres,” Lest said without hesitation. “The fragments originally belonged to my family, but more importantly, we have seen that those rings are incredibly risky to use. They're unstable materials and if they malfunction, they can turn those using them into monsters of corrupt rune energy, much like those cryptids currently infesting Maya Road itself. Sorry, but they're really not safe and we can't in good conscious let anyone keep that kind of thing. My sister is an expert in rune spheres, thus she'll be working to dispose of them.”

“I suppose we can't fault you for being cautious,” Teo said. “Especially not when you balance it with consideration. Men, you are going to honor their generosity with grace and manners, correct?” He said that with a total expectation that they would.

“Yes sir!” the other twenty-four replied, none of them hesitant.

Teo smiled a bit. “Good. Thank you for your invitation, Prince of Selphia, we are grateful to accept it. You need not worry about any of us while we are your guests.”

“Excellent, come on in,” Lest said, waving them into the gate.

And the soldiers kept their word. They seemed happy with the tea party, being well-behaved and courteous in dealing with the townspeople. Even friendly as they chatted with those outside their group. Vishnal went to help Clorica, Volkanon, Ellie, and Dylas in serving everyone, although he kept an eye on Lest in case he had something to be done. Meg played on her harp, inviting others to sing with her on occasion.

When most everyone else was settled down, those serving got to claim their own cups and snacks. Kiel had come up as one of the last. “The cakes smell really delicious, Dylas,” he said with a big smile. “Do you have the conventional recipe for them?”

“Um, not myself,” Dylas said. “It was one suggested in the book of songs that Leon found for me to do this with.”

“Huh, I wonder if I can figure it out if I checked that book out,” Kiel said, thinking.

“You did pretty amazing to get all these dumplings done in time too,” Vishnal said. “They're tasty.”

“Heh, thanks,” Kiel said.

“How did you manage that?” Dylas asked. “I only did the cakes in time with earthmate magic.”

“In a similar manner, I think,” Kiel said. “I had already been cooking up a large batch of red bean paste. It's handy stuff that you can preserve in small portions to use later. I was just about to start doing that when Vishnal came in with news of the party. Since I had it, I looked up something in one of my alchemy books and was able to come up with a way to quickly alchemize the dumpling dough and fuse it with the bean paste. That's why they're a little different than normal dumplings, but I'm glad people still think they're good.”

Partway through eating his portion, Vishnal got called over by Lest. He had invited Teo into his office, along with Sven, Arthur, and one of Teo's soldiers. Knowing he was here for his work, Vishnal set his plate and cup aside in the office as they came in. He went to get the file of information on the prison, first taking out the prisoner list to hand to the general.

Teo found what he was looking for in the list. “You're right, that is where they took our family members. The emperor has been growing paranoid ever since a certain incident near Kardia. He even came to question our loyalty to his empire when we're one of the oldest units in the army now. Many of the other units have been replaced by machines rather than seeking out new recruits.”

“Are you loyal to his empire, or to the land of Sechs?” Lest asked. He had his second cup of tea with him, although he hardly needed it to keep calm.

“That's quite a question,” Teo said, sounding impressed. “I am loyal to Sechs. My family has long served the land as fighters, to defend the people. That's why I went into the imperial army, and why I stay even as things have been crumbling around us. No one has been able to dethrone Ethelberd or even come close to challenging him. Still, when I see you so close to your people and even welcoming us for a few hours as guests, I doubt my loyalty to him. The prison and the rings convince me more, but I still want to defend my land and people.”

“I know it's a lot to ask, but I have an offer to make if you're willing to work against Ethelberd,” Lest said. “They built the prison and a facility in the nearby Idra Cave right on our lands without our knowledge. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of force to make your empire abandon those structures and apologize; they've remained a threat we can do little about. But the talk around here is that you and your men are very skilled. We could work together to take down the prison, take back your loved ones there, and neutralize whatever is in the cave. Whatever you do after that point is up to you, but if you help us with this situation, we'd be willing to lend assistance to your group afterwards.”

“That would be appreciated,” Teo said, putting his hand on his chin to think it over. “It's something we should start planning around since you've made the offer. Would you mind it if we took a few days to discuss and considered our options? I know you've stated that you'd return our equipment, but I will let you keep my personal sword as a promise to keep a truce during that time.”

“That's fine,” Lest said.

“And one more thing,” Teo said, worry showing on his face. “If we do cooperate with you to take care of the prison and facility, would you be willing to house our family members in Selphia temporarily? If we make a stand against Ethelberd, we would do much better to know that they're safe.”

Lest nodded. “Sure, that shouldn't be a problem. We have a number of unused houses for them.”

“That's good,” he said. “I'll send you a message by one of my soldiers in a white cloak, as a sign that he won't be attacking then. About the prison, do you have an idea of what their structures are like? Or the facility in the cave?”

“We don't know much about the cave, but we do have a map drawn with some aerial observations on the prison,” Lest said. Even as he said it, Vishnal got those drawings out to put on the table at Lest's gesture. The general and two princes discussed on how a takeover of the prison might go, with the idea of getting the prisoners out safely.

After the meeting was over and Vishnal was dismissed until the clean-up began, he finally got a chance to speak with Dolce. “It's been a crazy day, hasn't it?” he asked.

“Certainly,” Dolce said, watching where Meg had gotten a few of the Sechs soldiers to sing. “But a good kind of crazy. You've been busy.”

“Yeah, but it's been amazing to see it all happen,” he said. He clasped his wrist where her bracelet was. “Oh, but, before it started, I think I figured out what the bracelet's about. Um, Dolce...?”

“Not right now,” she said, surprising him a bit. “I didn't want to distract you at an important part of your training.”

“Oh, I forgot all about that once this started,” Vishnal said, trying to hide his embarrassment with a smile.

“It would be more important to be doing what Lest asked of you,” Dolce said. “Still, let's save it for when you're done.”

“That could make it harder to focus,” he said. After all, he might be wrong or marriage might not be on her mind yet. “I'll still give it my all.”

Then she smirked. “If you're sure you know what it's about, you'd better be sure of how you want to respond to it.”

“Of course,” Vishnal said, feeling a buzz of happiness. He might want to speak to Bado soon, when he had some time.

* * *

 

Summer 60

That morning, they met up with the board examiner in Volkanon's office. This time, the examiner was in full uniform too. The suit was similar to their own, but the armband and his insignia patch were quite distinctive. This man was a butler for the royal family. Starting with Clorica, he questioned her on some basics, but also on her current methods of keeping alert and organized.

“We've been concerned about you continuing as you made few improvements over much of your training,” the examiner said at the end of it. “That's quite different this year as this is a much better review than last year for you. While you don't have many specialty skills, your domestic skills are all top notch and more than make up for that. Your cooking is excellent as always and your soft demeanor is a great asset. You have dealt with your biggest weaknesses as well. However, it seems that change has all come quite recently. I don't believe I could authorize your certification at this time. But I will advise that the board conduct a review for you specifically this winter rather than waiting a full year to see if your training is complete. Keep working as you have and there shouldn't be a problem with that.”

“Thank you, sir,” Clorica said with a smile. Vishnal felt happy for her, but kept quiet for now. She really had been working hard since she got pulled into Obsidian Mansion asleep. It'd be great if she did get the board's acceptance this year even if it had to wait for winter.

The examiner than started questioning him, leaving the question of formality for last. “Now what would you say to a critic who believed your friendship with the prince was too informal for the position of both of you?” Clorica gave them a puzzled but worried look, not saying anything.

But Vishnal knew what his answer was. “I believe that it's appropriate for our working circumstances,” he told the examiner. “There is a general guideline to how a butler should behave, but it can only be general because masters can be different and expect different things. Plus we are responsible for taking care of a master and their household. I think it's unrealistic to believe that we can do so without caring about our masters to some degree. Some masters will expect formality in a servant and that should be respected.

“In our specific situation, Lest wants an informal situation and that is how we respond to him. He is an earthmate and believes strongly in their oath that in being blessed by the earth, they are bound to serve the earth and all who live in it. A formal butler who acted strictly as a servant would make the prince uncomfortable to where he wouldn't accept being served. In keeping informal, he accepts our service as our chosen way of life. I would have to adapt to a new master if I was moved, but it would be according to what that master wants and expects of me.”

And while he wouldn't tell the examiner as someone not of their household, Lest's particular set of talents meant that they had to be more like friends. Like the evening after he'd taken care of Sven's hell gate and ran into that memory of hate. If Frey had been right, a formal restrained butler who kept strictly business with Lest would have made his breakdown worse, lasting into the next day. But they were friendly and that helped him to calm down. It was still a private matter that Vishnal wouldn't relate to someone who didn't already know about it.

“And you wouldn't be swayed from that line of thinking?” the examiner asked.

“No sir,” he said.

“Hmm, well sorry for playing the devil's advocate.” He smiled. “That's a worthy answer, particularly that we do care about those we take care of. It's more suspect to give this level of service without some care and even friendship. And I must admit, the first thing that I did when I came to town for this was drop in on Prince Arthur. I've known and served him his whole life up until this move, so I do care about him greatly.”

“Well he does seem to be doing well here,” Volkanon said. “Even if he didn't end up as Selphia's prince, he can handle himself.”

“I hope he's truly doing well,” the examiner said with a fond look in his eyes briefly. “But that is another matter. Although we start this examination in the second year of training, it's quite impossible for someone to pass at this point. For one thing, the board does require three years of training at least. I have to say though, you're quite impressive for a student, Vishnal. Your domestic skills are a little lacking for our expectations, although you are quite good in cleaning. You can also get clumsy sometimes if distracted, but it's not enough to get a warning on. Just work some on your grace to keep from causing accidents.

“The thing is, I would expect to give that kind of evaluation to a student with longer training like Clorica. Some observations were done in last year's review which show that you've improved those skills considerably from where you started, even in cooking which was stated to potentially be your biggest weakness. You also show some specialty skills that are rather beyond what I expected to see. For one thing, we received word from Volkanon and some others around town that you have already conducted a covert counter espionage mission to turn a potential traitor in town to a fully loyal and happy member of the community. That's remarkable for any of us, well in line with our philosophy.

“Most of all, you have an excellent attitude towards your work and life. You are rather informal with the prince, more than most butlers would act towards their master. But I believe I've seen what you've spoken of in the past few days, that your master in him would not be assisted as well with a more impersonal servant. Plus there was the way you, all of you really, shifted that informality away when it was most needed the other day with the Sechs soldiers. Perhaps in being friends with him, he knew exactly how to spread his orders between you and the rest of town to get those plans accomplished.”

“I don't think many besides our prince could have pulled off heading that effort, though it did take many of us to get it done,” Volkanon said in pride.

The examiner nodded. “Yes. I'll be sure to tell King Gregory about this; he deserves to know from a first hand witness. But anyhow, Vishnal, what I'm saying is that you're one of the best student butlers I've ever had the pleasure of encountering, much less getting to observe for a week. However that means that you will have no margin for error during next year's examination if I give you such a high evaluation this year. Don't get sloppy even if you are doing extremely well.”

“Thank you sir, I'll keep working hard,” Vishnal said, trying to keep a steady voice although he felt ecstatic. Sure, this wasn't a full acceptance since apparently he needed at least one more year to be truly considered for certification. It was just wonderful to hear that he was doing excellent work. But, no margin for error next year? He'd have to continue training as hard as he could to live up to that.

Once the review was fully over and the examiner gone, Clorica surprised him by hugging him. “You are doing really well!”

“Well you're the one who might get certified by the end of the year,” he said, hugging her back. “That's great!”

“But he said you're one of the best, that's even better.”

“I think you both are wonderful students,” Volkanon said, getting teary-eyed. “I don't think I've been so proud of my students since I was training my own children...” and now he was sobbing out of joy.

“Aw, Mr. Volkanon, you don't have to be that dramatic,” Clorica joked, letting Vishnal go to hand Volkanon a clean hankie.

“He wouldn't be himself if he wasn't,” Vishnal said with a teasing smile. “Though I wouldn't want to be under any teacher but you.”

“Right, you're even more wonderful,” Clorica said.

“Aw, you two,” he said, getting even more sappy about it.

Once they got him to stop crying about it, Volkanon allowed them to take some extra time off over lunch. Clorica went to go visit Illuminata and see if she wanted to have lunch together. Vishnal made sure that there wasn't anything left to do, then headed over to Bado's shop. While the blacksmith wasn't in the shop area, Kiel was. He paused in cleaning to wave to him. “Hey Vishnal! What's up?”

“Hey Kiel,” he said, waving back. Hearing some hammer work in back, he said, “I came in to see Bado, if he's not too busy.”

“Well he is, but he also said he wanted to talk to you sometime, so I think it's okay,” Kiel said, going to the entrance to the forging area. “Hey Bado! Vishnal's here.”

“Ah good, I was wondering where he was,” Bado called back. “Would you give him the white envelope under the counter? Thanks.”

“Sure,” Kiel said, getting and handing it to Vishnal as he came to the forging room.

“What's it for?” Vishnal asked.

“It's a refund on that expert icon, because it wasn't quite what I said it was,” Bado admitted. “Sorry, I was trying to come up with some interesting story about it. Your girl's really scary, you see.”

“I don't see why people keep saying that,” Vishnal said.

“Yeah, Dolce seems like a nice person once you get past her initial attitude,” Kiel said.

The dwarf rubbed his hand through his blue hair, setting his current work near the forge to keep warm. “Well, if you want to keep that opinion, don't cross her. Seriously. What have you been up to lately?”

Since it was over, it was safe to talk about. “Clorica and I had our board review this past week, so we had to work especially hard,” he said. “That's why I kept forgetting to return the statue after Lest told me there wasn't anything special about it.”

“Well keep it or do whatever you'd like with it,” Bado said. “Doesn't matter to me now.”

“But why would you make stuff up just to sell something?” Vishnal asked. He wasn't angry about it, but he was curious. “Especially lately that you've been doing really great work.”

Ah,” he paused, thinking. “Well it is a lot of hard work, and the weapons don't actually sell that well. Most people only need one and it should last them. While there is stuff that does sell regularly, I find that simple stuff boring to work on because it's so easy.”

“Oh yeah, I feel the same way about getting asked to brew healing potions,” Kiel said. “But I keep searching for ways to challenge myself in alchemy, so I do the boring stuff because it funds my interesting stuff.”

“You've got a lot to learn left when I've been doing this for years,” Bado said. “I guess there is the materials Frey gave me to study, but I know she only gave them to me since she has to wait to give them her full effort. Doesn't seem fair to get a head start on her when it's her discovery.”

Kiel laughed. “It's like something I read the other day, isn't it? It's no fun having a rival when your rival is held back from their full ability, because you can't compete as normal.”

“Maybe,” Bado said with a shrug.

“Well I came over to see if you could help me in making an engagement ring,” Vishnal said, feeling embarrassed to say it. But he wanted to get it done and this conversation was going to keep meandering as usual if he didn't say it.

“Neat, are you proposing to Dolce?” Kiel asked, happy for him.

“Actually, I think she's going to be proposing to me soon,” he said, touching his wrist where the bracelet was. “She's been hinting at something this week, and she told me if I thought I knew the question, I'd better have my answer ready. So, I'd like to make the ring. If that's not it, well I'll propose anyhow. I've been thinking it over the past few days and that's what I want to do.”

Bado laughed at that. “Looks like the prince's efforts really weren't in vain. Wow, third couple of the year already. Sure. And, well, go ahead and take what materials you want to work with. I won't charge you for them.”

“Really?” Vishnal asked, surprised by the generous offer. “Thank you so much! That helps a lot.”

“No problem, I think I should make things up to you,” Bado said. “Yeah, that's it. I need to finish this while it's hot, but Kiel should be able to handle helping you.”

“Sure thing,” Kiel said, going to a shelf of references to find the recipe. “I know magical crafting well. Let's see...”

“Be sure to use the Crafter's Standard book,” Bado said, picking his work back up. “That's got the more useful version of the recipe. Some of the other books have a more difficult variation that I wouldn't recommend.”

“Okay,” Kiel said, taking a book with a pale blue cover. He then helped Vishnal find the bin of small pieces fit for the project.

He wanted to use silver and ruby to work with. From there, he had to know his feelings and reasons. Dolce was still adjusting to this time. Even after having her intricate system of manners questioned, she still found it hard to fully get out of. It left her a little cold and blunt since conflicting ideas left her unsure of what to say. However, he knew she had a warm heart. He wanted to keep supporting her until she had no troubles in tossing that cold mask and letting herself be who she was. And she was truly kind. Even if she needed the help more than he did, she didn't hesitate to correct him or help him when he wasn't feeling sure of himself. He wanted to make her happy so she showed her beautiful smile more often; that would make him happy.

Just like that, he was ready to answer her.


	83. The Third Wedding

Summer 63

Dolce felt anxious this morning. She would have liked to be working on the wedding outfits, but since she was the bride this time around, Blossom was going to make them again. While there were some crafting projects she wanted to get done, there was something else she needed to be doing soon. When Jones had asked what her plans were today, she said, “Vishnal and I are going to meet up with Lest later about getting a house. You know, since the room Pico and I are staying in here is going to be Alice's once she's older, and his place in the castle is just one room and an office in the servant's wing.”

“How exciting, looking into your first house,” Nancy said, sitting down with her own breakfast now that she'd taken care of Alice's meal. “It's a big step and a sign you're really not a child anymore.”

“I guess,” Dolce said. “I'm just, not sure what I'd want.” If her old home was available, it'd be tempting. It was no longer around. Besides, it'd be hard for a new couple on a limited budget to afford an old house of nobility.

“Lest should be able to get a lot of information on what's available,” Jones said. He'd been trying to shift a half-emptied glass of tomato juice out of sight, but Nancy quietly put it back in front of him. “That should help.”

Dolce nodded. “Right. It might be nice to be near here so it won't take me long to come over.”

Jones and Nancy glanced at each other, making Dolce wonder if it was about the usual morning battle over getting him to drink the tomato juice. However, it wasn't that. “Actually, we've been talking about letting you go as our nanny and assistant now that you're getting married,” Jones said.

“Really?” Dolce asked, nervous to hear that. Did they not want her around?

“We love having you around and you'll always be a part of the family now,” Nancy said, leaning over to pat her arm. “But it's about your price as an earthmate. All of the others in town have found a job where they can work at that every day, since it's really important to keeping your magic stable and being happy. You don't, so it may be more helpful to you for us to let you find work more suited to you.”

“We've got a handle on things now,” Jones said, though he smiled at her. “Still, I hope we can count on you to come over and watch Alice for short times if we get busy with the clinic.”

Dolce smiled at their consideration. “Of course. Thank you, I'll see what I can do.”

“Oh, you could buy one of the old stores and set up a clothing shop!” Nancy suggested happily. “You wouldn't get a lot of business now, but once this conflict with Sechs gets settled, I'm sure Lest and Arthur will be working to get more attention for our town. Having more options for stores would help.”

“That could be fun,” Dolce said, looking over the idea herself. She could make whatever she liked and put it on display for sale. If a customer liked a piece but it didn't fit, she could adjust it quickly or remake it. After all, one of her new skills was the ability to know a person's size and fit simply by looking at them. “It wouldn't even have to be entirely clothing, since I can make accessories, blankets, and dolls. Anything as long as it has fabric in the make.”

“It'd be a delightful shop, I'm sure,” Nancy said.

“Yeah, since it'd be Dolly's shop!” Pico added. “And I could model and sell the things!”

“As long as you actually sell them,” Dolce said, suspecting that she might try to keep sales from happening if she liked something.

“I can copy whatever you make, so it wouldn't bug me to share and spread the love for you,” Pico said.

She kept thinking over it while cleaning up after breakfast and heading over to the castle. When Lest took her and Vishnal to the real estate files, she brought it up. “That is, if you don't mind living over a store.”

“No, that's be great if you want to run your own store,” Vishnal said, eager at the idea. “I think you could do wonderfully.”

“Um, thanks,” she said. Sometimes his enthusiasm felt like too much. Though it was encouraging at the same time. “I suppose I would need to learn some modern means of making clothes to have plenty to sell.”

“You'll also need a business license, but I can set you up with a store to live in,” Lest said. “Oh, and that reminds me, I think Clorica's been meaning to talk to you about some sewing machines that were left in her and Sven's home.”

“She has some?” That was surprising since Clorica wasn't a part of the sewing circle. Neither was Sven for that matter.

“You should talk with her,” Lest said, narrowing down the listings to stores with living quarters. “Most of these are on the east side of town as what was the business district at one time. I believe there were various sizes to them too, so you could pick whichever would work best.”

“I'm not sure how much space I'd want or need,” Dolce said. This was a new plan; everything was going to be new in her life again. But this time, she found herself looking forward to it, to a life with a wonderful man who accepted and loved her, and with freedom to follow her love of crafting.

“Wasn't one of those old stores a clothing store formerly?” Vishnal asked. “I seem to recall something like it when we were looking for homes that the knights could take.”

“I remember that too, although more when I was reviewing for the possibility of taking in a lot of people soon,” Lest said, checking the papers. “Ah, here it is! Just like he says, it was a clothing store with its last inhabitant. They might have left some things behind. Let's get some old stores near it to compare... we'll check them out.”

They looked over the other stores in the area to get an idea of what they were like. Most of them had a basic layout like the flower shop and general store. On the ground level, there was a shop floor, sometimes a work room in back. Above that was housing for the shop owner. In the basement, there would be inventory storage space. Still, the designs and architectural details were enough to make each store unique in some way.

The old clothing store had a large window in front, making for a nice display. While it was currently hidden with a gray curtain, going inside revealed that some display mannequins had been left behind. Clothing racks like those that had been in the city store were lined up in one corner while the counter was pushed up against the wall. Under the stairs that led up to the living quarters, there were a small space that had some mirrors on the wall. A dressing area? In the back portion of the shop, there was a crafting room with a single sewing machine, a large table, and some shelves.

Upstairs was an area much like what she saw when she visited Amber at her home with Illuminata. The kitchen, dining area, and family area were all combined into one large room, while a bathroom and three extra rooms were closed off. There was a bed in each of the rooms, as well as the central area having a table, a few chairs, and a single couch. Other than that, there wasn't much furnished up here. The curtains looked old. In fact, much of this place looked old and dull.

“This is going to need some cleaning and sprucing up,” Vishnal said. “But the shop area seems like a nice place to start with.”

“It could be a lot of work to make it nice,” Dolce said. But was it somewhere she could think of as home?

“We could hold a housewarming and house cleaning party to fix that!” Pico suggested, coming through the walls from checking out some of the extra rooms.

“Cleaning doesn't sound like much of a party,” Dolce said.

“I think people would still come to help you two out,” Lest said. “What do you think? Want this place or want some time to think it over? Or even see some other kinds of houses?”

They asked to think on it, but it really didn't take long to decide to take the old clothing shop. Dolce could already imagine how she'd arrange things there, and what she'd look forward to adding to making her shop what she wanted. It would have seemed like a far off dream not that long ago, something she wouldn't think long on as just a wishful dream. Now that she had it, she felt a strong hope that she would soon find her place in the world.

She already had happiness, after all.

* * *

 

Summer 64

Instead of holding a pair of pajama parties for the new couple, everyone in town came together to help Dolce and Vishnal make their new house into a home in a housewarming party. Cleaning supplies were brought over from the castle and people took turns dusting, mopping, and polishing until everything was fresh and clean. Several others donated extra bits and pieces to fill out holes in household supplies, like some buckets, some miscellaneous dishware, extra pots, towels, and even a small rug to brighten up the upstairs. Between Bado, Doug, Meg, and Volkanon, the appliances, furnace, wiring, plumbing, and other vital parts were checked out to make sure they were functional and safe.

Blossom even brought over some extra fabric and thread so they could take down the old curtains, check the shop's sewing machine, and make new curtains. Dolce ended up spending most of the time in there with her. Knowing that, Vishnal went there to check on her after he got some letters. “I heard back from my family about the wedding announcement,” he said. It was an internal fight to keep his voice level, but that made it excellent practice as well. “I don't know how they managed, but they're coming to Selphia tomorrow afternoon. They can be here until Monday, so we could have the wedding on Friday or Sunday.”

“That's really good if everyone else can manage,” Dolce said with a smile. “Sunday would be nice.”

“I've got only a few small things to finish up the clothes, so I can be done with my part by then,” Blossom said.

Vishnal smiled back. “That should be the longest project as long as Porco's crew can get the meals covered.”

Since they could, the wedding was set for the 67th of Summer.

* * *

 

Summer 65

As the airship descended, Dolce flexed her fingers back and forth. It bugged some people because of how far she could bend them backwards with all of her joints being inhuman. But she found herself still doing it at times when nervous. She was about to meet her soon to be in-laws.

Vishnal noticed and took her hand. The first time he'd seen this, he had winced at it. But it seemed he was getting used to it. “Don't worry, I'm sure they'll love you,” he said.

“It just seems strange to me that we've come this far and this is the first I'm seeing them face to face,” Dolce said. And that was without an arranged marriage, because then she'd also be meeting her husband for the first time too.

“They were surprised this came around so soon, but I've told them about Lest's act as the inverse messenger, so they understand.”

They might understand, but he was the oldest child of this large family. That traditionally held some extra weight and a daughter-in-law to the oldest son would be fussed about more. But when they came down the boarding ramp in a boisterous reunion, she was greeted just as joyfully as he was. His mother even hugged Dolce. “It's wonderful to meet you Miss Dolce,” she said. “I hope you'll be happy as part of our crazy family.”

“I seem to be picking up a lot of families recently,” she said, chuckling along with them while some part of her wanted to cry out of being happy.

There was a lot of introductions to go through and Dolce could only hope that she remembered who was who. Though the two girls who wrote her, Kirana and Aria, seemed easy enough to pick out: Kirana for having long colorful ribbons braided in her blue hair and Aria simply for being the youngest. The latter gave each of them a paper wrapped cookie. “I made sure to save them for you,” she said as she handed the lemon cookies with strawberry glaze over.

“Thank you, that's very thoughtful of you,” Dolce said, delighting the little girl with a pat on the head.

And there was a lot of fussing over her being a new daughter-in-law, but it was all out of love, making even more connections of family in this time. With that, she realized that she had no reason to feel alone any more. There was someone who cared about her and she cared about around every corner now, a warmer community than that she had left behind.

* * *

 

Summer 67

Nancy and Amber spent the morning helping Dolce get prepared. Surprisingly, Amber was legitimately helping, making sure the dress was on straight and getting the collar secured. “It's a pretty design, and she made it really pretty on you!” Amber said.

“It is fun to play with the design,” Dolce said. Blossom had made the roses a dusty pink, to match her hair better than the standard powder blue. “I made the design straight for Frey, then got to play with the rainbow lavender for Clorica.” What would she make of the wedding dress next? Or for Amber? It might look nice with some butterfly accessories on her, although she'd have to make those rather than get the flowers from Illuminata. And it didn't seem too early to be thinking about that. Lest's oracle work was a real charm and Doug and Amber were clearly attached to each other.

She had to be careful going downstairs in the dress, since it was longer than most dresses she'd worn. Her knees felt a little wobbly while she was focused on that, like they'd gone back to weak doll joints that needed support to get around. Thankfully, she made it down without stumbling and got to meet with the rest of her family attending the wedding: Jones, Alice, Leon, and Dylas.

“Managing to keep steady on your feet today?” Leon said, maybe teasing her after how slow she'd taken the stairs.

“So far,” Dolce said.

“She ate a good breakfast, so she should be fine,” Jones said. “You look lovely, Dolce, but don't be afraid to smile.”

“It's not that I'm afraid,” she said, though it started to make her smile.

“But you look so much prettier when you do!” Amber said, managing to prance around even though she was flitting about on her wings.

“Heh, she's got you there,” Leon said, smiling himself.

“I'll be how I am,” Dolce said.

Then a quick knock at the door interrupted him, along with a young man coming in. It took a second, but Dolce thought this was Vishnal's brother Rani, the second oldest son. “Sorry to barge in, but I was told to find the dragon priest,” he said.

“Yeah, what for?” Leon asked, more serious since the young man was clearly concerned about something.

“Some phantom in a cloak came into the inn and nearly attacked the kids,” he explained. “Vishnal managed to protect them before any of the rest of us knew what was going on, but then the phantom caught him on strings and vanished with him.”

Dolce felt an icy grip on her heart. Leon frowned. “I see, it must have taken him into the mansion. But we dealt with Marionetta already.”

“It has to be Handel because of the cloak and strings,” Dolce said, her moment of fear turning quickly to anger. “The original owner. He probably picked his moment exactly now while he didn't have the ring with its protection spell on it. I'm going after them.”

“Hang on, Dolce, you're already in the dress,” Leon said, worried about her.

“I don't care since it won't matter if we don't get him back quickly,” she snapped at him.

“Fine, but we're going with you,” Dylas said, coming over to them.

“Be careful in there,” Nancy said, worried but not about to stop her.

“May the gods protect you,” Rani said, nervous but stepping out of their way.

On the way over, Dolce reviewed what she knew of Handel. He was Pico's father, as Ignis the artist had said. But he was also the one who murdered her and Marionetta in order to preserve his family as dolls and start the curse on the house. Before he'd gone utterly mad, he'd been a popular doll maker and marionette actor in a wealthy family. That was how he'd gained the wealth to build such a large mansion dense with magic when Selphia was a very new town here. But he used magic in a way that was deemed unsafe as nearly everyone who followed that school ended up insane. Since he had built the house starting with the theater, they might just find Handel and Vishnal in the theater instead of deep within the mansion in Handel's doll workshop.

Leon threw the double doors open easily, revealing that they had gotten lucky. Handel had only taken Vishnal as far as the stage. Dressed in his wedding suit, Vishnal didn't look that afraid of the situation even though he was strung up with thin control strings. Handel had a red cloak that matched the curtains on the stage, but a dark mist and eyes of an icy green glow gave away his position. “Ah, do we have all the players here?” Handel asked.

Not held as securely as Handel thought, Vishnal tossed off the control strings and waved to them. “Hi all! Glad to see you came so quickly.”

Handel immediately sputtered. “Wh-why you! Get back in the strings!”

“Oh sorry, they were getting in my way,” Vishnal said in an overly polite fashion.

Amber laughed and Leon snorted. “Well looks like this rescue wasn't needed.”

“A rescue will be hopeless once...” Handel started as if speaking in a play.

Vishnal managed to get free of the control strings again, in order to pull the hood of the cloak off Handel. “If you're going to put on a play, you might want the audience to see your face.”

The ghost's eyes glowered in intense green. But he'd already lost most signs of his humanity, being replaced with a miasma like ghost monsters were made of. “You are the most uncooperative actor I've ever dealt with.”

“I'm not an actor,” Vishnal said.

Meanwhile, Pico was contemplating something. She took the opportunity to fly over to Handel. “D-Daddy?” she said. Dolce could tell she was faking the emotion, so she waved the other guardians to help her surround Handel.

Pico's voice disconcerted Handel, shattering his anger and making him nervous. “Y-you? She said she threw you out to prove she owned you. She was jealous of you.”

“I'm not owned by anybody, but I gave my heart to milady long ago,” Pico said.

“No, you belong to me, you and her both,” Handel said in a shaky voice. “You belong to me! I won't let anyone take either of you away from me; no other man should even get a glimpse of you. I won't even let you grow up because you're my precious girl and no one else deserves to touch you. You'll stay my treasure, with her, in our wonderful house, for ever. At least that's how it should have been, she didn't want to share me with anyone. Well fine, she can go to hell as she should! But you, little Pico, you're mine forever.” He held his hands out towards her, trying to beckon her into them.

“Um, nope, sorry, no can do,” Pico said, keeping away.

“You had better leave my little sister alone,” Dolce said sharply. She felt safe in revealing the situation now as Leon had completed a spirit binding circle under Handel to keep him from escaping.

“She doesn't belong to you, she belongs to me!” Handel insisted.

“Cast him out, now!” Leon said.

She didn't need to be ordered as she was already recalling that prayer, tracing the sign in the air in front of her. While she didn't like a forced exorcism like this as it hurt ghosts, those that had lost their humanity like Handel here deserved it. “Restless spirit, the time has long passed since you should have gone to rest. Let go of what binds you to this realm and return to the Forest of Beginnings. Leave the world of the living to the living. Your mind needs to be cleansed in the purity of rebirth. I pray that the gods have mercy on you and judge you based purely on your life, not your clouded afterlife. Spirit, it is time to rest.”

Handel screeched in an entirely inhuman way, pushing against the binds of Leon's circle enough to cause sparks. Dolce kept her nerve to complete the prayer and force him to the Forest of Beginnings. Once he was gone, all of the puppet strings that had been hanging around Vishnal dropped to the stage.

And Pico darted over to grab Dolce's arm. “Hee hee, I choose Dolly for my family, not him!”

Sighing but leaving her be, she went over to Vishnal. “I'm glad you're all right, but how did you escape the power of his puppet strings? They should have been as strong as Marionetta's.”

“I just knew that as soon as you heard, you'd come after us,” Vishnal said, clasping his wrist where it seemed he was still wearing that bracelet she'd made for him. “Plus I know how to get out of strings and ropes; it wasn't much different from ordinary ones that way.”

“Wow, you really are prepared for anything!” Amber said in amazement.

Dolce nearly let a laugh escape, knowing that he'd figured that out from her. “Well if we're going to be that nonchalant about things, let's get back into town so we don't delay our plans there.”

“Sure thing, I'll see you in a few minutes,” he said with a warm smile.

“I'll see him over, just in...” Leon got interrupted by the house shaking violently. Dolce nearly got knocked off her feet, but Vishnal caught her. “Get out!”

Vishnal cast escape for her, bringing her out with him. The other three got out with their own spells in time for the house to collapse in on itself. With all of its owners gone, it no longer had the power to remain safe from the passage of time. At least, it shouldn't have. When the creaking and crashing stopped, the theater entrance remained looking much as before. Only a large pile of rubble to the west and tumbling off the cliff were signs of the collapse.

“What happened to it now?” Amber asked, going over and touching the doorframe. “It's here.”

“Handel was the source of the curse so the house should have gone entirely with him,” Dolce said. “Unless there's another owner of the house?”

“We didn't find any other ghosts like that,” Pico said. “He was the last one left as of a few days ago.”

“Um, what if the last owner of the house is Pico?” Vishnal suggested. “Since she was Handel's daughter, even if she denies him now.”

“That makes sense,” Dolce said, looking at the ghost girl. It was a worrisome thing.

“Boo, I don't want the dusty old house and its curse,” Pico said with a pout. Then an old paper appeared near her, bearing a royal seal and a tiny chain. Balling up her fists, she repeated, “I don't want it!”

“Is that the deed to the house?” Dylas asked. “It has a faint curse on it. But sheesh, trying to read that curse is like trying to read legal writing.”

“Legal writing?” Dolce said, wondering about something. “Maybe Arthur could do something about this.”

“What would he do with a cursed document?” Dylas asked, although some idea went off in him after he said it aloud.

“Change the wording in a legal fashion to decurse the deed and property,” Leon said, his ears perked in interest. “That might actually work out with Handel gone, if we help him navigate the curse runes to do it. If Pico really is the only owner left, that is.”

“We can let him know later on today,” Vishnal said. “Can you handle it safely, Pico?'

“I don't want to touch it, but I think it's going to haunt me until I do,” she said, moving back. The deed followed. “I can, sort of.”

“We've got some time before the ceremony, I'll see about getting him over,” Leon said.

Ten minutes later, Arthur and Leon showed up in the clinic where Dolce, Dylas, and Amber had returned safely. “I haven't worked on a cursed document, but the theory seems sound,” Arthur said. “Leon's already put on an enchantment to protect me, so as long as my pen works with the paper, it shouldn't be hard.”

“Well it's right here creeping on me, so go ahead,” Pico said.

“Don't touch the chain or it might think you're an owner,” Dolce said.

Arthur nodded and took the paper by its corners to force it onto a table. After spending a couple minutes examining it and asking questions on the curse, he added an extra clause in empty space. He even used a ring he wore to put a seal of Norad royalty on the clause before signing it. “Okay, what I did was state that as one of the oldest buildings in Selphia that has been a big part of its history, culture, and folklore, it is to be recognized as a historical site to be a public space not owned by anyone. Since the curse requires there to be an owner to the mansion, if the addition is signed by a current owner, the curse and rest of the deed becomes null and void.”

“I hope that works,” Dolce said.

“So I just need to sign it now?” Pico asked.

“Make sure it's on the line I made by the new clause,” Arthur said, offering her his pen.

“Okay,” she said, printing her name a bit large as the pen wasn't easy for her to use. Once she did, the chains on the deed snapped and turned to dust. All forms of enchantment on the paper were completely gone. “Hah, and that should be the end of that place!”

Not entirely, as Nancy went up to the second floor windows to find that the theater part remained standing. They sent Dylas and Amber to have a second look at it from up close. While the building was no longer cursed or enchanted, somehow the theater escaped the destruction of the rest of Obsidian Mansion. The newly named historical site would remain standing without ghosts. Still, the end of the curse meant that her quest to put an end to its power was complete.

And it was the end of her old life as Dolce looked forward to starting a new one with Vishnal.


	84. Intermission - Prison Liberation

Summer 67

It was only morning, but it was already a hot day. If it wasn't for the light breeze, it'd be stifling. But at least they weren't around Delirium anymore, where ashes sometimes fell from the sky. Instead, they were in the southern most part of the Selphia region, the oddly named Autumn Road where the mountains in the Maya range began to piece the southern sky. They weren't very far from the prison itself now.

Teo and his twenty-four men were waiting there for them; Lest had brought along Arthur, the four guardians, Wendy, Corrin, Sven, Doug, Kiel, Xiao, and Jones. Today, they were going into battle to liberate the Sechs prisoners as well as destroy the prison and capture whatever facility was inside Idra Cave. There were some things to discuss first, including a letter Lest gave to Teo. “Arthur has convinced Central Norad to have our nation support your efforts. They're not announcing it publicly yet, but we've agreed to help supply you with food and medical potions. Also, both the Selphia and Kardia regions are ready to take in any civilian refugees to keep them safe during this conflict. Some of the other Norad regions may do so as well once things get going.”

“Good, your help is greatly appreciated,” the general said. “I've written my colleagues who also have loved ones being held hostage here, about their location and the rings. They are incapable of acting against the emperor while the prison stands, but I believe nearly all of them will join us if we can take it down. While there will still be some diehard supporters of Ethelbard, he's gone much too far.”

Plans for this day had already been exchanged through Teo's messenger, but there were some points that needed to be changed and discussed before they went into action. Lest and Arthur were to set up a command post here, although the main purpose was to have a place to bring the prisoners and any who got injured. Jones was there to handle any healing, with the help of Kiel, Xiao, and Lest; Doug would be staying with them as a guard along with Sano and Uno. The rest of the Selphia residents were going to help Teo's group in the actual battle.

Although if they did this right, there would be very little fighting actually done today.

* * *

 

The first part of this mission was finding a good spot for the initial strike. Keeping her dragon self asleep for this, Wendy checked on the direction of the chi here. Having the wind in their favor would help; she was the divine wind and it would be favorable to what she wanted. Teo sent one of his quicker soldiers with their group, including the guardians and Sven.

Following the chi to find a flow that went directly into the prison, they came to a place near a cliff's side where they could see the large featureless prison wall. A cluster of pine trees helped to give them cover. “This is going to be the best spot for your work close to this place,” Wendy said. Some of the runes in the area made her shudder. “There's someone very cruel in there, if the pained runes around are any indication.” For that reason, she was glad Lest was keeping out of the main battle area.

“All right, then we just got to hope they don't have those guns or whatever in sight,” Leon said.

“There aren't many issued lately, so they may just have one or two,” the soldier with them said. “Plus whatever's given to human soldiers isn't nearly as good as what the mechanical ones have, so we should be fine with the cover.”

“Still scary, but we gotta do this to make it right,” Amber said, taking Dylas' hand.

“Right, we'll take them down before they notice,” Dylas said, taking Dolce's hand as well. Leon joined in on their circle. At first, their song was disjointed while they all had to get in contact with the ether sea. That just made it obvious when they were successful; their melodies became one and for a brief time, their spirits were once again apart from their bodies.

It was disconcerting, Wendy thought. A familiar feeling of guilt pricked at her heart as it was because of her that they could do this. While it was an amazing way to keep casualties low in what could have been a dangerous venture, her four friends here had suffered through so much for her sake. She would have much rather they'd never been put through Etherlink. Then none of this would be happening. But then, they were all regaining their lives now. Even gaining more than they once had: Dylas had a bright future as a chef, Amber could pass for civilized on most days, Dolce was recently married, and Leon was going to be a father by next spring. They were better than they could have been. But did that make up for what all of them had suffered through?

Hearing a sigh from Pico, Wendy turned from her thoughts to see that the ghost had come near her. “While I agree that this is a great plan, isn't it so creepy when they do this? I think even Mr. Mundane Senses of a Soldier can tell they're not all there.”

Thankfully, the Sechs solider smiled at that. “I guess; they're unnervingly still.”

“Their souls can still leave their bodies under the right circumstances,” Wendy explained. “I wish they couldn't. But then, a lot of great things have come to them recently when they shouldn't be living in this time. I don't know if that's right or not.”

“Well you could leave this body at any time you wanted, can't you?” Pico said. Then she came close to whisper in her ear. “Aw, quit beating yourself up over that, Ven. They're back and they're happy, that's what matters.”

“You're right,” she said quietly, smiling a bit. Then she added in a more normal voice, “But gosh darn it, I'm trying to be human here! Don't go reminding me that this is my doll.”

Pico cackled as she flew backwards out of reach. “Hee hee, you're more of a doll than my Dolly is!”

The runes shifted rapidly inside the prison, so Wendy held a hand up. “Hang on, we can joke around later.” She listened through the wind to see how things were going. The four guardians had put their magic together to cast a sleeping spell over the entire prison. Once they got the prison doors open, Teo's group would easily be able to get the prisoners out and capture the prison staff and guards. There was a problem. “Someone important is resistant to the sleep magic,” she told the soldier. “They should be able to keep the rest from waking up, but this one person could cause a ruckus.”

“I see, we'll be careful,” the soldier said before taking off to rejoin his unit. Sven and Wendy were staying with the guardians to keep an eye on and protect them while they couldn't protect themselves well.

“I hope this goes well,” Sven said, already alert to what was going on in their immediate area.

“Me too,” Wendy said.

* * *

 

He was known as Commander Cudgel for the weapon he always carried with him, even to the showers and bed. Cudgel rather liked that nickname even back when it was an exaggeration. After it stuck to him, he made the claim real the heighten the threat of him beating on anyone who opposed him. He didn't care who it was, whether it was one of these traitorous dogs in the prison or one of his own staff. Nobody got away with disrespecting Cudgel. Some days he wanted someone to provoke him because it was so satisfying to put them in their place.

People didn't like him, but he didn't care as long as they respected him and did what he said. A year back, some snitch under his command had spread discontent and tried to get him fired from his post. While he had lost his job as a battle commander, he did find the snitch and make sure he and his friends wouldn't be complaining about anything anymore. It turned out well since Emperor Ethelberd recognized his talents and put him in charge of this prison for national traitors. Cudgel could do what he liked to punish these dogs and nobody would stop him.

Since this was over the Maya Mountain range, he could also spend his days relaxing and delegating work to others. Norad was a country that produced many fine foods and drinks, far better than any made in Sechs. Sine he was here, it was easy to sneak on over to Selphia on market days to make his own meals exquisite while the staff and prisoners were stuck with the kitchen's standard fare of plain bread, preserved meats, and bland vegetables. He enjoyed that aspect of the job more than the punishing now, although he wasn't about to let the others know. As long as he made his punishments obvious at least once a week, they wouldn't find out.

Cudgel was looking over the prisoners and staff this morning for just that opportunity. The prisoners were mostly women and children, with a small group of engineers and scientists who were kept under secure watch so they worked obediently in Idra Cave. However, it didn't matter what they were as they were all judged traitors to the empire and thus had to be reformed. Cudgel would have rather been rid of traitors altogether, but they made easy targets for beating on. Currently the prisoners were all at work. Inside, half were piecing machine soldiers together. Outside, the other half were working a field to grow crops for the army. He didn't know much about either job, but there had to be someone working slow or sloppy to make an example of. Or just someone who annoyed him.

While he was considering a teenaged boy who was dirtier than the rest, a pink mist rapidly filled the work building. It smelled of flowers, which was disgusting along with the pink of it all. The person responsible for this was better suited for punishment. Before Cudgel could start bellowing to find the one to beat on, all the people around him started dropping to the floor like flies. They were fast asleep.

Cudgel ran outside to find everyone there asleep in the pink mist as well. He went into the holding cells, the staff building, the radio and guard station, even his personal residence... everyone else was asleep. While this wasn't what he'd expected, it seemed his precautions against sly rivals was working. Nobody could curse him, poison him, or put him to sleep. While he was in his residence, he saw unfamiliar soldiers walking into the prison from the hidden doorway. They were prepared with face masks to screen out the mist. Among them was someone very familiar to him.

“Teo,” Cudgel growled, pulling his radio talkie off his belt.

Teo had been a thorn in his side for a long time, a person that he could not demand respect or fear from. He could still remember one horrible humiliating day when this straight-laced bore had managed to defeat him in a training duel. As the victor, Teo looked down on Cudgel with something that was almost like pity. “You have no morals or honor; the gods will have the last laugh on you if you remain so banal.”

That was back then; he had an ace today. “I will have the last laugh over you,” Cudgel said, starting to smile as he put in a call to the Idra Cave group. “Release the dragons so I can call them to the prison. We have a whole army unit gone traitor trying to overtake us.”

“Sir, we can't guarantee their reliability and we're supposed to wait on their reveal,” the one who answered him said, nearly stammering.

“Forget about that!” he yelled into the handset. “I'm in charge here and we're going to squash these rebels good. Release them now!”

“O-okay sir!”

Cudgel left his residence and hid in a spot he knew well as Teo's soldiers spread through the prison to make sure it was securely in their control. At least, so they thought. Once the dragons arrived, Cudgel would be in command as he should be, free to retaliate a devastating vengeance on Teo. Maybe he should make sure the undeserving general lived through it so he really suffered through the humiliation he needed.

After a few minutes, there were shouts from several directions as two dragons were spotted flying towards the prison. And not just any dragons either. One was like a fireball come to life, brightly glowing scales wrapped in smokeless flames that were only meant for destruction. The other was as tough as diamonds, bearing a long horn that could tear through the biggest of mountains. Feirsome and Terrable were divine dragons of Norad. While the pair in the sky were not these two, the copies were to be so authentic that they also held divine powers while being completely under the control of their Sechs masters.

Cudgel relayed a command signal from his glove to make sure they came to him. Then he ran out into the open field where the prisoners were being taken away. “Hold it! All of you traitors are under arrest and will be promptly executed for your arrogance!”

Teo turned to him with a dismissive look in his eyes. “Ah, old Cudgel, this is where they dumped you. Can't say I'm surprised.”

“Your self-righteous pride is going to make you fall today,” Cudgel said, grinning. “See those two coming straight here? I have the command codes to control those clones. There is no way you can fight against the might of me and two of the powerful divine...”

And Cudgel was cut off instantly when the Feirsome clone dropped out of the air straight on top of him. The weight and the fires immediately consumed him. The last thing he heard was a crazed powerful roar.

Teo was caught in a moment where he wasn't sure what to do. Facing the mad eyes of destruction, he could feel the mortality of his body and know that he was a frail beast before the power of the gods. While the Feirsome clone showed off with a roar, the lady knight that Prince Lest had sent with him came running to his side. “That can't be Feirsome,” Corrin said, her duel blades already drawn.

“It's a clone, he said so much,” Teo said, bracing himself. This wasn't a god. They might have a chance.

Unafraid, Corrin smiled at the challenge. “I know dragons. Get anyone with distance to attack its legs and wings, cut down its mobility to start with.”

“Got it,” Teo said, then fell back a few steps and shouted out orders to either attack at a distance or get the prisoners out of the area. Corrin dared to dart ahead and cut at the Feirsome clone's legs before facing him at the back. With that confidence, she should be fine.

To help them, the singing guardians withdrew the sleeping mist and called on a sudden rain shower to dampen the mad clone's flames.

* * *

 

Feirganger and Terraclone...

The first of the pair had quickly gone mad with the power of destruction suddenly filling her. The panicked scientists had to sedate her heavily with drugs to keep her from totally destroying the lab. Now that she was given the opposite drugs to get her going, she had no thoughts but following the signal that came to them and destroying everything at that spot. The human soldiers were outclassed by her power. However, her madness would undo her. The humans could work together and think, far more than Feirganger could handle.

Terraclone was different. She felt the immense power of earth she'd been granted and was driven mad as well. Instead of wanted to destroy everything, she wanted to be the earth. The mind she was born with couldn't grasp the idea that had been given to her, as powerful as it was. She would keep still and be with the dirt and rocks, but she could not be one with them. What did she do with the power she had? She didn't know. The power belonged to the earth and she would be the earth.

On getting the signal, there were different thoughts that conflicted with being the earth. The signal wanted her to fly to the signal and follow commands. It would have been nice to fly before this sudden gift of power, but now the thought of leaving the comfortable cave was almost unbearable. Then Feirganger had roared in anticipation and Terraclone reluctantly followed the signal until her companion squashed it dead.

Released from the signal's grasp, Terraclone happily descended out of the unsettling sky and came to rest on the road outside the prison. Now what? She could probably dig her way below and become even more of the earth than she was in the cave. There would be no air that way. As she put her mind to examining the ground for a nice spot to dig, she noticed something. There were earthmates in the area. Another strange idea, but that reminded her...

One of the humans who visited her in the cave she lurked in was one with an unforgettable presence. There was madness in it, fierce emotions that could trigger the kind of insanity primal dragons were infamous for. The kind of insanity that Feirganger was currently lashing out with. This mad human looked at her in pride and mastery. When he spoke, her limited mind was filled with strange ideas like that which wanted her to be the earth. He wanted all earthmates dead and suffering. There were a few that he was particularly focused on, including a crying child who still managed to put a stop to some plans.

Terraclone sensed five earthmates in a group nearby. Maybe six, there was a sixth powerful presence among them. But further down the road, she sensed the child earthmate that the mad human had been fixated on. How did she know? She didn't know enough to even question it. All the earthmates should die, but the one down the road had to die an extra death.

With the memory of the mad human swaying her, Terraclone forgot about becoming the earth in favor of killing the earthmates, especially that one down the road. She roared out her determination and ran to carry out this idea.

* * *

 

The roars they were hearing inside the prison were unsettling. Sven clasped his scythe, anxious for some action, to be doing something. However, the spot they were in was still undiscovered by the Sechs forces. A few monsters had come over to investigate, but they hadn't been difficult.

Then there was a roar that sounded different, coming from further away. That roar alarmed him far more than the one in the prison. While he couldn't understand it, he had a strong feeling that he knew what it meant. There was some dragon out to kill earthmates and it was focusing its attention on Lest. But Sven was supposed to stay here protecting the guardians.

Wendy stiffened at that roar too, turning to where the main road was. “Sven, it's after Lest!” she shouted. “I'll cover them, you go after it!”

“Thanks,” Sven said, taking off into the trees to reach the command post. This was unfamiliar land, but now that Lest was in danger, he knew right where the prince was. He headed for the road, hoping to cut off the danger.

It turned out to be a powerful black dragon, barreling along with a long horn kept low in front of it. For being so large, it was strangely quick. Sven had to use his dash power just to keep up. Noticing him, it kicked up rocks to knock him aside. But it wasn't trying to fight him, not until it got to Lest. What did it have against the prince? Though the reason didn't matter when Sven had to do all in his power to keep Lest and those in the command post safe from this crazed dragon.

Unfortunately, someone had come out of the post and onto the road: Lest and Uno. “Get away!” Sven shouted, changing the direction of his dash to slash at the side of the dragon. Sparks flew across the scales but didn't pierce them. He had knocked it out of its run, but made it focus for a moment on killing him. A bolt of what seemed to be ice shot down the road from the stone fox, also not deterring the dragon much.

“It's too tough for physical!” Lest called, running towards the fight. The dragon's long horn shone as flaming rocks began to rain down on the road. This led Lest to using his counter spell, blasting the dragon with powerful magic. The dragon immediately turned to ash, but its meteors were still falling. At the end of his counter, Lest was struck by one of them and knocked to the ground.

Sven darted to his side, ignoring the meteor shower as well as an explosion of energy and small crystals. While Lest was wearing his armored cloak and an enchanted hairpin, the meteor had struck hard enough to break the hairpin. “****, you really do jump right in harm's way,” Sven muttered. He had to have known that the dragon was out to kill him. The only thing that made sense was that Lest had left the others so they weren't in as much danger.

Uno whined a little and nudged Lest's shoulder. “Sorry Master Lest, I have tried.”

Once the shower and explosions were over, he carried Lest back to the command post so Jones could take care of him.

* * *

 

Lest had intended on sticking around to see this to the end. But with the injury he got fighting the clone of Terrable, the others kept insisting that he head back to Selphia with the first Baffamoo-pulled wagon. He didn't feel entirely clear-headed from the stronger potion Jones had given him either; the ones that had less of a side-effect were ones he couldn't take due to enchantments used to make them. So he had to go back early.

There were still people who wanted to talk with him before he left, including the scientists who had come out of Idra Cave. “We were all prisoners since the last head of our group was torn apart by the Feirsome clone,” one of them said. “He was the last who was really loyal to Ethelberd; we really didn't want to be working on this sacrilegious project, but we had to or our families would suffer worse.”

He was telling the truth, and the ones with him felt the same way. Lest nodded, feeling that he could trust them. “I understand; we won't hold you at fault. How did you make copies of the Native Dragons?”

“He gave us two of the larger broken rune spheres to study and the head scientist already had the theory years ago that they could be used to cast magic stronger than the possessor could normally handle. We ended up at a process of using omnigate to summon a regular primal dragon, then using etherlink to forge a bond between the primal dragon and a scale from the Native Dragon. Just that piece was enough to transform the primal into the divine, and give them an immense increase in power.”

“It's not enough to actually match a divine dragon, but still quite impressive,” Lest said. The level of power he'd felt in the Terrable clone wasn't on the level he felt around Venti. And she was the weakest of the four due to Storgane's curse.

“An exact comparison is difficult due to insufficient time in battle, but it was lesser,” Uno said.

“That one never did want to fight until just now,” one of the others said.

“They were also very unstable,” the spokesman said. “A few of the early clones dissolved into cryptid slimes and even these two successes were mentally inferior. The bond couldn't give them the intelligence of the Native Dragons. Still, we didn't expect that your people, or even our own people here, could take them out that easily.”

“Teo's group had an expert on dragons with them,” Lest said. “Still, how did you get the spells for omnigate and etherlink? Even if the incomplete rune spheres let you cast them without training as an earthmate, the spells are really limited in how they're taught among our tribe.”

Another one of the scientists had to explain when the spokesman didn't seem to know. “Ethelberd gave us some old journals from someone who'd studied them, a lady by the name of Sonja I believe.”

That made him frown. “Really, her writings ended up in Sechs? My family is the only one that is supposed to know how to cast etherlink at all.”

“Actually casting it isn't that hard as long as you have the power for it, and the key to unlocking it,” the spokesman of the scientists said. “Though understanding it is a whole different story. I think most of the soldiers who were given the rings and spell wouldn't have a clue what they were actually doing.”

“We still have those journals in Idra if you wanted to see them,” the other scientist said.

“That would be helpful,” Lest said. “Actually, anything you know about your sciences and alchemy would be helpful, if you want to share it with those who study those subjects in Norad. But it's your choice; we'll agree to keep you safe in Selphia during this conflict whether you do or not.”

“Thank you, we'd be happy to trade technologies too,” the spokesman said. They were sincere about it too, which Lest was sure Kiel and Frey would love.

“Though I hope you don't mean to spread knowledge about etherlink far,” he added. “It's a forbidden spell among our tribe save for specific purposes.”

A little while later, Teo came to report in. Lest let Arthur handle much of that, although Teo wanted to let him know a few things. “We only had one casualty, the prison's commander who was known as Cudgel in the army,” he said. While that may have been the only casualty, Teo and a few others sported injuries from the battle. “That was mostly his fault as he thought he could command those Native Dragon clones. Once he died and the rest of the prison staff awoke, they gave up without resistance.”

“That's good,” Lest said. “What happened with the Feirsome clone?”

“Between Lady Corrin's expertise and our experience, it was taken care of swiftly,” Teo said. “I believe she gathered up what got left behind for later study. The Idra Cave group was mostly scientists and engineers today, kept working due to communication limits and hostages like the rest of us. Along with their labs, there were also caves that could be used as barracks for machine soldiers during this invasion plan. Nothing for human soldiers, which accounts for why we had to set up our own base near the lake. He really didn't expect for us to last with the rings.”

“That's a dreadful waste to use one of your best units as a sacrificial pawn,” Lest said.

Teo nodded, a strong flame of determination in him today. “Yes, which is why we're going ahead with this plan even as it brings civil war to the land we love. Ethelberd doesn't realize the greatness of what he already has.”

“What are your plans heading out, what you'd be willing to tell me?” he asked, curious about it.

“We need to get into coordination with the rest of the army that wishes to join us,” Teo said. “The emperor has himself shelled up tight with his flying capitol, but we can cut off his influences and take over the factories that are on land. From that point, we'll probably have to wait him out and chip away at his machine forces little by little. But he can't last forever on his own even in a fortress.”

“I hope the gods are with you on this,” Lest said, shaking Teo's hand.

“I hope they recognize all the good you're doing,” he replied.

Then Wendy wanted to talk with him. He told her about the clones. “I wonder how far that bond goes using etherlink that way,” she said, swaying while she thought. “It's hard to tell from this distance. Though if it went straight to the actual dragons, I'm sure I'll be hearing from them.”

“They weren't as powerful as you, so I wouldn't think it goes that far,” Lest said.

“Well it was powerful enough to knock you out,” Wendy said, looking at him in concern. “I know you understand dragon language, so you had to know that one was out to kill you. You should have been more careful, not going right for it. I was worried when the others told me they sensed you were in a bad condition.”

He chuckled. “Worried about me, huh? Some nights you claim you're going to eat me.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Of course I'm worried! You're the best prince I've had working for me in a long time and I need you around to fix things. Besides, everyone else in town is going to be worried about you now. You're really important to them and you should consider their feelings more often when you feel like being reckless.”

“If I hadn't left the post, it would have barged straight in and attacked everyone there,” he said. “Some of them are much less capable of battle than me.”

“You could be doing better,” Corrin said, approaching them from the road.

“I do well enough to get by,” Lest said. “What happened to you?”

She brushed against a fresh scar on her cheek. “There was some kind of cracked rune sphere with the Feirsome clone; it exploded when we defeated the dragon. I think that actually did more damage than the dragon itself as Teo's men got it disabled in decent time. Although, if it had really gotten to use that fire accurately, we'd all have burns too. What about you?”

“The Terrable clone summoned a bunch of meteors and one hit me at the end of my counter spell,” he explained. “Thankfully that counter was enough to defeat it right off. Though I remember an explosion from something; must have been the sphere that made that one.”

“You mean we've got more little fragments to find?” Corrin complained, although the smile revealed it as a joke. She handed over a small bag. “Here, I got some ashes, sphere fragments, and a scale that were dropped by the Feirsome clone. I'd think Frey would want them.”

He nodded as he took the bag. “Sure. But you just know that this is going to drive her nuts because she's supposed to take caution in working with potent materials like a scale off a Native Dragon.”

She chuckled. “Maybe. But about your training...”

“My training?” Lest asked, puzzled that she was bringing that up.

“I was willing to be lenient on you since you had to focus on getting your breaking and love element powers under control,” Corrin said, tapping Lest's forehead. “But if you're at the point you can use them to vaporize a fake Native Dragon in one blow, then you need to pick up some other battle skills as my son. Also because this business with being like royalty now is likely to put you in more dangerous situations. Your golem friends help since they can be awake and at your side constantly. Still, it will be a glaring weakness if you don't train yourself in case you end up alone.”

“Yeah, you should work on that,” Wendy said.

And once Venti could give word as the divine wind to do this, he would have to comply. “Fine, we'll figure out a time to do that,” Lest said, though he smiled at the idea of getting to work with his father on something.

Corrin nodded. “Good. Maybe we can drag Arthur into it as well. I don't mean to train you in swords, since you'll probably work best as a battle mage. And he's got the intellect to be a battle mage as well.”

“Couldn't hurt to train him too since he is a born royal and could stand to learn self-defense,” Lest said. Plus it'd be more interesting with one of his friends along.

“There's some chivalry politics involved too,” Corrin said, putting a finger to her lips. “Stick with the group on the way back and don't be worrying me and your mother, all right?”

“I won't,” Lest said. “Though I'm more likely to fall asleep on the way back than be trouble.”

“Well that's even better,” Wendy said.

* * *

 

Summer 72

It was one of those days where the whole town ended up gathering in Porcoline's Kitchen for dinner. Sometimes it was coincidental and they all ended up talking to each other late into the evening. Today, though, word had been spreading through town that there was a special reason to gather.

“We've gotten recognition in the Norad News Weekly paper!” Meg said, excited as she held onto the newspaper itself. “And it's really great!”

“Was it that Lord Baldwin who was here a while ago?” Lest asked, petting Sano as the fox had his head in his lap.

She nodded. “Right, he's a famous gourmand that travels around the nation and writes a column on food every week. And he wasn't just commenting on the restaurant, but the town as well since he happened to be in town during that tea party.”

“Are you going to read the column out loud?” Xiao asked eagerly.

“I didn't mean to,” Meg said.

“Oh go ahead, it'd be best presented in your lovely voice,” Porcoline said, currently out at the tables with them as he often did on these evenings.

“Aw, Porco,” Meg said, blushing at the compliment. “Okay, okay, I'll read it. 'My dear readers, I have had the pleasure of experiencing not one but two fantastic experiences in one day! The first is something that you know I've been waiting to happen for a long time, to enjoy homestyle meals at the famed Porcoline's Kitchen in Selphia Town. Now this place has had a mix of fame and infamy as the food is said to be utterly delightful but you'd be taking your chances getting served in a timely manner. It has always had a rustic charm and lovely atmosphere, a laid back experience that should be much like eating at home. I've gone before and not had a chance to really eat there, but as word trickled over to my ears that the service had seen a dramatic improvement in reliability, I had to go try again.'”

“Wow, that guy sounds like Porcoline!” Amber said.

“He does, he's always written that way,” Blossom said with a smile.

“I'm sure we'd be jolly good friends if he was around this way more often,” Porco said, twirling his hand. “Go on, Meggy.”

She nodded and kept reading aloud. “'And it was well worth the return visit to Selphia! The menu is limited to what's available fresh and preferably locally grown, but changes from day to day so that it would never be quite the same meal twice. A lot of care and attention obviously went into each of the dishes that my lovely lady and myself sampled that day. The curry rice with fowl was a perfect balance of flavors, while the poached trout was a delicate and moist delight. On the side, there was a beautiful dish of spiced peaces or a delectable garden salad with just the right amount of dressing. We wouldn't be surprised to find that the produce had been pulled and washed just that day for the meal.”

“Probably was,” Lest said.

“You spoil us so much,” Porco said, winking at him.

Meg laughed before continuing with the article. “'It seems that the great change occurred due to the master chef taking in an apprentice this past spring, which seems to work excellently. Porcoline has proven himself to me to truly be the living legend among chefs that he was rumored to be all along, but I would keep an eye on the young man with him as he seems to have a talent like a raw diamond.' Aw, that's really high praise for you Dylas.”

“He's probably just showing off to the readers,” Dylas said, although he nearly slipped a smile when she'd been reading.

“Oh no, you are that good,” Leon said, nearly flicking him with his fan. “I wouldn't threaten to lock you in a kitchen if you weren't.”

“Quit it with that,” Dylas grumbled while a few others laughed.

“There's more to the article,” Meg said, trying to deflect attention from Dylas for a little bit. “Going on... 'Along with the fine meal, the second fantastic experience was entirely unexpected and thus even more amazing than that. One of our other reasons for going to Selphia at this time was to sneak around and find out more about rumors of an ordinary farmer becoming a prince. That turned out to be almost true, because Prince Lest is in truth an earthmate farmer and thus not ordinary at all, as well as responsible for the amazing produce at the restaurant.

“'We managed to track down this new prince and found him to be an approachable and delightful young man. He doesn't have the learning of today's nobility, but has a different kind of sophistication to his charming conversation. He clearly believes in the best of people and has given the noble town of Selphia a bright hope. Not only that, but he is quite handsome and still single in case any young ladies are interested.'”

“Really?” Lest said, now the one feeling embarrassed.

“You better watch out for the gold diggers now,” Leon said with a grin.

“Where are you picking up all this modern slang so fast?” Dolce asked amid the chuckles.

“Hang out in the marketplace on Thursdays, it's quite a learning experience,” he replied.

“Well it is a legitimate worry, so be careful,” Arthur said to Lest with a knowing smile.

“It's going to be really weird,” Lest said.

“We're not at the end,” Meg said, getting the chatter to die down again so she could get back to reading. “'But the truly fantastic thing that happened was while we were talking with the prince. It's been the talk around Norad that Sechs seems to be gearing itself up for war again, with regions like Selphia right in the hot zone. News came to him during our talk that some Imperial soldiers were within minutes of arriving at town and had already captured a couple of the townspeople. On learning more of the situation, he took things calmly and turned the day from an invasion into a tea party.

“'You read that right, someone managed to capture all of the soldiers and the prince invited them into town for a tea party. It was truly a last-minute affair with dozens of guests, but the prince deftly delegated the preparations to get them done in a fashion that would have appealed to the pickiest of nobility or the harshest of critics. All this for someone who was their enemy? Well 'was' is the right word since it seems Prince Lest managed to get the imperial soldiers to release their captives safely and turn away from their plans of invasion. Rumor in recent days even has it that this lovely tea party may have even inspired the soldiers to change their loyalties and strike at their oppressive leader instead. Truly an unconventional tactic from an unconventional prince, but one that has earned my complete respect and awe.'”


	85. Piano Keys

They kissed and this sad moment melted away into a warm bubble that they wanted to remain encased in. Stormy winds howled just outside and tried to shake the house, but the typhoon might as well have been miles away. It didn't matter, just the two of them. Lonely feelings reached out and didn't want to be lonely any more.

When their lips parted, they looked into each other's eyes in awe at the unexpected turn... but here was also a fear that emerged again, warning that this could be a mistake. “Eh-heh, where did that come from?” Meg asked, although she really didn't want to let go.

“I, I don't know,” Wendy said, starting to get confused. “I didn't think I could fall in love; I shouldn't, this isn't even my real body. But I'm here with you and I don't want to be anywhere else.”

It was very strange; how had it happened?

* * *

 

Venti was fascinated by the piano. She'd seen them through the wind, even heard them herself when one had been in the parlor nearby. Liking music in any form, this was the first chance she'd gotten to really take a good look at one through the doll's eyes. It was the one in the restaurant, a beautiful black instrument that was kept sparkling clean. Underneath the propped cover, there were many taunt strings with little hammers poised to strike a note. She guided Wendy over to the white and black keys and pressed one of the middle ones for a clear note.

Such a simple little action, but it made her giggle all the same. Perhaps centuries ago, she would have been small enough to plunk at piano keys. Now she was so large that it'd be hard to press just one key with her claws. She had Wendy press a few more, starting to link the notes to the keys. Maybe she could figure out how to make a song out of this?

A laugh drew her attention from the piano. “You're just like a kid at that piano, Wendy,” Margaret said, her eyes sparkling in amusement. “Or like someone whose never seen a piano before.”

The doll grinned out of Venti's happiness and nodded.

“What, that you've never seen a piano before?” Margaret asked, her eyes wide. When Wendy nodded again, she said, “Wow, that's surprising. Do you know about music? I could show you how it works.” She sat down and played a short song, talking about the notes and how the piano made songs with the strings.

In watching her, Venti was able to figure out some of the keys. Margaret scooted aside and asked if she wanted to try again, so she sat Wendy down on the bench (a bit clumsily, but at least the doll didn't fall off or sit on the elf). Now knowing some notes, she picked out another song on the keys slowly. It didn't come out quite right the first time, but a couple more tries got it right.

“Hey, you might actually be good at this,” Margaret said. “Here, push down on one of the pedals and see what happens.”

Ventuswill was a divine Native Dragon meant to monitor time that made the entire world work, but it was a real joy to play the piano for the first time.

* * *

 

Yesterday had been a fun fishing contest. However, there had been a lot of visitors and some of them were careless with their trash. Since Meg had been playing with the other girls in town, she hadn't gotten around to doing something about it until now. Others might just see the grass from this vantage point, but she could see the little signs of litter: a black edge of an old boot in a cluster of grass, an old can dropped among rocks, lots of discarded papers. She sighed. “This might be worse than I thought.”

“What's worse?” a voice full of curiosity, casualness, and caring said from a few feet behind her. The footfalls were slightly off and light, the type that came with Dolce and Wendy. Both of them had some aspects of dolls to their bodies, but this one was more than willing to talk.

“Hi Wendy,” Meg said, glancing back to see that it was the white haired girl. “I mean the litter from yesterday. Just look at it! It's so disgusting and makes the town look bad. I came to clean it up.”

She frowned. “People should know better than to trash up a town. Mind if I help? It needs to get picked up and it'll go faster with two.”

“That'd be great, thank you,” she said with a smile. “I've only got the one trash bag, hopefully it's enough.”

“It'd be sad if it wasn't,” Wendy said, picking up a can as she approached and dropping it in the bag Meg held.

“Halt, I've caught you red-handed!” Someone appeared in a puff of glittering smoke and petals. Illuminata had her finger pointed at Wendy and her eyes glaring at Meg.

Meg squealed in surprise at first. “Ellie! Don't scare people like that!”

“Don't try to change the topic to avoid what's coming to you,” Ellie said, ignoring what she said. “I've been on a stake-out for days to uncover who was behind the nefarious black-market dealings, and here you both are! What's in the bag?”

“The empty can Wendy put in just now,” Meg said, shaking her head.

“What kind of black-market are we talking about?” Wendy said, tilting her head.

“To distribute fake energy drinks that are nothing more than sugar water under the label of the real deal for an immense profit,” Ellie said, proud of her idea.

“What would we do with a dirty old can in that plot?” Wendy asked.

“To make it even more dangerous under the pretense of recycling, of course. We can't let this stand!”

“How have you been on a stake-out for days when you were at the flower shop just yesterday?” she finished with.

Ellie put her hand to her head. “Fine, you got me, I was just bored.”

“Don't encourage her so much,” Meg said to Wendy. “Elves can get a little loopy after a certain age.”

“Hey, you don't need to go releasing national secrets like that!” Ellie said, acting furious.

Meg just shrugged. “Although some elves are really loopy no matter how old they are.”

Wendy smiled at that. “I thought it was interesting. You should write books!”

“Heh, that might not be a bad idea,” Ellie said, rubbing her chin.

“But since you're bored,” she said, leaning towards her, “you can help us pick up litter today! The lake area needs to get cleaned up pronto!”

“Aw, really?” Ellie said. “Well fine, I don't like the trash either. Let's get to work, girls!”

Laughing at how Wendy roped her into it, Meg shook the trash bag. “Yes, let's get it done!”

Another good thing about having people help her was that it was more fun. Wendy seemed to like Ellie and kept asking her about the supposed black-market trade; it got into a twisted yet entertaining scenario once it was strictly for fun. When they were doing a last scan of the area to make sure they didn't miss anything, Wendy started singing and dancing while looking. She wasn't nearly as silly as Amber could be, but she was still cheerful and fun.

“You know, I've been quietly studying our resident mystery girl,” Ellie said in a quiet voice near Meg. “She seems confident in who she is, but is keeping it under wraps for some reason. All we know for sure is that she isn't human and this isn't really her.”

“Well she's not causing trouble and helps out around town, so I don't mind respecting what she wants to keep quiet,” Meg said.

Ellie tapped her monocle. “Perhaps, but it's a mystery too intriguing to pass up. Personally, I think that she once held a great responsibility in the world but has recently been allowed to give it up. So she's spending every day enjoying her new freedom while still feeling compelled to help from time to time.”

“What makes you think that?” She was curious, although Meg told herself that she could point out a flaw in Ellie's logic as usual. Not that it would convince her the idea was wrong right now, but it would seem less an action against Wendy.

“Well just look at her now,” Ellie said, almost pointing to Wendy but holding back while the white-haired doll was distracted in singing. “There are times when she says something with deep insight, what would come with age. But then she also acts and speaks childishly from time to time. Not quite naivety, but she certainly enjoys it. Doesn't she remind you a bit of the queen?”

“She's obviously not the queen or an elf,” Meg said, remembering some things. It had happened when she was young, but the elves had once been ruled by a queen who was kept cloistered in a palace. She never left and very little was decided on without her word on it. Then the queen's sister asked if they weren't depending on the queen too much, as well as putting too much pressure on her in being kept absolutely safe like that. It was around that time that the elves began opening up to other races as well. “But maybe you have a point.”

“Right, when she was finally allowed to leave her sanctuary and be her own person, she was hesitant for a while. But she also had a childish awe and enthusiasm at things she'd not seen or done herself, even mundane things like chores. Kind of like Miss Wendy here has for picking up trash at the lake.”

“She does say that the doll was a gift and she's enthusiastic about living with humans,” Meg said. “Though I'm sure she'll tell us who she really is when she feels ready to, when she knows that it won't cost her this freedom.”

Ellie tapped her fingers on her hip, frowning. “It's hard to help her solve that mystery when she doesn't tell us much about it. All well. Maybe if I solve a big mystery with her as a witness, and help her out enough, she'll be more willing to talk. I don't think she'll need interrogating... yet.”

Meg laughed. “Good luck in that!”

“A great detective doesn't need luck!” Ellie said with a smirk. “Hey Wendy? I was just wondering, but when's your birthday?”

She came back up to them, holding onto something small. “Oh, my birthday? It's the fourth of Spring.”

“Hey, another Spring child!” Meg said, happy to hear that. “So are we, me on the 73rd and her on the 84th.”

Wendy smiled. “That's neat!”

“How old are you gonna be?” Ellie asked, acting cool with a hand on her chin.

“Old enough that I don't want to tell,” Wendy said, then giggled. “Older than both of you! Together!”

“Huh?!” Meg asked, shocked to hear it. “Wow, that would be pretty old.”

“You certainly don't look your age,” Ellie said with a wink.

“Well the doll isn't even a year old, so of course I don't,” Wendy said, then showed them the brown bottle she had. “Look at this! I didn't see any trash this time, but this is pretty.”

“Oo, that is nice,” Ellie said, touching the bottle. It sparkled in the sunlight as she shifted it. “Seems like something that's been polished up on the lake bed for years. Surprised the cork is still in it.”

“Is that a melody bottle?” Meg asked, noticing that the cork was chained to the neck of the bottle. There were faint sounds like music inside, with runes meant to keep sound in place.

“I think it is,” Wendy said. “It's got the right kind of magic, although different than usual.”

“What're you girls talking about?” Ellie asked, curious about this item she'd never heard of.

“It's produced by a siren's magic from a regular glass bottle,” Meg explained. “They can trap songs and messages inside to be played back later when the cork is removed, as many times as they like until a new song is put inside. Though, it's a gamble opening one that you don't know the source of as it might have the actual siren's song inside. That can be really dangerous to hear up close, even in a sound trap like this.”

“Doesn't Bado have one stuck to him?” Wendy asked, grinning at the thought.

Meg chuckled. “Yeah, he does.”

“Bado's so lazy and irresponsible that I avoid speaking to him whenever possible,” Ellie said, annoyed at being reminded of him.

“He's gotten better lately, at least a little bit,” Meg said.

“I don't think this has a siren song inside,” Wendy said. “The runes seem more like a message.”

“Hey, can we listen to it then?” Ellie asked eagerly.

“Wouldn't that be butting in on someone else's business?” Meg asked, worried.

“How are we going to know who's business it is until we listen?” Ellie pointed out. “Besides, if it has been on the lake bottom for years, the person it was meant to reach might not be around anymore. And aren't you curious about it? Even the least little bit?”

“Well, maybe,” Meg said.

“I'm sure it won't be dangerous,” Wendy said, pulling the cork out to released the trapped sound.

What came out was a man's voice, roughened with age. “Hello Audy. I was happy to have this reminder of your voice, but I wanted to leave you one last message before it got too late. Sorry, but I can't come see you any more. I haven't been able to go find you for a long while now; sorry about that too. But there's nothing I can do about it. I can't travel that distance, plus I couldn't bear to worry you like that any more. There's no way we'll be able to meet again. Please forgive me. Still, I treasure our times together and you'll always be my only love. I hope you keep the heart you have. Goodbye.”

“Aw, that's sad,” Wendy said, looking down on it in pity. “I wonder how it ended up in the lake.”

“I wish we could do something about it,” Meg said. “But I don't recognize the name Audy.”

Ellie had her hand on her chin. “It sounds vaguely familiar. Like I should know it. Bah, it must have been a long while back if I can't think of it now.”

“Maybe it's someone who moved away from Selphia?” Meg wondered. “We might be able to figure out where she moved to and get the melody bottle to her that way. Here, I'll look into it when I have some time.”

“You sure?” Wendy asked, handing her the bottle.

She smiled. “Yeah, the least we can do is try to find Audy to get the message to her. Although it's too bad he didn't leave his name in the message because then it might be easier to find her.”

“It's a shot in the dark,” Ellie said. “You're too nice sometimes, but that's what a lot of people like about you.”

“Hey, don't embarrass me,” Meg said, blushing. She just liked to do what seemed right.

Ellie chuckled. “Anyhow, it seems our trash clean-up mission is done. Great work! Just don't be keeping Wendy out too late or people will start suspecting things. Later!”

“What are you talking about?” Meg asked, but Ellie was already running off into town. “Man, she really is loopy at times.”

“Loopy people are so fun to watch,” Wendy said with a smile. “Hey, um, Meg? Since I can talk now, could I keep learning about the piano from you? That was fun!”

“Sure, I think it was too,” she said, happy to have a friend interested to learn music. They headed off to her home to practice on her piano there.

* * *

 

She wondered what Meg was doing today.

Wendy smiled at herself. Last summer, she'd been trying not to make any more friends. Everybody around her could stay as acquaintances, people that she watched but didn't get deeply involved in. That had been the much safer way to be, especially with her energy waning. If she made a friend, someone else might try to become a guardian even though she'd banished the family that knew the spell and all the rune springs were taken. Humans were clever and they would have found some way if they thought it was necessary to help. The easiest way was to not let them care that much.

This summer? She had all of her old friends back, and plenty of new ones! And she was doing so well in pretending to be a human with Wendy that she now had a job! Granted, most humans thought being a clerk in a general store was a low class job for someone without much experience or ability. But she thought it was fun. She got to chat with people, see what they were interested in, and examine things they had created all while providing a needed service to the community. And she still had time to visit with her friends and live with them.

But why would she wonder about Meg in particular today? Wendy got to see her regularly with the piano lessons and Meg only knew her as Wendy. Usually she thought about one of the guardians or Lest first, those who knew she was Wendy and Venti. She wanted to spend a lot of time with them, especially the guardians as they'd suffered so much for her sake.

Maybe it was because Meg thought Wendy and Ventuswill were different beings. She had been doodling the elf in her sketchbook during this lull in the store. Of those who didn't know the link between them, Meg was the one closest to Wendy. She was a warm and caring person, if bossy and prone to fussing over about her friends. But it was nice to be fussed over for having her hair straight or being safe. That was nicer than Volkanon fussing about how often Ventuswill napped. It used to be because of her low energy, though now it was so she could spend more time as Wendy. And Meg was very pretty...

Wendy giggled at herself now. All mortals were beautiful in their own ways. And it was so nice to see it up close and personal like this. It made it tempting to attempt to step down as the divine wind sooner. Still, she wasn't sure if it was going to work.

The door jangled and she smiled even more seeing who it was. “Hi Meg! I was just thinking about you!”

Laughing, Meg came in with a shopping bag. “Hi Wendy! That's pretty funny, I was just wondering how you were doing at your new job and decided to do some of my usual shopping today.”

“It's my first job and I love it!” Wendy said, beaming with energy. More than the job, she loved her whole life now.

* * *

 

She wondered where Wendy was.

It was kind of weird when Meg realized she was doing that. Normally, she'd just wonder where one of her friends was if she had some time with no plans to herself, not where any particular one was unless something was up. She was friends with most of the town. Any of the women or girls wouldn't mind it if she dropped by to chat; some of the guys were fine with hanging out as friends too. Though she'd had a busy stressful day so far. Hanging out with the lighthearted Wendy would make things seem better.

Though that would also go for Amber, Frey, or Xiao. Or Clorica, it was hard to feel stressed around her most of the time. Meg just felt like seeing Wendy in particular although she couldn't explain why to herself. Maybe to play music with her. Wendy was pretty good as a student, although she wasn't doing as well learning to read sheet music. But after hearing a song a few times, she had a knack for being able to play it herself.

Besides music, there was something Meg had been thinking about talking to Wendy about. It was hard to say if she had been joking at the time, but if she was really older than even Illuminata, she might be able to help on something. She had once thought Ellie could help, but she had been bouncing between various ideas on how to reinvent herself before her second century came along. Even so, she hadn't had a satisfactory answer.

While walking through town thinking on what to do, she found Wendy sitting on the edge of the flower box in front of the inn. She had her sketchbook as usual, looking over the drawings in thought. “Hi, what're you drawing today?” Meg asked. Though she normally didn't answer directly.

She did today, surprisingly. “People, like I usually do. Though these are just practice for what I really want to do.”

“Oo, may I see?” Meg said. Knowing that she could be self-conscious of her songs, she decided to add, “I won't make fun of you.”

“Well it's just practice sketches,” Wendy said, a bit embarrassed. “But, if you really want to, sure. It's a bit messy, of course.” She patted the wall beside her, so Meg said there to look at the sketchbook.

There were a few different people on the two pages Wendy had open. Some were visitors that Meg couldn't recognize. But she saw a small sketch of Lin Fa with a broom and a head only sketch of Bado. Though the most noticeable sketch was one of Forte as it took up much of one of the pages. It was how she was every day, watching over the town with her armor and sword. There were also some flowers drawn around her as a frame.

“Wow, those look nice for sketches,” Meg said. “I love this one of Forte; it's just like her, even with the floral frame.”

“Well the flowers mean something,” Wendy said, pointing one out. “They're violets, which most people think of as shy, but they also hold the meaning of faithful virtue. Although if I was going to make it a full drawing, I'd add more flowers with meanings so they told a story as much as the drawing itself.”

Meg giggled. “Well she does get shy about her feminine side. My sister's an artist too, but she likes to exaggerate features and use color in all sorts of weird ways. Like, if she thinks that your nose is your best feature, the nose on a portrait will be really big and focused on, with features she liked less being smaller. But even if it's weird, it has a way of making you think when you see her stuff.”

“I've seen that kind of style before,” Wendy said. “But I want to show how wonderful people are in my eyes. I want my pictures, at the final stage, to be full of their emotion and personality. Over the years, I've tried a lot of ways. Um, but I haven't kept pictures around until recently, and I had to relearn to draw with this doll. So I'm not quite where I want to be.” She frowned as if it was bothering her.

“But you're doing really good if this is where you've gotten in relearning,” Meg said, wanting to encourage her. “You know, I could ask my sister if she'd recommend any books to help you out. Hopefully she'll suggest something useful and not something weird.”

“It might help, thanks,” she said with a nod.

Though she wasn't quite smiling again yet. Meg leaned over and smiled at her. “You really like people, don't you?”

That made her eyes light up. “Yeah! You're all so fascinating and I never thought I'd get such a blessing as to live like a human. While I'm here, I want to find some way to remind people that they are wonderful creatures. I mean, I've seen so many with fascinating stories and sparkling personalities, but they don't see their own beauty. Some of them even mistake themselves as being terrible. But they're not and I really just want to see them accept themselves and be happy. I've been limited on how much I can help them.”

“You're a really nice person, Wendy,” Meg said, feeling some admiration for her.

“I'm not that nice, really!” she said, embarrassed but finally smiling again. “I've threatened to eat people before.”

She ended up laughing. “Just threaten or did you really?”

“I don't have to answer that,” Wendy said with a pout, but her inner music was really happy.

* * *

 

A summer typhoon hit, so little Doomgale had gone out to see if she could end it early. She wasn't powerful enough yet, only managing to weaken its intensity. Lest, Frey, and Corrin were all in the castle trying to cheer the little dragon up, in that she was getting better in fighting them. When she'd come back in, Ventuswill had told her that it had been a long time since she could stop a powerful storm. The last time she'd done so regularly was back when Amber was living with the fairies. As she didn't wear clothing for much of her childhood, Venti had done her best to steer snow and ice storms away from the area during winter. But the effort had often exhausted her. Now, she couldn't even do as much as Doomgale had done just now.

While Doomgale was starting to accept her efforts as good for a young dragon, thinking about it was making Venti feel discouraged. She'd never been as powerful as she should be. As a result, one family of earthmates got caught up in an obsessive quest to fix that, four of her closest friends had given up on continuing their lives for her sake, and so many others were hurt deep in their hearts. Why did these mortals get so set on saving a goddess? She was the one who was supposed to protect them in a world that could turn dangerous against them without the presence of the Native Dragons. But she couldn't even do that well, what with another goddess having to step in to fix the rune springs and all the cracks leaking corrupt runes throughout her land.

“It'll get better when Doomgale can take over,” she whispered to herself. Doomgale had an average strength for an elemental dragon her age, so there shouldn't be any problems in her ascension. Unless Venti was off in her predictions and there was an even younger wind dragon out in the world. Still, a new divine wind born now would only benefit from the Selphian rune springs being in their proper positions.

Maybe she should try her plan now? But there was that risk that it wouldn't go as she thought. If that happened, she wouldn't get to make sure things turned out all right for her friends. Leon and Dolce were married, with Amber potentially being not that far from her own wedding. Dylas had yet to sparkle with love or mention being interested in anyone. If she waited on him, it might be some time yet. Or if she waited on Lest. He was a dear friend too and it'd be nice to see him truly positive about his future too. There were times when his blur defense weakened and she could see some painful sadness in him too. But he'd yet to say anything on that since he could be clever in conversational evasion. Or maybe even Meg? Meg didn't see Venti as a dear friend, but she did see Wendy as one already. In that way, Venti hoped for her happiness as well.

Maybe she should try to hook her up with Lest or Dylas? The thought made Venti smile. Which one should she try to get interested in Meg? She knew Meg had been infatuated with Lest before, as a result of the butterfly dream curse. Dylas worked often with Meg, which meant he was already more comfortable around her than most girls. Either one could work, though it'd be easier if she asked Meg about them.

That idea led Venti to settle herself down for a nap so she could transfer her mind to Wendy. She'd left the doll in her inn room, continually practicing her sketching when she didn't need to sleep. With this, she was steadily getting better. She'd even bought some colored pencils in order to finish some bigger drawings, though it was easier if she had her mind in the doll to work on those. But she wanted to speak to Meg, so Wendy put her newest sketchbook in her bag and prepared to go out.

“Going out in the storm?” Lin Fa asked as she came downstairs. “Be careful out there, Wendy.”

“I'll be fine, don't worry,” she said with a smile.

“Oh, would you please run the meal orders by the restaurant?” Xiao added, searching for a packet of order tickets that had been given to the inn guests. “Since few dare to go out, most want to take their meal in their rooms and we haven't got the ingredients to make a full meal for everyone here.”

“Sure, that's on my way,” Wendy said, taking the packet and quickly skimming it. The number of tickets seemed right. “Enjoy the storm!”

“Heh, I think you would enjoy it more if you dare go out now,” Xiao said with an admiring smile.

She did like storms; the interplay of wind, water, and electricity was exciting to watch. And it was a thrill going out in it with Wendy. The winds blew her hair and clothes about; the rain on the sidewalk made her steps likely to become slips. Lightning flashed overhead, with the thunder rumbling her bones. Fearlessly enjoying it, she ran by the restaurant to drop off the orders and see if Meg was there. She wasn't, so Wendy continued on to her home on Melody Street.

For some strange reason, Meg lived out on the farthest house of the eastern platforms hanging over the side of the airfield. She didn't like heights which made this decision seem like an illogical one. Then again, her house was solid. Wendy knew that it had been here ever since the platforms were built and it had weathered many storms. As it hadn't broken apart or fallen yet, it was very unlikely that it'd do so in the future.

Wendy knocked, but the wind picked up and threatened to tear her bag off her arm. She opened the door without waiting on an answer and hurried in to shut it behind her. Due to that, she caught Meg as she was trying to stop crying. “Meg?”

“Oh, Wendy!” She tried to smile and wipe the tears from her face. “S-sorry, I didn't think anybody would be up for visiting in this storm and got a bit lost on memory lane, heh.”

“I felt like taking a break from practice,” she said. “What's wrong? I'll listen to you if you want.”

“Well it's in the past and something...” she paused, looking at her. “Well, maybe you'd be one of the few who might understand. You were saying the other day that you're an old being and you're still fascinated by people. Why do you get involved with people even though most of them have shorter lives than you?”

That made some sense of why she might have been crying. Wendy thought about it a moment. “Well... that is something I've asked myself before. Some of my friends have left me in really painful ways before and it makes me want to keep my distance and just watch. But in the end, I just can't help it.” She smiled. “Like I've said, people are so fascinating. They sparkle so much more than jewels. Knowing that their life is short when they want to do so much makes them push to make the most of every day, even if they try not to acknowledge the fact. That's so not like how I am naturally. I have a duty that I was tasked with, but it's something I can wait on and be patient to get through. Although, since I don't know how long I'll have Wendy around, I feel that pressure to make every day count as well lately. But I find it exhilarating.”

“It sounds that way when you say it,” Meg said, cheering up for a brief moment. But whatever pain she held was strong too. “Elves can take more time than other races, but I feel the same way you do when I see humans. They act like their every action counts and often believe it, but it makes them so interesting.”

“And so dang charming that I can't resist them even if I know better than to invest my feelings and think I won't end up hurt eventually,” Wendy said. “Like I was trying not to make friends, but then I encountered Lest and he's so different with that drive to do as much as he can with his life that I really really wanted to be friends with him. Which may have led me to finding this doll and making friends with so many other people these days. And Lest has such a pure heart that he'd rather get hurt himself than to have other people hurt around him. It makes me want to protect him and make sure that he's happy, even though I know I shouldn't play favorites like that.”

“I know, he works so hard for everybody, even just listening to us,” Meg said. “He doesn't do much for himself either, other than dressing up and his farming. But he even turns that to helping others, like how he talked with Porco before he decided on what he'd grow this summer so he could give us good produce below market price. Though that seems to be how earthmates just are, you'd think they have some allowance for a little selfishness.”

“They do, but some are really devoted,” she said. “Actually, you do as much for the town as he does some days.”

“I don't think so, I just do what I can,” Meg said, blushing a little.

“No, you do!” Wendy said. Which was one reason she really liked her, for taking care of her town. “And you're so devoted to your music at the same time that it's really fun listening to you relate so much to it. But then, what is on your mind? Did you lose somebody important too?”

It hurt to see her saddened reaction, but it needed to be talked about. “Um, yes, before I came to Selphia. Actually, I fell in love with one of my teachers when I was young. He was so vibrant and full of life, though my parents both warned me to be careful because he was a human, and still older than me. I didn't get what they were so worried about at first, but then I saw him age over the years when I barely changed physically. From his stories, I really wanted to leave the elven homeland and travel the world with him. But then one day, when there was a bad storm much like this one, he got struck by lightning while running through town and died from it. An elf probably would have survived that, but even if he'd lived past that, I would have just seen him get older and weaker while I kept not changing. It's been years ago now, but on days like this, it seems like it wasn't that long ago either.” She started crying again midway through the story and her voice broke down too at the end.

“I know the feeling,” Wendy said, going to hug her. She knew it all too well; only the recent developments had softened the pain of losing her dearest friends when they sacrificed themselves for her. But even those who'd simply grown old and died could cause her pain.

Meg cried for some time and Wendy felt some of her old sadness lingering as well. When the elf seemed to be calming down, she got a small impulse to kiss her forehead. Somehow that ended up with them kissing on the lips and a new kind of love sprouted in her heart.


	86. Friendly Nagging

Summer 71

Due to the typhoon yesterday, there was a lot of clean-up to do around town. Meg helped out in many ways: listening to the air flow around buildings to suggest which one might need repairs, picking up branches and other debris, and helping with the many flower beds around town. She worked with Ellie and Amber on the last, since Lest had a lot of work to do on repairing the damage to his fields and organizing clean-up efforts around town.

The whole while, Amber was really emotional. “I could hear the flowers crying from the storm this time and it was terrible! They usually love rain, especially with how dry summer can be. But this really hurt.”

“It wasn't even that bad of a typhoon this time, though there's still injuries among the plants,” Ellie said, worried about the flowers too.

“That must be really bad,” Meg said, patting Amber's shoulder. “I could tell Lest was agitated by it this morning too, since he wasn't as alert as he normally is.”

Amber sniffled, but she started singing for some of the plants they were working on, to heal them. Meanwhile, Ellie smirked. “You seem different than normal too, Meg.”

She tensed. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

“For one thing, you're not quite as bossy as usual when there's a bigger mess than usual to clean up after,” she pointed out. “Like your thoughts are elsewhere and almost entirely distract you from the task at hand. You're not as talkative as usual either, and while you do seem pretty cheerful, it's not quite as bubbly as usual.”

“I'm bubbly?” Meg asked, confused about being called that. She'd understand Amber being called that, as she didn't think she was that lighthearted.

“Very much so, though not today,” Ellie said, then leaned closer to her. “Are those the eyes of a girl in love? Hee hee, who is he? Come on, spill the beans!”

“There aren't any beans to spill around here,” Amber said, pausing in her healing song. Meg felt like she was sweating under the spotlight. How did she explain this? And did she want to?

“It's just a phrase,” Ellie said, though she didn't take her eyes off Meg. “Well?”

“Aw geez,” Meg said with a sigh. “You're not quite right with that. It's... it might sound weird, but I realized yesterday that I'm in love with Wendy.” Ellie stared at her in shock while Amber's antenna flipped around in attention. That only made Meg feel more nervous. “W-well we're n-not sure what she even is really, since she says what we see is just a doll. B-but she spent most of yesterday at my place, and, well...”

Amber put her hand over her mouth partway through but couldn't keep herself from giggling. That broke Ellie's shock and made her smile. “One thing leads to another, huh? I understand that. As long as she has a soul, it may not matter what she is exactly. But does she love you back?”

“Um, yeah, actually, she said so,” Meg said, feeling a warm flutter in her chest on remembering. It was like before, and yet not. Wendy had already acknowledged both their feelings when her first love had been a one-sided crush for a long time. “She said she was really surprised and didn't think she could fall in love at all. But I know she was sincere, I could hear it in her heartbeat.”

“Hmm, they say the mind influences the body and the body influences the mind, so perhaps her doll is more human than she realized,” Ellie said, putting her hand to her chin. “Still doesn't answer what she is, but as long as your feelings are true, I'd say go for it!” Then she looked over at Amber. “And what's so funny about this?”

That just brought on a new round of giggles from Amber. Once she caught a breath, she smiled and said, “I didn't think Wendy would fall in love either, but since you two love each other, that's wonderful! Hee, I bet she's really really happy about it.”

“Hmm, wait, do you know something we don't?” Ellie asked. “Like what Wendy is?”

Amber nodded. “Yup!”

“Huh, you know?!” Meg asked, surprised to hear that Amber of all people knew.

Even more surprising, she said, “I deduced it from the clues just like Lumie taught me! Oh, but I shouldn't tell you who, um, what Wendy really is. She should tell you herself.” She brought her fists up excitedly. “But don't you worry! I'll tell her that she should and see to it that she does. I know exactly what will do that.” She giggled again.

“Wait, how did you figure out that mystery before me?” Ellie said, puzzled now. “I have a few theories, but nothing solid enough to base a calling out on.”

“I guess I found some clues you didn't,” Amber said. “But you know, when she says she's really happy to live among us, she reeeeaalllly means it. I didn't want to spoil her fun, so I'm keeping it a secret. Sorry, but it's important to me.”

“Can't fault that reason,” Ellie said. “But sometime, you're going to have to share with me how you deduced that mystery girl's mystery. When it's no longer a mystery, of course.”

“Okay, I will,” she said. Then she smiled at Meg. “So, um, what do you like about Wendy? I like lots of things about Dougie, so I love him lots!”

That made Meg chuckle. “Yeah, I can see that. Well, I've been thinking about it a lot because, well, because when we kissed yesterday, it was like this big fire was suddenly sparked in me. I just had to explain it to myself. Then I realized that I have been thinking about her a lot lately and I'm happier being around her. We've actually been running into each other every day this summer, which I thought it was just because it was a small town. But no, I was looking forward to meeting her every day and talking with her, even just a little. I really admire her view on life, that everyone should feel appreciated and admired because they deserve it. Like she said once, each person is a little different and that makes each of us special in our own way. And she's so cheerful and mischievous! It's fun to be around her.”

“Well I hope you both are happy together for a long time!” Amber said, giving her a hug before going back to tending to the plants. Hearing that seemed to have cheered her up from the storm yesterday, which made her spells do noticeably better on the plants.

“I hope so too, but now I'm wondering where she is,” Meg said. She meant it, but it still made the other two laugh. She did the same at her own expense, then went back to cleaning up from the typhoon. Surely they'd run into each other some time today.

* * *

 

It was the day after a typhoon, which made Venti feel antsy. The town wasn't as big a mess as usual thanks to Doomgale's effort, but she would have liked to help with the cleaning more openly. In order to keep people from depending on her for everything, though, all she did was cut up a few fallen logs outside of town to make them easier to take away and patch up some structure on the platforms. For the latter, she'd have to ask Bado to go fix that damage properly. He was being more reliable lately.

She felt better when Lest came in as she could tease him. “You lose anything to the storm?” she asked him.

“A good night's sleep for the most part,” he said, his eyes having a grouchy look. “None of my plants died, thankfully, but they needed a lot of healing. I don't mind storms mostly, but these all-day affairs that wreak havoc are awful.”

“Certainly wreaked your face up, you look awful,” Venti said, just keeping herself from laughing.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Lest said, touching his cheek. “Did someone draw on my face?” That made her crack up while he grimaced. “Oh wait, it's cause I didn't sleep much after worrying over the typhoon. Geez, give me a break today.”

“Sure, which bone would you like broken?” she asked, then laughed again at his blank stare.

“Oh brother,” he grumbled. “I came in to see if you were okay after you slept most of the day yesterday and you make fun of me. Well I guess you're doing better than me.”

That made her feel embarrassed to be reminded of that. But also happy again. “Hmph, it's just too easy to make fun of you today. But it's good to know you're concerned about me. I had no idea you felt so strongly about me.” Venti gave him a toothy grin.

Instead of getting flustered like she hoped, he stared up at her for a few seconds before giving a playful smile. It was nice to see him cheered up when he felt bad, but she had to wonder what was on his mind. “I see.”

“Wh-what?” she asked, worried.

“That's too bad, I didn't realize your heart was already spoken for,” Lest said, turning aside. “It's a little heart-breaking, but if that's what makes you happy...”

“Hey, explain yourself!” Venti said, making her tail twitch out of her usual rhythm. “I was just teasing you a little, geez.”

“So was I,” he said, looking back to her with a smile. “Heh, thanks, I needed that. But really, who are you in love with? Doesn't seem to be me.”

“Who said that I was in love?” she asked, feeling even more embarrassed. She thought she could stay well defended against his empathy. Maybe the emotion was strong enough that it was clear to him?

“You've got a small sparkle like someone newly in love,” Lest explained. “I thought I was imagining it at first, but no, it's clearly there.”

Venti sighed and lowered her head. “Well if you've seen that, I suppose there's no point in hiding it from you. I don't really understand it much myself; I've had friends that I've adored but nothing quite like this. As for why I was sleeping most of yesterday, it was because Wendy was spending the day with Meg. She's the one I've fallen for, although Meg is only in love with Wendy. I love being able to be with everyone closer as Wendy, but Meg started attracting me with her conversations and we both realized it yesterday.”

Lest reached up, so she came lower so he could touch her snout. “It's definitely real. Well you did say that you wanted to be able to experience life as a human. Looks like your experience went deeper than you expected.”

“That's true,” she admitted. “Though I'm not sure what to do now. Silly, isn't it? I've watched people over centuries, seen many stories of love played out around me. I've seen what fails and what works. Now that I'm in love myself,” saying it made her anxious in a whole different way, “I'm not sure how to think about it.”

“Most people just follow their feelings, even if they're acting mostly blind,” Lest said. “Still, you could start by telling her who you really are.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked, looking into his face. “She'll probably freak out to learn that she's in love with a native dragon.”

He smiled in a friendly caring way. “Sure, but she'll freak out about that however she finds out. It'd be best if she learned it directly from you, so that you start with honesty. Not revealing something about yourself might end up making them distrust you when they learn it.”

While most of the time his aura was a serene calm, there were some flickers of pain as he said that. “You sound like you know that from experience,” Venti said.

“Right, I do,” he said, now embarrassed and more pained. Though it didn't take him long to get back to his serene state, just a few seconds where he was quiet. “I was trying to pass myself off as a normal guy, but the girl I was seeing turned out to have some really bad superstitions about earthmates. When she found out that I was one, it was big mess and she immediately broke up with me. I wasn't even really lying, or so I had thought, because I wasn't saying anything false. But just not saying it was a falsehood too. Don't get yourself in that kind of mess. Plus I wouldn't want to hurt Meg in this either, she's a great person.”

“You're right in that, so I should tell her myself,” Venti said, starting to think on it. “But how? I'd have to find a way to convince her that it's real, but I don't want news of who Wendy is getting too far.”

“I know, and the guardians know,” Lest said. “And if Meg finds out, that's a good portion of the town that knows who she is already. How about you see how it goes with her and think about letting others know too?”

“Now why should I do that?” she asked. “They all expect me to be a formal, dignified, and aloof goddess. It's a, well, a sort of system that's developed over time. And it was really the only way I could keep my distance from everyone living so close to me, so I could keep them from caring enough to become guardians. Although that ended up not working entirely since Dolce and Dylas still did it.”

He patted her head. “The rune springs are back in place and how they should be, so there's no reason to worry about someone trying to become a guardian anymore. Plus we could just keep it to people living in Selphia. I think that'd be more fun for you, so that they all felt comfortable and friendly chatting with either you or Wendy. Besides, didn't you tell me on several occasions that you prefer being informal like this? You're even acting less formal around Vishnal, Clorica, Sven, and even Doug I saw one time. Why not drop the act?”

“I still don't know if that's a good idea,” Venti said. “I'll tell Meg, but as for the rest...”

Then she heard something from the ether, a singing voice. “Venti, are you awake?” It was Amber.

“I think everybody would have more fun,” Lest said, not hearing the song.

“I'll think about it,” she repeated. “Sorry, Amber's singing and she wants to talk with me that way.” Lest nodded, so she hummed to communicate across the ether. “Yes, what is it?”

Like Lest, she was feeling down today because of the typhoon damaging plants yesterday. But also like Lest, she was oddly cheerful in spite of it. The mix was sweet and sour to Venti's heart. “I heard something awesome just now! But I wanted to ask you about it.”

“You could just come fly to me,” Venti sang back.

“But I had to ask right away,” Amber sang, eager about it. “Are you really in love with Meg?”

A flurry of thoughts and emotions came to her on the question: embarrassment at getting asked again, wondering if she should say yes, remembering Meg's voice, worrying about if she was going to get teased more about it. Unfortunately, communicating this way tended to relay exactly what was in the singer's heart. Amber got her answer without Venti even forming one and got even more excited and joyful about the news. Then she heard amusement and surprise from the other three. Of course they heard. Maybe that was why Amber chose to ask this way.

Venti sighed, then spoke to Lest, “Good grief, Amber found out somehow and now all of them know about it.”

That made him laugh. “It is a small town, so news travels fast. Though maybe not that fast normally. I bet they'll be happy for you too, once they get over the shock of it.”

Meanwhile, Amber was chanting, “Venti's in love, hee hee!”

“How did that happen?” Dylas asked.

Leon answered, “Probably the same way as anyone else, forming a bond with someone that clicks just right with you to deepen to a real attraction.”

“She's divine, so it's odd,” Dolce said. Although she and the others had happy notes in their messages. “But it certainly sounds real enough. Meg, huh?”

“That sounds like quite a concept for a forbidden romance, between the physical goddess and an elf,” Leon said, though his teasing didn't work quite as well when there were clear feelings of happiness in the idea.

“Why should romance be forbidden?” Amber asked, stopping with her silly round. “I didn't get it at first, but now I think anybody should have the right to be with someone who makes them happy just being together in love. And you're happy, Venti, so it's great!”

“I didn't think you all would find out so soon,” Venti replied. “I've been trying to figure it out myself today, but Lest already found out and now you've got him laughing at us.”

Then Amber went on, “And Meg's really happy about it too, even if she's trying not to show it now. She was wondering when she'd run into Wendy today already.

“That's good for you two, but does Meg know who you really are yet?” Dylas asked, also happy but worried already about troubles between them if a secret like this was kept too long.

“No,” Venti said. “Like I said, I'm still thinking through this.”

“Don't think so much with your head, go with your heart,” Leon said. “Though you really should tell her.”

“Right, it's not fair to Meg if she doesn't know,” Dolce said.

“I could've told her and almost did,” Amber said. “But then I thought, no, you should tell her about it because it's about you.”

“If Lest knows, was he bugging you about this too?” Leon asked.

“That he was, and he'd already convinced me to do it,” Venti said. “Though if you four are gonna nag me about it too, it seems like I'll have to do it sooner.”

“Then you should tell her tonight!” Amber said. “Like all secret like, cause you can fly again, right? Go talk to her outside of town so nobody sees you, cause that's how it works in the romance books I've been reading.”

“You've been reading romance books?” Venti asked, surprised to hear this. Though maybe she was just trying to learn in her way.

“Yeah, Leon helps me find them."

“Oh really?” Dolce said in amusement. Dylas found it funny too.

“Hey, it's my job as the librarian,” Leon said, embarrassed at getting called out on this. “I just make sure to screen the ones she finds.”

“Screen them for what?” Amber asked.

There was a moment of awkward quiet, with only Amber's puzzlement. Then Leon managed a careful answer with, “For how my songs changed after I got married, that's why.”

“We'll talk to you about that later,” Dolce said. “It'd be, well, kind of hard to talk about that through song.”

“Why's that?”

“Aw, now you've got her started,” Venti asked, some of her own embarrassment drifting away as she listened to their songs. “You're in trouble.”

“Uh, right, later,” Dylas said, embarrassed at where this song was going.

“I feel kind of sorry for Doug soon, though maybe not,” Leon said.

“Maybe I should get Nancy to help, that could be easier,” Dolce said.

“Oh wait, you mean sex stuff, I remember now,” Amber said, then giggled. “Why're you so embarrassed, guys?”

“You still have a complete lack of modesty even when you're wearing clothes,” Dolce said.

“At least it's an innocent lack,” Leon said.

Once they were done with the song, Venti shifted her mind more to Wendy, to bring her out of the inn to find Meg. Maybe to help with the clean-up too; it wouldn't be so obvious that it was her doing it as people would see the white-haired girl, not a dragon. The town didn't seem as bad from this angle, just a little messier than usual and people were already getting the streets cleared. Over on the west side of town, she found Meg talking with Forte. Bado was walking towards them ahead of Wendy.

“Hey Bado and Wendy!” Meg called with a wave. “What are you doing?”

“I got distracted in a drawing, but I'm here to help now,” Wendy said, acting a little embarrassed at the distraction part.

Bado answered in his usual slow fashion. “Well, I got a request from Lady Ventuswill to fix up some damage on the underside of town. Just got done with that.”

“What, already?!” Meg asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

“Really, you got it done already?” Forte asked too.

Shrugging, he said, “Hey, some of the boards were weakened and could fall out if nothing was done. That would've been a worse mess to deal with if someone stumbled on that. You don't have to be so surprised, you know.”

“Sorry, it's still a surprise now that you're getting your work done in decent time,” Forte said, smiling proudly.

“Whatever,” Bado said, not quite willing to give up his lazy appearance even if he was glad for her comment. “I've got my tools with me already, so anything else you know needs a carpentry fix-up?”

“I was listening for air movements and gave Lest a list of the damaged buildings I found that way,” Meg said. “Check with him and see if he's got Volkanon or someone else on them.”

“Alright, I'll do that,” Bado said, heading past the women to get to the castle.

“It's nice to see him straightening up his act,” Forte said once Bado was far enough away.

Meanwhile, Wendy had smiled at Meg, making her blush a little and smile back. That was a nice feeling, getting a reaction without a word. Forte didn't seem to notice. Meg tried to keep her from noticing by saying, “Right, though he's been that way for so long.”

“So what else needs doing?” Wendy asked.

“Mostly cleaning the debris off the streets still, but we're making progress,” Forte said. “Though it wasn't so bad this time around.”

Meg chuckled. “You wouldn't know it talking to Amber or Lest, they're still frazzled as farmer earthmates. Oh, Amber and Ellie are working on the flowerbeds around town, but they seem to have that covered well. So right, it's mostly cleaning up debris and putting them in the right bins in the town plaza. All the wood and leaves are going into tinder storage so we can have bonfire events in autumn and winter.”

“That sounds lovely,” Wendy said with an excited clap, even though she already knew about those.

“Lest has organization of the clean-up handled from the castle and east side of town, and looks like you've got this side covered too,” Forte said, giving a formal nod. “I'll leave it to you then.”

“Right, thanks for letting me know all that,” Meg said, waving as Forte left them. Then her expression softened as she looked at Wendy. “You know, I've been wondering when I'd see you today, but then now that I am, I don't know what to say...”

Wendy chuckled. “That's okay. But, I have been thinking about something. I really need to talk to you in private soon, it's something really important. Um, I don't want other people to overhear us or something, I think you'll understand when I explain it. Could we go north of town a little ways this evening?”

“Why outside of town?” she asked, puzzled. “We could talk at my place.”

“Well, some of the other girls are used to coming into your house whenever,” she pointed out. “And it's, um, it has to be outside of town. Not far, don't worry, but just far enough. But I can't say why until then.”

She was puzzled still, but smiled at her. “Okay, I trust you Wendy. Though I'd rather not be coming back in the dark.”

“Could you meet me a quarter to 1800 hours?” Wendy asked. “I think we can talk long enough for the daylight to last then.”

“Sure, I'll see you then,” Meg said. Then she giggled. “It's a date, huh?”

That made her laugh, and nearly laugh with Venti too. “Yeah, seems like it! Thanks.”

* * *

 

With the storm keeping the store quiet, Doug found the time to finish a crafting project he'd been working on for a long time. He'd started with no skill in crafting and the reference book said it was a step from beginning to intermediate crafts. Finding a proper jewelry hinge had taken some work as did refining the crafted item so it had the dimensions he wanted. But now he had a round locket necklace that should fit the shell miniature portrait that Amber wanted safe and close. It was made of polished copper with a heart-shaped mother-of-pearl slice set on the front. Any prettier materials like gold he didn't have much experience in crafting with.

“I hope she likes it still,” he said to himself as he put it in his bag to head out. He'd spent much of the day so far fixing up streetlights and helping Granny clear debris outside the store. Now that he had a chance for a break, Doug wanted to get it to Amber as soon as he could.

He checked at the flower shop, but it was closed for the day. The sign in the door said they were fixing up the flowerbeds around town. After a quick loop around town, though, he still hadn't seen them. Where else could they be? All the public flowerbeds were along the main streets. Unless they were out at Amber's small garden by the lake, or in the flower garden behind the castle. But wouldn't Lest be taking care of that last one?

As Doug headed for the lake, he spotted Dolce, Dylas, and Leon by the bins in the plaza. The streets had looked clear when he'd been walking, so they must have been putting away the last of the debris. But even when he looked up in the sky and rooftops around, he didn't see Amber. They'd know better where she was, wouldn't they?

“Hey guys, have you seen Amber lately?” Doug asked as he went to them.

“Oh dear, that's quite a dangerous question to ask,” Leon said, barely hiding a smirk behind his feathered fan.

“You could be in trouble,” Dolce said.

“Wh-what for?” Doug asked, feeling like he could start sweating out of nervousness at any time. Hopefully it was just some prank.

“You have a date with her tonight?” Dolce asked, calm and quiet as usual.

“Ooo, a steamy night for a date, don't you think?” Pico asked with a grin.

“No, I was just going to finish up her locket and she's got the last piece of it,” he explained.

Dylas glowered at him as usual. “If you're looking for her, I'm going with you.”

“Huh?” That made no sense, especially as Dylas seemed in one of his bad moods today.

However, Leon nodded in approval. “Good, good, that's the proper thing to do.”

“Why?” Doug asked, looking at each of them for some hint. Dolce and Pico just seemed amused, though the former was also a bit concerned. Dylas was mostly concerned. Maybe Amber was in trouble? But they'd be a lot more worried with less joking if that was so.

Leon poked Dylas with his fan. “But since you've graciously volunteered as the chaperon for tonight, you'd better explain it.”

“Wh-wh-why me?” Dylas asked, getting bright red at the idea. “I don't explain things well.”

“You did volunteer,” Pico reminded him.

Dylas sighed and put his hand over his face. But the others didn't say anything for a moment, so he had to stammer his way through the reason. “Well, um... how do I put this? She's been reading romance books lately to learn about it, though that isn't the greatest idea. She found out today that Leon's been screening the books she borrows from the library for, um, less explicit ones, and she asked us why we were embarrassed when she was talking about it. Get it? So you're not to be spending time alone with her for a few days.”

“You know, just in case,” Dolce said.

“Oh damn, um, thanks?” Doug said, not sure what he thought about it. It was the sensible solution, he realized. He didn't want to mess with their reputations around town when it sounded like Amber's different view of the world counted even there. On the other hand, he couldn't help thinking they were being overprotective and... well he'd better not think on that long. “That's the kind of thing I'd rather be warned about than her bringing it up suddenly.”

“Good, then Dylas is sticking with both of you this evening,” Dolce said.

“I hope that's a good idea,” Leon said, frowning at his fan in thought. “I mean, the way these two fight like lovers, it might end up worse than just leaving them alone.”

“What the hell?!” Dylas snapped, clenching his fists and barely restraining himself from punching Leon. Leon just looked amused at it.

“It's not like that and you know it,” Doug said, mad at Leon now.

“Leon, sometimes you are a horrible priest,” Dolce rebuked with a cold glare.

“You take that back,” Dylas said fiercely.

“Okay, okay, it was just a joke already,” Leon said, though he took a step away from Dylas.

“Tee hee, it must be nice to have a friend you care about so much,” Pico said in glee.

“Let's go,” Doug said, then thought of why he'd started to talking to them. “Erm, but where is she?”

“At the lake,” Dylas said, loosening his fists and heading that way.

Meanwhile, Dolce managed to sneak up on Leon and snatched one of his ears. “Come on, I think you need to review your lessons,” she said sternly.

“Ow, ow, does it have to be the ears?” Leon complained as he got dragged away in the opposite direction. Doug smiled, then hurried after Dylas.

They didn't say a word as they went to the lake. However, neither Amber nor Illuminata were here. “Dammit, where'd they go?” Dylas grumbled.

“I've run all over town now and haven't seen them,” Doug said, tired of the search but also starting to worry. They should have been somewhere in town.

“Hang on,” Dylas said, then closed his eyes and started singing without words. Then he sighed. “And they're just a bit further where we can't see them.”

In fact, they were right up by Obsidian Mansion, behind the stone fence along the cliff edge. “Yay, I'm glad you both came!” Amber said, grinning like the sun. “We're concocting a great idea!”

“Oh yeah, what kind of trouble are you starting now?” Doug asked, smiling as he thought of it. Between Illuminata's wild logic and Amber's crazy enthusiasm, it might be something that had to be seen. Or something to be absolutely avoided.

“Flower trouble!” Illuminata said, then waved to the area they were in. “Just look at this spot. Now that Obsidian Mansion is no longer haunted...”

“Or a mansion either cause it's just the theater,” Amber pointed out.

“Isn't this a lovely hidden nook?” Illuminata finished. “I know they've got this set up as a historical site, but there's also talk of making the theater fully functional. And if they do that, this would be a sweet spot to put a little garden as a date spot.”

“It could have a bench swing, and nicely scented flowers, and some good evergreen bushes so there's always color,” Amber said excitedly.

“It's gonna take a lot of elbow grease, but the more we kept talking about it, the more intriguing the plan becomes.”

Surprisingly, Dylas said, “Sounds nice. I mean, I don't care much about romance or stuff like that, but it sounds nice.”

“Sounds mushy to me, but I know some people who'd love that,” Doug said, not wanting to say that he liked the idea a lot. And not wanting to fully agree with Dylas out loud.

“It'd be great!” Amber said, glad to have their support.

“Now what are you two doing together?” Illuminata said, touching her monocle. “Seems suspicious to me. On a date yourself?”

“No way!” they both said at the same time, making the two of them laugh. Doug felt embarrassed at that and it seemed like Dylas did too. Why did people keep picking on them? They were hardly the only two in town who argued often.

“Then what is your nefarious plot?” Illuminata said. “If you don't fess up, I'm gonna deduce it out of you!”

Doug patted his bag. “It's not nefarious. Amber, I got the locket for your parent's portrait done yesterday.”

“Wheee, really?” she shouted, coming over and hugging him. He barely managed to shift to the side so he didn't get caught in one of her frontal hugs. “Yay, that's wonderful! I've been waiting for it!”

Illuminata laughed while Dylas barely stifled one himself. “Amber, I told you not to go suffocating him,” Illuminata said merrily.

“Oh, sorry,” Amber said, letting him go. “I'm just really happy about it!”

“It's okay, I was prepared for that,” Doug said, not able to keep himself from smiling at her joy. “I've got the tools I need to put it in, so we just need to go get the portrait.”

“Yeah, it's in my room,” Amber said, nearly taking off. “I think we're done here.”

“Sure, since we've got all the flowerbeds checked out now,” Illuminata said with a nod.

“Whee, I'll go ahead and get it out!” Amber said, flying off to the flower shop without waiting on a reply.

“We'd better hurry after her,” Illuminata said. “But I'll give you boys a break for today. I can guess why they've got Dylas chaperoning you.”

“Um, yeah, just in case,” Dylas said, shifting nervously.

“Did you try to convince her not to talk about it much?” Doug asked as they headed across the bridge.

“I think so,” Illuminata said. “At least getting her to understand that it's not a polite topic. But Doug, I'm trusting Blossom's judgment that you're a respectable young man, all right?”

“I try to be,” Doug said. “Thanks.”


	87. Difficult Revelations

Summer 71

Wendy had taken her hand before they even started down the staircase to get north of town. It was a reassuring gesture, but Meg didn't remember until she did how it felt to hold the hand of the one you loved. With the physical connection as a reminder of their new emotional connection, it warmed her heart and made her feel safe. And she got to have Wendy close to her and hear how happy her heart was. She still had an odd hollow sound to her as a doll, but it sounded a lot more solid this evening. Like the difference between a dry seed rattle and a bell.

When they left the stairs, Wendy said, “You told me a lot about your teacher yesterday, and about yourself. I'm happy you trust me that much. So, it's only right that I let you in on who I am. I mean, who I really am, not this doll. That's why we have to go outside of town, so I can show you. I hope you're okay with it.”

“No, that's fine,” Meg said. “I've been wondering about it ever since we found out, but I didn't want to be rude to your feelings.”

“Well, it's a lot like your feelings, I believe,” she said, a serious look on her face for once. “I've lost those dear to me... quite a lot, and some of them are a lot more painful than others. Well, they were, but things have changed. A lot of things have changed.” Wendy smiled again, but she sounded sad. “I never told anybody that I wanted to be reborn as a human. I know they'd think it was ridiculous. Although, I really never expected that this experience would bring me to love someone romantically. It was kind of like playing a game to me, even working in the store. But this made me think of something really serious too, something, well, inevitable. But I haven't talked with anyone about it because of the friends I lost to... well, you'll understand, I'm almost certain.”

Inevitable... the word pricked Meg's heart like a thorny vine. “Um, do you mean... you're dying?”

Wendy went pale and stopped. “Wh-what? How'd you know?”

“Um, a lucky guess?” Meg said, embarrassed. “Or unlucky, I suppose. You always said you were far older than you seem.”

For a moment, she clenched Meg's hand, her soul's melody briefly turning to fear. Then she tried to push that fear away and tugged her to hurry on. “Yeah, but really, um, I... I had a premonition last summer that my end was drawing near. I'm really sorry, Meg, I should have been more careful and serious about this. Even though, I do think this is really love. I could hang out with anyone I like now, or maybe even tell someone else about this. I really should. But I want to be with you and tell you the truth first, even though I really don't want to hurt you more. I'm sorry.”

“Wendy, I had no idea you felt like this,” Meg said, although she felt scared herself. She thought she'd be safe in loving another long-lived being even if she looked human. But, she was close to her life's end already? How did she end up in another ill-fated romance? Maybe she should be more aloof like the older elves.

“I don't mean to scare you,” Wendy said, still apologizing. “Um... I do have a plan! I might just be able to give myself some more time in the world. It's not something I'm certain of, but... well I never thought I'd get to live life as a human even in this manner, so it might work! Come on, I really want to explain it.”

They hurried on, through an old foot trail through this lower part of Yokmir Forest. It wasn't often used, so some parts were overgrown with grasses, vines, and even bushes. However, Wendy knew exactly where she was going. Meg thought about letting go and running back to town. She didn't want to end up heartbroken in out-living her lover again! Besides, they'd only kissed and got together yesterday. It wouldn't be too rough on them to just split up now.

But the further they got into the trees, the less sure Meg was of being able to find her way back to town on her own. She also started thinking of the day they had adventured in Obsidian Mansion and found Wendy's voice. She remembered Julius singing his proposal, long after he had died yet feeling completely relieved to express his feelings with such a gentle beautiful song. In those words, she could almost hear a whisper in his voice. Give her a chance.

Eventually, the breezes spoke of an opening in the forest just ahead. And such a tone they had, as if some being of power was nearby. Yet it also sounded familiar. “Okay, I'm here,” Wendy said, then smiled. “I mean, my main body is.”

“You really are powerful,” Meg said, following her into the opening. She didn't know what to expect, so she thought she was prepared for anything.

But she wasn't, as all her thoughts went silent on coming face to face with a tall dragon, with forest green scales and large feathered wings of many colors. She was curled up on the ground as if resting, which was not a way Meg was used to seeing her. But it really was her: the Divine Wind Ventuswill.

“I'm happy I found this spot,” Ventuswill said. And Wendy was mouthing the words exactly with her; her eyes lost some of their usual sparkle and she seemed really like a puppet at that moment. “It's been a long time since I slept among the trees.”

“Wh-wha... la Lady Ventuswill?!” Meg asked, barely able to get the words together. She looked at Wendy, then at Ventuswill. They did have the same eyes somehow. The realization made her feel faint. “You're Ventuswill?”

“Take a few deep breaths, I don't want to see you pass out,” Ventuswill said warmly. Once she did so and calmed down, the dragon said, “Feel better?”

“Y-yes, although it's still shocking,” she said, trying to smile. “I mean, I had no idea... Wendy didn't seem much like you... um...”

“Don't worry about being formal with me,” Ventuswill said, resting her head on the ground. “After yesterday in your house when we were cuddled on the couch talking, it'd be weird to talk like that.”

“Eh-heh, it would be,” Meg said. “Though it's also weird to be talking with you as, um, well, you know...”

Ventuswill and Wendy nodded, though only the former spoke aloud. “I was going to let this body rest anyhow; it'll be easier to talk to you through Wendy since there's a lot to get through. Besides, I prefer being informal with people I like. As I said earlier, she's who I secretly wished I would be reborn as, more of who I really am.”

“That's quite a difference. Although, if you acted like Wendy more, you'd be a really adorable dragon.” Meg was finally able to really smile at that thought.

“You should've seen me when I was little like Doomgale,” Ventuswill said, managing to smile in a toothy fashion. Then she closed her eyes, quieting her life melody.

Being here with them both close, Meg could hear the shift as her spirit went into Wendy. “Wow, you really are Ventuswill,” Meg said. “How did I end up falling in love with a native dragon?”

Wendy chuckled. “I know how that feels! I was hatched as a goddess, actually. When one of the Native Dragons passes on, their position is transferred to the youngest dragon of the right element, even as an egg. Since it is a divine ascension, I never had to worry about passing my duties on. It will happen naturally; I'm almost certain that Doomgale will be the one to ascend since she's barely two decades old. That's why I'm teaching her. I'd like her to be more prepared than I was, about some things.”

“Then you are dying?” Meg asked, not sure she was ready to hear it. But if the subject was here, she had to face it.

And she nodded, gravely serious again. “To be honest, my predecessor Storgane messed up so much in his madness and I was never capable of fixing what he did. I should have passed on long ago so that a stronger hatchling could take on the role. But the friend I loved the most then put his life on the line to save me. I could only live because his lifeforce was twisted unnaturally to support me.”

Before she realized it, Meg had put her arm around Wendy. But she was remembering such harsh things; it was only right to support her. Although she'd never heard the guardians described in that manner. That had to be a much harder loss.

Wendy hugged her back, putting her head on her shoulder. “And it kept happening to others I loved because it could only be done when they loved me. So I tried to be aloof, but I've told you about that. I can't resist. Then last summer, when I knew that I couldn't last two more years even with their sacrifices, I was filled with the most horrible sense of fear and dread of my life. I was dying, I was powerless to give their lives back to them, and I had expelled the one family that had relentlessly been trying to solve this issue. At the time, I didn't even know if they were still working on it or if they had forgotten me. I was starting to believe that Storgane would win.”

“Lest must have seemed like a miracle to you,” Meg said, to remind her that it wasn't that bad anymore.

“Completely,” she said. Then she blushed. “Um, but don't tell him that. He has been an angel to us, but I just want all my friends to have happy normal lives now. He needs to put that past behind him too. I'm trying. But when you've been hurt deeply, it's hard to forget. I'm sure you know that.”

“Right, I understand, if not to your scale of things,” Meg said.

“That's okay, I just don't want this all repeated,” Wendy said. Ventuswill even twitched in that body's sleep. “I mean it! I don't want any more guardians or crazy plans from others to save me. Sacrificing yourself sounds like a noble thing, but those you leave behind are left to deal with your loss. Even if you prevent one painful thing, so many other painful things will follow in your wake. I thought I was managing my grief well enough, even as it piled on. Then, um...” she shuddered.

“You can tell me,” Meg said. “I told you an awful lot yesterday and you were there for me. So, tell me, please?”

“Thanks, you care so much about others,” she said. “As much as it hurt, I was told I was important to the world, and so I persevered. But when Dylas became a guardian, that whole string of events broke me. I was his only real friend, the one he cared about the most outside of his family and the one confidant he had as he started losing his way. I wanted to help, but that triggered a bout of depression in me too and that pushed him to his limits. Still, I thought he'd been getting better. I remember, the last time I saw him in that year, he actually smiled for a moment and was coming out of the emotional numbness of his worst days. Then I woke up to find that he'd left me a letter saying goodbye when he meant to kill himself, only to have the king at the time tell me that someone had changed his mind to becoming a guardian instead. He thought it would make me feel better, but I just felt worse. I don't even remember a lot of these past four hundred years, really.”

“You don't?”

She shook her head. “Only bits and pieces. I watched the town living around me as a play, but one thing or another would remind me of one of the four of them and my mind would be lost again. When people came to talk to me as a native dragon, I wasn't always listening and I'd forget about it after a few hours. Though in a way, Dylas was hardly the only one who had trouble fitting in back in the day. All four of them felt different from others and they got into trouble trying to find their place. They wouldn't say so, but those feelings played into their decision to put my life over their own. In that way, I'm glad to see them be accepted by others, and for them to start accepting themselves. I just wish it hadn't required some crazy plans and so much pain for everyone involved. But then, I have my own crazy plan now, one that I hope causes no pain. It's so uncertain that I wasn't seriously considering it. But, um... if it works, then everybody should be happy.”

“What are you going to try, something with Wendy?” Meg asked. That made most sense.

She nodded. “Right. Even here with my body and my doll close together, it's hard to split my concentration between the two. I only have one soul, after all. So any time I'm alert as one, the other is not as alert. When Wendy's practicing her drawing and won't respond to anything, it's likely I have to do something as Ventuswill.”

“I see. Would that be why your heart sounds a little hollow to me? I mean, with Wendy, because you're not all here.”

“I think so. This body also takes a lot less runes to keep going. So I keep wondering, is there a way I can step down as the divine wind willingly? Allow Ventuswill's body to return to the forest, but my soul will move into Wendy and live out life as a regular mortal being. I have no idea how long she'll last, or if such a permanent move between bodies is feasible. But if it can work, then I'll be happy to keep watching my friends and being with them, and you all will be happy I'm still around. Doomgale will ascend; it's tough starting out, but she has me to ask for advice and several people capable of translating for her while she's still practicing her human speech. And with Ventuswill's passing, a great many runes will be released back into the world, revitalizing all of Norad's lands.”

“That'd be wonderful if it works,” Meg said, feeling hopeful. But there was also some skepticism; she was more of a realistic person. “Though I can see what you're worried about, since if it doesn't work, both parts of you may return.”

“Perhaps,” Wendy said. “Or perhaps moving in that way will clear my mind of all memory and knowledge, leaving Wendy as a full grown woman without a clue about anything. She might even revert back to the porcelain doll she first appeared as when Dylas' gate broke. I just really don't know. Don't even know who to ask about seeing if this will work. And I didn't want to ask or even talk with anyone in town about this. There's people who've already sacrificed themselves for me and I don't want to lose them or anyone else in that way again.

“But with you, well, Amber found out about us and she told the other guardians, plus Lest found out on his own. They were bugging me all day about telling you who I was, friendly nagging but nagging all the same.” She laughed a little at the thought of it, perhaps willing to put up with the nagging since it was the friends she had thought lost. “Even the five of them don't know about my premonitions, although I should tell them sooner or later. After what you told me yesterday, I didn't feel right only telling you that I was the divine wind all along. I don't want to hurt you, and it's really only been one day, so, um, I'd understand it if you didn't want to continue this. Though I would like to stay friends at least; it's so nice having everyone in town as a friend through Wendy.”

“I'm sure it must be,” Meg said, recalling the lonely fear that she'd been hearing from Wendy throughout the evening. She must have been lonely for a long time. “I'm not sure what to say about that; I'll have to give it some thought. But, um, if you're not sure if it will work, why don't you ask Terrable about it? Out of the gods I know about, he seems like he could help best.”

“Right, but I'm not sure how helpful he'll be,” Wendy said. “Most native dragons, well most dragons in general, are solitary and don't particularly like people. I'm an exception.”

“Well you've got to try at least,” Meg said. He was the divine earth, so perhaps a prayer at the earth rune spring could reach him?

This was a hard decision to make. Either one would hurt if things ended quickly. But if there was a chance it might last, Meg couldn't forget the loneliness Wendy had as Ventuswill. Or her own, for that matter.

* * *

 

Summer 74

It was a time she and Meg usually got together to practice with the piano. They'd skipped the last day and a lot of their conversations had been uneasy since she told Meg the truth. But Wendy was willing to give her time to think. She'd done a lot of waiting over her life. Though, she still felt nervous over what the answer wold be. As a divine dragon, she'd had centuries of time to work with. Now feeling like she'd be lucky to see her next birthday in spring, there was pressure to tie things up nicely. Though she didn't know where to begin with telling Lest and the guardians to let Ventuswill pass on. If only she could be more certain she'd live on as Wendy.

Thankfully, Meg had invited her back over. She must have made a decision from the certainty in her eyes. Wendy went into Meg's home, glancing at the violin sign above the door. Long before this elf had arrived, this house had been a musician's studio. It had originally been an ordinary home, but a succession of musically-inclined owners had redone and remade it into a place where music thrived. The central room was large and open, suitable for dancing or even a small private concert. The black grand piano had been passed from musician to musician as well, honored with a raised platform and meticulous care. While it had always been a place Venti loved listening to, it seemed even more special since Meg lived here.

Smiling at the thought, Wendy shut the door and hurried over to the table where Meg was. “Hello! Whatcha doing?”

“I thought we could do something different today,” she said, indicating the pieces of crafting materials on the table. There were pieces of thread cut into even lengths and a box with many tiny drawers, all containing beads of many shapes, colors, sizes, and styles. But some drawers with the tiniest beads were pulled out. “I'll show you how to make something that was really popular at my childhood hometown. Don't worry, it's really easy, something kids can do once they can handle the little beads.”

“Okay!” Wendy said, sitting at the table. Meg showed her how to make a little beaded ring. As the threads stretched a little, they would fit snugly while being easy to slide on and off. After tying knots in five threads, the tiny beads were strung on two threads in a weaving pattern so the ring stayed together. Wendy picked out beads in colors like herself, green, red, white, and even some silver for the doll. While she put them on randomly, Meg made a diamond pattern with blue, yellow, white, and a few reds.

They talked while making them, but not on anything serious: the upcoming harvest festival, music, art, what their friends were doing. Like they did most days. Once they had the rings completed, Meg said, “Okay, now we exchange them! As I said, these promise rings were really popular when I was younger, especially with the girls. Making them together and exchanging them is a promise to keep being friends forever. Or at least we hoped so.”

“Okay,” Wendy said, though she was a bit disappointed. “Um, is that what you want with us?”

“Well, not exactly because I want to make a different kind of promise with this ring,” Meg said, looking over the ring she made with some nervousness. “I've been thinking about what you said. We really can't promise to be friends forever, since there's a good chance you might not be around much longer. Besides, I do still love you and for those reasons, I want to see that you get to make the most of the time you have left to be happy. So I want to stick with you as a girlfriend. We should even plan a really nice date to go on some time.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Wendy asked, now uneasy with what she was saying. Why did this have to be such a conflict? She wanted to be with her and not. Most of all, “I don't want to end up making you sad in the end. Especially not if you're sacrificing your happiness for me. I already told you that I don't like people sacrificing themselves to me, even in this way.”

“I don't see it that way when I'll be praying and hoping this whole time that your plan works as you want it to,” she said with a smile. “I thought about asking to be friends until you tried to move into Wendy fully, then talking it over if things worked out. But you also said that you wanted to live like a mortal being.” She leaned over and gripped her wrist, a pleasing thing for being so simple. “So why not live out your wish to the fullest?”

“That would be nice,” she admitted. “I especially liked watching couples come together.” Especially when they worked out well enough that they came before her for marriage. Those were some of the best stories.

Meg then put the ring in her hand. “And I don't want you to worry a lot in this time. Just have fun living out your wish. And for that, this promise ring is a little different. Ventuswill, no matter what outcome happens, I will take care of Wendy. That's my promise to you.”

“No matter what happens?”

She nodded. “Yes, no matter what. If it works as we hope, then we'll just keep dating. If you're reborn without any memory of your life as a native dragon, then I'll help you adjust to that life. And if it so happens that Wendy reverts to being an inanimate doll, I'll still make sure she's taken care of.”

“What if she disappears too?” Wendy asked. That had to be considered too as a worst case scenario.

“I'll find a way to make sure you're remembered for who you are,” Meg said. “Maybe I'll write a song. But, let's still hope for the best.”

That was a partial relief, to know that if this body became her own self, she'd be taken care of by a warm loving person. She still didn't like someone else choosing a path that benefited her more, as selfless as it was. There might be something she could do about that. “Yes, and I'll have to make sure these days are so happy and bright that they'll still be a light to your heart years onward,” Wendy said with a smile, passing over the ring she'd made. “That'll be my promise to you, because I want you to be happy too.”

“Thanks!” Meg said, happy to hear that and accepting the ring.

Wendy put hers on. “No, thank you! You're doing more for me, so you deserve the gratitude more.”

She just laughed at that. “Maybe. Though we have to find this way to tell the others at least so they understand if we ask for time away from work.”

“We should let them know,” she said, thinking on that and other things that needed to be revealed. But in putting the ring on her finger, she felt a surge of confidence that she could convince them to cooperate. If not her, then Meg would surely back her up. “I'm going to call some people to the castle this evening to do that. Would you come too?

“Sure, I'll be there.”

Specifically, she asked for Leon, Amber, Dolce, Dylas, Lest, Frey, Forte, Volkanon, Vishnal, Clorica, and Doomgale to come meet with her in her chamber that evening. Ventuswill set Wendy over by the row of greenery to sit and practice her sketches during the talk. Meg came in with her, Kiel showed up with Forte, and Arthur came in with Lest. It made the room almost crowded, but these people would be affected most.

“So what's with the party?” Lest asked, raising an eyebrow as he and Arthur came in last.

Venti felt like laughing. Normally she wouldn't to keep a formal dignity. But tonight she didn't care and laughed anyhow. “Silly, if we were having a party, I'd have called you all outside,” she said. While those who hadn't heard her informal side were surprised, Venti explained, “I needed to talk about something important, and imminent. I would like the town informed but I thought I'd start with those of you here, my friends and those who work with me daily.” She paused, glancing at the two extras. “And some tagalongs, but I don't mind.”

Kiel laughed, happy to see her like this. “I got curious when Amber and Dolce got called over with Forte, so that's why I came.”

“True, I was curious what so many were being called for when I was speaking with Lest tonight,” Arthur said, calmer about it although he was intrigued by her change as well.

“Well it is something serious, so I want all of you to listen while I explain what's going to happen,” she said. “And I want you to stick around for it. I know it'll be shocking to you all, but let me get through this. The truth of the matter is that even with all that's been done to fix things lately, I know that I won't be here when the next year comes. At least, not as the divine wind dragon.”

They didn't want to believe it. They didn't want her to die, already feeling sadness. Some were afraid, not sure what was going to happen to Selphia if she was gone. Some already wanted to do something to save her; why did these people care so much about her when she was supposed to be taking care of them? There was even some anger, wanting someone to blame so the anger didn't turn to sadness. On her last statement, there was confusion as well. It made her feel guilty in distressing these good people like this. However, there was also love in the room. Meg was there to support her, even if only to give her the courage to do this necessary revelation.

Glancing down at Lest, Venti saw that the prince was still and pale. He couldn't stay calm as usual in this storm of powerful emotions. The only reason he was quiet now was because he'd been paralyzed by the unexpected chaos. If she'd known it would hit him this hard, she would have asked to speak to him alone first to spare him this torment. She just hadn't seen him in such an emotional moment with so many others. Fortunately, Volkanon managed to put aside his own shock at this news to go to Lest's side and quietly pull him back while he wasn't able to resist. Good, he'd be taken care of.

Venti continued before someone could speak up. “I know you've done a lot for me, but right now, that is the truth and there's no way to avoid my end. That I've lived this long is unnatural and has caused me a lot of grief. When I knew my time was up last summer, I nearly gave up hope that things could be resolved well. That was the despair Storgane wanted me to die with. Because Lest released you four guardians, instead I'm relieved and glad. Still, I don't want past mistakes to be made again when we're still working out the kinks left around. I don't want any more guardians or any of that. But then, I have my own plans for what to do.

“You see, Wendy over here is a doll. Most of you knew about that, but only a few of you knew that she's my doll. Any time you've seen her around town, you saw me. When you talked with her, it was me replying through her. I can't explain why she was given to me, but it's been a blessing for me to get a chance to live in the town with all of you rather than watching over you from this castle I've been stuck in due to my weaknesses. It is hard at times to keep up with two bodies, which is why I've been napping a lot and sometimes you can't get an answer out of her.

“The fact that she is here gives me an option I never had before. I can't maintain my dragon self much longer while the doll is much easier on me with only a small fraction of my power. Knowing this, I plan to attempt moving my self over to Wendy, letting Ventuswill pass on, and stepping down as the divine wind. As the youngest wind elemental dragon, Doomgale will most likely ascend to replace me as the divine wind not long after. I will become Wendy and continue my life here as her, nothing more than another mortal. Because of that, those of you who serve me will be serving Doomgale instead. I will accept no argument on that, since she'll need more help from you than I have.

“There are some risks to this. I've sent a message to Terrable asking him to come here because I'm not entirely certain that this is possible. Since I have yet to hear from him, I will wait for that as long as I can hold out. There are also a few small things I want to get done before transferring myself, some of it I may ask a few of you to help with. But this is the course I've decided on, so don't go doing anything foolish for my sake.”

A huge bang, a blinding flash of light, and a brief dimming of the lights disrupted them before she let the others speak up about it. The lightning had struck the castle roof and was followed by a rapid increase of wind. From the runes, one would have thought this storm had been summoned by Lest. However, he had fainted with Volkanon holding onto him.

“Looks like I should have told Lest alone first,” Venti said sadly. “Volkanon, take care of him; I'll be calling Corrin over. Sorry, I know the rest of you must have things you want to say, but this storm is going to be dangerous. You all had best get home before you can't get back.”

There were protests, but she insisted. The winds and sudden rain managed to convince them to head out. One of the first to run out was Dolce, causing Vishnal a moment of indecision until a nod from Volkanon got him to run out after her. Venti asked Meg to take Clorica back home, since the shock of the revelation got to her and she was asleep on her feet again. Amber flew off quickly, which was troubling with the winds. Thankfully, she got back inside soon. Dylas went out to return to the Sainte-Couqille Mansion while Arthur decided to go with Forte and Kiel. Forte was in the most shock out of those three, hopefully the two others could help her. Then Leon was angered at being cut off even with the storm; on hearing that Corrin was coming, Frey went after him.

Lastly, Doomgale nearly went after Lest and Volkanon. “Wait a moment, Doomgale,” Venti said, getting her to pause while the room cleared. “If you're not tired, I'd like to discuss this further with you.”

“ _Um, okay,”_ she said, flying up to be eye to eye with her. “ _Am I really gonna be a native dragon? I wanted to be a great dragon, but I didn't think I could be that great.”_

Venti nodded. “If I knew my time was coming, it is probably written in your fate as well. I know it will be the youngest of our kin. As far as I know, unless an egg gets laid very soon or another comes from the forest, that's you. That's the reason behind the things other than speaking that I've been teaching you. I only had guidance from humans who couldn't know all that I do as a native dragon. I wanted to give you more to start with.”

“ _What do you do? The lessons have been fun, but when I talk to others about it, they say they're normal kinds of things to be taught. Corrin even gave me some lessons like what you taught me while he was raising me.”_

After making sure none of the others were in hearing anymore, Venti quietly explained, “The divine wind rules over the abyss of time and the ether sea. That is what mortals understand. As general concepts, it really doesn't explain much. But you see, this world started out as a hostile place for life. Dragons were best suited for it, which is why divine beings are dragons or have a dragon form they can take. Other beings like the humans, elves, and dwarves were in a constant struggle to live, hardly ever safe. Then monsters would come from distant parts of the ether and try to take this world for their own. While most dragons only cared to save themselves, some dragons took pity on the humanoid races and began to protect them. In this land, four of us became so powerful that we were acknowledged by other gods: that is how the first Native Dragons of Norad came to be.

“We were given authority over how the world itself worked, to change its natural state into something safer for the humanoids. The first Divine Wind Native Dragon became a shield, unconsciously regulating the world's chi and the ether sea's gates so that the worst monsters could not enter the world and that the humanoids could use magic themselves. So much of my work is done simply due to my presence in unison with the other Native Dragons. I make time exist, time that regulates ether, gates, and many other things. But due to my weakness, there's been some instability in time. That is why my era was often plagued with monster invasions. I could keep it to the weaker ones, restraining the stronger ones to certain territories.”

She continued the lesson, telling her about what work was conscious and helping her understand what the role meant. Doomgale had many questions, which kept Venti from being able to check on everyone that evening. Tomorrow, she'd have to deal with the repercussions of today.


	88. Emotional Contemplation

Summer 74

There were so many questions in Kiel's mind, with so few answers to go with them. But even he could tell this wasn't the time to think about it. The summoned storm was quickly growing to dangerous levels, maybe even eclipsing the typhoon from the other day. Not only did they have to get back home quickly, but Forte was in a daze after being told that Ventuswill knew her death was imminent and that she didn't want them to try putting it off again. Kiel went over and took her arm. “Come on, Forte, let's go.”

“O-oh, right,” she said, glancing out at the rain, then back at Ventuswill.

Then Arthur made his way through the crowd to them. “Forte? Are you okay?”

“I'm not sure how I feel,” she said.

“We'd better go like she said,” Kiel reminded them.

“Right, let's go,” Arthur said, going to Forte's other side and nudging her to head out.

They hurried across the plaza to the west side of town, trying to get back before the streets got too slick. “Is there really no way to keep Ventuswill alive now?” Forte asked. A crack of thunder followed.

Once that noise passed, Kiel said, “All beings die, even divine ones. They're often reborn; I've read articles about how Terrable passed away and a group from Sechs tried to force his rebirth to fall under their control nearly forty years ago. This is actually a good situation since Ventuswill gets to help Doomgale adapt.”

“But I swore to protect Ventuswill,” Forte said. It seemed like she was following him more than watching where they were going.

“Doesn't the oath state it's to the Divine Wind Ventuswill?” Arthur asked. “If she steps down as the divine wind, along with her statements tonight, then it only makes sense that your allegiance will pass from Ventuswill to Doomgale.”

“That's funny, being sworn to protect someone named Doomgale,” Kiel said, trying to lighten the situation. Even though they were getting soaked through, he slowed as they approached the road to their home. “But Arthur, what are you doing with us? You live all the way across town.”

Acting like he'd just realized that, Arthur's cheeks turned bright red. “Ah, well... I was worried about Forte, apparently enough that getting back to the restaurant wasn't on my mind when she told us to go home.” Lightning briefly illuminated the street corner as if it were daylight, causing the lights out here to go out briefly.

The near simultaneous thunderclap caused a flash of pain in Kiel's head. Thankfully, it was hard to see when he cringed. But he got an idea. “If it's this bad now, you'd better just go on ahead and stay over at our house. I'm going to head over to the inn to let them know.”

“Kiel, don't be reckless,” Forte said, worry over him managing to cut through her current confusion.

But now that he had the idea, Kiel didn't want to give up on it. “Take care of Forte, okay Arthur? See ya tomorrow!”

Strangely, Arthur sounded uncertain as he replied, “Sure, I'll do that. Be careful.” He then took Forte's arm and got her back to running for shelter.

Kiel felt pretty sure that once he explained what was going on, Lin Fa and Xiao would be fine letting him stay there for the night. Plus he was doing work for them on occasion, like helping on heavy cleaning days. Though, it was mostly for Xiao's sake. She kept trying so hard that he wanted to take some of the load off her. If nothing else, he could do some extra work to make up for staying a night.

Unfortunately, his clothes, hair, and skin were thoroughly drenched by the time he got inside the inn. There were a few people in the lobby, mostly guests who were various degrees of wet (though not as much as he was). Xiao quickly came over to him. “Oh, Kiel, you seem like a drenched ca-AH!” She'd slipped on some of the wet floor near the entrance.

Kiel was able to catch her before she hit the floor. “Careful there,” he said with a smile. Though he didn't mind it. There was an impulse in his thoughts to tell everyone here what was going on. However, her slip gave him enough time to pull back on that impulse. They didn't need to cause Lest extra trouble. Quietly, he said, “There's something I need to tell you and Lin Fa about, why the storm happened. But, um, do you mind if I spend the night here? Forte's really troubled about it, so I left her with Arthur at our place. I don't have enough money on me now, but I'll pay you back soon.”

Glancing aside in case someone was near, Xiao whispered, “Don't worry about paying; we'll figure something out.” She smiled and spoke a bit louder. “But you really are really soaked! Listen, you go to the men's bath and I bring you some extra clothes so you can change.”

He knew there was a magic technique to pull water out of clothing, but there would be towels in the changing room to help dry the rest of him off. And he didn't remember the specific spell right off. “All right, thanks.”

The bath water had already been drained for the night, so there was no one else in there while he dried off. His headache was persisting, so he dug out his pouch from the cloak pocket. As the pouch resisted water, the contents were dry, including a headache tablet that he took. While they weren't as frequent as they had been earlier in the summer, he was still getting these headaches from the injury. Hopefully they'd fade off completely soon.

From the inn's supply of charity clothes in case a guest needed a change in a hurry, Kiel put on a tee shirt that said 'Daring Dungeoneer' and some plain black pants. He knew where the laundry room was, so he wrapped his wet clothes in a large towel and took them there to hang overnight. Then he went to the area the innkeepers lived in; they'd already gotten a pot of hot water for tea and some late night snacks for them to share while talking.

“If you two want to spend the night together, I could turn in early so as not to disturb you,” Lin Fa said right off.

“No, no, it's not that!” Xiao said, embarrassed. “He has said that he would speak to both of us.”

“Yeah, and I'd rather be staying in a separate room out of honor,” Kiel said.

Lin Fa just laughed at them. “Aw come on, you're both adults. I won't pry.”

“No, I wanted to tell you that Lady Ventuswill won't be the divine wind for much longer,” Kiel said. That got any joking to vanish so he could explain better what had gone on tonight.

* * *

 

Arthur was going to be spending the night in her house and Kiel wouldn't be here. The thought made Forte feel nervous. Was it a breech of honor? Maybe not entirely, though the situation could lead to that. She had thought before that it would be a simple matter of saying no, but there were some thoughts wondering if it would be that simple. Maybe she should be careful that this night didn't take a romantic turn in any fashion. At first, she had suggested that Porcoline should be informed of the situation, like how Kiel seemed to be going to tell Lin Fa and Xiao. But Arthur felt certain that Dylas would head straight back to the restaurant and she had already given him some of Kiel's clothes so he could change out of his wet ones too.

If she was going to try avoiding romance and just talk, then that left the puzzle of how she was supposed to be a hostess with a guest in the house. Usually Kiel handled the arrangements if someone was going to be in their house for a time. It seemed appropriate to brew some tea to drink, a good thing after getting soaked in a storm. Putting on a kettle of water to heat was simple enough, plus finding the cups. Finding the tea was a bit more troublesome.

Arthur came in as she had located the jars of dried tea leaves and was trying to figure out the cryptic shorthand on Kiel's labels. Her brother's handwriting was tidy and legible, but what that writing meant she wasn't sure of. “Need some help?” Arthur asked.

The guest wasn't supposed to help out, she thought. But in this case, she rather not completely mess up the tea trying to do it herself. “Yes... sorry, I'm just not sure what to do with these instructions.”

On a skim of the jars, Arthur picked one out. “This would be a nice blend for tonight. Do you have the tea balls?”

Drat, there was something she'd already forgotten. “Not yet, I think they'd be in with the utensils?”

They managed to get the tea done together, although it was mostly Arthur giving her instructions. “You really don't have much aptitude around the house,” Arthur said.

That made her feel embarrassed. “Eh-heh, yeah. I've tried a few times to handle some chores so Kiel doesn't have to do all of them, but it only ends up making more work for him. While I can take control of a battle without much conscious thought, once I'm back at home, I'm at a loss of what to do and where to start.”

“I could help you out if you want,” Arthur said. “I grew up being told to take care of myself, so I know how to handle a lot of the basics of housekeeping. Some of the more complicated things like baking and formal party planning is beyond me, though.”

“Maybe,” Forte said. “Though it's odd you were told that being a royal prince.”

For a moment, she wasn't sure if he was blushing or not. “I know, but my parents wanted me to be more responsible, not spoiled. Actually, I'm grateful for it because it helps in my work.” He took a drink then said, “Well I've been thinking over what Lady Ventuswill told us. It's quite unexpected to hear that her actions as Wendy are probably closer to her true self. A pleasant surprise, to be sure; she really is the friendliest of the Native Dragons.”

“I think it's endearing that she has a cute heart when she presents such a formal face,” Forte said, smiling at the thought.

“Like you do?” Arthur asked, smiling back.

“Well not quite that much,” she insisted, making him chuckle. “Though I can't help but wonder what the risks are for the plan she presented.”

“I'm not sure of that myself,” he said. “Still, I think it will be best to go along with what she wishes. When I consider how Wendy is, about the guardians, some things Lest has said, and how all that connects, I concluded that she's been suffering for a long time while continuing work that she didn't have enough power to fulfill. It's only right to give her the choice of how to move forward now. And if this plan doesn't work out as we hope, I suppose the best thing to do is make sure she's happy.”

“Right, we wouldn't want to make her suffer more.” While she could decide on that quickly, another problem in this wasn't as easy. “Though I'm afraid that even if she suggested that those of us who serve her, like myself, should transfer our oath of service to Doomgale when she ascends, other knights in Norad might take the chance to suggest that a new dragon knight be named. They'd probably suggest that I give up my knighthood completely in that.”

“That could happen,” Arthur agreed, looking into his tea cup with a worried expression.

“I'm not sure what I'd do with myself if I had to give up on being a knight,” Forte said, her nerves making her body tense. Not that her insecurities needed yet another thing to worry about; they were already deep in her mind.

* * *

 

Taking a second to summon his umbrella and open it up, Vishnal hurried out onto the town plaza to find Dolce. Her silhouette was distinctive enough from her pigtails and pinned hat that he had little trouble even as it was getting darker. “Dolce!”

“Why is she proposing to do something that she had no idea if it'll actually work?” she said, soon clinging to his side. Though whether that was for his comfort or his umbrella was uncertain.

Not that it mattered, she could use both. “I wish we could know more, but it sounds like she doesn't have a lot of time.”

“But we were supposed to end up saving her,” she said, now crying.

“If she was a ghost, she could animate a doll,” Pico said. “Though it sounds like she wants to be alive somehow.”

He felt a little irked because that wasn't helping Dolce. But he wasn't sure what to say himself, other than to suggest someone who was a step further from Ventuswill and thus able to think about it more clearly. “Let's go see Jones and Nancy, at least to talk,” he suggested.

Dolce nodded, looking unsure what to say or think. They hurried over with Pico. A couple of times, wind gusts nearly flipped up his umbrella. Thankfully, Dolce caught it the first time and used an enchantment to keep it from breaking. While the weather had been clear and calm just minutes before, they got to the clinic with lightning striking within town, thick clouds obscuring the stars, and rain falling hard.

Since it was more unusual to knock at this door, they went right inside with Vishnal taking a moment to shake his umbrella off to stick in their stand. Dolce went towards the sitting area where the doctor's family was, waiting to see if a late patient would come in. “Nancy!”

“Oh my, what's wrong?” she asked, coming up immediately and taking her hand to look her over. Dolce just hugged her and kept crying.

“We got some bad news just now,” Vishnal said, then explained what was going on with Ventuswill. Dolce wasn't in a state to and he didn't entirely trust Pico to explain it calmly.

Dolce had stopped crying when he finished, but she was still upset. “I feel like this shouldn't be happening. I became a guardian to keep her from dying, but it's not even been a year now.”

“No, you're absolutely not doing that again,” Pico said, angry and fearful. “She even said so.”

“I know,” she said, mumbling something more.

“If she has her own ideas, I'm not sure what else to suggest,” Jones said. “I know how to treat some farm monsters, like Woolies and Buffamoos. With a dragon, the only thing I know is to ask Corrin what she knows. I'm also worried about Lest fainting and causing the storm. But if he's under Volkanon's care, he should be fine until I can check on him in the morning. Volkanon would send me an urgent summons if otherwise.”

“He could tell I'm over here and send the message through me too,” Vishnal said, glancing at his armband. It was in a neutral pattern, no message or order.

“I wonder how she feels knowing her end may be near,” Nancy said. “But then, it sounds like she really wants her plan to live as Wendy to work, even if she loses a lot to do it. I think we should trust her, pray for Terrable to intercede on her behalf. He'd be one who could make her wish come true.”

Jones nodded. “Indeed, hope for the best. Though also prepare for the worst. It's a fact of life that even with the best training, equipment, and magic, death cannot be completely avoided.”

He seemed stoic in saying so, but Nancy took his hand when he said it. “Dear...”

“We may not like it and work to avoid it whenever possible,” Jones went on. “After all, no one likes to feel helpless when it's your duty to help someone else. But when there's a chance like this that things could go wrong, it's best to make sure the patient is comfortable and can have contact with their loved ones. Since you're her friend, it'd help just to spend more time with her and make sure there's nothing she'd regret leaving undone.”

“That would count for those of us who work for her too, making sure thing go smoothly in a transfer of power,” Vishnal said. Maybe he could get Lest to help him speak to Doomgale too, since she would be his new master in time.

“But why was nothing we did enough?” Dolce asked. They were up late into the night helping her work through this. Since Dolce's old room only had a small single bed, Jones let them sleep on the clinic beds for the stormy night.

* * *

 

That had been a strange talk with Venti, Amber thought. It made her feel all mixed up inside, like a smoothie where she could tell the emotions were there but couldn't quite pick out one from the other. Right now, she was most scared because of the sudden lightning bolt on the castle. She flew for home as quick as she could. However, the lights were all out and the windows were all shut. Lumie wasn't there. But the lights were on in the general store and a few windows were being hastily shut.

Amber flew up to Doug's window and met with him there. “Dougie!”

“Waah, Amber?!” he asked in surprise, backing off. “Get in here and shut the window behind you.”

“Thanks!” she said, coming through and grabbing the window frame. A gust of wind nearly blew it out of her hand, but Doug got hold of it too and helped her pull it shut.

“Let's get to the bathroom and get you a towel,” he said.

“Sorry for dripping, but it was an emergency,” Amber said, following him out of the room.

“Got what's in there,” Lumie said, coming out of another room as they came in the main room. She looked over at them in surprise. “Oh, Amber? Heh, getting to the closest refuge?”

“Yup! Our shop's windows and doors were all shut, so this was faster.”

“Well that's good to know,” she said, taking a chair with Blossom at the dining table.

“As I was saying to Ellie, I think this is the most abrupt storm we've ever seen,” Blossom said. “It was going to be a fine night to leave the windows open, with the stars twinkling overhead. Now it's a raging thunderstorm out there. You're both welcome to stay and wait it out here.”

“Thanks, it was scary out there.” Doug gave her a towel, so she thanked him too and tried to dry off her hair. Her wings were a bit wet too, but that was easier taken care of by going in the bathroom so she could shake them off in the shower.

Back in the main living area, Blossom had brought out some snacks and drinks to share for their unexpected evening together. “I heard from Ellie that you got called over with some others to speak to Lady Ventuswill,” Blossom said.

The elf looked over at her too. “Yeah, what was that about?”

“Um...” she thought for a moment. How did she say this? “Well she had big news for everybody and said she wants everyone in town to know. But, um, it's bad news, and good news, and awful sad that could be terrible but I really hope it works out like we want because then it'd be the best thing ever! So, um, I don't know what to think of it.”

“Oh my, that sounds complicated,” Blossom said.

Amber nodded. “Yeah, and it's not even the usual complicated stuff I think about. See, um... Ven knows she's gonna die soon, cause she's really old and she's been sick for so many years. So she had to tell everybody so it didn't come suddenly, and so that people could be prepared because Doomgale's going to be the next divine wind dragon. But Ven has this awesome plan that I hope works out. She wants to move her soul fully into Wendy, since Wendy's been her doll to play around with so far and then she'd get to keep living with us and be better able to play and live like she wants. It could go wrong and it doesn't work, but Ven's going to talk to another dragon about it and make sure it'll work. I hope it does, so I'm happy for her. But I'm also scared, if it doesn't work, then everybody will be sad.”

“Wait, Wendy's actually Ventuswill?” Doug asked, really shocked to hear it. “And we've been employing her?”

“Is that right?” Blossom said, worried.

Amber laughed. “Yeah! And she has a lot of fun working here. Oh, but she doesn't want to be treated like anybody special as Wendy. She wants to live like everybody else as her, including working. And she's more herself like Wendy. I've seen her talking to people sometimes and she sounds so stuffy and bored when she has to be a Native Dragon. She'd be happier as Wendy alone.”

“That's quite a surprise,” Blossom said, though she started smiling. “I suppose we can talk to her about it next time she comes in. At least to wish her well in her plan to become Wendy.”

“It's weird, but if that's what she wants,” Doug said, shrugging.

Across the table, Lumie had been frowning in thought. “Sheesh, Lady Ventuswill wasn't even on my suspect list for who was controlling Wendy,” she finally said. “How'd you figure it out? You said you'd tell me when I knew.”

Amber leaned on the table. “Oh, you remember the case of the castle theft? Where somebody managed to steal a whole storage room full of items from the castle basement without alerting anybody who lived there? It was Wendy! But since she's Ven, it's really her stuff to begin with, so it's not really theft. See, all the stuff in that room was offerings that people had left to Ven that she couldn't use as a dragon. Like that pretty fan in the inn now? That was one. But once she had Wendy to support, she finally had a use for all those things: to give her stuff to trade so she had money and other things to live by. Plus, Wendy and Ven have the same eyes, even if they don't have the same coloration.”

“I see,” Lumie said, rubbing her chin. “Well you're right, if they were offerings to her in the first place, she and thus Wendy are free to do what she wants with them.”

A large lightning strike made the lights flicker, and Amber shiver. “Though, I'm also worried about Lest. See, he was with us when Ven told everybody. And I got all mixed up on what I was feeling, and so did everybody else, and that was enough to knock Lest unconscious. Then the storm got called up because of that. I hope he's gonna be okay.”

“I've heard that he could do such things,” Blossom said. “I'm afraid that it must be a fact of life for him that times like this happen. So I'm sure he'll be fine. Give everybody the night to settle down about this news and he should be back to normal too.”

“I can't imagine living life with that kind of power in you,” Doug said. “Though, if he gets like this when lots of people are upset and all, what's he like when people are all happy?”

“Well those would be really nice days,” Amber said, smiling at the thought.

Lumie smiled too. “You know, since weddings are traditionally outdoors here in Selphia, there's always a risk of the weather turning bad. More than once, we've had to adjust things or cancel last minute due to rain, wind, snow, or even heavy fog once. It hasn't been that way this year with Lest as our prince, though. All three weddings so far have been on gorgeous picture perfect days, remember? While storms like this may be a result of his power, so are those ideal days on happy occasions.”

“Hee hee, that's really romantic,” Amber said. Like it should be because his element was love.

* * *

 

When Leon left Venti's chamber and went into the storm, he felt like punching someone. But who? Not Venti, as her troubles weren't her fault. Not Frey or Lest, since they and their ancestors had done so much trying to save Venti. He couldn't even be mad at Lest for the storm since the meeting must have been a huge blow to his empathy. There was Darryl who was responsible for Etherlink breaking Venti's heart, but he was a ghost and had last been seen escaping into the incomplete and dangerous Rune Prana.

And there was Storgane who was responsible for making Venti weak in the first place. He was also a ghost and it was unknown if they could fight Storgane directly yet. There were his hate spirits, some of which might have come out of the unbreakable gate below town already. From Frey's maps of the tunnels, Leon knew there was a way to get from the library to the deepest part where the gate and Storgane's core should be. Maybe he should vent a little by going below and seeing what could be done now.

“Watch your step,” Frey said, grabbing his arm before he headed down the few steps to the west side of town. A water repelling spell that was around her grew to wrap around him as well, keeping the rain from hitting them.

“I'll be fine,” he said, though that made him pay more attention to getting down without slipping. This was not a night to be careless. To emphasize that thought, a lightning bolt struck in town again. “What are you doing? I thought you'd want to go help your brother.”

“Venti said she'd call Dad, so Lest will be taken care of,” she said. “I don't want to be leaving you alone after that; you seem to be in a mood to go do something stupid.”

“Maybe I will,” he said, still thinking about going in the tunnels.

As he hurried back home with her, Leon started having second thoughts about it. It really was a stupid idea. He hadn't fought the hate spirits before, but had heard about them from Kiel. With light-based spells, it would be easier to do damage to them. With some anti-spirit spells, they could potentially go down in one hit. But Kiel had fought them far from Storgane's core. Presumably, they would be more powerful near their creator. Not only that, but if he got deep enough in the tunnels, he'd put himself in closer range to his old tormentor. He might not even need to get in sight of Storgane for the old dragon ghost to be able to start speaking to him. The hell gates were gone, but if Leon got captured by Storgane again, he could get killed. That would leave Frey alone and this was a horrible time for that to happen.

Going in the side entrance to the apartment to avoid going through the library even a little wet, Leon kicked his sandals off and checked his hair to see how wet it was. “What are you thinking of doing?” Frey asked.

“Never mind, I decided it really was stupid,” Leon said. His hair was just a bit damp. So were his pants and vest, but that wouldn't be a problem if he just changed into bed clothes. It was late enough. “I hope she does ask me for something because I can't stand not doing anything at a time like this.”

“I know,” Frey said, following him to their bedroom. “It's just not fair. We've been working so hard to finally get this fixed up right only to find out she knows she's going to die this year anyhow. If that plan to use Wendy doesn't work out, then all that work ends up only giving her a couple of seasons with everything as it should be. That's just...”

She sounded really upset over it, though trying not to admit it. Hearing that, Leon put his own thoughts on hold to stop and turn to her. “Frey, at least we're back with her. She probably thinks this time is precious even if she won't say it. And it is her choice this time, so we should honor that this time around. Though if I had the option to beat the hell out of Storgane or someone to give her more time, I'd go do that in a heartbeat.”

“Don't go fighting Storgane on your own,” she said, hugging him. Leon put his arms around her and tried to think of something that could cheer them both up. Then Frey said, “You know, when I was working on the rune sphere, sometimes I could feel them, others in my family. They were devoted to the cause, even those who weren't able to talk to Venti much or even be in Selphia. Though once you feel it, it's hard not to be devoted too with all the feelings and responsibility in that history. There were even strong thoughts in it, to put an end to everything. Though I didn't think at the time that it meant freeing her of her guilt so she could pass on.”

Now she was crying and Leon felt surprised. He hadn't heard that sentiment from her before, although he certainly saw the result in the relentless way she searched through the documents from the tower, and for a way to deal with Rune Prana. Maybe he should be more worried about her doing something reckless from this recent revelation. Or her brother; Leon felt like Lest would have felt the same weight of family history. He could be just as relentless as her.

While he spoke quietly to comfort her, Leon hoped that their child would not be tied to this past as well.

* * *

 

Lest found himself in a dream, where the brightly colored leaves and flowers of the Forest of Beginnings were swirled in stormy winds. But he was in an odd spot of calm, standing on an unseen floor. In front of him, there was a green-haired man in a violet wizard cloak. He and Darryl seemed to be repeating their discussion when they met before the entrance to Rune Prana. “The world is full of pain, my son, much of it derived from one source: death. Death causes sorrow and grief to everyone left behind. It causes fear in those who see it. When faced with such emotions, people are tempted to choose evil ways in order to avoid it. They will even kill to prevent themselves from the inevitable end of all. Now what if there was a way to circumvent death?”

“All that live will die,” Lest said, though it caused an extra pain in his heart this time. Venti knew that she was dying. She'd had more to say, but then he'd been overwhelmed by the storm of emotions in the room. When he woke up, he fully expected there to be a storm caused by his runes.

Darryl nodded. “It's a cruel law of the world. But, say it was not a law. Say there was a way to rewrite the laws of the world. We could undo cruelty and unfairness. We could make it so death is not inevitable.”

“Not even earthmate magic can rewrite such laws,” Lest said. “There are ways to bend them, but such ways have costs and limitations.”

“Because the will of the world will make anything that goes against its purpose have such a great cost that no one could pay it. But, there are ways to reduce even the greatest costs in magic. There are loopholes to laws that can be pushed on until the laws are powerless. If Rune Prana is completed, then death will become powerless.”

“You made it possible for Storgane to return to the world.”

“But you make it possible for him to be rid of completely,” Darryl said, something new. “Those trees I've seen, the new ones you brought into being... there's only five. If there were seven, you could trap even Storgane's soul within the space between those trees so that the way of the forest takes care of him. You need to bring up two more hell gates, one of light and one of love, to grow those last two trees.”

“That's take me and...” the thought that he'd go into his own hell gate didn't bother him quite as much as, “but I can't do that for Frey, not now.”

“You'll need to do it soon or he'll have his bearings back to attack,” Darryl said.

“She's pregnant, I can't ask her to do that,” Lest said.

Darryl then smiled as if he had him doing what he wanted. “True, that would be too much of a risk to a mother and unborn child. Though you could circumvent that yourself should you truly accept being master of the tower, and of the road.”

“I don't think that's a good idea either,” he said.

“Begin your path to conquer death,” Darryl said, coming closer to him. “Learn the final form of Etherlink and use it upon yourself as I have, to loosen the bonds of soul and body so that death can never win against you. Rune Prana will break the laws of the world so that we can rewrite them into less cruel forms.”

“Do you realize how many people have suffered over thirteen centuries due to your wicked dream?” Lest asked, almost angered.

However, a calming warmth wrapped around him. A faint voice came from behind him. “The rain was full of chaos. Is this really all I can do when you're suffering like this?”

Darryl didn't seem to hear the voice. “They would have suffered anyhow due to the world's cruelty. So many of them add to that cruelty as well. I have been trying to put an end to everything as it is, an end to cruelty, an end to death. But some of that cruelty is needed to reach that end. Otherwise, the road will never be complete and be endless. I want it to be endless in another way, a loophole to strangle death.”

“I don't want to be a part of cruelty,” Lest said. The warmth became a haze, making the stormy ether less clear.

“You felt their pain, Lest. You felt their anger, fear, and sadness at the mention of death. Why would you not want to end death? Complete the road.” Darryl's voice faded, to be replaced with the sound of a fireplace. The rain stayed, now with rumbles of thunder.

Was he awake? His head hurt, not a pleasant thing to become aware of. Other things came to him. He was lying on a couch under a throw blanket. From that, he knew he'd passed out from the emotional overload summoning the thunderstorm outside now. He had his head in someone's lap too, the person he'd heard towards the end of the dream. His hand was being held, in hopes of being extra support for this situation. Someone who loved him and was worried about him, unsure of what to do. But Lest's family would have known. And that hand was a different kind of familiar, fingers that were a little rough but a palm that was very smooth as if it was normally covered.

“Dylas?” Lest mumbled, returning his grip. He opened his eyes and soon noticed that Dylas had put his gauntlets on the coffee table nearby.

“You awake now?” he asked quietly, brushing Lest's bangs away from his face. “How are you feeling?”

“As usual,” he said, then thought that he should clarify that. “Drained and my head hurts. Though since I ended up like this with you, it's not so bad.”

“It's not...” Dylas was caught between being embarrassed, trying not to lash out because of it, and feeling happy about it. Lest felt like he shouldn't like jarring him that much, but he kept hoping that if he got him the right way, Dylas would end up not as embarrassed at things like this. At least when it was just the two of them. Dylas sighed. “It's not that much of a difference. Right?”

“How about I let you lie in my lap next day you're feeling stressed out?” Lest offered. “I'd be happy with that.”

“I'll think about it,” he said, trying to avoid certainty. “Corrin's here... well she and Volkanon were here, I'm not sure where they went. She's the one who had me do this when I asked how I could help.”

“Normally she or Mom would stick by me at times like this,” Lest said. “When someone who loves me and I love is nearby, it counteracts a lot of the bad side of the empathy. I'm glad you decided to stay here.”

Dylas clasped his shoulder, his other hand still holding onto Lest's. “I couldn't leave you alone after I felt your influence on the rain. Though I'm still,” he almost said scared but didn't, “not sure about this whole thing. It shouldn't be right, but it feels less right to not be with you when you're hurt like this. I don't know if...”

They'd been stuck on this for a while, Lest thought. But maybe... “You took your gauntlets off,” he said.

“Well you fainted and your grip still feels weak,” Dylas said. “I didn't want to hurt you on accident.”

“I've never seen you without them. Not when you're working, not for sleepover parties, not even when talking with someone you'd never hurt like Amber or Venti. Why take them off for me? And put yourself in a position that you can't easily get out of. You never do that either.”

Dylas wasn't able to answer that, but this time he just stayed quiet, still holding onto his hand. He didn't say anything until Volkanon and Corrin came back, to discuss the night's arrangements and what had happened at the meeting when Lest had blanked out. At least Dylas seemed to be taking that well.

* * *

 

Summer 75

After thanking Clorica and Sven for letting her stay over (and for the lovely breakfast they'd shared), Meg hurried back across town to her home to get some fresh clothes. Wendy was going to be absentmindedly drawing most of the day, since Ventuswill would need to talk with a lot of people today. That is, if she didn't decide to use Wendy as it was easier on her. At any rate, Meg figured she'd best leave her to that until evening. She would go check over the restaurant's pantry and inventory so she could see about getting purchase orders made.

She got to the restaurant and noticed that the usual lunch menu sign was not out already. That was odd, followed by another oddity when she walked in and found Arthur in the restaurant. At this time of morning, he was usually in the middle of work in his office. Dylas wasn't around and Porco was in his quivering upset mood, something that didn't happen often. “Hey guys, what's wrong?” Meg asked, hurrying over to the counter where they were.

“Aa, Meggy, are you okay?” Porco asked, coming over and hugging her. “I got left all alone during that scare-iffic storm last night!”

“You did?” Meg asked, surprised. “I went to help Clorica home because she fell asleep on her feet and her and Sven had me stay the night. But I thought the guys would be here.”

Arthur blushed. “Well, I have to admit, I got briefly distressed by Ventuswill's statement and ended up following Forte and Kiel to their house. Forte was particularly troubled by the news and Kiel took off to tell Lin Fa and Xiao Pai, so I spend the night discussing the matter with Forte. But I thought at least Dylas would come here.”

“I haven't seen him today,” Porco said sadly.

“I didn't see him on my way back here,” Arthur said, a little worried.

“I haven't seen him either,” Meg said. And Wendy had been really worried about how the former guardians would take this news, since they had already gone to great lengths to save her. “I think we should go look for him.”

“Yes, this wouldn't be a time to leave them alone,” Arthur said.

Before they could even decide on how to split up a search, the door opened again and it was Dylas. His clothes, which were normally neat and well-kept, were wrinkled in some spots as if he'd not yet changed out of them from yesterday. “Morning,” he mumbled, like he was lost in thought.

“Aaaaa, you are alive!” Porco called in glee, leaving Meg to hug Dylas tightly.

“I'm not that late coming back,” Dylas said, trying to get away as usual.

“Guess we're mostly back to normal,” Meg said in a loud whisper, making Arthur chuckle. Then she spoke up, “Maybe not, but where were you? We were starting to get worried. You know, after last night's talk had to end so abruptly.”

Dylas got Porco to let him go and took a step away. “I'm fine, I just had to get some quiet to think it over. And I thought Arthur would be coming back here.”

“Sorry, I ended up helping out Forte and spent the night at her home,” Arthur said. “As a modest gentleman, of course, taking a separate guest room.”

“You're really okay with that?” Porco asked Dylas. “Arthur was just telling me about that a little bit ago. It's quite a plot twist.”

“Well I am worried, but I decided that I'm going to trust Venti in this,” Dylas said, almost smiling even. “I want her to be happy and this seems like the best way to do that.”


	89. Summer Harvest Festival

Summer 89

Selphia was buzzing with activity, something that thrilled Venti. The last time the town had been so busy and festive was during the cooking contest, but that didn't compare to today's crowd. If Lest had been doing something like his oracle act today, he would have had a difficult time trying to get people alone to talk to. So many visitors came that the royal air ship had to become a ferry so the extra airships could land at the knight's temporary air field instead of the packed town air field. Many of these people would be gone tomorrow, but this was how she remembered Selphia being at the heights of its history. This could be a real sign of things to come, reaching for a new peak.

The main event was the Summer Harvest Festival. Normally, it was a contest for crops among the townspeople. And nearly everyone was prepared to participate. The Spring Harvest Festival had been on the quiet and small side since the return of the guardians mid-spring had changed a lot of plans. This season, Lest had been talking up the festival to everyone, getting them all into the hype of growing their own crops and competing for the best. He had declined to participate himself, but he'd been putting together a showcase to put up among the booths in the town square. He'd also given Amber some hints about putting up her own for her flowers. Venti wanted to see both of those as Wendy, so she could be up close to touch and smell things.

Along with the harvest, there was also a side event with an official opening of the Obsidian Mansion Theater. Through Arthur's contacts and some advertising, they organized a small drama competition for acting troupes that didn't have a home theater. The town's hope was that one of them would like the stage here enough to settle down in Selphia. This was only possible because of news from the Sechs Empire. General Teo was reporting good progress on reclaiming the Sechs land for the Sechs people, thus making war between Sechs and Norad an unlikely event. With Baldwin's article on the tea party read throughout the nation, people were curious to see the place that it had occurred, as well as the prince who made it all possible.

Which led to the large crowd and a portion of Venti's current happiness. The other portions of her happiness were in getting to spend the whole festival with her friends, as Wendy. That meant that she could participate in the games and talk freely with anyone. For that, she greeted Lest that morning with, “Hello, angel!”

“What was that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Venti sniffed. “I hope you heard it because I'm not saying it again. Actually, I was thinking that when I got some drag queen dropped on top of me, I never dreamed it could lead to a day like this, one that promises to be wonderful in every way.”

Lest chuckled at that. “I hope it's wonderful. Although that outfit hardly counts as a drag queen. I'd have to go completely over the top with the dress, the hair, the make-up, the accessories, and everything. Also find some way to better fake cleavage without spells. Oh, and learn to walk in heels, that could help. I've always used flat soled shoes.”

“You should do that some day!” Venti said, delighted at the idea. “If you truly love a hobby, why not go all out for it at least once?”

“I'd have to find some really special day for that,” he said, thinking.

“How about your birthday, and get your sister to dress really masculine?” she suggested.

Putting on a fake look of shock, he waved his hands to deny it. “Whoa, I don't think so! Our birthday is towards the end of winter. Sometimes it starts warming up around then, but sometimes it keeps snowing. While she'd be fine, I'd have to deal with the cold. The heels are going to be hard enough to learn without me trying to stay on my feet on potentially snowy streets.”

“Wouldn't a really elegant coat and some matching boots work? The coat might even help the figure problem.” She thought it could work.

“Maybe. It's still a ways off, I'll see what I can do. How are things looking?”

“Like I said, wonderful!” She pointed out the door with a wing, beaming. “I can't wait to go out there and have fun with everyone! How's your showcase exhibit coming?”

“I think it looks really nice, got it all set up save for a few pieces last night.” He patted a basket he had with him. “Just have the last parts here, produce I picked today and some samples for people to try when I'm there. But then I'm also showing people around the farms a few times, and there's the awards ceremony, and...” he went still as a distant roar rippled through the air. “That...”

“Terrable's here today?” Venti asked, surprised to hear from him. “Sorry, you might want to cover your ears.” She then took a deep breath to send a roar back in greeting.

As Lest pulled his hands away from his ears, a voice came into her chamber. “ _The answer to your query is still uncertain. Take today as if it is your last, for it may be. When the sky begins to change in sunset, bring your doll and successor with you to meet with me outside of town. I shall be observing to find what the will of the world is.”_

“ _Thank you, Terrable, I'll meet you then,_ ” she called back, sending it with the wind to reach him.

“So this could be your last...” Lest looked up at her, worried but hopeful.

“At least he gave me some time to sort things out and talk to people,” Venti said. Then she brought her head down to be closer to him. “Sometimes hope and promise can hold a great deal of weight with the will of the world. So, will you promise me something to hope for, to make this successful?”

“What do you want to hope for?” he asked.

“Lots of things, but from you,” she winked, “I want to see you as an all-out drag queen someday. Promise me you'll do that sometime this year?”

Lest laughed and patted her snout. “Sure thing, I promise I'll find time to practice for, plan out, and pull off that look.”

“All right, that's what I'm talking about!” she said gleefully. “I'm going to shift over to Wendy and make sure this day is all fun! And take one of your tours, most definitely.”

“I'll be looking forward to whatever mischief you pull on that,” Lest said, both of them happy about it.

“Lady Ventuswill?” Volkanon came in, followed by Vishnal and Clorica. They must have been discussing things in the master's office. “What was that about?”

“Don't worry, it's just Terrable visiting our land,” she told him. “It seems this may be my final day.” They seemed worried about it, so she smiled. “Which means, I'd better have all kinds of fun today just in case!”

“Of course, we'll be praying for your success,” Lest said.

“Most certainly, we hope for a good conclusion,” Volkanon said.

“And I hope I get to stick around and see lots of things, like these two get certified,” Venti said happily. “It's been fun watching you both.”

“Aw, thank you,” Clorica said.

“Also that we get to see Volkanon retire someday, maybe,” Venti added.

Vishnal laughed. “I don't think he'll ever stop unless there's no way he could go on.”

“Right,” Clorica said with a proud smile.

“Ho ho you got that right,” Volkanon said.

Setting Ventuswill to rest, she sent her mind to Wendy to make sure she was dressed well. As a festival day, she chose to wear a more playful outfit in a blue dress that had a bubble pattern on it. She was about to leave when she heard footsteps from Dylas. She waited until he was right outside and about to knock before opening the door. “Good morning, Dylas!”

“Ah, good morning, Ve... Wendy,” he said, slow to lower his arm and nearly saying her other name out of surprise. Though everyone living in Selphia knew now, so it didn't matter to keep hidden.

She giggled. “I waited until right before you knocked!”

“I can tell,” he said, his tail flicking in annoyance. But he let it slide quickly. “What was the roaring about?”

“It was Terrable saying we would try the transferal today,” she said. “I've got to be ready for that. And make sure everybody else is too.”

Hearing that caused him some worry and sadness. That was inevitable. But, his hope and trust managed to shine brighter. “Of course. Erm, well, I hope it all goes well. You're still my best friend.”

Wendy came out of her room and shut the door behind her. “Even so, I'm happy that you have more friends than just me now, like Lest and Arthur. I'm trying to gather up all my hopes and promises so that the will of the world is on our side. And I hope to see you married some day!”

“Wh-what?!” Dylas asked, going pale.

Laughing and giving him a quick hug, she added, “Heh, but it is rather soon to be thinking that, isn't it? You don't even have a date today. But that's okay. I can also hope that there'll be a day when it seems your darkness can't even touch you and you truly come into bloom.”

That left him confused, still embarrassed, but hopeful all the same. “I guess I'm hoping for that too, if I've got the right idea,” he said, nudging her to let him go so they could head for the stairs.

Wendy put her hand on her chin. “But I can't really ask for a promise out of you from that, a promise for the future. So...” she felt a sparkle of glee in an idea, “I want you to promise to make me pancakes tomorrow!”

He stopped and turned to her, making her stop too. “Just that?”

Trying to act cute, she leaned forward. “Well it's for tomorrow, so this must work if I want to see you keep your promise. Please?”

He smiled in spite of himself. “All right, I'll get a recipe and make you pancakes tomorrow. Promise.”

“Yes, thank you!” She hugged him again, but then bounded back when she thought of something. “Oh right, there's something I've been meaning to show you. Give you, actually, if you want it. Um... here.” She brought out a sketch book and flipped it open to one drawing in particular.

Dylas' eyes widened in surprise to see the drawing. It was an image of his old self, a black-haired rough looking teenage boy, wearing clothing discarded by nobles as that had been the main way his parents had been able to afford to keep their children looking nice. While he looked like a tough guy willing to let his fists do the talking for him, that imagery was balanced out by his younger sister Lissa clinging to his back and his even younger sister Braidy in his arms. Both little girls looked safe and happy to be with him.

As he was thinking of what to say, Wendy brightened at the thoughts related to the picture. “I remember those days you were training yourself all the time. And part of that routine was how you took your sisters on a piggy-back run through town so you could build up your strength and speed. At least that's what you said, because you were having as much fun as they were with the exercise.”

“Well it was a simple way to entertain them and make sure they were safe outside,” Dylas said as an excuse. But as they seemed to be alone on this level, his expression did soften when he looked back at the picture. “Weird to see them happy with me.”

“They were really happy with you,” she said. “Even when they were adults, the two of them often ended up smiling when they talked about you. You should have seen what Braidy did...”

“I might have read about that in her letters,” he said, smiling fondly now. “Heh, Lest told me it was like someone's child self wanted to really impress someone they admired. I don't know how I left that big of an impression on them, they were both kids when I left.”

“Sometimes a childhood hero is never eclipsed,” Wendy said. “Do you want this one? I've drawn it lots of times as how I remembered you, that and other images.”

“Don't know much about art, but sure, thanks,” Dylas said.

They left to go see the displays in the town plaza, although neither Lest nor Amber were with their showcase booths. Still, they had a lot of nice produce and flowers on display. Amber had borrowed the rainbow lavender crown from Clorica to show off that accomplishment, among the variety of local flowers. She also put up signs with information on how fairies saw and ate flowers. From the neatness and drawings, she had put a lot of effort into those signs. Across from her booth, Lest had a display about the importance of bees and how they needn't be feared. He also had a lot of summer fruits and vegetables to show off, including a watermelon that was over forty pounds.

Although they didn't run into those two in the plaza, they did find Dolce in her store where she was having an opening sale to go along with the festival. She had a few things on the display mannequins, including dresses and autumn jackets. But to help get her name out there, she mostly had small cheap accessories and dolls available today. Dolce was busy at first, so Wendy helped her out while letting Dylas find what else he wanted to do.

Once they got some time to talk, Dolce told her about the pieces she was selling. “It's mostly festival suited fun things, since I have to compete with all the merchants outside too. The fruit monster and veggie ghost dolls seem to be just as popular with kids as they used to be. At future festivals, I should have more proper inventory for a clothing store to get notice with.”

“But there'll always be room for the fun things, right?” Wendy asked.

“I suppose so,” Dolce said, starting to relax in getting a chance to sit down.

“I'll be sure to keep reminding you of that,” Pico said with a grin.

“They are cute dolls,” Wendy said. “Hey, would you make a doll that looks like my dragon self? Because that would be even cuter!”

“I thought I was going to make you a giant wooly doll,” Dolce said, giving her a smirk.

“A dragon sized one at that!” Pico said.

“Well I'm not going to be dragon sized anymore,” Wendy said. “Instead, I'll be this fun sized doll, so it'd be even more fun to have a doll of my dragon self. Though not one I'd control like this, just a regular doll.”

“That could be more difficult than the wooly dolls, but I'll see what I can do,” Dolce said.

“Will you promise it?” Wendy asked, leaning forward. “Cause if there's promises to keep, that's all the more reason for me to look forward to success tonight.”

“What are you promising in return?” Dolce asked. “Just curious.”

“Yeah, it'd help even more if you're the one with the promise to keep,” Pico said, nodding.

Wendy got out her sketchbook again. “I promise that I'm going to make a really nice portrait of you and Vishnal! And Leon and Frey too, probably Amber and Doug with the way things are going. And Dylas with whoever he ends up marrying, at least I hope he'll find someone he loves that much.”

“Um, that'd be nice,” Dolce said, blushing at the thought of having a portrait done.

“It'd be almost beautiful, but since it's going to be him and her, it won't be as perfect as if it was me and her,” Pico said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Well I've already got a picture of you and her done, of how I remember you,” Wendy said, showing that one to them.

“Lemme see!” Pico said, immediately darting to Dolce's shoulder.

Dolce was surprised enough that she didn't immediately brush the ghost away. It showed Dolce wearing the coat of a Dragon Priestess of her time, with her hands on the head of an old man as she prayed over him. Pico was sitting on the edge of the bed the old man was lying in, watching over them with a cluster of healing herbs in her hands. As opposed to the quiet and stoic girl that most people saw, the picture showed her as warm and kind.

“That's how you remembered me, from that healing prayer?” Dolce asked, unsure about it.

“Yes, because it was sweetly done even if you weren't an official priestess yet,” Wendy said, happy at the memory. “Plus, you didn't get to see it but he made a full recovery that following spring. And he told people that while you had eased his fears about dying, it was your prayers that really turned his health around.”

“Yeah, I remember that now too,” Pico said. “That's why you got remembered as a healer, because that guy told his story to a number of people and they kept telling it when he eventually passed on.”

“What I remember of that, I was nervous all the way up until I met him, and then I just really wanted him to be calm and not in as much pain,” Dolce said.

“You can keep this drawing, I think it came out good,” Wendy said.

“Thanks, I'll keep it safe,” Dolce said, smiling some.

“And I'll make sure that it gets hung in a prominent public spot!” Pico said, causing Dolce to glare at her.

“So about that doll?” Wendy asked, taking out the picture carefully so it didn't rip.

“Very well, I promise I'll work on it,” Dolce said. Although she sounded more reluctant than she was.

They stuck around and spoke in her store until Amber came in to visit as well. Wendy then left to hang out with her for a while. Since it was getting close to noon, they watched the awards ceremony for the vegetable growing, then got some lunch gathered by buying different parts of it from different vendors. That was fun due to Amber still finding new things about civilization, including bugging one of the vendors about what was in a corndog. It was still a good treat; Wendy loved the foods that humans made.

Before she could bring up the idea of promises, Amber's rambling tangents brought them to looking for Doug. It didn't take long to find him, on a road not used up by the festival making some chalk drawings with some of the refugees from the Sechs Empire. But this wasn't the kind of drawings that Wendy made. Because these particular refugees were the scientists and engineers from Idra, they were drawing machine ideas on the stone road.

“Wow, what's this all about?” Amber asked, trying to get a good look without stepping on the drawings.

“A bunch of stuff,” one of the scientists said.

“Well this set we've got now is about elevators,” an engineer said, pointing out a pulley system.

“What's an elevator?” Amber asked.

“It's that machine over by the east stairs that carries items up the cliff,” Wendy said.

Doug nodded. “Right, but that's a freight elevator so it's not safe enough for people to ride on. We got to wondering if an elevator for people could be set up in town for easier access to the airfield.”

“That would've helped that one time when Kiel got hurt and Leon had to come teleport him up to the clinic,” Amber said. “And it'd help people like Granny too.”

“Right, but we'd have to figure out where to put it, how to get it proper support, and if we need a building permit,” Doug said, looking over the drawings and amending one.

“The elevator itself is old technology that the dwarves have been using for centuries in their mines,” an engineer said. “Though we've adapted the design in Sechs to run with electricity for a quicker and more reliable ride.”

“You would need a permit to get it all in place, but it could be nice,” Wendy said. “As long as it wasn't ugly.”

“A place like this would need something warmer, more artistic,” Doug said with a smile.

“You could still make the support column from concrete and use molds and dyes to make it look nicer,” a scientist said.

“But where would it go?” Amber asked.

“The marketplace is too full, plus you'd have to work around the stairs there,” the scientist said, looking around before finding a sketch they'd done of the northern area of town. “The lower observatory would make a great arrival platform, but unless there's plans to expand the airfield north, it's out of the way. At the base of the windmill observatory could work, but there's more of a stone wall to cut through and the area's a little small.”

“Since you have to build a support column for the elevator anyhow, it might be possible to expand that area out,” Doug suggested. “Still, it's just some ideas right now, not much solid.”

“It could be something to talk with the prince about,” the engineer said.

“Oh right, I had something I needed to talk to you about,” Wendy said to Amber. “Sorry to leave so suddenly, but it's nice that even adults can have fun drawing on the street.”

They laughed at that and waved to them as they returned to the discussion how the elevator and expanding the platforms might work. “I did some drawings on the street outside Lumie's shop as advertisement,” Amber said proudly. “We got lots of people at our outside sale this morning.”

“Well there's lots of people here,” Wendy pointed out. “Anyhow, like I said, Terrable's here so we're going to try the transfer tonight. But I'm making plans and promises for the future, because if I have those, then I think I'll succeed better. So, I want to see your Rose of Ventuswill bloom!”

Amber laughed. “Yeah, it's getting there! I'm sure it'll bloom sometime in fall. It would've bloomed this season, but it had a lot to get adjusted to because it slept a long time too. I promise, once it does, I'll take you to see it. And I can since it's easier with Wendy to get around!”

“All right, I'm looking forward to it,” she said.

“Oh, but, are we gonna keep calling you Wendy or keep calling you Venti?”

“This body's name is Wendy, so you'll be calling me Wendy,” she said. “Though I'd probably answer to either. Also, I have a picture to give you if you want it.”

“Wheee, I'd love to have a picture from you!” Amber said, twirling on the spot. “What's it of?'

“You! Like I remembered you all those years you were sleeping.” She passed over the sketchbook turned to the page of Amber's drawing.

This one caused less surprise and more giddiness. Amber's picture was of when she was little, before she knew any other humans. Dressed in large leaves barely held together with spider silk thread and pine needles, she was sitting in a large chaotic patch of flowers of all seasons. Her smile was bright and innocent as she listened to her Yellow matron Saffron. Saffron herself had an uncharacteristic expression for fairies, one of warm motherly love. Although the fairy had kidnapped her child, the experience had changed her greatly.

Amber giggled as she pointed to the leaf clothing. “I remember that! Cause I thought I'd be more like Saffron if I had leaves, but it was loads of must work, I mean chores, every day trying to keep them good. So eventually I gave up and went as I was until Heather let me borrow her clothes.”

Wendy smiled. “I could have drawn you like that, but I figured everybody else would think it was weird that you were keeping nude pictures of yourself even if it's art and truth.”

“And I still think that's weird that people think natural stuff is weird,” Amber said. “But I'd rather everybody get along with everybody else, so make sure there's clothes in the drawings you make of people so they don't get all bothered.”

“I will,” Wendy said, not mentioning that it was standard practice for art to include tasteful nudity.

An hour after that, Leon found them so Amber could go see if Doug was done talking with the Sechs engineers. Wendy didn't have the depth of senses that Venti did, but she remembered Leon well enough to see that something was on his mind. “Does this plan still bother you?” she asked when they found a quieter spot at the lower observatory.

His ears twitched. “I never liked the uncertainty of it. But at this point, it looks like the best option if Terrable out there is going along with it. I still want to take you out to see the world some day, you and my family. That'll be a blast, so this had better work.”

Wendy grinned. “Yeah, it'd be great! But which family you mean?”

Fortunately, that did make him smile. “All of 'em if we can swing it. It might be a hassle with that many, but I never wanted to be tied to one place. Though that's looking hard to avoid...” and now he was bothered again.

“What's the matter?” she said, poking his arm.

He swatted her with his fan, but hardly put effort into it. “You know, I told her I didn't want to be tied down. Maybe not with that exact phrase, but she said she'd change my mind and she did. Now I have to think about all kinds of responsibilities and such, which I thought would be a drag. But no, that's not it either. Say, you had to have worked with that family a lot over the centuries. Were those ladies all so relentlessly driven in their work?”

Wendy nodded. “Yes. I don't know if it was in the blood or in their training, but no matter how carefree they could be as kids, there was always a point where it took over their lives. It's actually surprising Frey got married at twenty because a lot of them went several decades without even a lover because of their work. Wrecked a number of those relationships too, unfortunately.”

“I see.” Leon frowned, but there was a sadness in his eyes. “She seemed like such a goofball that I thought her family was kidding when they said she worked and studied so hard. But then after your announcement, she started looking for references to different things, like Marionetta's original form. Then she somehow got into something with Sonja's journals and Darryl's encrypted work. Since much of it was reading, I thought it was harmless until she got dehydrated from not wanting to stop even to refill her glass.”

“Sounds just like the rest of them,” Wendy said. Though it was worrying, especially at a time when she was expecting. “Where is she?”

“I left her with Meg and Xiao, giving them specific instructions to make sure she kept away from studies,” he said. “Though she seemed to be enjoying the festival enough that it shouldn't be hard for today. But after Nancy chewed me out for that time, I've been trying to make sure she takes regular breaks. That's not been easy. I tried getting her to tell me about what she's studied each day, but most days I have little idea what's she's getting into. Now I'm not sure what else to do to get her to slow down, if it's possible.”

Having heard this kind of complaint before, she had a few ideas of what to say to him. “Figure out what exactly she's trying to find out, that'd be the best way to find a way to help Frey. It may seem relentless, but this kind of activity is more of a sprint. Once she has gotten to the point she's aiming for, she should slow down naturally. Have you tried helping her translate the scrolls?”

“Most of them aren't much trouble and I've gotten those ones copied down to preserve the information,” Leon said. “But it's the one that are trouble, including Darryl's journals, which she's going after now. Those texts are a complete pain in the rear: the holy language written in Ath script, then written in some kind of philosophical code that you need to know the symbolism for to make sense out of. My text insight isn't even much help because Darryl has a mind I can't understand. She's managing it somehow when all I can do on much of it is give a literal translation that's still a pain. Though I'm still working on her dream of seeing the Book of Guidance printed in common Norad. I guess that's helping her out, but not much right now.”

“I hate to say it, but if you're really out of your league with those texts, taking care of her might be the best you can offer her right now,” Wendy said. “But it is more help than it seems like. Or maybe you can start bluffing like you know so she tells you something more. You're good at that.”

“That's half of what I'm doing these evenings, so she's getting better at guessing,” he said, then shrugged. “When she's paying attention. Sometimes she's still caught up in her own thoughts.”

“Oh, but that reminds me, I wanted to offer you one of my sketches,” she said, taking the sketchbook back out.

“Still trying to prove that you don't suck as an artist?” Leon said, a little relieved to be off the subject that was bothering him.

“I don't! And here, see?” She passed him the sketch of him that she'd chosen to offer. Like the others, it was the best of her set of memory sketches she'd been making. In this one, she had him with his bluer hair from when he was a teenager. He was already a Dragon Priest in the scene, using his fan to hide a mischievous smile while he was talking to some well-dressed older gentlemen in a group of pilgrims.

“Guess you're not bad,” he said, trying not to compliment her directly after teasing her repeatedly about her art skills.

“You just don't want to admit that I'm good,” she said.

Changing the subject, he said, “You know, I forgot all about this particular incident until this time, when I was looking up stuff trying to figure out the sense behind how the four of us became saints. Now I just remember that these guys were being all stiff, serious, and boring until I started bluffing about things in High Norad and Latin. Somehow that impressed them enough that word got around that I was wise beyond my years, which was really annoying because people started expecting so much out of me.”

Wendy grinned. “And even after you got worse in your pranks trying to prove them otherwise, it was a hard image to shake. Well it only got set even more like that after you became a guardian. That was actually kind of depressing because they were honoring a false memory of you. Maybe not entirely false, but they missed the best stuff. Like how that whole incident started because the guys speaking only High Norad were asking me questions that I had no idea of how to answer, so you started bluffing to cover me.”

“Well they got Amber pegged exactly right in praying to her for good harvests since she's so bonkers about flowers,” Leon said. “Dolce's half-right with being associated with good health because she does let her inner warmth out when dealing with someone who's suffering from something outside their control. Though it's hard finding anything about Dylas in the books, he did say he saved his little sister once and I've seen him be quick to defend a kid before, so he makes some sense being prayed to for the safety of children.”

“The people who made you saints only knew you all through folklore and a bit of what I said, but I did like to see you honored for that,” she said.

As the afternoon turned to evening, Wendy came back to the castle where Doomgale and Meg were waiting. The latter came over to hug her. “Good luck,” she said. “Everybody's waiting for you to come back tonight.”

“I hope we all find a happy result,” Wendy said, staying in her hug for a moment. Then she transferred her mind back to Ventuswill so she could put the doll on the dragon's back and take off with her. Doomgale followed, nervous but hoping for the best as well.

They found Terrable north of town, in the meadow where she and Meg had spoken a while back. For a dragon, Terrable wasn't much older than Doomgale; he was almost half a century old. He was about sixteen feet from the tip of his horn to the tip of his tail, with a partial hand on his wings and no arms. “ _Greetings, Lady Ventuswill and Miss Doomgale,”_ he said.

“ _Greetings, Lord Terrable_ ,” Doomgale said, echoing his formal tone.

“Hello, Terrable,” Venti said, letting her doll hop off to stand with them. “Sorry, but I'm long sick of formal speech.”

“ _I suppose you do have that right,”_ Terrable said. “ _Though you seem strange to me, wanting to give up your divinity in order to live as a much less powerful human.”_

“I think it would be more fun to live as a human than to keep struggling as a dragon,” she said. “Plus I don't need all this power to do what I want to be doing, especially if a younger dragon can handle it better than I ever have.”

“ _But she's done the best she can do with what life dealt her, so doesn't she deserve to spend some time as she wants to be?”_ Doomgale asked, self-conscious of speaking up but wanting to say it anyhow.

Surprisingly, Terrable nodded. “ _Yes, that is what the other gods of the world have told me. Ventuswill, they have been watching you for a long time, worried about you. It wasn't until there were four complete rune spheres in the world that much could be done to help you. And, I have admired you from afar as well.”_

“You have?” Venti asked, feeling as if she could blush.

“ _I'm sure you've heard that my previous incarnation was ended prematurely by Sechs forces so they could force a new ascension of myself to come under their control,”_ Terrable said. When she nodded, he continued. “ _I came back into being with some bitter thoughts about mortals and a feeling that I was going to be inadequate again. With my power, I can remember small pieces of past selves.”_

“I know, that's why you're always Terrable when the rest of us shift names at times,” she said.

“ _Yes, so I remember my incarnation that was born alongside you, and how quickly she fell. I became afraid, so one of the others came to me. She reminded me more about you and that inspired me to find the inner strength to overcome what weaknesses this incarnation of myself has. Then yes, I do agree that with as long as you have held fast to your duty to watch over the abyss of time in spite of all you suffered for it, you deserve a chance to live free of that obligation for a small time. I cannot say how much time that will be, but I will see to it that it can happen.”_

“ _Great, you will get your wish!”_ Doomgale said, happy and twirling about for her.

Venti chuckled on seeing her. “Yes... thank you Terrable. I hope for the best for you as well. Though I do hope that you're not still bitter about mortals.”

He bowed his head, causing his horn to dip. “ _I have to admit that I still feel wary of them. But there was one that proved himself to me and I watched him and his family from out of sight. That assures me that there is goodness in them, so I won't be seeking to cause them trouble unless they bring it upon themselves. Still, I don't think I'd ever dare to live with them as closely as you have.”_

“But they're an endless source of entertainment and love,” Venti said. “You might surprise yourself with what you can learn from them.”

“ _Perhaps that's already happened,”_ Terrable said. “ _When I first heard of what you propose, I didn't think the will of the world would go along with it. But I kept hearing prayers about you, from mortals who wanted to see it work. I thought it was silly at first, that mortals should be so concerned about the affairs of a goddess. Even hearing about your past was strange to learn that they would sacrifice so much for someone meant to protect them. Today, though, I see what's going on. You care so much about these people and give them a piece of your heart, much against what most dragons would do. But in doing so, they give you a piece of their hearts and all of you become united to do something much greater than any one being, even a divine being, could accomplish. This rebirth isn't even all that much on the scale of things going against the normal path. With all the prayers and love surrounding you, there will be no trouble in this transfer between bodies.”_

“I hadn't thought of it that way, but that seems right,” Venti said. “Heh, so the hopes and promises I gathered today may still come true.”

“ _I would have advised a person at the end of their body's life to not do such a thing, but this seems to be an exception,”_ he said. “ _Still, there is something else I would like to discuss before doing this, the reason why I wanted Miss Doomgale here. I've heard that the Sechs forces have now tried to make a copy of me here in your land.”_

“Yes, although she wasn't half as powerful as you and had the unstable mind of a mad primal.” Although it was more the Feirsome copy that she got a better sense of.

“ _That's good, but I have a gut feeling that you both are in danger because of this,”_ Terrable said. “ _I had to account for it in deciding this matter. Ventuswill will be vulnerable because your body cannot last much longer. On the other hand, you have experience and Doomgale is vulnerable for being young. I keep myself apart from others while you both live in a town where strangers could get close to you. But I concluded that Doomgale will be easier to protect, both on your own merit and with the mortals living around you. Still, you need to be careful. The Sechs emperor wanted to control the gods when I encountered him and that was decades ago.”_

“ _They don’t seem like they’ll be an enemy for long,”_ Doomgale said. “ _But we’ve got lots of good people here, so I should be okay.”_

“ _Perhaps not the nation, but I’d still worry about the emperor.”_ Terrable looked at each of them, then stretched his wings. “ _If that is all, then we shall see about making this plan work.”_

When night fell on Selphia, the castle bells rang out to announce the ascension of a new Native Dragon, the Divine Wind Doomgale. And Ventuswill came back home to many of her beloved friends, to live her life as Wendy, just an ordinary human now. It was one of the happiest days of her life.


	90. Pictures of an Elevator

Summer 90

Doug woke up in the middle of the night, a dream lingering in his mind. While he didn’t remember what exactly it was about, he knew it had involved an elevator. And he’d forgotten to turn off his light, and fallen asleep with a book on engineering that one of his new friends from Sechs had lent to him. “Sheesh, am I turning into Clorica?” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He set the book aside and got up to get a drink of water.

Earlier today… no, looking at the clock, it was yesterday at it was nearly at 100 hours. During the Harvest Festival, he’d mention to the engineers that he liked the electrical training he’d been given and might consider studying that further if he had the chance. That was how he’d gotten the book that covered some general topics on engineering. In particular, the guy had said it had an interesting discussion on elevators, what they’d been talking about for the most part.

That had been a nice idea, putting in one so that people didn’t have to climb all those old stairs to get up to the town itself. Most people had no trouble walking around town, but it was quite a climb from the air field. Even more from the northern stairs due to the way Selphia was laid out. But it’d take a long time to get that kind of project off the ground. There were so many parts to it: the support shaft, the pulleys, the engine, the carriages, the platforms. All of it seemed difficult to design and accomplish with only the new guys from Sechs being capable of it. Still, it seemed like something that would be a nice asset if they could get it done.

Certainly he couldn’t do much for them. Doug needed more training to figure it out and by the time he got that, they might be able to get it done. Although he could imagine what it would be like, like the dream he’d just had coming clearer.

Something shifted in his mind, clicking it into a higher gear. He had a brief doubt again that he could really impact a project like that. But it was so clear that that he felt like he could pull it off.

No… he had to pull it off. He had to get this elevator made. Doug went back to his room to find something to draw and plan on.

* * *

 

It was 300 hours and Sven paused in his patrol around town. Looking up, he could see that Doug’s light was still on. It had been on all night as far as he could tell. That was odd. While he knew his cousin had books to study and clan records to work on, he couldn’t remember Doug ever staying up this late to do that. What was he up to?

While it wasn’t that big of a question, Sven took out a skeleton key he kept and unlocked the store’s entrance to see what was going on. He walked quietly up the stairs and across the floor as Granny would definitely be sleeping. On the other hand, Doug was wide awake. He was sitting on the floor, drawing designs in a sketchbook. Like a blueprint, but neither of them were far enough along in crafting to attempt making their own designs like this.

“Doug?” Sven crouched by him, but Doug didn’t even acknowledge him. “Hey, what are you working on?”

“Elevator,” Doug mumbled. His gaze shifted enough that Sven could see an intense focus in his expression. “Need another sketchbook, this won’t have enough space.”

Maybe it was thelnar? Sven smiled at the thought. That was really amazing since they never thought Doug had the right aptitude to be hit by that kind of inspiration. Certainly he’d never be hit by it; he was too human, and as an earthmate he was more likely to fall under their miracle inspiration (and already had once). But this was nice to see. “I’ll get you one, don’t worry,” Sven said, getting up and going back downstairs. He left some payment on the store’s counter and a note that he’d explain later for Blossom to find, then brought the sketchbook, a new pencil, and an eraser up to Doug.

As he continued his patrol, he started worrying about it. An elevator sounded like a complicated project. It had to be if the blueprints required two sketchbooks to get through. In comparison, the locket Doug had worked so hard to make only had two pages in its blueprint, much of it being design varieties. A thelnar was supposed to produce a miraculous item, one that couldn't be replicated without it. But was there such a thing as a project too complicated even for a miracle? Especially when the particular dwarf had low level skills.

He talked with Clorica about it while they shared breakfast. “It could be a great milestone for him since he had a lot of doubt in his abilities before,” he said. “On the other hand, if this is beyond his capacity, a failed thelnar can completely ruin a dwarf. Not just a reputation, that’s really not the bad part. The worst of it would be in his own mind and I’ve heard some never recover from it.”

“Oh dear, nobody would want to see that happen to him,” Clorica said, sounding sad at the thought. “Why don’t you talk with Bado? He might have a better idea of what Doug is capable of and what we can do if this really is a problem.”

“Yeah, he’d know more about it than I would,” Sven agreed. After they finished eating, they both went over to do that.

* * *

 

“I got the numbers all figured out last night!” Amber said proudly, handing over the sales documents. Since Carnations had a sidewalk sale during the festival yesterday, they had offered to let the general store add a few related items to their display: vases, vegetable seeds, baskets, and others. That meant that they had to figure out what money went to the flower shop and what went to the general store.

“Lemme see,” Lumie said, reading over the list to check her work. At the end of it, she smiled. “Great work, Amber! I don’t see an error anywhere.”

“Yes, I’ve got it!” she said, excited.

“All right, divide up the income from the sale, put it in one of the secure envelopes, then go deliver that and a copy of this to their store,” Lumie said. “Then you’re free to do as you like today.”

“Okay, I’ll get that done after breakfast,” Amber said, starting in on her breakfast of honey-covered biscuits and sausages.

Doug was also off most Fridays, so maybe she could spend the day with him. On the way over, she wondered what they could do. Maybe she could ask him to marry her? That could be fun! Although the other guardians said marriage was a serious decision to make. It wasn’t good to break promises and marriage involved a really important promise that people said you had to be really sure of to make. It definitely wasn’t something fairies did, but in that case, it didn’t bother Amber all that much. Leon and Dolce were so happy to be married that it had to be a good thing. Just, something to think long and hard about.

Thinking that maybe they could just take a walk in the woods, Amber walked into the Sincerity General Store to find Wendy at the counter and Blossom checking over the inventory. No Doug though. “Good morning!” she called to them.

“Good morning, Amber!” Wendy said, grinning.

“Good morning, dear,” Blossom said warmly. “Are you looking for Doug?”

“Kind of, but business first,” Amber said, going over to hand her the money envelope and documents. “Here’s what you guys earned from the sidewalk sale yesterday. I figured it up all by myself and Lumie said there were no errors.”

Blossom chuckled as she took them. “You’re certainly improving well. Thank you. And Doug’s upstairs in his room. I don’t know what he’s up to as he seems really busy with something. Though I’m sure he’d take a break for you. Just try to get him to eat his breakfast, he wouldn’t touch it for me.”

“That’s weird,” Amber said. Doug would never not eat, even if he was busy. Unless it was bread because he really didn’t like that, but then he would eat that if there was really no choice. “Okay, I’ll get him to eat.” She went upstairs to see what he was up to.

Finding the door open, she went into his room to find him sitting on the floor looking between two sketchbooks. His fingers were all gray from drawing a lot and his breakfast was sitting untouched on his dresser. It was rice porridge, so it was definitely something Doug liked. However, he didn’t even look up when she came in, too focused on the drawings.

“Good morning, Dougie!” she said, going over and leaning over his sketchbook.

He didn’t respond to her. His sketches seemed to be like what he and the guys from Sechs had been drawing on the ground yesterday, all gears and machinery. But these sketches were a lot more detailed, with notes that didn’t make much sense to Amber.

“Dougie?” She waved a hand at the side of his vision. “Hey, what are you doing?’

“Getting a list of all the components and the materials needed for them,” he said, sounding like Arthur did when he was talking about work and barely paying attention to who was talking to him. Amber had gotten him to say some funny things like that.

“Ah, so you are there,” she said, smiling. But he still wasn’t looking at her, so she didn’t smile for long. “Hey, you gotta eat breakfast. Being hungry is bad and it’s not like it’s winter out in the forest when you really have to work hard for the food.” When he still didn’t reply, she tried to take the pencil from his hand. “Come on, Dougie, time to…”

“I need that!” he snapped, clutching the pencil tight before he shoved her away. “The plans are almost done, then I’ll need to be working on,” his voice trailed off into mumbles.

Amber landed on her rear in surprise. Why did he do that? She didn’t think it was that bad. “Hey? Dougie? It’s me, Amber, and you need to eat.” When he still didn’t look up, she started crying. “Aw, please? At least say hello.” She went back over to him, but he just pushed her away again. That made her really cry and fly downstairs. “Granny!” she called, going over to hug her.

“What’s the matter?” Blossom asked, worried about her now.

“He wasn’t listening to me until I tried to take his pencil away,” she sobbed. “Then he yelled at me and pushed me away, I didn’t think I’d done something mean to him.”

“Oh dear, something really isn’t right,” she said, patting her back.

Wendy came over from the counter. “This is getting really weird,” she said. “It doesn’t sound like him at all.” Then the bell over the door rang and Wendy paused. “Oh, good morning.”

“Hey, sorry to barge in,” Bado said. “But then, uh… well there is a problem, it seems.”

“Were you trying to talk to Doug?” Sven asked, coming over to Amber.

She let go of Granny a little to look at him and nod. “Uh-huh…”

“What’s gotten into him, if you know?” Blossom asked.

“We really need to check on him,” Bado said. “But, uh, could you explain about thelnar, Wendy? We think that’s what’s affecting Doug, but it could be trouble in this case.”

“Sure, got it,” Wendy said.

“Good, then we’ll be back down once we check on what he’s doing,” Bado said, then went upstairs with Sven.

“I’ve heard them mention the word sometimes, but I don’t know a lot about dwarven culture,” Blossom said, keeping an arm around Amber.

Wendy hurried over to them and patted Amber’s head. “Well you should know that it’s not entirely Doug’s fault. He doesn’t mean to be mean to you, but he’s not quite himself at this time. Do you remember when you became an earthmate? How the runes spoke to you and all you could think about was their plan and their power?”

Amber nodded again. “Yeah. It was like everything was wind and I couldn’t see anything but the runes.”

“Well a dwarf’s thelnar is like that. It’s a divine inspiration to create something that completely takes over their mind so that they can’t think of anything else. Since they are making something, it tends to take a lot more time than an earthmate’s miracle, so he could be like this for a while.” She gripped her arm and smiled reassuringly. “So don’t worry, it’s nothing bad you did. Although trying to take his pencil away might not have been the best idea, since whatever he’s making needs it right now.”

“Oh, okay,” Amber said, calming down. She dug out a handkerchief from her pockets to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.

Wendy crossed her arms over her chest. “Although, I wonder why they think it’s going to be a problem. A thelnar is a huge deal to a dwarf and they hold deep reverence for items created under one. It’s about as important in life to them as marriage and becoming a respected elder, even though not every dwarf will experience one. They should be really happy for him, not worried like this.”

“I remember Doug being excited to see what Bado would do when he had one in spring, before you came Amber,” Blossom said. “Is it because he’s not as experienced in crafting? I seem to think that was why Doug didn’t think it’d happen to him.”

Wendy shrugged. “I’ve seen dwarves pick up and master an entirely new method of crafting under thelnar, so ability shouldn’t be that big of a factor. It could depend on what he’s making.”

“His drawings looked like what they were making yesterday when talking about putting an elevator from the air field, so it might be some kind of machine,” Amber said.

“That could be a really complex project,” Wendy said.

It took a while, but Bado and Sven came back downstairs, still worried. “He is working on designs for an elevator, which is really ambitious even for his current state,” Bado said. “I managed to take a look through his drawings and he’s put a lot of detail into this. Some of it is dwarven machinery that I recognize, but there parts that are electronics or Sechs tech that I don’t understand. Even for the parts I do know about, it’s well above his current ability level. He needs to be doing some forging for at least the carriages and he’s never worked at an anvil before. So there’s a high chance that he could fail.”

“I hope you don’t mean to give up on him,” Blossom said. “Can’t you help him out?”

“I’ve taught a few others, but never had to do that with someone under thelnar,” he said. “Plus the clans are usually not inclined to help teach a dwarf of another clan, although…”

“Well none of us follow the traditional ways, so why not?” Sven said.

“Right, he’s a friend and you’ve got to help friends,” Amber said.

“I’ll do what I can,” Bado said. “But as I said, I don’t understand all of his work. The gears in particular have some exact numbers on them, unlike the usual dwarven categories.”

“Then maybe it’s stuff the Sechs people will know about,” Amber said. “They’ve got a workshop set up now, I’ve seen it, and they were talking with him about the elevator yesterday. We could ask them what needs to be done. And I think they were saying that they needed a building permit, so somebody would have to tell Lest about this.”

“You want to help him out?” Wendy asked. “I’ve got to be working here today, especially if Doug can’t help with the inventory check.”

Amber nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know anything about machines or rocks or whatever, but I can talk to people and get them to help. Cause if this is a really big and complicated project, it’ll go better with lots of people working on it.”

“Good, cause I think Sven’s gonna fall asleep on us soon,” Bado said, smiling.

“Not quite, but I have been up all night too,” Sven said, trying to keep his eyes open. “Amber, you’ll need to take his sketchbooks to the Sechs engineers and scientists to see what they think about it. They’d know better than any of us if this elevator is going to work. Although, divine inspiration tends to get things right.”

“Okay, and I’ll let Lest know,” Amber said, feeling excited. They were going to help Doug do something great!

“In that case, I’ll see if I can get him to let those go for a bit and take him over to my forge to teach him,” Bado said. “Sorry Blossom, but he’s going to stay at my place for the duration of this. It’ll be easier for me to keep track of what he’s doing and handle him.”

“I trust you to take good care of him,” Blossom said, smiling. “Maybe I’ll see about cooking for you both during this.”

Once Bado handed her the two sketchbooks, Amber left the store and headed north to reach the workshop. It had been a lot of work to get all the Sechs people from the prison and cave settled into Selphia while the soldiers were off fighting to free their lands. In that moving work, one of the engineers had claimed an empty shop so that he and his friends could continue their research. They wanted to do something to benefit Selphia in thanks for taking them in. This elevator could be that.

She found the four people who had been talking with Doug about the elevator yesterday. They were discussing some of their own plans around a table. “Hi, sorry to interrupt, but I’ve got something you should see,” she said, going over to them.

“Oh sure, it was Amber, right?” the engineer said.

She nodded. “Yup! Here, Doug went into a state of, um, thelnar today, and he’s been drawing all these pictures of an elevator. Bado’s going to teach him forging, but we need you guys to check over the drawings and make sure it can work.”

“Wow, really?” the engineer said, taking one of the sketchbooks to look at. “That’s impressive. I’ve always been curious about that state of mind. They say that dwarves can reach beyond their own limits when inspired like that.”

“Yeah, but we're worried he went way too beyond, so we’re gonna have to help him a lot,” Amber said.

“An elevator’s beyond just one person, no matter how inspired they are,” another engineer said. She looked over the same notebook while the others took the other.

“We’ve got machining tools back in Idra Cave and they should be capable of making these kinds of gears easily,” the first engineer said after a few minutes. “Should be able to make the line, wires, and other mechanical components too. Though it looks like we’re going to need high quality steel. Can we get that in Norad?”

“Not sure,” one of the other group said, touching a page. “He’s also calling for a lot of concrete for the support pillar. Even dyed concrete. We don’t have anybody with the alchemy skills to make that.”

“Oh, but we have a great alchemist in Selphia!” Amber said. “I can ask Kiel if he can make the concrete.”

“That’s great, and we have a reference on the types of concrete called for,” another said, going to a bookshelf. “Just not an alchemist in our group.”

“And Arthur’s a really good trader, so he’d be the person to ask about steel I think,” Amber said.

“All right, let me write down what he’s calling for here,” the engineer said, getting a piece of paper. “We’re going to have to study these closely for a while, so if you could please check with them on the materials, we’ll see how feasible this is. Oh, but we’ll need to talk with the prince.”

“That’s already on my list to do,” Amber said.

Once they had the reference on steel and concrete for her, Amber left their workshop and had a decision to make. Who to see first? It didn’t take long because she had a question for Lest, a paper for Arthur, and a big heavy book for Kiel. She had to enchant herself so that she could fly across town easily to get the book to Kiel’s lab.

She spotted Kiel leaving his house as she descended. “Hi Kiel, I need to talk to you!”

“Hey Amber, what’s up?” Kiel asked with a friendly smile.

She explained about Doug being in thelnar and about the elevator. “The Sechs people don’t have an alchemist to make the concrete, so could you do that?”

“Concrete, huh? I don’t have a formula for that.” He rubbed his head.

Amber patted her bag. “They’re gonna lend you a big book to find one, I’ve got it with me.”

“Oh, in that case, come in my lab, we’ll see what it calls for,” Kiel said, excited at the project. He unlocked his lab and brought her inside the shielded work area so they could look. From some bookmarks the scientist had left, the formulas were easy to find. “Hmm, this looks tough.”

“Can you do it?” she asked.

“Um…” he switched between pages. “That’s hard to say. I don’t know if I have the levels for it.”

“What do you mean?” They had to get this done, for Doug’s sake. Also because an elevator would be really nice to have.

“Or maybe…” Kiel thought about it before remembering her question. “Oh, right, levels. Well, when you make your flower crowns, that’s simple manual crafting, no magic involved. But when you start to include techniques that take rune points, then you’re getting into magic crafting. Or forging, or cooking, or anything else. All your experience can be stated as a number from one to one hundred and all formulas like this have a challenge rating based on the experience levels.”

“Oh, okay, so you have to have the right level to craft something?”

He nodded. “Mostly. If the formula’s challenge level is below your own, then it’ll be really easy. Like my alchemy level is 59 and the simplest healing potion is challenge level 2. So it’s a snap for me, and really just about anyone could make it once they learn the process. If I were to craft something that had a challenge level of 59, it’s definitely succeed but it’d take some energy to do so. You can craft things above your own level, but each higher level will take more energy and have a chance of failure. Depending on what that formula is, it would exhaust me to make a small formula in the upper sixties.”

“So is the concrete doable for you?” Amber asked.

Kiel frowned. “Well, this basic concrete formula is level 20. That would be no problem. But, the notes on this marker want reinforced concrete and dyed reinforced concrete, both in all-weather forms. The all-weather concrete is level 67 and the dyed all-weather concrete is level 70.”

“Oh no, so it can’t be done?” she asked, really worried. Maybe they should ask one of his teachers.

“Not as I am, but I think I may still be able to pull this off,” Kiel said, flipping to another marked page. “See, the dyed concrete is going to need a lot of dye and I have to alchemize that too. The needed dyes range from level 55 to level 63. And I’ve been stalled in the upper fifties for a long time in my studies since there’s not a lot of easily made formulas at my skill level to practice with. So if I alchemize all the dyes first, that’s going to increase my alchemy level fast. I think…” he thought for a bit, then smiled, “Yeah, I can get myself to at least 65 on the dyes alone. That’s going to make the concrete rough at first, but they need a lot of it for the pillar. By the time I get all the other parts done, the dyed concrete should be easy.”

“Awesome, everybody’s going to get better,” she said, giving him a hug.

“Yeah, I hope we can make this work,” Kiel said. “And it’ll be awesome to see what Doug can really do. This is going to take a lot of materials I don’t have right now, especially sand. I’m pretty sure I can get that sand around Selphia, though. If I can get someone to escort me because some areas might be dangerous, I don’t think my magic alone can handle it.”

“Well I’m going to be telling a lot of people about this, so there should be someone happy to help you out too,” Amber said. “And I have to see Arthur anyhow to ask about steel.”

“In that case, can you also ask him about some of these dye ingredients, and the sand just in case?” Kiel checked back over the formulas, then gave her another list of things to ask Arthur about.

With that, she flew over to the restaurant to get to Arthur’s office. He wasn’t there, but Meg knew where he was: down in his storage cave working on his seasonal inventory count. Amber flew down there and knocked on the big door. “Arthur? May I come in?”

“Oh, Amber?” He came into her sight and waved her in. “Sure, what is it?”

“I’ve got lots of stuff to ask you about,” she said, then explained about the situation before handing over the lists.

“Well we really should talk it over with Lest,” Arthur said, skimming Kiel’s list. “Such a big project needs to go through proper channels. Although, given it’s being done under thelnar, there’s not much we can do to stop Doug from his work. It’d be cruel to deny him.”

“Right, he has a lot to get better at,” Amber said.

“Kiel could order some of these dyes from dye shops if he wanted,” Arthur said, thinking.

“No he can’t,” she said, causing him to pause and raise an eyebrow. “He has to work on the dyes to increase his alchemy level so he can make all the concrete they need.”

“Ah, I see. You know, we could ask him to work on the steel. I just don’t know what alchemy level that kind of metalworking would be. Otherwise, I can think of a few sources of this quality of steel in Norad. It’s going to be expensive to ship in at this time, so if Kiel could handle it, we’d be able to lower our expenses greatly on this project.” He looked over his inventory, then set his clipboard aside. “Let’s go speak with Lest, then we’ll see what Frey knows about alchemy metalwork. Kiel may already know a formula for steel, but I’m certain that she knows because I’ve seen steel in her work.”

“Okay,” Amber said, following him out and back up to town to get to the castle.

As it was mid-morning, they found Lest in his office doing some of his daily chores as prince. It included new tasks since Doomgale was now the divine wind, but he paused in his work to listen to the plan. “An elevator from the airfield would be nice, but where are they planning on installing it?”

“I haven’t heard that part of the plan myself, though that will affect matters,” Arthur said.

“I heard them talking about it yesterday, but I don’t know what Doug put in his plans,” Amber said. “They were debating between the lower observatory platform and the windmill observatory base, although either area needed them to redo all the stone work.”

“The windmill observatory would make more sense to me being closer to the airfield, if they could manage to expand the area,” Lest said.

“If that’s the case, we may have to see about hiring a construction crew to see about that part of the process,” Arthur said. “It’d be preferable to get a dwarven crew since the platforms were made by dwarves originally. Though I’d have to know which clans are favorable towards the Geisels since it’s Doug’s work. That way I’d be able to negotiate with them better.”

“Maybe Sven knows?” Amber suggested. “Because Doug would know best, but he can’t really answer that right now.”

“We’ll see about that later, once we get other parts arranged and have a better idea on the plans,” Arthur said.

“I’ll look for the building permits, since I think we could get the Sechs crew to fill out the information from his blueprints,” Lest said. “But I think it’s a good idea and I really hope Doug can do this.”

“Sounds like everyone’s whose heard it hopes the same,” Arthur said, smiling. “Would you know where we could find Frey? I wanted to ask her and Kiel about the steel they need.”

“She’s on a studying spree, so good luck getting her attention,” Lest said. “She should be in the library, so talk to Leon first.”

Amber ended up spending much of the day flying around town taking messages and questions between people. Once they got her attention, Frey had said that steel blocks were a level 27 forging craft and that it shouldn’t be much of a difference in alchemy. It was too low of a level to help Kiel out, but Bado said that the thelnar made it possible to train Doug by making the steel from the materials in the blacksmith shop until he had them of the proper quality for the parts to be made from. Not only that, but that would get him to a level where he could start work on parts of the carriage. They would handle that, so Arthur went back to his office to check on the materials for Kiel’s dyes and some items the Sechs group still needed.

Then she had to relay information the engineers had found back to Lest, Arthur, Kiel, and Bado. Doug’s elevator plans would be functional provided they could get all the parts to him. After some checking with Sven, Amber brought Doug’s registry books for his clan to Lest so he could use his love elemental powers to determine which clans would be more favorable to help. Then she had to tell that to Arthur, who had more information to pass on to Lest and Kiel. In between all that, she dropped in to tell Lumie that she was going to be busy helping Doug. And whenever she saw someone she hadn’t talked to about the project with, she made sure to stop by to let them know.

However, they couldn’t be sure how much Doug would accomplish and what would be enough to keep him from failing. But Amber thought it might be like Venti’s plan to become Wendy. If enough people kept positive and prayed, then Doug could have a better chance to succeed.

Her wings were tired by the end of the day, but Amber still stopped by the blacksmith shop one more time to check on Doug. “He’s not going to be able to sleep, but hopefully I gave him enough tasks to keep him occupied,” Bado said. “Man, I’m getting tired just watching him do all this.”

“Hee hee, and he keeps claiming that he’s too lazy to do stuff like this,” Amber said, trying to keep things light.

Somehow, that managed to get Doug’s attention briefly. “Amber? Sorry, I’m really busy right now.”

“That’s okay, you keep working on that,” she said.

“Thanks,” he said, turning back to his forge work. “It’s a tough job, intimidating if I step back far enough. But then I get into the parts and I just have to keep going, I don’t know why.”

She went over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “I know you can do it, Dougie! Don’t worry about why, just keep doing what the runes tell you to do.”

“All right, thanks,” he said, but then his mind was back at the work.

Bado raised an eyebrow when she came back over. “Well, that was interesting. Usually not much of anything can distract a dwarf under thelnar, but I guess love really is the exception.”

“I hope that does help because it would be a big scary project if you really thought about it,” Amber said.

“I’m sure it did,” he said. “But that means he really cares about you a lot.”

“I care about him lots too, so I’m going to help him as much as I can,” she said.


	91. Partnership

Autumn 6

Amber had had a busy week. Not quite as much as Doug, since he was still hard at work and rarely stopped. Bado managed to get him to eat and drink regularly, so that was good. Even better was how things were coming together. With a message machine called a telegram, Arthur arranged for shipments of items needed and contact with construction help already. The Sechs people got all the steel they needed from Doug's training and were finishing up all the machine parts today. Lest had approved of the paperwork once the Sechs engineers and the dwarven workers agreed that it was safe and efficient. Meanwhile, Kiel managed to make enough concrete that they were starting to put the base of the support pillar together and rework the platform by the windmill. Doug had one of the carriages done and was working on the second. Once he had all the machine parts, he might be finished.

For her part, Amber had taken messages around, worked at the flower shop as usual, and visited Doug when she could. Since the project seemed to be coming to a close, she decided to take a break and fly around the forest. She still hadn't found the fairy that was supposed to be living there. But Frey had told her where to find Emerald this morning, so Amber was able to find the fairy pool.

“This is a pretty place!” she said, admiring the outdoor flower room. Maybe she could make something like this. That hidden nook by Obsidian Mansion Theater would be perfect. Sitting on one of the stone seats, she called out, “Emerald! I heard you lived here.”

A large Green appeared above the pool of water, her hands on her hips in an annoyed way. “What? I was… huh?” She flew closer. “Oh my gosh, how’d you get such beautiful wings? I’m jealous.”

""It’s a bad story cause I got them from Ambrosia,” she said. “I was a wingless fairy, but then I became a guardian here and she stole my body. But I’m free now. I just wanted to talk with some fairies again.”

“Oh, so you are the guardian?” Emerald studied her for a moment. “I was curious because of some fuss by lesser fairies about being bullied. I get so annoyed by them that I don’t mind if they don’t want to stay in the forest. But sure, talking is fun sometimes.”

“That’s good.” Then she frowned at the thought of Cerisa. “I don’t like bullying, but she was doing something worse than bullying. Of course, I’ve been living in civilization for a couple of seasons now and I have a human heart, so I see things different. I had to do what I thought was right.”

“If you’ve got the power and cleverness, that’s your right,” she said. “Though it’s a shame you’re living in civilization. It’s not a nice place for a fairy to be.”

Amber shrugged. “I thought it was bad at first, cause I had to get used to wearing clothes all the time, and there were so many rules to learn so people didn’t get mad at me. But there’s lots of great things too! When you get along with people, you have so many friends to play with and you share lots of happiness.”

“Happiness is hard to share when you’re alone,” Emerald said, then frowned. “Or anytime, really.”

Curious that she’d say that kind of thing, Amber decided to go on with good things. “And they have machines which are like a physical kind of magic because they can do amazing things. Like they have big ships that fly in the air so that even wingless people can fly! And there’s machines that use invisible waves to send messages really far and really fast, like way beyond what your eyes can see!”

“Wow, that’s some powerful magic,” Emerald said, her eyes wide and interested.

Amber nodded. “And, they have machines inside houses that can make it cool inside on hot days, and warm inside on cold days. I used to dread winter because it was so cold and icy, and food was so hard to find here in the forest. But with those machines, I can stay warm and dry, and they’re saving up lots of food so nobody goes hungry in winter. Civilization is awesome for that!”

“That would be really helpful,” she said. “Still, there’s other troubles to having that kind of thing. Like, you’d have to live around men, and, um, they’d try to steal, um, your freedom with marriage.” Strangely, she was blushing.

Laughing, Amber said, “They aren’t bad! You couldn’t have a shining prince if there weren’t men.”

“I suppose not,” Emerald said, getting more embarrassed.

“I have a shining prince,” she said, leaning towards the fairy. “He’s not really a prince, but he’s the leader of his family and that’s enough of a prince for me. And I try to be his sunny dawn at the end of a lonely night, just like the oracle’s love fortune said.”

Emerald squealed, but in delight. “Aah, that’s so beautiful! Is he tall and handsome with a dark past?”

This was getting fun. “Well he’s short because he’s a dwarf, but I think he’s handsome. And I guess he has a dark past cause he wanted to kill somebody at first. But he turned good because he’s a good person inside.” She giggled again. “You like the story an awful lot.”

“Ack, well I know it’s not fairy-like, but you’re the one that’s in the romance,” Emerald insisted.

“You should’ve protested once I started talking about him instead of saying it was beautiful,” Amber said.

“Oooh fine, but don’t you go telling anybody,” she said, making fists. Then she softened up again. “But, um, are you married?”

“No, not yet,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it, but it’s an awful big promise to make and I’d be even less of a fairy if I did. Although that last part doesn’t seem like such a big deal when I think about him.”

“Right, you’d want to be careful in giving up your freedom,” Emerald said.

Amber shook her head. “Well you’re not giving up all your freedom. My friends who are married tell me it’s more of a partnership. Like how butterflies and flowers help each other be better.” And bees too, she thought, but didn’t say. “Cause life is tough and sometimes too scary to go on alone. It was certainly real hard when I was trying to learn all of civilization’s rules and I thought for a while that everybody was mad at me. That’s not a nice feeling. But then my prince, he knows I have a hard time learning, so he’s patient with answering my questions and if I start doing something wrong, he’ll let me know real quiet like so I can fix it before anyone else notices. And like I said, he’s been through really hard times too, like he thought he’d be lonely and hurting forever because people he loved had gotten killed. So when he says I make him happy, it means a huge amount to us and I can tell he’s really grateful for that happiness.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Emerald said, smiling at the thought. She started blushing as she realized she was saying it, but didn’t get too shy around her. “I, um… you gotta keep it big secret like, but whenever I come into towns, I collect romantic books. Because they’re so beautiful to read, eek! And it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

“I like romance books too!” Amber said, delighted to find someone willing to talk about them. “Especially the ones with happy endings! Because what’s the point of a story that beats up on the characters and never lets them be happy? It makes everybody sad, especially the reader.”

“Those can be beautiful in their sadness too,” she said. “But it’s real easy to go too far with a sad ending story and be that cruel. It makes me want to rewrite the endings to be better, and, uh, sometimes I do that. But I don’t show anybody ever, they’re just for me! But, um… does it really feel like your heart goes all abloom when you kiss your prince?”

“Yup,” Amber said, smiling at the thought. “Sometimes it’s really like nothing else matters and you want to be with them like that forever. Which you can’t really do, even if you ran away from civilization and make up all your own rules. Still, you can be happy even if he just holds your hand while you’re walking. It’s like he wants to stay by your side and make sure neither of you gets lost. I don’t even mind staying on the ground to be with him like that became that happiness is just as strong as being able to fly among the clouds! And that means a lot to me cause I only got my wings this year.”

Emerald giggled at that. “That sounds so wonderful, I really am jealous between your beautiful wings and you having a prince. But, um, if you love him so much, why are you here alone?”

“I can’t help that, but it’s okay,” Amber said, feeling confident in saying that. “He’s doing something amazing right now, but he’s under a magical influence so I can’t really talk to him until he’s done. But he has noticed me and apologized for it even though the influence of thelnar is supposed to be so strong that you have to trick them into eating. That’s just proof that he loves me a lot. I’ve been helping him out how I can, but there’s not much I can do now, so I decided to take a break in the forest. Though I should be getting back to him to see if there’s anything he needs.”

“That’s too bad, but it’s nice that you’re taking care of him,” Emerald said. “If you’re doing that, are you going to marry him?”

“I’d like that,” Amber said. “Like I said, it needs a lot of thought. When you get married, you gotta swear that you’ll love nobody else like that for your whole life. And breaking that kind of oath would hurt terribly. So I’m thinking about if I can really make a promise that big and stick to it forever.”

“I hope you can because it sounds like a wonderful kind of life,” she said.

When she left Emerald to fly by to town, she found Bado carrying Doug back to the general store, the latter so tired that he had fallen asleep on the spot after he’d gotten the elevator engines together and installed near the support pillar. Things seemed to have gone well, but it’d be hard to say until Doug woke up and was able to tell them what exactly he’d been driven to do. That gave Amber a lot to do again, for something she’d been planning all week.

* * *

 

Autumn 7

The flames had never seemed so enticing as they did now. Surrounded by a haze he could barely look into, it was like the heart of the forge had overtaken his own. He was crafting something out of his own dreams, something that needed to be even though he couldn’t explain why. That drive had been kind of terrifying; he couldn’t think rationally, nothing else seemed to matter, and at times not even who he was seemed to matter. It was the work alone that matter, his whole world and it had to be real.

Somewhere in that haze, he could recall images of light. Like an angel bearing the light of dawn, she spoke to him at a moment of weakness. Some parts of himself had nearly come out of the haze and wanted to be heard, wanted him to be realistic and see that this was a terrible idea, one that he could never accomplish no matter what miracle came to him. But her sparkling voice was there, telling him that he could do this and he didn’t need to worry. He should just do what the runes told him. That didn’t entirely make sense since runes didn’t speak.

But her words let him cast off that doubt and fear, letting him focus on this dream. It would turn out all right. He didn’t need to worry about why, just that it was done.

Doug woke up with that on his mind, as well as a feeling of being drained. Not of energy, since his body felt restless with the sunlight falling on his eyes. No, that powerful drive was gone. He wasn’t even sure what was going on, or what he was doing. A look at his clock showed that it was 1152. That late? Granny was likely to complain about him oversleeping, especially on a work day. It was one of his work days, right? He tried to remember what day it was and couldn’t think of it until he went into the main room and saw that Autumn 1 through 6 was crossed out on the calendar.

“No way, it can’t be the seventh,” he mumbled, feeling like it should be the first. Or not even that quite yet. He went back to his room to get dressed, then downstairs to find Wendy in the store. From the delicious smell of stir-fried veggies wafting in the air, it seemed like Granny was in back cooking. “What day is it?” he asked Wendy, going to lean on the other side of the counter.

“It’s the seventh of Autumn,” she said. “Still year 1611, so you weren’t out that long.”

“I wasn’t worried about that,” he said.

“And you seem sleepy enough not to get my jokes,” Wendy said, grinning at him. “But that’s okay. How’re you feeling?”

“I don’t know, kind of run down and restless at the same time,” he said.

“Well that’s not surprising since you’ve been zonked out since yesterday afternoon,” she said. “But you seem okay, so that’s great. Blossom’s in the kitchen.”

“I figured,” Doug said, straightening up and heading back there. “Hey Granny.”

“Oh, good morning,” she said, happy to see him. She paused to give him a hug. “Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah, mostly,” he said, rubbing his head. “Though I’m not entirely sure what’s been going on. It’s really the seventh now?”

She nodded as she went back to stirring the carrots. “That’s right. You’ve been busy.”

“I feel like I have been but I’m not sure what I’ve been doing,” Doug said. “Look, sorry if I skipped out on work or anything, I just…”

“It’s fine, but you really don’t remember?” When he nodded, she chuckled. “Bado said that might be at first. You’ve been under the influence of thelnar, so it could be a few hours before that clears up.”

“Oh…” then what she said hit him. Thelnar? “Wait, what? Are you serious?”

“Yes, you started working on the last day of summer and didn’t stop until you dropped dead asleep yesterday afternoon,” Blossom said. “Do you remember what you were working on?”

“Uh…” he shifted through what he thought were dreams and found that she seemed to be right. That irrational drive to create that made him obsessed with a forge and everything else a haze. “I remember the forge…. Some wiring, gear work, some kind of machine… what the heck was I doing?”

“You and some of your friends had been talking about putting in an elevator from the air field,” she reminded him. “Seems like that idea got into your mind and wouldn’t let you go. I didn’t hear quite how far you got on it, but they’ve closed off North Street past the entrance to Arthur’s office and started building a concrete pillar two days ago. Yesterday when he dropped you off, Bado said they just had to put all the pieces you’d made together.”

“The elevator?” he asked, almost not believing it because that project was more than one person could tackle. Even just making the parts to put together. But it felt right. He could visualize it so clearly and there was a nagging want to see it done in the back of his mind. “I didn’t think I had the right kind of training to design something like that.”

“They were surprised too, but said the plans were made perfectly,” Blossom said. “They called a dwarven construction crew in and they didn’t want to add any modifications even before Bado told them it was a thelnar sparked project.”

“But that kind of thing needed a lot of government clearance to start,” Doug said, which worried him if it got stopped.

“Don’t worry, Lest and Arthur got that all arranged,” she said. “And Amber did a lot to make sure things were organized and moved fast enough to keep up with you.”

“Amber took care of the organization?” he asked, almost as shocked to hear that as to know that he had been hit by thelnar.

Blossom nodded. “She wanted to do whatever she could to help you and would not give up on you. Even when others weren’t sure or some problem was encountered, she found someone who could address the issue and made sure everyone stayed informed of what was going on. Amber can be quite responsible when she feels it’s needed.”

“Yeah, she’s come a long ways.” And she had done so much for him, including saving his life. He knew then that he didn’t want to let her go when he had simply been thinking about things before. Although, he did have something waiting to be done still.

After he shared lunch with Blossom and Wendy, he headed out to take a look at the elevator. The end of the street really was shut off with a magic shield, but the construction crew was more than happy to let him through to see how things were going. The upper machinery had been put together on the platform along with a crane. Once the pillar was completed, they could put the cap and counterweights in place. He had built two carriages, but they each had a separate counterweight. It wasn’t like mining elevators where one would have to wait for one to come down for the other to go up.

He met up with Kiel on his way down to see the machinery there as well as progress on the pillar. Kiel was excited about it and many other things, telling him all about the concrete on the stairs. At his side, a magical book drifted along quietly. “And it’s all weather material, which means that with the reinforcement bars they’re putting in, no storm is going to bring it down. Probably not even an earthquake, since it should hold with a few cracks until it can be repaired.”

“Sounds like you did a good job on that part,” Doug said, smiling. Not just at his friend’s excitement, but at his own as it was really starting to click in his mind. Somehow, he’d been able to pull off this crazy project. He couldn’t wait to see it done, but the pillar couldn’t be rushed.

“Well I have to thank you for the commission because it was a huge help to my studies,” Kiel said. “Learning about color shifts through the dyes as well as the composition of materials to make something much stronger than their component parts, that’s opened up a lot of things to study and potions that I can finally make after just looking over them for many seasons. My correspondence teacher even asked if I wanted to take on teaching the magic and alchemy basics class because of my progress.”

“You could be an awesome teacher if you watched what you said so it doesn’t go over your students’ heads,” he teased him.

“Actually, Arthur mentioned something like that when I asked him how he was getting along with teaching Lest about being a prince,” he said, taking it seriously. “He has to take into account that they didn’t learn the same way, which I’d have to do the same since most students at the school wouldn’t have learned from books like I did.”

As it turned out, Doug had even made some concrete molds so the pillar wasn’t just a straight column that was unlike the rest of Selphia. The bottom parts were still wrapped in the molds as they were drying. The construction group had copied his molds to surround the whole pillar until the concrete was set. On the side facing the cliff, there was a spot for a door to be made so maintenance could be done on the machinery inside the pillar. One of the Sechs engineers was down there and showed him his own plans. It was a blend of old and new technology, of Sechs and Norad knowledge. As such, there wasn’t anything else like it just yet.

But maybe that wouldn’t remain so for long.

After spending an hour chatting with those working on his elevator, his friend started hinting that they should go back to the store. Kiel wasn’t very good at just hinting, but he at least managed to not reveal what was waiting for them there. They got back and found that the store was temporarily closed but the door wasn’t locked. Upstairs, Amber had put together a celebration for him, with a number of their friends already over. “Because it’s a big step for you and things like that should be celebrated,” she explained.

“It’s not the normal way, but thanks for doing this,” he said. “I heard you were doing a lot to make sure it went right.”

She nodded. “Yup, lots of flying around and talking to people. But that’s okay, I’m happy for you.”

It seemed like everyone there wanted to talk to him, had helped him out in some way. Bado even wanted to give him the forging exam to see how much he recalled. A few weeks ago, Doug would have thought it ridiculous for him to take that license exam. But he could recall parts of the work and visualize some methods. Once he got back to a forge, could he remember it all? And did he want to get into forging and crafting further? Maybe even he could make great things if he kept working at it, although that might require quitting his job at the general store to focus on. Even if they had another worker, Doug didn’t want to leave Blossom to managing the store on her own.

Even Dylas had showed up for a little while. “Well I didn’t actually do anything directly with this project, but I was watching how things went,” he said dismissively. “Was more impressed that you put Arthur to shame in overworking.”

“Hah, I don’t think I can manage that ever again,” Doug said. “So you were actually concerned.”

“I think everyone was,” Dylas said, trying not to admit it. “There just wasn’t a lot I could do about construction.”

“That’s fine,” Doug said, although he wondered if he could trust Dylas on something. It seemed like a reasonable thing to try, so once he made sure nobody else was listening in at the moment, he came a little closer and asked, “Hey, could I get you to do me a favor now? Please?”

“Depends,” he said, shifting a little away from him.

“Well, it’s something that I’m pretty sure we talked about before,” he said. “About how I didn’t want Amber to misunderstand me like with what happened at the Wooly Festival.”

“So you’re actually going to ask her?” Dylas asked, now attentive and not hiding it.

Smiling, he said, “I’d like to, especially with everything she’s done for me lately. But I’d like to make sure she gets it, so could you ask her what she thinks about marriage?”

“You might do better asking one of the other two about that,” he said, uneasy with the favor.

“Well Leon would make fun of me and really give me a hard time if I asked him,” Doug explained. “And, well, I’ve talked more with you than I have Dolce. “

“I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not promising anything,” Dylas said.

* * *

 

Autumn 8

A forging license… he actually had one. Doug looked it over and wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it. He didn’t see himself as a sword maker and he’d trained by learning to refine metals. While refining had some potential for income, this wasn’t a big crafting town even with Bado and Frey here. At least, not yet. If the Sechs scientists and engineers stuck around, there might be enough of a demand in town to improve raw materials. But they were already talking of going back to their homeland once things were safe.

Perhaps he could forge machine parts and put the machines together? Machines that ran on gears, electrical wires, and engines rather than magic weren’t widespread in Norad, so Doug had an advantage with his electrical training. And he’d been offered more engineering books to study with so he could improve those skills. While it was tempting, that would take up a lot of time. Years to get the training done, then get a business in machine manufacturing. Could he do that and keep helping out in the general store? That would really eat away at his free time. But Kiel managed it. Doug felt he might be able to as well.

The bell over the door rang as Dylas came in. “Hey man, what’s up?” Doug called.

“The usual,” he said. “About your question yesterday…” he looked uncomfortable.

“Did you get a clear answer out of her?” he asked, plans for the far future slipping his mind for those of the near future.

“It was embarrassing,” Dylas said, not in a good mood. “Although less because we started talking about you two.”

“What, were they bugging you about being single?” Doug said teasingly.

From the flinch he made, that seemed to be right. “W-well that’s not important right now. You shouldn’t have a problem this time. She not only knows better what she’s getting into, but she was asking Dolce about how proposing works. If you don’t make a move soon, she’s going to ask before you do.”

“It's not like it's a race,” he said. “And here I thought I was getting impatient. Might as well take the chance, right? So here, _thanks for your friendship and assistance_.”

Dylas took the silver ring from him, but gave him a puzzled look. “What's this for?”

“You remember when Sven proposed to Clorica? Our clan has a tradition of showing gratitude towards both families by giving one whose helped us a lot from each a silver ring made like this. I was saying, thanks for your friendship and assistance.”

“Are you serious?” he said, sounding angry but he looked more embarrassed. “I didn't think we were friends, at least not the way we kept arguing.”

“Isn't that because you have a hot temper?” Doug asked. After he glared at him, he held up his hands. “Well you do. But still, I was thinking about it and you've helped me out the most. You're pretty nice at times, and I was wondering if that one time I got you was only because you let me. Back during the Wooly festival.”

“It's just, you were obviously in a bad mood and I thought it'd be better you lashed out at me rather than someone not used to fist fights,” Dylas said, uneasy saying it. “Friendship isn't that easy.”

“Well most people wouldn't let someone who wasn't a friend do that,” Doug said. Though he still felt like he should make up for that incident in some way. He'd been hoping giving the silver ring to him could help.

“Well it's never been easy for me,” he said, looking at the floor.

“I think you're overthinking it,” Doug said. “Whatever, I felt like you should have the ring. It'd be nice if I could talk to you more without worrying about you blowing up.”

“Watch what comes out your mouth more often and maybe...” he snorted and started to walk off. Then he paused and looked back before leaving. “But thanks for the ring. I won't be wearing it.”

“And why not?” Doug asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dylas smirked at that and held a fist up in front of him. Some kind of magic shielding flickered briefly. “Cause if it's next to my gauntlet's rings, it'll end up smashed real fast. I'll keep it somewhere safer.”

Doug laughed. “Guess that makes sense. See you later, man.”

“Right.” Then he left.

“Seems considerate, to some degree,” Doug said. The fact that he was working alone today hindered him a bit. But if he waited a while, he was sure there'd be an opportunity.

It came mid-afternoon when Blossom and Xiao came into the shop. “Oh no, they seem to be a most exc'ent kind of guest in their manners,” Xiao said as they walked it. “Very orderly and courteous despite their rough speak. He-o Doug.”

“Hi there, nice timing,” he said. “What'd you come over for?”

“Just some shopping for the inn and ran into Blossom on the way,” Xiao said. “Did you need something?”

“Maybe, if you know where Amber is.” That was a small problem as she could be anywhere on her days off.

Thankfully, it wasn't as Xiao nodded. “Oh yes, when I came out she was having a nap with the flowers in front of our place again. We try to tell her to have naps elsewhere, but then she sleeps on roofs. I left her this time.”

She was doing that again? “Oh brother. She says it's to catch the sun's rays.”

“At least it's not the sidewalk as she's done a few times,” Blossom said. “Did you want to talk with her?”

“Yeah, but there's something I should do first.” He left the counter to hand her the second silver ring. “ _Thank you for your love; it changed my life and I wouldn't be who I am now if it weren't for you_.” Then he repeated it in Norad so she understood.

She smiled so brightly and hugged him for it. “Oh Doug, I have to thank you too. You've been a blessing I never expected and the source of much of my happiness these days.”

“Aw Granny, that's a bit much,” he said, but patted her back.

“I mean it, as much as you mean with this ring,” she said.

Xiao giggled. “Is this that engagement custom Sven did before too? So you want to find Amber now or whoever gets the other ring?”

“I managed to hand the other silver one over earlier today,” Doug said. “But since you're here, well, I had something else in mind if you don't mind calling her over here. A bit crazy, but it's from a book she was telling me about that she really loved.” Then he explained about the plan.

“That is risky,” Blossom said, worried and unsure about letting him do it.

“I'll be more careful than before, I promise,” he said. “Don't want to be making her save me again.”

“It seems you must be very confident to do that kind of scene,” Xiao said. “But, it would be so wonderful too and I think it would be that she would like it very much.”

“Well she loves having fun,” he pointed out.

“I suppose that kind of unforgettable memory is worth a little risk,” Blossom said. “Do be careful.”

“I will.” It reminded him of his thoughts in making the ring. He couldn't imagine his life without her now. Whatever it took to make this time of their life unforgettable, Doug was willing to give it a try for Amber's happiness.

* * *

 

“Amber! Wake up!”

“Mmm?” She hadn't been very asleep, just enjoying the feel of the sun's rays on her wings. Amber sat up on her knees and looked over at Xiao. “It's okay, you don't have to be so loud.”

“Do you have to be sleeping here again when I asked you before to not do so?” Xiao said with a sigh. “As I have said, you will get dirty.”

“I don't mind it, it's nice dirt with a good smell,” she said. Still, she got to her feet and hopped out of the flowerbed. “You should try a nap there! It's refreshing.”

“I would rather not,” she said. “Sorry. Oh, but, I believe that Doug was hoping you'd stop by the general store today. He has asked me where you were not too long ago.”

That made her smile. “Really? Yay! I never know if he's too busy working, so he must not be too busy working if he doesn't mind me over today.”

“Well I can forgive you for the flowerbed nap,” Xiao said. “Would you like to talk on the way over? I have some time myself.”

“Sure! Have you been on any exciting dates with Kiel lately?” Amber liked hearing about how the other relationships in town were going, although sometimes that got people embarrassed.

“Well, some exciting times but not in good ways,” Xiao said as they started walking over. “But he said he would make dinner for me tonight because he got so busy with the elevator project, making lots of concrete, and all the mess with the music box. Though, it does not bother me because it seems this elevator will be a great thing for the whole community.”

“Yeah, more people would love to visit if it was a little easier to get around!” That was what Lest wanted, to make Selphia really popular. Amber hoped it would be, because then lots of people could see her work in public gardens.

They chatted about the elevator and dates on the way over. But before they reached the right crossing, they heard Doug call out from above. “Amber!”

“Huh?” She looked up and saw that he was on the roof of the general store. Why? He got hurt last time he was on a roof. Amber flew up to his level, putting an enchantment on. If he fell this time, she'd be able to grab him and set him down far better than with the gloves. “Dougie, what're you doing? You can't be up on roofs like me.”

He was hanging onto a part of the roof that jutted out, for the window that she sometimes used to visit him in his room. It was at least safer than the castle roof. Grinning like he didn't care, Doug called over (even though she wasn't that far away), “It's fine, I want to prove that I'd do anything to be with you! You've done so much for me and all I need is your smile to feel happy. I love you so much Amber! Will you marry me?”

This... it was just like a scene from one of her favorite romance books. Squealing in excitement, she dashed over and grabbed him in a tight hug. That ended up sending the both of them into the air over the street, causing some gasps and worried calls from people who'd happened to be below. But, Amber hardly heard them. “Wheee, of course I will!” she shouted, even though he was right there.

When Doug gripped her tighter to stay close, she could feel his heart pounding. “A-amber?”

“Don't worry, I've got you good this time,” she said with a smile. “I'm not gonna let you fall.”


	92. The Fourth Wedding

Autumn 10

The guys met up in Arthur's room for another pajama party before a wedding. “Pretty clever that you made it fall now,” Leon said.

“What's so clever about it?” Doug asked, worried because Leon rarely gave a compliment without some kind of teasing.

And he proved it by saying, “Or maybe not since you have absolutely no excuse to be forgetting your wedding anniversary when it's the day before your birthday.”

“Has that been a trope for so long?” Arthur asked, although it was hard to tell if he was joking or genuinely curious.

“Some things never change no matter how far history progresses,” Leon said.

“That's kind of a depressing thought,” Vishnal said. “You'd think history would show progression.”

“Sometimes it does, sometimes it seems like we lose things from time to time,” Kiel said. “Or some eras of time don't get a lot written about them so we don't know much about them. But if you're talking about simple stories and their ideas, then yeah, some basics show up no matter what the setting around them is.”

“Even if they're exaggerations like the husband forgetting an anniversary?” Sven asked. “I don't remember our parents ever doing something like that.”

Kiel chuckled. “I know Jones never forgets, but that's kind of because Nancy is so enthusiastic about remembering their past.”

“Right, give her an opening and she'll be off in her happy place chatting away,” Doug said, waving a hand to show it.

“They do have a very sweet relationship, don't you think?” Lest said with a smile.

“Maybe sickeningly sweet,” Doug said.

“What, you wouldn't want to treat Amber that nicely?” Leon asked, putting his fan in front of his face (though that almost always meant he had an evil smile on).

“Well maybe not so public,” he said, feeling his face get warm.

“You were far more than public with that fly by proposal,” Leon challenged.

“But that was so cool!” Vishnal said.

“There's a difference between having a dramatic proposal and having a, well, very public relationship,” Arthur said. “Though Jones and Nancy aren't too bad about it; it's just a bit uncomfortable being around them sometimes. On the other hand, it's nice to see a couple who loves each other so much, inspiring even.”

“Just wait until Valentine's Day,” Doug said.

“Oh yeah, remember last year?” Kiel asked. “I actually had to help Jones out the following White Day because he was worried about doing badly after all the effort she put into that.”

“Hopefully we don't get a repeat of that,” Vishnal said.

“What're you talking about now?” Leon asked, shifting his fan downward briefly. It looked to be one of those moments he didn't know about current customs.

“It's lots of fun with lots of sweets,” Kiel said, happy to talk about it. “Valentine's Day falls on Autumn 30 and White Day on Autumn 60. On the first holiday, girls will bake cookies to show their appreciation and feelings for those they like. Usually it's a sugar cookie to friends and family, then a chocolate cookie to their boyfriend or husband as the one they love most. Although sometimes they offer a chocolate chip cookie to someone they're interested in if they're single. Then on the second holiday, it's the guys who do the same.”

“They had something like that in my time,” Dylas said.

“Sounds like a nice potential for messing with somebody,” Leon said.

“I'd suggest not since some people can take it seriously,” Arthur said. “At the very least be respectful that someone thought to give you a holiday cookie.”

“It's probably going to be a lot different this year with half of us married,” Vishnal said. “Odd since last year, I wouldn't have expected that to happen.”

“Well half last year would have been even less, since it was you, me, Kiel, and the former prince,” Doug pointed out.

“I was just shocked that anybody tried to give the last prince a cookie because of the jerk he was,” Kiel said.

“Well it was from girls outside of town who mostly tried because he was a prince,” Vishnal said. Then he smiled. “Might be even more of that this year.”

“Oh geez, you telling me I should hide away or something?” Lest said jokingly.

“Well you should take them respectfully unless someone you don't know tries to give you a chocolate one outright,” Arthur said. “People can, well, be delusional at times. That kind of drama is difficult to get out of.”

“Have you really had to deal with that?” Kiel asked, curious.

Arthur nodded. “Unfortunately.”

“The magically induced infatuations feel weird to me; dealing with stalkers is uncomfortable,” Lest said, rubbing his head.

“I'd make sure somebody you trust is with you on those days, like Vishnal or the others,” Arthur said. “That can make it easier to politely decline if you have to.”

“Too bad you can't say you're dating anyone to deter that,” Leon said. “Although it's really strange that you and Dylas are still single after what's gone on.”

“I told you, I'm fine not worrying about that,” Dylas said, glaring off at the floor.

“Doesn't matter to me either,” Lest said. “I like how things are for now.”

“Even with that, it seems the spring oracle was very successful in this town,” Arthur said with a slight smile.

“What matters is that everybody's happy with how things are turning out, right?” Doug asked, smiling wider. He was certainly happy.

* * *

 

“I finally got to see what the rock amber looks like,” Amber said, excitedly remembering the special ring Doug had given her. Though she had to give it back today so they could use it tomorrow for the promises. “And it looks just like honey! It's the best rock out there!”

“It does, doesn't it?” Meg asked, laughing with the other girls.

“But you can't eat it, so it's just something pretty to look at mostly,” Amber said.

“Amber's a little unpredictable as a crafting material,” Frey said. “Depending on the kind of tree it came from, you can get amber with light, earth, air, or water attributes. And then sometimes it has little plants, insects, or other debris inside that alters its runic qualities. Still, if you find a really good piece of it, it can make a very unique accessory from a standard recipe.”

“Well our Amber is very unique too,” Forte said, smiling in a friendly way to her.

“Do you use amber in making things?” Amber asked Frey.

She nodded. “Sometimes, when I find a good deal on it. I've also wondered if I could make a charm with it for my brother. See, his armor uses charms that draw out the natural qualities of the materials used, in order to get around his own magic. Which means if I made him an amber charm, I wouldn't be certain of what it does until he wore it for a while. But that could be fun in its own way.”

“That would be troublesome to find out in battle,” Forte said, not approving of it.

“Aw come on, where's the fun in not taking the risk?” Wendy said with a grin.

“Except it's not your risk, rather your possible entertainment at what happens to Lest,” Frey said, making some of the others laugh.

“Maybe a little,” Wendy said jokingly.

“We wouldn't want to hurt Lest,” Amber said.

“That's true,” Wendy admitted.

“Everybody in town likes Lest, so nobody here would,” Dolce said. That reminded Amber that she had something to ask her. What had it been?

“Yeah, which makes it kind of weird that nobody's dating him,” Meg said. “He's the most charming prince we've had as long as I've been living here, but all of us are dating other people.”

“Or each other,” Wendy said teasingly, getting some laughs.

That gave Amber a great idea from her romance books. “Oh, you think maybe that someday, a beautiful princess is going to come here and make Lest fall in love with her?”

“Wow, that would be wonderful,” Clorica said happily, as if she could dream of it.

“That could be a lovely sight to be witness to,” Forte said with a smile.

“That would be great since he started as a farmer,” Frey said, looking for a moment like she might say something more. But she didn't say it, if it was anything.

“It seems the only princess that I know of in Norad is Princess Briana, Arthur's older sister,” Xiao said. “I do not believe she is married yet.”

“Is she beautiful?” Amber asked, leaning forward.

“I think so, yes,” Xiao said with a nod.

Meg then got up. “Oh wait, I think I have a magazine with her picture in it. Let me go check.”

“I've read some things about her,” Clorica said, thinking on it. “She's supposed to be intelligent and gracious, like he is actually. Oh, and there's been little bits in the papers recently, mostly gossip columns but it's come up in several places, that she has been doing some gardening alongside working in the royal court.”

“Wow, she'd get along great with him!” Amber said, thrilled with the idea. From the expressions on the other girls' faces, they agreed with her.

“If he ended up with her, we wouldn't have to go to a big fuss to get him officially recognized as royalty, aside from a royal wedding of course,” Wendy said.

“Isn't he officially royalty since he's the prince of our region?” Dolce asked.

“Well no,” Wendy said. “In your day, that was enough, even up to Dylas' time. But somewhere in the time between, rules came out about who could and couldn't be recognized as royalty so that even being the regional leader in the home region of a Native Dragon isn't enough. It'd take some paperwork and ceremony to make it so current day nobility recognize him as royalty.”

“But that would be nice since he's been a great prince to us,” Amber said getting others to nod along.

“Maybe we could see about making a sneaky effort around town to get it done for him,” Meg said, coming back with a magazine in hand. She put it in the middle of their circle. “Here, I found her; that's Princess Briana.”

“Whoa, she is pretty,” Amber said, admiring the picture. Briana had deep purple hair, like the color of a plum, that was straight and went down to her waist; her eyes were a bright red and made her face look like Arthur's even without eyeglasses. While she was more tan than other portraits Amber had seen of fair-skinned princesses, it looked a lot healthier like she spent a lot of time in the sun. She was at a ball in the magazine, so she wore a dark blue dress with white trim, ornamented with silver and pearls. Although at a ball, an elegant paw cat with long white fur sat at her side.

“Do you think we could get Arthur to hook them up?” Frey asked.

“I doubt it,” Forte said. “Oh, but the royal family does make yearly visits of various regions around late autumn. She might come here then.”

Pointing to the paw cat in the picture, Amber remembered what she needed to ask Dolce. “Oh yeah, this kitty reminds me! Dolce, do you know when Maple's kittens can go to new homes? Because Lumie wants a cat to keep mice from getting to the seeds and Blossom wants a cat for the same reason.”

“That's good to hear,” Dolce said. “They've been more independent lately and Maple treats them as such. Lest has already asked for her to stay in the barn to keep working in the fields, but there's five kittens we need to find homes for. Actually, we've gotten a hold of an animal doctor to come by in a few days to make sure they're all fit for being pets.”

“Well if the stores get store cats, then you've only got three to find a home for,” Amber said.

“Two, because one of the kittens has taken to following Sven around on patrol,” Clorica said with a smile. “I've given him some things to stay in our house, and he knows he's welcome in already.”

“Um, I've been thinking of asking to take one of the kittens in too,” Xiao said. “I want to give the spotted one to Momma because I think a pretty cat would be a nice addition to the inn. We do not have as many problems with mice, but that would be a good bonus.”

“They're all good mousers, so I'll let Vishnal know where they're needed,” Dolce said with a smile.

* * *

 

Autumn 11

Once upon a time, the world came to an end. At least it had felt that way for Doug. He'd left home only to return a few hours later to the complete destruction of everything that he'd known. Tricked into going along with those who used to be at war with his home, he'd endured a long lonely time where no one sympathized with his loss. He'd been made fun of, told he was worthless as a dwarf that didn't craft, and made to think that he had only one purpose in life. And he'd believed it all because he had nothing else to believe in.

That nightmare was over. While there was little left of his childhood days (as even Sven was very different), Doug had an entirely new life to treasure. He had family he loved just as much as his old, with Blossom happy to tears to be with him this day and Sven saying that they had to make their families as close knit as their childhood days. He had many friends too, who might tease him but today were all wishing him well. Instead of hardly being like a dwarf should be, he was now head of his clan and turning out to be more talented in crafting than he gave himself credit for. In particular, Bado was impressed at his aptitude for clockwork. That combined with his electrical training could produce things other dwarves might have a hard time making.

And there was the woman who shone brighter than the sun in his life, someone he learned how to smile again from.

Once upon a time much longer back, everything had been an enigma. Amber wouldn't have even known what 'enigma' meant, or what it would look like in a book. They were bright happy days, but she hadn't cared why or how anything worked. She didn't know why she was the only wingless fairy around. While she lived according to what the other fairies taught her, she didn't understand why she often felt differently from them. But they said she should be happy, so she tried to be as happy as she could be and ignore anything more complicated than finding food.

Now Amber understood things. She knew caring about only her own happiness could lead to cruel things. True happiness came with understanding herself, the world, and others. When she had been in the ether sea, she started to learn what family was singing with the other guardians. Being back in the world, she had found how to find happiness in making others happy. And she began to learn what really made things work. It had been hard at first, but now she felt like a part of the community around her instead of being the odd one out. There were still wonders to find as she learned what had once been an enigma.

And there was her shining prince, someone who helped her learn that being grounded wasn't so bad after all.

On this day, a man of the earth and a woman of the sky came together to unite their lives with the blessings of the young Native Dragon Doomgale.

* * *

 

Autumn 27

By the base of the windmill observatory, a small ceremony was taking place. This had once been a small area of stone with a few benches and flowerbeds to make it a nice spot to chat with friends. Now, the platform had been extended out east a few more feet with a small corner next to the windmill to accommodate the addition of a pair of elevator carriages. A double archway of a white trellis meant to hold a climbing plant (a project for next year) stood in front of them to welcome visitors to the town of Selphia.

Lest was leading the ceremony, but he had Doug standing with him by the ribbons as the main engineer of the project. “Thanks to the enthusiastic and hard-working assistance from many of you here, we have managed to build this dream gifted from the gods in an amazingly brief period of time,” Lest said. “The heart of this community truly beats strong to support all of its members. I'm sure we all hope that this elevator remains a symbol of artistry in machinery for many years to come. Now I give the honor of opening up our newest structure to Doug Geisel.” He smiled and handed him a large pair of scissors, very ornate for such occasions.

“Before that, I'd just like to thank all of you for all your help in this. It's amazing what we can do when we work together.” There were some cheers and clapping to his statement. While it had been his designs and a lot of his work, this had also been very much a community effort. “And because of that, our new outdoors elevator is open for service!” He clipped to ribbons blocking access to the elevators to a much greater round of cheers.

Since Amber had not gotten to go into the elevators during the test runs, Doug waved for her to come forward to ride one with him. She eagerly flew in after him, going to the far wall. “It really is like a pretty cage in here!” she said. “The bars and glass keep people safe, huh? But you can see way far out there to the horizon!”

“There's no way I would have blocked the beautiful countryside,” Doug said, pressing a button to close up the elevator and signal its descent.

“And I guess it's better than a cage since nobody will get stuck in here,” Amber said. Then the elevator started to descend with her still hovering inside. She quickly had to put her hands up to catch the ceiling before she collided with it. “Whoops!”

“You okay?” Doug asked, worried about if she'd bumped her head. He hadn't thought of this kind of problem happening.

“Yeah,” she said, beating her wings stronger so she could land on the floor. “I don't need the elevator, but I'll have to watch for that when I ride it.”

He smiled in relief. “Yeah. At least not many others have to worry about that.”

“We should probably tell Doomgale to be careful too,” she said, turning around and soon smiling. “This feels funny standing on! And the pillar is real pretty too, the whole thing is art and machine like Lest said.”

“It is, Kiel did a really great job on the concrete,” Doug said, looking over at the relief of colorful flowers and vines. There had only been a few of the concrete molds, but somehow he'd designed it so that the molds could be shifted seamlessly a couple feet over at every level. That meant that it had a pattern that wasn't obvious from inside the carriages. Or even outside on the airfield. “And that was in spite of all he was going through at the time.”

“Yeah, that was a bad time for him,” Amber agreed. “But he still did great work. Everybody did great work to make your dream come true!”

“Especially you,” he said, going to hug her as the elevator came to the bottom.

“I didn't do a lot, but I had to make sure everyone else could work together,” she said. “Can I make it go up?”

“Yeah, just push the button,” he said.

She did that, smiling as the door shifted from opening to closing. Then she turned to him. “Hey Dougie, are we going to have children soon?"

Even knowing that she could be spontaneous, that caught him by surprise. “Huh, where'd that come from?” he asked, trying to think fast. They were alone, but not for long as they'd come back to the top where everyone else was.

“Well Leon and Frey are going to have a child at the end of winter, maybe,” she said. “And Dolce told me she and Vishnal wanted to have lots of kids for a big family. So I was wondering what kind of family we wanted.”

“I am worried about you in that,” he said. As soon as her eyes questioned him, he added, “It's just, your body changed when you woke up this time and now you're really light so you can fly. I don't think having children would be easy on you.”

“Oh yeah, I hadn't thought about that,” Amber said, although she sounded sad at that. “I was hoping we could have kids too someday.”

Doug didn't want to deny her that, plus he would like to have a family with her too. “Maybe one to start with, we'll see how you do before we try for any more.”

“I can be strong for a family,” she said. “And I could ask Nancy if she can think of anything to help. I hope we can have a good strong child.” Then she was all smiles when she came out to talk with others, thankfully not mentioning that little discussion with anybody there. Although Doug trusted her to know what to keep private between them.


	93. Intermission - A Copper's Headache

Autumn 47

Something was interfering with his whistling. He paused but the sound of whistling continued. “Hmm.” He shifted the pole he carried to rest on his shoulder; a dark metal bucket with a lid was hanging off the far end of it. Since this might involve wind spells, he made sure that his black hair was securely in its hairband. Some clusters of it were left a bit messy and spiky, but pushing those behind his ears should keep them out of his eyes.

A few minutes later when he was back to relaxing on the crates and watching the scenery below, one of the airship's crew came to him. “Excuse me, sir, you should head below decks. We might be encountering some aerial monsters soon.”

“Wingapedes?” he asked, unconcerned about them.

“Right, it's the time of year when they get active in this region,” the crewman said.

He shrugged. “So? I most like the breeze that comes beyond the wind shields. It seems I'm staying up here, yes?”

“Erm, they can be aggressive and slip past the shields, so it'd be safer inside,” the crewman said.

“Don't care about them as long as they don't muss up my hair improperly,” he said. “This style takes careful negligence, see?”

“They've been known to blow people off decks,” the crewman said, bewildered at his nonchalant attitude. “We're trying to keep them at bay with some repellent powders, but it's still a risk.”

Putting his hand to his chin, he was quiet for a moment listening to the whistling. “It seems that you been cheated,” he finally said.

“What?” Then one of the whistles became a shriek as a blade of wind rushed over their heads. A wingapede rose over the side of the airship and came onto the deck. And if you saw one, there were likely a dozen more nearby.

“Hmph.” He stretched his arms out as the crewman tensed up, backing off and preparing a spell. The Wingapede dodged the resulting fireball as they tended to do. For dodgy monsters like this, some strategy was needed. He took his bucket pole in both hands, then swung the heavy bucket at the Wingapede. It dodged, but being a vain kind of monster, it didn't dodge far enough. Triggering an enchantment on the pole, he caused the bucket to surround itself in a blast of fire. That sent the Wingapede back to the forest. A few more wingapedes fell in the same manner before the rest of their swarm decided to back off.

“Th-that was amazing, sir,” the crewman said.

“Not really,” he said, picking up a few thin transparent wings off the deck of the ship before they got blown off. Reed Wings were valuable in certain circles, usually musical.

“We normally don't scare off a wingapede swarm so quickly,” he said. “You a wandering warrior?”

He shook his head. “No. Xiang Yang Fan, bucket salesman.”

“You... sell buckets? You don't seem like a merchant.” It was the kind of skepticism he was often faced with. Skepticism he counted on.

“Business is very competitive field, yes?” Yang said. “Especially on lone wanderer. It seems I must have the means to defend myself against bandits and monsters. But buckets are very important, don't you agree? Some have said I make myself martyr to mundane, but there are many job for which bucket is perfect tool. It role is irreplaceable in many places. Even some of your airship chores depend upon having bucket, yes? I make sure customers get best buckets possible for their needs at fair price.”

“You do have a point,” the crewman said, taking the most understandable points of Yang's odd accent while trying to understand the rest. When he asked for some more clarification, Yang kept talking and eventually was able to make another sale, so that the airship had a couple extra buckets just in case.

To keep up the friendly exchange after the sale (because that led to good word of mouth down the line), Yang said, “Then what of our destination? I have been hearing many varying rumors of Se'fa.”

“Selphia's really getting itself back together this year,” the crewman said, trying to politely correct his pronunciation. “Their latest prince has actually been working at improving the place. You should see their market; this is a great day for that too since it's their weekly market day. And just this past summer, I hear they had a festival with giant woolies.”

That reminded Yang of his latest irritation, about the new prince. “Ah yes, it seems I have heard much of such festivals in recent years. A curious event.”

“We've been getting a lot of travelers asking us questions about the place, especially since they completely neutralized the threat of war from the empire,” he said. “There's been lots of interest after they got rid of the warship that was lurking around here, thank the gods. I suppose compared to that mechanical beast, the wingapedes are nothing.”

“They got rid of it?” Yang asked. “Curious. I not think Se'fa had resources of military means.”

“Apparently a couple of young men took the thing down from an unarmed airship with spells. Such a funny thing, really. We were all intimidated by its metal hull and spikes, but then it turns out they had a glaring weakness of leaving their lift balloons vulnerable to magic.”

Yang shrugged. “All details are important. People miss that far too much.”

“Right,” the crewman agreed. “So what brings you to Selphia? It really is a great place for those of an adventuresome mind, and you can really feel the protection of the divine wind on the roads.”

“I know,” he said. “Got family there. Pah, but I get called back to deal with that novice royal deciding to be hardliner on the rules. Nobody's cared for years. But it seems that this fellow feels the need to gain approval for his lucky station, so I get called back for rule clarification.”

“Well what little I've talked to him, he comes across as a very down-to-earth young man,” the crewman said. “Apparently he can be odd from time to time, but people are slowly gaining respect for him.”

“Odd huh?” Hopefully it would be an oddity that let him keep his comfortable little loophole in citizenship status.

The crewman smiled. “Rumor has it that he dresses up like a girl on occasion and has a truly charming way with people. He's definitely on the liberal end of things, so if it's about rules, he might be willing to bend a few.”

“Ah, so maybe it is of not much worry,” Yang said. That would be good. He'd already compromised to let himself get tied to the ring on his finger. But, that was more for having a secure home to return to if things got rough. Just knowing that there was a place like that waiting for him was a secret relief. He was even lucky enough to have a beautiful understanding wife and a cute reliable daughter, both of whom didn't mind letting him roam like the free spirit he was. If he was forced to sign a citizenship form, however, he would be tied to a rope of taxes, census, responsibility, and laws that he couldn't easily slip out of. That was a fate he had feared for much of his life.

At the airfield, he encountered a group of Ants under a Killer Ant's lead. That was always a bad sign. Regular Ants were passive and only attacked if attacked first. Even then, they preferred to run. But Killer Ants were aggressive and could rally other Ants into attacks. It'd be even worse if there was a Queen Ant wandering around, since they were leaders and could coordinate Ants and Killer Ants with surprising intelligence. Yang got rid of that bunch, being sure to collect some of their carapaces. While he stated himself to be a bucket salesman, he earned a better income gathering and selling monster drops like this. But it was all a matter of how he presented himself.

He was here for legal matters, so Yang first headed for the castle. Outside of the central chamber's entrance, he spotted something new: a red request box. That definitely hadn't been there when he visited this past winter. That could be nice, a source of some quick jobs to get some money before he took off again. Maybe it'd even give him some favor with the new royal. Before that, he headed into the parlor to see about scheduling a meeting.

The door to the royal office was open, so he glanced in and saw that the prince, the old butler, and a stone fox with a red scarf were there. Prince Lest certainly didn't look like any other royal. From his tanned skin and lean muscles, he seemed more like a farmer than a prince. There was even a straw hat with a leaf caught in it hanging on a coat rack near the door. Though his silver-green hair and purple eyes definitely weren't ordinary either.

“Hello, may I help you?” the prince asked him, having noticed him right away.

“He'o, you wrote that you wanted to see me some time ago,” he said. He consented to come into the doorway but no further yet. “I'm Xiang Yang Fan, Lin Fa's husband.”

“Oh good, I'm Arthur Lest Nolan, the current prince,” he said. “It's fine to just call me Lest. If this is about your citizenship status, we'll need to arrange a meeting later today with my adviser. Are you going to be around town today?”

“Yes, it seems I will,” he said, smiling at him. “You have quite a memory to know what it is exactly I came in for when it has been long time. Sorry, but I was out off the road.”

“That's fine, I'm glad you came by. I'll send one of the butlers out to find you when we're ready. Did you have anything else to discuss while you're here?”

“No, I do not think so, but we see,” Yang said, nodding to him. “I wait for the time, thank you.”

Since he had to wait until they were ready, he went back out to check on the request box. He'd seen these in other towns, either a box or a board where people would post requests or small tasks for others to perform. Usually they were in much larger towns than Selphia was right now. Maybe they were just being hopeful, though it was a nice hope to have. There were even a few requests up now. Some didn't look interesting, but two stood out. The town guard (or rather, the lady knight Forte) was looking for some help with the current high activity of the ants and wingapedes around town. And then the town blacksmith was looking for particular carapace items and Reed Wings.

“Lucky combo right there,” Yang mumbled to himself, taking one of the slips for each. He headed out to look around town and see how the monsters were spread.

There weren't many in town at the moment, although he spotted a swarm of wingapedes hanging out to the east of town, over the airfield. They weren't close in enough for him to attack. While he was looking around for a good spot to lure them, he spotted Forte herself with another familiar face. He greeted them and walked over. “Oh, Mr. Xiang,” Forte said. “Odd time of year to be seeing you.”

“I go where I go when the wind blows,” he said. “I see the requests from the box about the monsters and decided to look into it, if it helps.”

“We'd be able to handle it ourselves if it wasn't both groups at once,” she said. “Anyhow, this is another knight of our town now, Corrin Nolan. Corrin, this is Xiang Yang Fan.”

“Sure, I know him,” Corrin said, looking at him warily. “I know I can count on him to be a jerk, though his skills in battle are respectable.”

“Well you get yourself into such easy positions to tease about, sir,” Yang said with a smirk. Usually he called Corrin madam, but since this trans was looking female, it seemed better with the sir.

“We don't need that attitude, Mr. Xiang,” Forte said in warning. “If you're looking to help with the monsters, fine, but leave childish antics out of it. The wingapedes swarms are competing with each other, so as long as they can be kept out of town limits, they're fine. But the ant groups are trying to move in with such coordination that we believe a Queen Ant is around somewhere.”

“They try to set up in the old tunnels under town?” Yang asked. He could tease them better later. Right now, obfuscating with his custom accent was good enough.

“That's the most likely possibility, also one we don't want to happen,” Corrin said.

“Our main objective then is to locate the Queen Ant and discourage her from nesting in town limits,” Forte said. “Returning her to the forest may be quickest, but then a new queen usually spawns in a few days and tries again. The better option would be to get her to move back to the Yokmir Caves. All the lower ants will follow her there.”

“Gotcha,” Yang said, although that was readily known knowledge among those who fought monsters in areas with ant groups. “And do not worry, since it is a job, I do my best to keep to plan.”

“Then check over the northern street, Yang,” Forte said. “We'll handle the tunnels.”

“Heh, careful not to get lost down there,” he said. Although he would be very amused to find that these two had gotten lost there. They seemed like an unlikely duo, the super formal and moral Forte fighting alongside the notorious gender bending Corrin. Although the latter was high on the moral scale as well, which made something he'd just caught potentially interesting. “Hey but, Corrin? It seems I have just met your son a short time ago. He is prince here, yes?”

“That's right, and why I'm here now,” Corrin said.

“Well that at least explains how you finally got your knighthood, yes?” Yang said, back with a smirk.

As expected, that annoyed him. “It was Lady Ventuswill and Lady Forte's decision, not his,” Corrin said.

“Let's get on with this mission,” Forte said to cut him off.

Letting her do that this time, Yang headed off to the north part of town. So luring the wingapedes over wasn't part of the plan. But they were most likely to come over here due to being the higher part of town, so he had to keep an ear open for their distinctive wing whistles. The ants were less likely to be over here. While they liked chewing on wood, the wood in the platforms was too old and protected to be attractive to them. He still found and dispatched a group much like that on the airfield up by the observatory and a new elevator. That was a pretty good sign that there was a Queen Ant somewhere.

He then moved on to the marketplace and found that the crewman on the airship had been right about it. The place had been thoroughly redone and refreshed. With a lot more color and interesting features, including a fairy fountain, it could become one of the markets that people visited for the marketplace itself. Some questions of the merchants uncovered that the fees were still reasonable, at least for residents or members of the trading guilds. A loner like him would have to pay a higher fee. At least he didn't have to pay fees to a guild or follow their rules. Still, Selphia might now be a potential marketplace to keep an eye on for holidays or festivals.

While there, he spotted his daughter at one of the booths speaking to a young fellow that he half recognized. It took a moment of noticing his hair and face to remember that this was Forte's bookish little brother Kiel. There was even a magical book drifting around him, turning the eye on its cover to face Yang as he came by. The boy seemed to be the one running the booth, selling soaps, lotions, potions, bath salts, herb mixes, and some purses shaped like turnips. According to the sign, he was an alchemist. A bit low sighted for a prestigious position like that, Yang thought, unless the potions were of higher grade than normal. And why turnip purses?

“He-ey, Xiao!” Yang came over, smiling for her. “What a surprise, catching you outside.”

She looked startled too, backing up and nearly tipping over the display of soaps if Kiel hadn't been quick enough to catch the basket. “Sorry,” she said to her friend, but then smiled at him. “He'o, Poppa! Heh, it seems to be a strange time for you to be in town.”

Ruffling her silver hair, he said, “It is, but I have business with your new prince today. Here it is that I've been married to your mother twenty-four years and just now one of them caught on about my citizenship status. Seems like I've got to face the music at last.”

“Why, what's wrong with your citizenship status?” Kiel asked.

“I'm a citizen of the world, not to one nation,” Yang said. “Though I had to register here as my residence to get married. It's just a technicality, that's all.”

“Is that legal?” Kiel asked.

“Wh-what, has it been illegal all this time?” Xiao asked, concerned about it.

“Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't,” he said. “I didn't care because it seemed like just formality and politics. We'll see when I get to talk with the prince again later.”

“Oh, well Lest is a nice person,” Xiao said, sounding like she had a good deal of faith in this prince. “They managed to find that my tax forms had been done incorrectly ever since I started and I was actually owed a good deal of money which I got back. He may simply wish to fix a potential problem and set records straight.”

“Yeah, Lest's been a reasonable prince, so there shouldn't be a problem,” Kiel said.

“Ah, that is a good deal of relief,” Yang said. If the prince was liberal, nice, and reasonable, he might just be able to keep the loophole after all and remain free. “Although since I have to wait on them to get the meeting together, I won't be able to stop by until this evening probably. Still, let your mother know that I should be around today and tomorrow. Maybe a few days more, we'll see.”

“Great, she'll be happy to hear that,” Xiao said, happy herself.

“And I'm supposed to be giving a hand to the knights with ants and wingapedes, so I leave you to speak to your boyfriend, all right?” he smiled, expecting her to get embarrassed.

“Wait, how did you know about that?” she asked, not embarrassed at all. “I thought you weren't able to get letters from us at the moment.”

“Heh, that was a good guess,” Kiel said, smiling brightly.

“Oh, so that's how it is?” So Xiao finally had a guy. That was nice, but did it have to be this one? Yang would have much rather her be with a guy who was more adventurous and able to take care of her. Kiel was a bookworm who seemed to stay holed up in his house endlessly studying. Although if he was an alchemist, maybe that studying had got him somewhere. Maybe he would stay a few days longer to see how this was.

“Well it has been a couple seasons, but we have been helping each other a lot for longer than that,” Xiao said.

Yang nodded slowly. “Ah, so I'll have to keep an eye on him. Anyhow, as I said, I'm doing some side work, so I'll see you all later.”

He ended up having to lure some of the wingapedes closer. Whatever plan Forte had, he saw more merit for himself in getting more Reed Wings. Yang knew that the blacksmith here was better for selling materials to than buying items (even buckets) from. The dwarf was a lazy but greedy dullard, old enough that he'd likely never change. With some plan to make musical instruments, he bought off the carapaces and Reed Wings a bit higher than traders would pay. Not as high as Yang was expecting, but it was still a good amount of money for a simple job that he'd get paid for from a second source as well.

As the ant groups started moving out of town, indicating that Forte and Corrin were somehow succeeding, the old butler found Yang and called him back to the castle. On the way over, he spotted yet another familiar but unexpected face. “Huh, it seems even old Art's come out to visit,” Yang said.

“No, he lives here and serves our region as a knight,” Volkanon said.

“Oh really?” That thought was scary. Sir 'Art' Lawrence was as strict and chivalry bound as the others. However, the old knight was truly someone Yang did not want to tangle with. “I have seen Corrin here too, so who else do you have under oath?”

“A young earthmate who's very skilled with his scythe. It's been an exciting year so far.” And he seemed pleased about it.

“Sounds like it.” Wasn't that overkill? Four knights in a low population region like this when some towns of twice their population only had a volunteer defense force against monsters and bandits. Then again, Art was old enough that he might not stay on full duty for long and there was that threat of war. He didn't think the Sechs would give up that easily.

Yang had thought over several tactics on how to keep status quo ever since he got the notice letter. The moment he walked into the office, however, he had to change the one he'd settled on based on what he'd heard of Lest. Apparently his 'adviser' was none other than Prince Arthur Norad, a person who knew the laws in and out like few others. Not only that, but Arthur was a heavyweight around traders and merchants the past few years, a member of the Norad Traders Guild and one who could not be bribed.

To make things worse, Yang had given Arthur a hard time when the prince was starting out, taking advantage of his inexperience and trying to dissuade him from continuing. Yang didn't like seeing kids of rich families dabbling in trade; they usually thought they could do anything and buy their way out of trouble. He didn't mind teaching them real life lessons. Then Arthur turned out to be different. Once he got the hang of things, he excelled easily. He even consented to deal fairly with Yang when it came to buckets despite what happened before. Still, Yang felt uneasy working trades with Arthur feeling that at some point, the prince would try to get back at him. And this would be a means of revenge that Yang would love if he was the one dealing that revenge himself.

“Good afternoon Yang,” Arthur said politely, his game face already on. “I'm glad you responded without too much trouble.”

“Ah, it seems I have done what I could to get here when it came to important matter,” Yang said, slipping into the game himself.

“You two know each other?” Lest asked, watching them in turn.

“In various marketplaces, yes, we have met,” Yang said.

“He's got an excellent eye for quality of items he's interested in, although he is a peculiar merchant in specializing in buckets,” Arthur said. “By the way, you did well in filling my order on those cute silver buckets promptly. It was a gift and the recipient was very pleased with them.”

“That is good, yes? I do what I can with any and all orders.” Besides, it wasn't often he got such a large order for that particular style of bucket. Those were best sold individually at markets. But he wasn't going to pass up a sale like that, nor forget about it soon.

“I know,” Arthur said. “But I also know that we sent the summons on this issue with that order, but it took you much longer to bring yourself here.”

“I am certain you must know how it is, easier to ship by sending message to maker to send to buyer these days with the airship service,” Yang said. “It seems I was in the midst of travels as I often am.”

“Yet the crate it came in was marked with your initials, so it must have come from your storage which you've said that only you can get into yourself,” Arthur pointed out.

“Ouch, sharp as ever merchant prince,” Yang said with a smile. “Though probably I have been out on travels as I say. I may be in place where customer is but airship do not often land.”

“Sorry, but would you stop faking that accent?” Lest said, scratching his head. “It's distracting.”

“Why you think this is fake?” he said, acting indignant. “I learn this language after much effort, yes? It not be easy.”

“I can understand the accent because Xiao has it naturally,” Lest said. “She has it milder so it's not the issue. The faking part is what's distracting because I hear the tone of it. So please speak naturally, we can get things done quicker that way.”

“Man, you don't need to be such a hard baller,” Yang said, although he did as asked.

“Actually, we wanted to make sure there'd be no trouble for Lin Fa later on in case other legal troubles came up about your relationship,” Lest said. “From what I understand, some clarification now will be much easier for all parties to deal with rather than what could happen were one of you to get into trouble.”

It wasn't as much of a weak point as they may have expected, but Yang didn't want to be trouble for Lin Fa either. He just figured he could handle himself without the need for legal ties to any one place. And as lucky as she was, Lin Fa probably wouldn't get into any legal trouble either. But in case of the slim chance that it might happen, “Very well, you make your case well. What do you need out of me?”

An hour later, he finally got back to the inn to meet up with his wife. “Oh, you really are in town!” Lin Fa said, delighted and giving him a hug. A short-haired calico kitten was sitting on the counter, watching them curiously. “This is a lovely surprise. What's the occasion?”

“Something I could have done without, but your current leader thought otherwise,” Yang said, holding her tight. “But that's over and done with; we'll be fine. Say, what's going on around here? Things have changed a lot since I was here last winter.”

“Oh yes, it's like we've completely changed direction and are heading to a better place,” Lin Fa said, happy with how things were going. Yang couldn't have cared less about local politics since he was rarely here (even if he was an official citizen now). But as long as she was happy, he didn't mind listening to the recent changes.

At least, he didn't mind them until she got around to talking about Xiao being with Kiel. He wasn't going to leave town now until he was certain she was in good hands. To do that, Yang was going to have to devise something tricky. It was serious, but could be fun.


	94. Sweet Powder

Spring 66

It was two weeks since his concussion on the airship and Kiel was still dealing with headaches. They were getting less painful, in a slow manner. Still, he had to keep up the household chores and his studies so that the injury didn't hold him back that much. “I'm fine, I just need to take this a little slow today,” he said to his sister. “Don't worry about it.”

Forte still looked at him sternly. “You keep saying you'll take things slow but end up doing a lot anyhow. You're still healing.”

“There's a lot that needs to be done.” And he was taking things slow. He'd taken dusting off his weekly chores, since that could wait a bit. But the floors still needed a quick sweeping and mopping in high traffic areas. Plus there was laundry, dishes, and meals that always had to be done. Even if he made sure to make simpler meals that were easier to clean up after, taking care of a home was a full time job in itself.

“I'd help if I could, but,” she looked nervous.

Kiel felt nervous too, since things somehow got out of hand any time Forte tried to take care of household chores. And it was things that he couldn't entirely explain, like why mopping the dining room floor ended up with burn marks on the floor. Or how washing windows ended up with feathers all over the house. “It's okay, you're the main bread winner of the house,” he said, smiling to reassure her. But the sunlight coming in the window was making him wince with his headache, so he had to be careful where he looked to make the smile happen.

After she left to return to her patrol, Kiel went back to washing dishes and making a shopping list. There was something else he wanted to do today too: go speak to Leon. The former guardian had failed to defeat his hell gate a few days back and came back catatonic. Fortunately, he'd been pulled out of that state. But he could use some friendly faces around, perhaps some talk to take his mind off whatever he'd faced. There was something Kiel had been having trouble researching that Leon might be able to help with if he was willing.

When he got to the library, Leon was definitely acting different. He wasn't as animated as usual, both his ears and tail were lethargic instead of reacting to many things. He didn't even fiddle with his fan as much, although it was on his belt still. “It's like my footing's steady but I'm wary that won't last, that's how I feel,” Leon answered. “Though it's nice to see that people really care.”

“Of course, you're one of us too,” Kiel said.

“So you just over to bug me or you looking for something?” Leon asked.

“It can be both, can't it?” he asked, trying to joke around with him. Leon shrugged, so Kiel simply explained, “Well I have been trying to figure something out, but haven't been able to find the right books to answer it. You remember how I made that cake to thank Pico based off Dolce's name? Xiao was really impressed too, so I thought I'd try to do the same for her as a surprise. Then I ran into the trouble of not being able to figure out what her name means.”

“Well it's spelled one way and pronounced another viewed in the Norad framework,” he said. “I'm guessing another language?”

“That's what I think, but that hasn't really helped either,” Kiel said. “Xiang Xiao Pai is an eastern name. I did find out that Xiang could mean fragrant, but Lin Fa didn't know what Xiao Pai meant in particular, only that it had been a name she thought was cute.”

“I think I've seen Xiao used as a name before this time, but can't think of it right off,” Leon said. “Have you checked the name books in here?”

“Yeah, that's how I found Xiang, though I was thinking of looking again, just in case I missed it. Do we have a translation book for their language?”

“You should know that better than me,” he pointed out.

On searching with the catalog golem, they found a travel translation dictionary. Leon went to retrieve that while Kiel looked through some name meaning books again. But what he found still wasn't of much use as he told Leon. “See, I finally got one with Xiao... in the boy's section, saying it's a Latin name for a member of a particular family.”

“Ah, then that's probably where I recognize it,” Leon said. “Know the family?”

He shook his head. “No, I don't recall reading about them before. Though it's been a while since I'd been interested in that particular civilization.”

“Well I've run into an issue of alphabet systems,” he said. “Or rather, they use characters rather than a straight alphabet. Skimming the introduction, I found that a lot of words and names for that culture were often guessed at in Norad. If you knew the characters that make up her particular name, you'd have an easier time.”

That was a problem. “Huh, I've only ever seen her and Lin Fa use Norad's alphabet for their names. If I asked if she has a character based name, it might ruin the surprise I hoped to make it.”

“Well I did find that 'xiao' might possibly be little,” Leon said. “Not sure on the 'pai' part yet.”

“That is more to work with,” Kiel said. Little and fragrant... so a dessert that was a little fragrant? Or maybe little and fragrant?

“Maybe you should go with that for now if you're trying to impress your girlfriend,” he said.

“Huh, what do you mean?” Where did he get that idea?

“Well that'd be why you want to make this a surprise after doing the same for another girl, right? So she doesn't feel jealous.” He was watching him curiously.

While it was nice to see him getting involved in something, it was a bit embarrassing. “Oh, no, we're not dating. We're just friends, that's all. But she feels like she has bad luck all the time even though she works hard to get things done. So I thought it'd be nice if she got something like a surprise treat based on her name. I just didn't expect that her name would be the main obstacle.”

“Well that's boring,” Leon said, although he seemed to be bluffing.

* * *

 

Spring 73

As they were in the last third of spring, the tourists out to see the spring scenery were slowing down. Today was slow enough that Xiao had extra time to herself today. She took the welcome break to take a walk around town and see her friends. After going to Meg's birthday party in the morning, she wondered who to spend the afternoon with. There were a lot of clouds in the sky, but it didn't seem like it'd rain right off.

She found Lest outside the castle near something new. It was an interesting looking box, a bright red with a top that looked like a feathered cap, then a multicolored post to stand on. “He-o Lest,” she said, going over to him. “What may this be?”

“Hi Xiao,” he said, friendly as always. “It's something I ordered as the town's prince to help people out, a request box. If there's something you need to get done, like finding a particular item to trade or needing a monster taken care of, you can make the request here. Or if you have some time to do something, you can check the active requests. Actually, if you do have time today, I was going to make the first request be letting others know that she's here for everyone to use. Would you do that for me, please?”

“Sure, I could do that today,” she said. “What do I do?”

“Actually, let me show you how the whole process works, from what she told me.” Lest then took a postcard from a pocket on the side, along with the pencil that was attached by a cord. “First I need to fill out the form: my name, check the box that I am a citizen of town, choose an activation or expiration date if wanted, make a title for the job... I'm going to say 'Tell others about requests'. You also need to have a reward ready for the person who takes your job; I have some bok choy that I'm putting as the reward. With that, the card goes into the slot here.” He put the finished request card in the box.

Some bok choy sounded good, maybe something she could use for a meal. “Okay, that sounds easy. Do I open the box for the request card?”

He shook his head as he stepped back. “No, this is an enchanted box. The box is capable of recognizing who answers requests and what they're good at, also if requests get done. Press the button outside the frame on the front... yeah, that one. She will show available requests one at a time in the frame, prioritizing those she recognizes you taking a lot as well as those that have a close expiration date. If you don't think you can take the request, press the button again. Otherwise, lift up the cover to take the card, making sure to close it securely.”

“Okay, still sounds easy,” Xiao said, taking out the sole request that Lest had just made. “Then I go do this?”

“Well first you should probably see the requester for more information, but I just gave you a lot of it,” he said with a smile. “Complete the request, then check back in with the requester for your reward. Lastly, you'll need to bring the card back and put it in the trash bin on the other side for Eliza to register it as done. I'm going to leave the instruction book in the shelf down here, so mostly you just need to tell the others that she's here.”

She noticed he was saying something odd, but it didn't click until he said a name she didn't recognize. “Sure, but, who's Eliza? And why call the request box a her?”

He paused a moment, then smiled at the box before patting it. “Don't worry Eliza, there's other earthmates in town so I'm sure others will notice. Sorry Xiao, I did say that she's an enchanted box. There's a spirit inhabiting it but it seems like not everybody can hear her.”

“That's interesting,” Xiao said, feeling disappointed that she couldn't hear the request box's spirit. It sounded like a curious thing. “Anyhow, I will go do this request.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Lest said with a nod.

It made sense to Xiao to make a circle around town, to catch as many people as she could. She started off with the flower shop. Luckily, both Ellie and Amber were there, right outside the shop taking care of the flower beds in front of it. “Xiao, do you want to go see if we can find some neat flowers outside town?” Amber asked after they greeted each other.

“Maybe later, that could be fun,” Xiao said. “First, I run an errand for Lest. He has put in a request box by the castle, so you can post requests to fill or take some requests to take care of them for others.”

“Sounds handy,” Ellie said. “There's always a few things I could use some help with. And maybe someone will post something about a great mystery to solve! I'll have to keep an eye on this box, then.”

“I could put in a request for honey and someone might give me some?” Amber asked, her antenna twitching in excitement.

“Well you do have to have a reward for the person who takes your request, something to trade in that case,” Xiao said.

“Then it's a list for things to trade? That would be nice.”

“Sort of, but you could do a lot more than ask for a trade,” she said. “Like how Lest has me telling people about it so they know they can use it any time, yes?”

“Maybe someone will have something fun to do,” Amber said. “Sounds neat!”

Most people thought it was a good idea too. Porco wanted to post requests for food, as expected. Similarly, Jones felt it would be useful to ask for others to gather herbs or items for healing since he had to stay in or near the clinic. Xiao herself thought it would be good for asking one of the guys to help on major scrubbing days for the bath, while her mother thought it'd be good when customers complained about monster groups outside of town. It was things that they'd ask each other to help out with anyhow, but the request box gave a central location and some organization. Goodness knows how many times Lin Fa had wanted help with something only to have two or three people all try to help out separately.

When she went into Arthur's office to inform him, he had something to inform her about. “It's about your taxes, something Lest and I came across while I was teaching him about the town census information.” He opened one of his desk drawers to search through.

“What does census have to do with taxes?” Xiao asked. She was pretty sure she hadn't made any errors in her tax forms. Although, it would be trouble if it turned out that she had and still owed money.

“The particular form we worked on included tax classes, which I believe is where the problem was.” Arthur then brought out an sturdy envelope with a letter attached to it. After scanning the letter, he nodded. “Yes, you were classed as an innkeeper when you should have been classed as a worker.”

“But I am an innkeeper, yes?” Since she worked in an inn, that made sense.

He shook his head as he handed the envelope and letter over. “No, that class is for those who actually own and manage an inn, like your mother. I know you assist her in that, but in a legal sense, you're simply working for her. In that case, you've been overpaying your taxes for six years. I wrote to the tax agency and got it resolved in your favor, so the envelope includes a return on the error.”

“Really? Thanks, I had no idea it could be that wrong.” The letter stated that the agency had returned nearly eight thousand gold to her.

“I'm glad I could help fix the error,” Arthur said with a smile. “That'd make for a good amount to store for a rainy day, or I could help you invest some of it to see if you can get better returns. Whatever you'd like.”

On her run around town, she had not run into Kiel. He wasn't at his house or his lab, which was odd. She told Lest that when she went to report back to him. “Though he talks with everybody, so I'm sure he'll find out before long.”

“True,” Lest agreed. “Sounds like people will like this, so that's great. Let me get the bok choy I reserved for this; I brought it in the office with me when you took the job right away.” As usual his produce was of high quality; it would make for a tasty meal whatever she decided to do with it.

Just as she was thinking of what to make with it, she heard Kiel. “Hey, Xiao! There, there you are.” He sounded out of breath as he came up to her.

“Oh, he'o Kiel,” she said. “You were looking for me? I was looking for you too.”

“Really, what for?”

He seemed tired enough that she didn't mind explaining first. “It's about this request box here that Lest has installed just today, yes? It's to get or give help.” She then told him about how it worked.

In that time, he'd caught his breath and some energy. “I see. That sounds pretty handy! How many people have you told this to?”

“I got everybody who lives here, you were last because I didn't find you until you found me,” she said.

“Oh, that explains things.” He rubbed his head. “See, I got done with something and set out to find you, but then you weren't at the inn. I checked all over town and people kept saying that they'd just spoken to you, but you were busy doing something. Lin Fa even said I just missed you when I got back to the inn.”

“Sorry, it seems we kept missing each other slightly,” Xiao said, finding it funny. “What did you want me for?”

“I have a surprise for you!” He pulled a small bag out of his belt bag. It was very cute, a glittery pink mesh tied up with a white ribbon. Inside, there were small items.

“Wow, what is it?” She took it, wondering if it'd be okay to untie the ribbon and see.

“You remember back when I made that cake based on Dolce's name?” he asked. After she nodded, he said, “I know you had fun at the little lunch party, but I thought you'd have more fun if you had a dessert based on your name too.”

“Huh, really?” From the size and feel, they could be cookies. “Wow, so you made something based off my name? Heh, I'm not even sure what my name really means.”

Kiel laughed nervously. “Yeah, I had trouble with that too. Since I didn't know the right characters, I had to guess at what it might be. But I came up with fragrant and little, so I made these little scented cookies with lemon and rose water, then dusted in sweet powder. They should be really tasty and smell just as good.”

“That sounds lovely,” she said, carefully undoing the ribbon. She was worried about accidentally dropping the cookies, especially after it seemed Kiel had put some effort into them. He'd even made them cute, making little curls like a closed rose bud out of the cookies. And they really did smell like roses, with a bit extra sweetness. Normally, she was a little nervous around sweets. But Kiel was really good and the smell and taste of these reminded her of how she used to see sweets. “These are amazing, thank you so much.”

“You're welcome, glad you like them,” Kiel said. “I was a bit worried because I know you're picky about sweets, but I thought maybe if I made them really good and cute, it'd be fine.”

“Well you always make really tasty treats, so I do not worry so much if they're from you,” Xiao said, glancing at her fingers. There was some white from the sweet powder, but that didn't bother her. “But in the past, I have had problems about them. Like one time, I bit on a hard clump of sugar in a pudding. And another time, someone put a raw tomato on a shortcake instead of a strawberry and I didn't notice until too late.

“That's awful,” he said. “But, why would someone put a tomato on shortcake?”

“I cannot be sure of who did it, so it was either carelessness or a prank,” she said. Her mother could cook, but she was so forgetful that she'd put in ingredients from another recipe if following one in a book. On the other hand, her father cooked well as long as it was in a narrow range of recipes he knew by heart. And he would be the sort to make trouble.

“Either way, that's just so wrong,” Kiel said.

“Hello!” Lin Fa said cheerfully, coming over to them. “Oh good, you found each other. I was just going to try out this request box since I thought of something we could use help with. What are you two up to?”

“Just chatting for now,” Kiel said.

“Oh, but he gave me these lovely cookies based on my name!” She pulled one out to offer to her mother. “Here, want to try?”

Lin Fa smiled, but declined the offer. “Oh no, I wouldn't want to be taking cookies that your boyfriend nicely made you.”

“Huh? Wh-what are you talking about?” Xiao clutched the cookie bag tight, feeling embarrassed. “We're just friends, not dating, no.”

“Yeah, that's it,” Kiel said with a shrug. “It was an interesting puzzle.”

“Aw, that's no fun,” Lin Fa said. “Isn't chatting in front of the castle a popular way to talk between lovers? It used to be that way, at least.”

“Wouldn't this area be too open, where anybody could see you both?” Xiao asked. Sure, if it was an innocent conversation, it'd be no trouble. But if the couple got into lovey-dovey talk like Jones and Nancy did at times, it'd be kind of embarrassing for others to see. And it'd be embarrassing for her to try doing that.

“You'd be surprised at how many couples like showing off,” Lin Fa said, smiling as if remembering something fun. “Well, I'll leave you two be. Now, what was it I was going to ask about again?” She went to the request box to ponder that.

“Oh geez, sorry, sorry,” Xiao said, rubbing her forehead. “Momma can be a headache at time.”

However, Kiel seemed thoughtful. “I know... hey, but why don't we go out anyhow?”

Getting asked if they were a couple was surprising from her mother, but from Kiel? Xiao stared at him. “Huh?”

He smiled but seemed embarrassed. “Sorry, didn't mean to shock you. But, well, I had to ask a few others questions while I was getting the cookies together and nearly all of them asked if I was dating you when I explained who they were for. Illuminata especially, she went way off the deep end in her theorizing about us while I was trying to buy a rose for making the rose water. Had to buy a red one because of that even though the breed and scent of the yellow one might've made a better water infusion.”

“Oh, is that why Ellie kept badgering me about my boyfriend?” Xiao sighed. “That was so embarrassing, more so because she refused to tell me who. But we've been friends for a long time, it, um,” she liked Kiel as her friend. In past years, he'd been problematic with his liking for starting and spreading rumors, but it had lessened a great deal to where she'd hardly noticed this year.

“I know, it's fun hanging out with you even when we end up working on something,” Kiel said. “But I kept thinking back to it when people kept asking me and I thought maybe... I mean, if you want to go out with me.”

“Sure, I think I might like that,” she said. She didn't really have a crush on anybody right now (well Lest was cute and kind, but she figured he'd attract somebody way better than her without trouble). And there wasn't anything bad about Kiel that she could think of. Maybe the rumors, but it shouldn't be tough to encourage him not to get bad about it again.

Plus he looked really happy when she agreed. “Great! I always thought it'd be hard to ask out a pretty girl like you, so I'm relieved.”

“Heh, I'm not that pretty,” she said, embarrassed again. But it was a nice thing to be embarrassed about. This might work out after all.

Then Lin Fa had to laugh. “Showing off already, huh?”

“That's not it, Momma!” Xiao said. “I wasn't expecting this.” Trying to ignore Lin Fa's laughs, she looked back to Kiel. “But, um, I hope it comes out well.”

“Me too,” Kiel said.

* * *

 

Spring 74

Kiel was going to be heading back to Telliarc with Doug and Sven the next day, so he and Xiao decided to meet up on their first date at a flower field outside of town. The spring flowers were still robustly blooming. Looking over them, he ended up thinking over their uses in alchemy. Although some would be more useful if he waited a few weeks for them to go to seed when the summer flowers came out. “This is a really nice spot for medicinal grasses too,” he said, touching a green leafed grass that was handy in paralysis healing potions. “Sometimes I can even find Elli Leaves here, which are really potent addition for potions.”

“I usually come out here to gather wildflowers for vases in the inn,” Xiao said, crouching down to brush aside some taller plants. “Oh, good, they are still here.”

“What is?” Kiel asked, being careful not to step near where she was looking until he knew what she was looking at.

She smiled as she pointed out some small blue blossoms near the ground. A rock that was mostly brown with yellow bands stood there like a marker. “See? It seems some time ago, but I found this patch of wild violets where there wasn't one last spring. There are nice and I have not picked from them because there is just this one bunch. I thought, perhaps they can spread so there are more if I did not.”

“That'd be nice,” Although it gave him some thought as he sat down on a nearby rock. “I'm pretty sure there's some patches in Yokmir Forest, maybe where these seeds came from. I'm not sure how they spread, though.”

“I could perhaps ask Amber to ask them,” Xiao said. “Sorry, I hope I'm not being boring. It seems I'm not sure what to do, um, if we should do as we always to or do something different as a couple, um...”

That actually made him feel less nervous than he had been. “Oh, that's okay. I'm not really sure what couples do anyhow. I mean, I see Leon and Frey together sometimes, but they're always talking or debating things. Though he did wear a shirt for her once, so that was different than he usually is.”

She laughed briefly at that. “From him, yes, that is meaningful. That is good, I am glad. We can figure things out in what works for us. But, with all that you read, I thought that you would know something.”

Kiel shrugged. “Kind of, but I used to always skim past mushy romance scenes. Sometimes I still do because they're not as interesting. What I did read was courtly romances that followed the precepts of chivalry. But, I didn't last long in training as a squire, so chivalry is not as important to me as just being well mannered. Some those romances scenes are really formal, kind of impersonal to me.”

“Formality can make things seem cold, yes,” Xiao said. “I do not think I would enjoy that.”

While thinking on things he'd read about romance, one neat idea came back to mind. “Oh, but I heard about this weird kind of date that some cultures in very cold regions do. They lay under the same blanket, but put an unsheathed sword between them. I thought it was weird because it didn't sound like anything romantic.”

“Uh, maybe it is guard against improper things?” she said, shifting her eyes around.

“I guess, but it still doesn't seem interesting,” Kiel said. “Other than just how odd it is. So are violets your favorite flower then?”

“Um, I like that, but no,” Xiao said. “The ones I like best, they would not be out yet. My favorites are sunflowers. They are bright and tall, like suns over the other flowers. And even better, their flowers are always facing the real sun. It's amazing that a plant can do that.”

“Yeah, they are amazing like that,” he agreed.

“So, um, what kind of flower is your favorite?” she asked.

He had to pause over the question. “Well... I haven't really thought about that much. Oh, but you know, the Elli Leaves I was talking about earlier do have a nice flower to them. It's slim stalk of tiny flowers so you might miss them, but they have really nice blues and purples like the violets. The whole plant is elegant too. Maybe those because I like looking at them as much as using them.”

“I suppose your favorite flowers would have something to do with your favorite study,” Xiao said, happy at the thought.

That evening, he talked with Forte over dinner about his date. “You certainly seem really happy about it,” she said.

“I guess so,” Kiel said. It had been a warm fuzzy kind of day. “I mean, I don't think we did much different than we usually do when we talk, but it still seems different. I'm kind of surprised that she agreed to go out with me, since it was a spontaneous thing, but I'm glad I got the courage to ask now.”

Forte chuckled. “Oh, were you in love with her before?”

“Eh-heh, maybe? If I was, I didn't really notice.” Although, that was a lie. Kiel had had a crush on Xiao before, on and off since he was thirteen. But she was pretty and many people around town liked her, so he didn't think he had much of a chance as her boyfriend. He'd been happy enough to have her as a friend, never telling anyone how he felt about her.

Although, that made him think of other things. After washing the dishes from supper, he went into the music room. Their family had been knights for many generations, way back to Dylas' original time. They lived in an old large house that had been the Greenwind family's home all that time. Thus, they had many rooms like this music room which weren't much used these days. Neither he nor Forte were skilled in music, although Kiel saw to it that the instruments kept here were in good shape. Maybe Margaret would want to borrow one some time.

If it wasn't for such maintenance and cleaning, his main reason for coming in here was a music box that was displayed on a small table. It was a beautiful treasure, decorated with ivory and gold with scenes of an alpine landscape on each side. Inside, there were a few pieces of jewelry, all precious in their memories: their parents' wedding rings, a pocket watch from their grandfather, even a hatpin that Bado had crafted when he came to live in Selphia.

But it was a silent music box. On one side, there was a keyhole for a small golden key that Kiel hadn't seen in years. That was the only way to turn the gears inside. He and Bado had tried on several occasions to find some other way to at least wind the music box part, but there was no way without finding the original key. They couldn't even make a copy of the key since they would need the key for that to work. Even worse, the music box had a secret drawer that they often wondered if their mother had left something in before she died. It wouldn't open without the key.

Last Kiel had known, his father had the key. It used to always be in his pocket after their mother died. But it hadn't been there when he had died. Not even Bado, who had been their father's best friend, knew what had become of that key. At one time, it had been promised to Kiel. Kiel could remember that talk clearly. His father had promised to give him the key when he got strong enough to protect someone dear to him.

There had been a few times when remembering that promise made him pick his sword training back up. Some of that had been due to Xiao, times that he thought that if he was a strong knight like his sister, then Xiao would fall in love with him. He could be a knight fighting for his love! But that enthusiasm never lasted long. No matter how much he exercised and trained, the hard physical labor of fighting with even a one-handed sword wore him out quickly. Sometimes he even got sick from trying. Then he'd start reading and get distracted in some study that didn't have the difficulty fighting had. Plus, he worried about becoming a threat to his sister in replacing her as Dragon Knight, after all the effort many had gone to to get her accepted by the capitol. So his wish to get stronger stayed a wish, never coming close to being granted.

He had blown up a metal-clad warship recently. But, that was with Sven's help and he'd gotten a concussion for his efforts. Even with magic, that wasn't strong enough to protect anyone. Not even himself. Would he never be worthy of that key? Maybe that was why it was lost.


	95. The Prince and the Knight

Summer 10

Forte loved running. It was freedom, not having to listen to someone else while she picked her own goals. As the ground passed beneath her feet, she felt powerful, confident, and brave; the elements could not faze her. Fresh air filled her lungs and sparked the energy of life in her blood. She could escape her troubles in favor of being a part of nature. She was herself when she ran.

However, this running was different. She was running from an embarrassing scene. This time, someone was holding her left hand tight, a softer and more delicate hand than her own. She wanted to be gentle with that hand so that her strength didn't hurt him, but also wanted to keep their grip secure. She could hear his breath, harder as he wasn't used to running like this. While this wasn't far for her, Arthur was wearing down from the speed they were running. Forte tugged him along a little further while slowing her pace some. Their feet crossed from stone roads to wood, bringing them down to a small nook with benches in the southeast corner of town.

Arthur dropped down in the bench as soon as they stopped there. “Thanks, I... need to catch my breath,” he said, closing his eyes to focus his mind.

“Sorry, I hope I wasn't pushing you too hard,” Forte said, staying on her feet for the moment. There was a long walkway to the north that slowly ascended to the level where Meg's house stood. The stairs from the airfield were there, but there didn't seem to be anyone here at this time.

“No, it was... exhilarating, I guess.” He smiled briefly, but was still winding down from the run.

She turned back the way they came, but no one had followed them. Looking into the plaza in the distance reminded her of why they had started running this way. It made her scowl. “Geez, that man... how did Leon get to be named a priest when he acts like this? There's no good reason for him to call attention to us heading off to talk by whistling like that. It's rude and inappropriate.”

When she turned back to him, Arthur had his glasses off to take off some dust. “He may have been trying to help us, in his own ways. I've been talking with him a lot about his translation work and he can say some exceptionally wise things. Actually, I suspect that his prankish side is a distraction so people underestimate him. Can't say why that is, though Frey has some similar qualities.” He put his glasses back on and looked up at her.

“That doesn't seem like a smart thing to me, making people think less of you intentionally,” Forte said. But she couldn't keep away from the real reason why they had come to talk. It made her feel embarrassed, but at the same time enchanted. After all, seeing a handsome and collected man like him totally break his rational formality because of a life-sized wooly doll was somehow more adorable than the doll itself. “Anyhow... um... sorry, I thought I knew what I was going to say.”

“Would you sit down at least?” Arthur said, patting the bench beside him. “Can't let the lady stay standing while I'm seated.”

It made her more nervous, but she sat by him. Was being so close to him appropriate? But she couldn't help feeling happy about it too. “Well I'm not much of a lady when I'm a knight,” she said, looking down.

“I don't know, some days your manners and grace are better than some of the ladies I knew in the royal court,” he said. “It's, well, more beautiful than I thought it would be. I mean, the way you mix feminine and masculine qualities. Although I think you'd be fine to show more of the former more often.”

“I didn't intend to be like that, it's just what happened,” Forte said. Then she thought of something that made it less embarrassing. “You're that way too, I think. I mean, you're the very image of a successful man, but I was just thinking that your hands are really soft and delicate.”

“You think so?” he asked, smiling at that and looking at his hands. “I guess I do softer work than someone like you.”

“Well it looks hard to me, buying and selling when knowing the right times to do both,” she said, taking his hand again. Arthur looked at her, maybe unsure of what to do, how to respond, or why she'd done that. Although, Forte wasn't sure she could explain it herself. It just felt right. And, it was very nice to be close to him again. “Well, um... Lest told me that the effects of a love potion can linger for a week or two, but I kept feeling interested in you all this time. Not as intense, obviously, but like I wanted to try again... I mean, try with a clearer head, you know.” Definitely not as clean as she'd hope to state that feeling; it was hard for her to speak like this.

“You were visiting me many days,” Arthur said, looking down at their hands. Shy maybe? Though it seemed odd for him to be shy, since he talked to many people every day. “I must admit that I liked that too, and I couldn't explain it to myself as those feelings kept lingering. I didn't have a clue about how to talk with you about it. Even now, actually, since it's all new ground for me.”

“I've had my life dedicated to being a knight, but I would have thought you'd have some experience with, well, love,” was that a good or bad thing to say? Or too forward? She hadn't formally said she loved him.

“People have tried to get close to me, but they were obviously trying to get my favor as a prince, trader, or both. You never seemed that sort to me, so I agree, I'd like to actually date you this time around instead of getting messed up with love potions.” He smiled at relief in saying that but was blushing at the same time. It warmed her heart to see it, to hear that he felt the same way.

Though what now? She looked into his eyes (that was the kind of things romantics talked about, right?). He had pink eyes but it was quite nice on him, like roses. Then, one way or another, they ended up kissing. They had to have leaned closer for that, but she couldn't remember who had moved first or what kind of signal had gone off. Her heart was filled with such happiness that she didn't care to notice anything around them.

After about a minute (maybe?), they parted a bit, looked at each other, and ended up laughing for some reason. “It does seem to be real, but I think I feel just as happy as that day,” Arthur said, smiling without worry. He then stood up, disappointing her for a bit until he held his hand out for her. “Well then, shall was spend the day together? I wouldn't like to spend it apart now.”

“That'd be wonderful,” she said, smiling just the same as she took his hand. Normally she wasn't the kind of girl that was helped to her feet by a man, but Forte felt like it could pass this once. It was a special day, so she could be a little different.

* * *

 

The day he'd been affected by the love potion had been like a sweet happy haze in that Arthur could barely remember what he'd done or said much of that day. He couldn't even remember what others said, although he remembered being elated at Forte's voice and seeing her as a beauty beyond compare. In contrast, this day was sweet and happy as well, but much clearer. He couldn't call her a beauty beyond compare, although she was certainly a beauty with few peers in that some of her attractive features were rare in women. But he knew that as a shallow thought. More importantly, he could say that he had enjoyed this day far more because she was with him.

He could remember the feel of her hand, warm and firm, trying not to use her full strength while not losing him. And how she commented on his hand; he didn't think he should feel so flattered about it, but then it did give him some different thoughts when looking over some hand care kits in the market today. In her conversations, she was so earnest and sincere. Perhaps she lacked deep knowledge in fields that interested him, but he liked hearing her opinion on things. If he could just convince her to be less embarrassed at her feminine side; she would be downright enchanting to everyone if she showed a woman's heart with a knight's resolve.

As the sky darkened and the streetlights turned on, the town became quiet. Most of the visitors, including the wooly ranchers, had already left town. The residents were settling down after the exciting and long day. “Can't believe the day's over with,” Arthur said, not wanting to part with her yet. But it was late and getting to be improper.

“Right, it feels like there should be a few more hours of daylight left,” Forte said, holding onto the large wooly doll they'd bought. “But it was a lot of fun. I hope we get to spend a lot more time together.”

“I'll try to make time, but I'm afraid I can't promise anything,” he said, then rubbed his head. “I apologize for being so frank, but I have trade meetings scheduled clear up to mid-summer, then there's work to do with Lest on most days.”

“It's all right, I understand. I don't get many days off and even on days like this, I'm on call constantly. Still, we should find time here and there.”

Arthur nodded. “Yes, we'll make it work.” He wanted to kiss her on the lips again, but courtly manners checked him this time and he kissed her hand instead. “Good night, Forte.”

She still smiled with a new cuteness. “Good night, Arthur.” Then they parted for the night.

On his way back to the Couquille mansion, he found himself wrapped in thoughts that were new to him. Like how much of this day had been a new experience. Arthur was almost sure that she wasn't one of those girls who was attracted to him primarily for his rank. For one thing, she was very highly ranked in nobility too. Yet she wasn't smug for it or spoiled under it. Forte clearly took the code of chivalry to heart. Even as he saw her honor, though, he couldn't help but keep a certain wariness. People could appear bright, warm, and kind, but then show their inner darkness and cruelty once one's guard was relaxed.

He'd certainly not planned on falling in love. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if his father set him up with an arranged marriage now that he was twenty-one years old. Or he might even set up a political marriage himself if it was to the benefit of all parties. Romance just wasn't a major factor in his plans thus far. Although if he did end up with an arranged marriage, this new relationship with Forte would complicate things. Hopefully she could understand and not cause problems like... well, it wasn't a factor right now. Arthur told himself that he'd need to be more thoughtful on such matters.

As he passed by the restaurant side, he saw Porcoline, Dylas, and Margaret inside getting some of the last tasks of the day done. Usually he left them alone to do that. But it might be nice to talk with them as well. He went in the west door, getting their attention with the jangle of the bell. “I hope I'm not interrupting anything,” he said with a smile.

“Only some sparkling conversation, but that's fine to interrupt if you mean to join,” Porcoline said.

“It's not sparkling,” Dylas said, shaking his head.

“Aw come on, have some fun with it,” Meg said, just barely keeping herself from laughing. “Oh, but I hope Leon wasn't too embarrassing to you guys today? He can be a big pest some days.”

“I wasn't bothered, but Forte certainly was,” Arthur said. “He didn't do much beyond teasing us some.”

“He's certainly picked up on how to push her buttons quickly,” Meg said. “Though it was really nice seeing the two of you happy together today.”

“This day was a pleasant surprise,” he said, briefly feeling again that it was unfortunate to be almost over. But there would be days ahead to look forward to.

“I'm so happy for you both, I hope it goes splendiforically,” Porcoline said with an extravagant wave of his hand. “Forte's a wonderful young lady that you won't find the like of anywhere else, with a warm heart under that steel exterior.”

“That is one of the great things about her,” Arthur said.

“Hmph, so you and Forte are really together?” Dylas asked.

“What, you jealous?” Meg asked teasingly.

“N-no,” Dylas said, starting to blush. “It's something else, kind of weird.”

“What's weird about it?” Arthur asked, not sure what he meant.

“Well it's nothing against you two being together,” he said. “But, well, I was trying to figure out how my family's box ended up in their family vault and, after some searching around with Lest into the castle records, it turns out that they're descended from one of my sisters.”

“Whoa, really?” Meg asked, wide-eyed. “So they're kind of like your niece and nephew, huh?”

Dylas shrugged. “Maybe, but it's been so many years it might not count for much.”

“How did you find that out?” Arthur asked, taking a stool at the kitchen counter. This was too interesting not to question him further on.

When Dylas seemed reluctant to say, Porcoline added in, “Aw, wouldn't you please tell us? It sounds like it could be a delightful story, and Forte and Kiel might like to hear about it too.”

“Well, they might like hearing about Braidy,” Dylas said, smiling a bit. “From her and Lissa's letters, I found out that after I became a guardian, Braidy was so impressed with me that she wanted to protect Selphia too. Except she couldn't take the path I did, so she had our mother cut her hair and pretend she was a boy so she could train to become a knight.”

“Heh, like Forte except having to come across as a boy, huh?” Meg asked, taking a stool near Arthur to listen in better.

“Yeah, she succeeded at it really well,” he said, sounding proud of his sister's accomplishments. It made Arthur smile, even think briefly that it might be nice to be a big brother like that. “She ended up marrying one of the other knights, a man named Terrance, but had to do it in secret to preserve her identity. They even named their son after me, and then he became Venti's Dragon Knight when he grew up. So did his son and grandson, so by that third generation, he was allowed to change his surname to Greenwind in honor of his family's service. That's why they had that box, because they're part of my family too. Except most people don't have their great uncle from nearly four centuries back show up.”

“You really should tell them, I think they'd be thrilled to know,” Porcoline said.

“Oh yes, Kiel especially since he loves local history,” Meg added.

Everyone in town was connected and more connections were being made or discovered. Arthur considered that as he checked over his work docket to see if anything needed doing today. For now, it made the community tight and happy. But what would come of the future when they hoped to see the community expand beyond these few? Would new members feel welcome or alienated with the closeness of the old members? He had been welcomed himself and was a member of the community now, with a deeper connection to a very established member. There were also plenty of welcoming people, like Porcoline, Nancy, Meg, and Lest. Hopefully Selphia could adapt to the change they were looking towards.

Was he ready for the change he was facing himself? And had already made, come to think of it. He hadn't thought much about it in his feelings of happiness and warmth. When he had been close to her, kissing her... it felt like attaining something he'd wanted for a long time. But he hadn't given much thought to romance or dating before, so how could that be? Was it just the feeling of love that he'd felt robbed of?

Arthur suddenly felt unnerved, like someone had zeroed in on a weak point in his arguments before he could weave his strong points over it. Like it was a weak point he hadn't realized until it got picked apart by someone more skilled. The analogy that popped into his thoughts made him recall one Yang Fan who had humiliated him in trade talks when he was first starting out, even though the odd merchant seemed a harmless opponent from his unskilled language. While he'd learned well from that experience, this was his own wandering thoughts and it might hurt a great deal more if the question came from someone else, especially Forte.

He felt unnerved enough that he glanced around, then hurried up the last of the steps and shut himself in his bedroom before anyone saw him like this. It shamed him to be acting like this. “But if I have some time to think before it comes up, I should have a valid counterpoint ready,” he said to himself. Yes, find some way to keep his cool if someone started poking around about what he thought about love.

People were not to be trusted. Some measure of trust was needed to keep civilization running smoothly, to keep a community peaceful. Trust was a powerful but dangerous tool, just like words. While these thoughts seemed to run in different ways, they were all true because truth wasn't a two-dimensional thing. And love...

Love...

Arthur pulled out the old pair of glasses again and fiddled with them for a while. He used to think love was an irrational force that needed to be accounted for in the same manner as chance. While it might not obey reason, love affected people. But someone who favored reason enough and saw it clearly would not be swayed by love. At least not strongly. Poets and romantics favored love as an ideal, but it was just that: an ideal that was rarely realized and could be used by those who liked to manipulate others. As it had roots in natural desires, those who used love to their favor were particularly despicable. Even a rational person like himself would respect love rather than use it.

That was the right way to view it, or so he'd always thought. But he'd been so happy today. Rather than losing track of time due to numbers, he let hours slip by him just by being with someone else. He had gone with a rather frivolous purchase that he didn't even have the item for anymore just to make her happy. He'd even passed up a chance to keep a trade partnership strong because Forte had started losing interest in the conversation. Not that he felt the partnership was at risk, but that wasn't like him.

Here, alone in his room, he felt a powerful wish that he would see her soon. Like, now would be great. That wasn't a proper thought. But it was a reminder of the warmth of fire and then being put back out in the cold of snow, a craving that was like he was starved. But for love? It was a silly idea and yet he found a hard time denying it to himself.

Arthur thought it over for a long time, then pulled out one of his journals to write in. It was more personal than his market musings which meant he wrote in this one less often. And that he hide this one out of sight in case someone came poking around. While he wouldn't mind someone seeing the others, this had information in it that could be used to blackmail him.

Maybe even what he started writing. 'I have just managed to admit my love of Forte to myself and others. Already I'm afraid of having made a dire mistake in putting too much faith in another person. Yet I don't think I've been this happy since I was an innocent child that still saw a pure world.'

* * *

 

Summer 11

A flutter of wings put Forte on alert as it indicated a bird flying right at her. Normal birds would not do so. Drawing the newest sword that Bado had made her, she swung around behind her towards the sound. There was a squawk and a pinkish-purple bird barely got itself out of the long sword's swing. If it had been a smaller quicker sword, the bird might not have had the chance.

“Don't you dare try to take anything from me,” she warned the twinkle bird. It squawked angrily and flew off in response.

The twinkle bird was becoming a real pest, she thought. It seemed cute at first glance, but its aggression and thieving nature made it not cute at all. Even Lest didn't like it and he was one of those who would rather not bother monsters if they weren't a threat. Much of today's complaints were about this bird. She considered getting the crossbow out of storage in order to take care of it as her long sword wouldn't be of much use.

Further along in her patrol, she saw Arthur looking into the trees surrounding the royal farm. He didn't seem normal, not with the worried expression on his face and the way he paced around as if he couldn't decide where to start looking. “What's wrong?” she asked as she hurried to meet up with him.

“Have you seen a fuchsia colored bird around here?” he asked anxiously.

“The twinkle bird?” She frowned. “Yes, I think it's been after my hair clip. It's nesting above the entrance to the castle's royal wing on the other side.”

That made him even more worried, putting a hand to his cheek. “That'll be hard to get... it was in the window of my office and I saw it steal off with one of my glasses. But I found two missing and I'm not sure which one it took. I really hope it wasn't that pair...”

“I'll be trying to drive it off, but they can be persistent,” Forte said. “Which glasses are you missing?”

“Well there's a rectangular pair with a silver frame, which are nice but not too terribly important. But then there's an older worn pair that have a brown frame and a broken lens on the right. It may not look like much, but they're very important to me... my collection.”

Seeing him so anxious made her feel worried too. Keeping her tone calm, she said, “It's more likely to have taken the silver pair since it likes shiny objects. Where did you have the older pair last?” He was very organized, so it shouldn't take long to find the missing pair. Though that made it strange that he'd lost them in the first place, unless the bird had made off with both.

“Well the silver set would be shinier, although when light catches a lens right,” he stopped himself and shifted the green-framed glasses he was wearing. “No, the other pair is usually in my room and that's where I know I had it last. But I might have brought it downstairs with me this morning, since I do that sometimes.”

“I can help you look for it inside if you want,” she said. “It's been quiet today on patrol aside from that greedy bird and I can't take care of it right now.”

“Thank you, that would help a lot,” he said, then walked with her back to his office. He was much too worried about the glasses to talk about anything else.

As they looked around his office, Forte considered that while she owned many things, there wasn't a lot she'd get this upset about if they were lost. The main ones she could think of were her father's favorite sword and her mother's treasured music box. She didn't even consider using the sword herself, as it was kept in a special case to honor his memory. And the music box, it was a sad reminder of her mother, especially with the key missing. Her mother had always kept her diary in the secret drawer of the music box, making it inaccessible.

Sometimes, Forte wanted to read the diary and see more of what her mother thought. Maybe she'd left a last message to them there since the key was lost after her death. Or maybe she'd put what she really thought of them, like if it had been a mistake that their daughter was born first. It often felt like that since she wouldn't have as many troubles if she was a man instead. But with the drawer locked, there was no way to know. They hadn't even found their father's diary yet.

The search for the old glasses brought them up to Arthur's room. Forte felt apprehensive following him in, but Arthur didn't seem like he'd fully calm down until he found them. When he checked a small table by his bedside, they weren't where he thought they should be. The window here was closed, which cut the possibility that it had also been stolen by the twinkle bird. There were fewer glasses around here, but she still saw a couple of display boxes. Even so, neither had ones fitting the description. Especially not the cracked lens as none on display looked damaged. The group that he actually wore was just as clean too.

Then she happened to look in one of the bookshelves and spot the pair hidden on top of shelved books. While it was clean like the others, they were still worn, with the cracked lens and a loose hinge. “Is this them?” she asked, taking them out to show him.

“Yes, that's it,” he said, taking them in relief. “Thank you, I never feel like I can focus unless I'm sure of where these are. I don't mind the other pair going missing, but this is where my collection started.”

Even if she'd worry about one of her parent's treasures going missing, Forte didn't think it'd be this severe. “Did they belong to someone important? They don't seem all that important by themselves, although they might be nice if not broken.” Maybe a bit too plain, but maybe nice.

“Yes,” Arthur said, although he seemed unsure of how to answer it. “They belonged to my nanny when I was very young. It's a little embarrassing that a small thing from childhood like this can still affect me so much as an adult. But I wouldn't get rid of this pair for anything.”

“It's all right, I won't tell anyone else,” she said. “Well, I'll be getting back to my patrol then.”

“I hope it's not much trouble today,” Arthur said, but then followed her out after a moment. “Oh, Forte, before you go, there is some news I wanted you to know about.”

“What is it?” she asked, pausing at the top of the stairs.

He smiled at her. “It's not something for me to say entirely, but you should get Kiel sometime and ask Dylas about that box that was in your family vault. It'd be quicker than waiting on him to come talk to you two about it.”

“All right, we'll see about asking him later today,” she said.

Figuring that the restaurant would be busy around noon, Forte waited until thirteen o'clock to find Kiel about talking with Dylas. Her brother wanted to go see him right away, which was why she waited to ask him about it. The restaurant still had some customers chatting at the tables, but most were done eating and Dylas was working with Porcoline on cleaning up after the lunch period. Arthur and Meg were there too, not too surprising since he had said yesterday that Meg often pulled him over to share lunch with them around this time.

“Hey, did you need anything?” Dylas asked them, although he kept working on cleaning up the kitchen counter.

“Arthur said that you found out something about that box to tell us about,” Kiel said.

“Right, that,” he said.

“It's a brilliant surprise that's been hidden in plain sight for a long time!” Porcoline said with his usual exuberance.

“I was getting around to it,” Dylas said, stopping with his task. “Well, the reason your family had something from my family is because they're the same family. You have to go back to before they earned the Greenwind name, but one of your ancestors married one of my younger sisters. It's from a long time ago, but...”

“Neat, so we could call you Uncle Dylas?” Kiel asked.

Forte chuckled. “That's a little odd since you're technically younger than Kiel is.”

Surprisingly, he smiled nicely at that. “Yeah, that's what I was thinking. But um, they were my half sisters, but Lissa and Braidy were pretty important to me, and Braidy, the one you're related to, well she was only seven when I last saw her. So if you need anything, I'll help out how I can, just ask.”

“We'd do the same for you as family now,” Forte said. A strange thing, but nevertheless, she felt happy to know him like that.


	96. Heavy Spice

Summer 14

Xiao checked on the recipe for the amount of heavy spice to put into the filling. As it was from her father, it called for a lot. And there probably wasn't enough in the open bag she had, so she opened up a new bag to finish off the measurements. She carefully tapped the near-empty bag into a measuring glass to know how much she needed. Heavy spice was not something one wanted to get in the eyes, or breathe in a lot at once. Then it turned out she needed just a third of a tablespoon out of the new bag. She could have just left it short and the results wouldn't be much different.

Sighing, she went ahead and used the full amount. She couldn't even guess at the measurements right. Still, as long as she was careful, it should come out fine. Xiao finished up the filling, then folded up the other spice bag to put away. These were going to be really spicy, maybe something better fit for winter than summer. Though if it was good, she could always change the spices if she made it again this season. Five spice powder or mixed herbs might work.

Then her mother called from the hallway. “Xiao? Do you have a minute?”

The dough and filling for the pockets were both ready, just waiting to be put together. But that could wait if this didn't take long. Putting the spice bag in her shirt pocket and a light towel over both bowls, she called back, “Give a moment so I can wash my hands, I'll be out.”

“All right, I'll be in the lobby.” When Xiao came out there, Lin Fa was working on a reservation form. “One of the customers said that the fountain in the woman's bath was acting up, so would you check on it please?”

“Okay,” she said, heading over and taking off her sandals at the shoe cubby.

The fountains and pumps had been working just fine when she filled the baths this morning. While each of the baths were separate, they shared the same plumbing, filters, and pumps. Hopefully this wasn't an indication of the whole system having a problem.

While she didn't mean to take a bath, she gave her feet a quick rinse to make sure no dirt got tracked in. As it was just before lunch, only Nancy was in the baths right now. The fountain was gurgling with the water coming out unevenly. Was there something stuck in there? It wouldn't be the first time.

“He'o Nancy, I'm just checking on the fountain,” Xiao said as she walked around the edge of the bath.

“Hello Xiao,” the older woman said with a warm smile. “It is sputtering oddly. Oh, and were you going to swap the bath salts soon? The one you've been using is, well, it's just unremarkable.”

“We should be getting in new ones soon, yes?” she said with a smile. “Today is the last with this scent and I make sure to note not to order from that producer again.” Notes were often the best way to make sure her mother didn't order disliked salts again.

“Good,” Nancy said, sounding happy. “I was in here mostly for a quiet moment to think, so don't mind me.”

“I shouldn't be long,” Xiao said, peering into the mouth of the lion fountain. If needed, she knew how to open it up, but that would require shutting the pumps down for a few minutes.

A bright orange caught her eye; a ball had somehow gotten into the fountain's mouth and was being rolled around in the water. It wasn't the first time a toy had gotten in one of these, in spite of signs disallowing them. Still, this could be easy. Xiao reached in to grab the ball and pull it out. It had some weight to it and was almost big enough to get stuck with her fingers around it. How had it gotten in? It seemed unlikely to be an accident.

She had to maneuver it around the lion's mouth and teeth to get it out, with the built up water gushing out around her hand now that it wasn't blocked. Once she had the ball out, Xiao took a step back and slipped on the wet floor. Her back hit the water and she tried to twist about to keep her head above water. It didn't quite work and before long, her eyes and nose started to burn fiercely. Panicked, she tried to figure out where she was in the water.

Fortunately, Nancy grabbed hold of her and got her out of the bath. The nurse put her hand on Xiao's chest to make sure she coughed to get any water out of her lungs. “There, you're going to be okay,” Nancy said reassuringly. “Do you hurt anywhere?”

“M-my eyes...” Xiao said with a teary grimace. Why were they burning so bad? Was it the bath salts? But they hadn't had that problem yet.

Nancy checked on her, then went to the dressing area to get an eyewash kit from her bag. That helped, although she felt like her whole face was tingling even after she could see clearly. Then Lin Fa came in with a change of clothes for her. “Are you okay?” she asked. “I heard the splash.”

“She should be fine,” Nancy said. “I got to her in good time.”

“Well, lucky thing you were in here then,” Lin Fa said with a smile.

Xiao didn't feel so lucky because she'd nearly drowned and her eyes still hurt. But, she smiled anyhow. “Yes, thanks Nancy.”

That evening, Kiel came over so they went out to the lower observatory to talk. Xiao told him about the incident when he asked how she was. “Then when I got back to finish lunch work, I remembered that I was going to put away a nearly full bag of heavy spice and couldn't find it. I searched, and it had been in my pocket the whole time. But when I fell in the bath, somehow it came unfolded and all the spice came out into the water with me!”

He winced at that. “Ow, no wonder your eyes hurt so bad even after the eye wash.”

She nodded and put a hand near her eyes. “It's not so bad now, but it was painful for some hours. Not only that, but Momma had put the pumps at full power to clear out some cloudiness she saw when Nancy pulled me out. But it was the heavy spice, see? And then I got one of the customers complaining to me for a long time about it, it was bad. It was a bad day.”

“I thought the bath water was different today,” Kiel said. Then he patted her shoulder. “But I liked it! It was kind of exciting and tingly, and I felt really energetic afterwards. Vishnal and Doug agreed with me on that.”

“It seems it might not be so bad diluted so, but I wouldn't want to put straight heavy spice into the bath water again,” she said, smiling for him. Some good had come out of this.

Somehow, that made him think. “I wonder if you could infuse bath salts with heavy spice, in a way that'd make sure that if anyone accidentally got the water in their eyes, it wouldn't sting.”

“That would be different,” Xiao said. “I do not think I have yet seen heavy spice bath salt.”

“Well, why not?” Kiel asked. “If that can be done, you could probably infuse the salts with other spice mixes, like sour drop and mixed herbs.”

That made her laugh. “But would people want to take bath that smells like food?”

“Hey, it could give you some extra profit from snacks if the baths made customers hungry,” he joked. At least, she hoped he was joking.

“Baths are to relax and rejuvenate, not cause additional problems like hunger,” Xiao said. “Still, it could be nice to have a good bath with a familiar smell like those.”

* * *

 

Summer 17

Kiel stood in front of the chalkboard that he derived formulas on for his alchemy studies. What was on here now wasn't part of a lesson. He did have to work on the final project, some of his own studies into a potion that could enhance linguistics ability in a person. However, that wasn't due until the end of summer and he had an interesting puzzle to work on: how to infuse heavy spice into bath salts safely to mimic the effect Xiao had gotten on accident.

The problem was in the oil of the purple grass used to make heavy spice. It was similar to that in hot peppers, good for making spicy foods. In his research, he found that purple grass oil and the seeds in peppers were the source of the irritation with eyes. However, it was that same substance that gave the heat of the spice as well as the pleasant tingling from the heavy spice bath water. He could take the oil out or neutralize it, but then it would not be the same. It might not even have the energizing quality.

“I suppose with enough diffusion in the water, it won't be as painful,” he mumbled, studying the formulas. “But it might need a warning label for the person putting the salts in the water to be careful handling it. Hmm, unless there's some milder variation of the oil...” that needed more reading. “Well, I can at least try the other spice mixes to see how the infusion works.”

Closing his eyes, he pulled a bag out of the spice basket he'd brought to pick one at random. It was a mixed herb. This one shouldn't be a problem. Going to the board, he copied down the basic formula for scented bath salts that he'd gotten from comparing various scent recipes and removing the elements of the scent sources. From there, he added in the runic qualities of the mixed herbs in mathematical terms. That let him theorize how it should add into the basic bath salt recipe. Kiel checked in over thoroughly, then started to work on it.

He'd managed to get the ingredients for his basic recipe from the market traders this morning. While they weren't hard to get, the actual infusion process with alchemy wasn't something the average person could do. All the parts had to be worked in precisely or he'd get a nasty substance rather than fragrant salts to enrich bath water. Many precautions had to be taken. For this, a sign on the shop door warned that he shouldn't be disrupted at this time.

But relative to his skill level, this wasn't a tough recipe. He got pale green salt crystals at the end, enough that could last the inn baths a couple of days. Kiel checked over the runes to make sure it was safe, then put the crystals into a container and went to change the sign. Outside the door, a small group was waiting. They seemed like adventure seekers, with side bags, various weapons, and armor.

“Hello, sorry if you had to wait,” he said.

“It wasn't long,” the woman with the group said. “What kinds of healing potions do you have in stock?”

“Come on in and see,” he said, then mentally reviewed his inventory. “I've got basic healing potion, organic potion, mystic potion, magical potion, should have a full range of status ailment healers too. Oh, and even some light bracelets if you mean to be out after dark.”

“What are light bracelets?” one of the two men asked while the woman went to pick out the healing potions they needed.

Kiel went to get one from the display basket. “This is one. You bend this part here until it snaps and the bracelet begins to glow. While it's one-time use unless you know a rune recharging spell, it will emit a strong white light for fifteen hours. I use it in caves around here.”

“That could be handy,” he said.

“We've already got lanterns,” the other man said.

“Yeah, but a bracelet is easier to manage than a lantern, don't you think?”

“My shield would block some of the light. Besides, I don't think something that small can emit a useful enough light.”

“Luminous crystals can.”

“That's not a crystal.”

“Well I'd have to turn off the shop lights and close the curtains to show you now,” Kiel said. The bracelets did operate similar to luminous crystals. However, one of the things he had to learn as a shopkeeper was not to bore his customers with in-depth explanations of alchemy unless they specifically asked. It hadn't been easy for him.

“Hey, what's the difference between this organic potion and the magical?” the woman asked.

“The organic there heals as strongly as the mystic, so the magical is stronger,” Kiel answered. “Mostly the organic is made with no enchantments, and can make you sleepy if drunk.” And it tasted strongly; Lest said that he usually drank a glass of water to take that kind of potion with because it wasn't easy to take straight.

“Probably tastes something powerful without enchantments,” the second man said. “Why'd you make stuff like that if the magical's better?”

“Probably the same reason he offers various levels, because sometimes you don't need the strength of the magical,” the first man said.

Kiel nodded. “That and there's someone in town with an intolerance to enchanted potions. I have to keep some organic on hand for them.” He felt an impulse to tell them more, but he bit down on it.

“That would suck,” the woman said.

The group bought a variety of healing potions to fill out their stock; adventurers were his most steady source of income this year for just such a reason. Though they did also buy one of the light bracelets to try out, which was nice. Even with that nice extra, Kiel had to stop himself for a moment and try to settle down. His stomach felt uneasy and his thoughts were getting caught in a little loop. He loved learning but more than that, he loved sharing what he'd learned. When he found someone else interested in the same things, it made him really happy. It was one of the reasons he was glad to be friends with Leon as the former guardian wanted to know about this time and would tell about his old time in exchange. But Kiel's tendency to talk about things at length, even gossip, had gotten him in trouble before. After he'd made most of the town annoyed or angry with him once (that was before Lest had come), Kiel had been trying to train himself to keep quiet.

But it really wasn't easy, not when holding back affected him like this. It used to just be a funny feeling in his mind, that he was keeping secrets that didn't need to be kept. While some secrets were important to keep, he didn't like keeping information hidden. It was better when people knew things. Now that he was trying to constrain himself, that funny feeling turned to sick feelings. Why was that? He knew it was strange, since other people had no trouble keeping secrets.

As he shivered, Kiel put his hands over his mouth. “Maybe I am cursed to be like this. I don't want it to be true, they couldn't have meant to do this. It isn't even a big deal this time, I just wanted to talk about Lest being a rune breaker and about the light bracelets and the bath salts and problem about using the bracelet with a shield and adventuring information and the potions. They aren't really serious secrets except maybe about Lest, but I want to be a good shopkeeper and not bore them. I've had to keep myself from talking on much bigger things like finding out that Doug had been a spy out to kill Ventuswill before Blossom knew and while that didn't feel good it didn't feel this bad. Or maybe I'm just sick now. I hope not I don't want to cause everyone worry about me again. But then if it is just regular sickness, it'd be better because I don't want to make people hate me because of things I say again.”

Right, he didn't want people to hate him, so he had to train himself to keep his words simple now. Kiel took a deep breath and felt a little better. He then went to the small kitchen area to get a bowl of hot water to dissolve the mixed herb bath salts in. While he did want to let Xiao and Lin Fa know, he also didn't want to cause trouble by not testing the salts himself and examining the resulting runes. It should be safe as his formula predicted, but he wanted to be careful.

The salts dissolved into the water without a visible trace, but a reassuring smell wafted out of the bowl. It was a cozy relaxing smell, one that reminded him of good days at home when his parents had been alive. As a bonus, it helped lessen his ill feelings. Well one of the bath salt recipes he'd researched had claimed that it would ease sinus troubles when used. And some bath houses in Norad specialized in healing waters, so they might use salts as part of their routine. Kiel kept the water warm to linger in that scent while he kept working on formulas for the other seasonings in bath salts.

At the end of the day, he took the salt tin to the inn. Lin Fa greeted him in the lobby. “Coming in for a late bath?” she asked.

“No, but thanks,” he said, going to the lobby desk and putting the tin there. “Here, I've been working on something for you two lately. Remember when the heavy spice got in the bath water?”

Lin Fa smiled. “Oh yes, people told me that it was really invigorating and great! I kind of wish I'd tried it myself, but Xiao doesn't think it'd be a good idea to put the mix directly into the bath again. It probably would be a waste since it'd end up costing a lot to do every day.”

There was also how Xiao had ended up with her eyes badly stinging from it, Kiel thought. She'd been upset about it and the customer complaining. He nearly said something, but told himself not to even if it started making him feel ill again. “Well it gave me an idea to find a way to put heavy spice into bath salt form. There's a few bath salt formulas for alchemy, although none for that scent. But I was able to derive a basic formula and alter it. This is my first result, bath salts with a mixed herb infusion!”

“Oh wow, that's really amazing!” she said in awe. “I thought all bath salts were secret formulas guarded in the families that make them. But here you made your own, and one that sounds interesting.”

“It's a really nice one, I think,” he said. “I tested it in a bowl of hot water and liked the smell so much that I kept it on a warmer all afternoon while I worked. It's a homey scent that seems like it be a good comfort and stress reliever. Still, the best way to test it would be in the inn baths, so would you mind using it here so we can see how others like it? And I'd like to test the waters through the day to see how well it endures.”

Lin Fa smiled brightly. “Yes, that'd be great! Actually, it's just perfect because when I last ordered bath salts, I accidentally got just a sample instead of a full supply. How many days do you think it would last? Xiao got more ordered today, but we have to wait on it to arrive.”

“Given the size of your baths, this would last you two days,” Kiel said. “But I'm also working on other formulas, so I could have more to test after that.”

“That should work out well,” she said. “Thanks, I'll make sure Xiao knows this is a test for you so you can come in to get samples without paying the fee.”

He nodded. “Great, I'll make up a quick survey tonight for customers to fill out so I can gather reactions. I could work on the sweet powder or sour drop salts next, but the one I wanted to try, the heavy spice, that's going to take more work.”

She put her hand on her cheek. “Any of that sounds delightful, so how about the sour drop next? Citrus scents are under-appreciated when they can be just as nice as floral.”

“All right, I'll do that,” Kiel said.

* * *

 

Summer 18

Out of sight of guests at the inn, Xiao entered the pump room for the baths. Today would have to be a plain bath, she thought sadly. Her organizing of the inn's supplies and chores should have kept such problems from arising. However, Lin Fa didn't always follow through the methods and thus accidents like ordering small supplies of salt happened. Maybe Xiao hadn't made the system simple enough? But if she just left her mother to her own methods, they'd start falling behind again when they'd finally gotten on a decent track.

She still glanced over at the bin where the salt containers should be and spotted a tin inside. It had a blue fluer de lis painted on the silver surface, more like a decorative tin than the usual salt containers. When she took off the lid to check, there seemed to be a pale green salt instead. It smelled of herbs. Putting the lid back on, she went to the doorway. “Momma?”

“Hmm, what is it?” Lin Fa asked out of sight.

“Is this what seems to be a tin of bath salts in here?” Xiao asked, then winced at her wording. If she didn't pay attention, she'd say jumbled up things like this and confuse people.

At least her mother was used to it. She came into the back hall. “Oh, you mean that silver tin? Yes, we're going to try this one out!”

“Where's it from?” She didn't recall anyone who seemed like they'd know about bath salts staying at the inn.

“Kiel made it and dropped it off for us to try today,” she said, then scratched her head. “He said something...”

“Oh, he can make bath salts with alchemy?” That was unexpected, although it made sense. Xiao wasn't sure how the salts were made herself.

“Yes, he wanted to try getting the same effect as that heavy spice the other day,” Lin Fa said. Then she smiled. “Right, that's it. He gave us one that he made with mixed herbs yesterday and he'll be in at various times taking water samples to test. Plus he should be coming by soon with a survey to give bath visitors so we know what they think.”

He was really being thorough in this. That made Xiao smile. Good, he was getting better. “Great, that helps a lot! I hope people enjoy the baths today then. Did he say how much to use?”

She had to think that through again, so Xiao checked on the amount in the tin. “Um, I think he said that it should be two days worth. Since he made it based on other bath salt formulas, it should take the usual amount.”

“Okay, we'll use the usual scoop,” she said, getting it from the shelf to get the salt in place. It went into part of the pipes near the pumps, before it split into the men's and women's baths. That would let it get absorbed into the water after it went through the filters.

In following her usual chores, she did a quick cleaning of the changing rooms while the baths were filling, then headed upstairs for those wanted a wake-up notice or breakfast. This took some time, especially because one of the guests had asked her to be persistent in the wake-up notice so that he didn't miss an early meeting with Arthur. He was very grouchy and not pleasant to deal with, but Xiao kept a smile on her face and was patient. Even with the most trying guests, she needed to be cheerful and pleasant.

She nearly missed Kiel coming in due to that. He was at the lobby desk laughing with Lin Fa over something. No matter who it was, Lin Fa got along with everyone due to her natural cheerfulness and beauty. If she'd had the morning rounds, she probably wouldn't have had trouble with the grouchy guest. But it hadn't been so bad, Xiao reminded herself. “He'o!” she called, smiling as she got her sandals back on.

Kiel smiled brightly at her. “Oh, hey Xiao! How's my bath salts working?”

“Seems lovely so far!” she said happily, going over to him. “It's a humble kind of scent, but homey and comforting in that way. It seems like it would be a nice one after a stressful time.”

“Yeah, I really like how that one came out,” he said. “I'm going to work on a sour drop version today, maybe the sweet powder too if I don't get too busy with other things. But the heavy spice is going to take extra time, since it's going to be tough to replicate the effects without making it burn if someone accidentally gets the water in their eyes.”

“Thanks, it's pretty amazing that you could do that so fast,” she said.

“Well he has always been clever with that kind of crafting,” Lin Fa said.

“Heh, it just took some research and juggling with runic formulas,” Kiel said, as if it was no harder than adding simple numbers. “Though it is a moderate level craft for alchemy because you have to watch the ratios and development closely. I'm just glad I could help you guys out.”

“Do you need us to pay you for the work?” Xiao asked. It was only right to pay for all that work, even if he found it easy and had done it without being asked.

He tapped his foot as he thought. “Well, it is something I experimented with, I won't charge for it since I can monitor the test runs. But once I know the formula's solid, we can work something out. At least to cover for the materials since I'd need to order more to start a good supply.”

“It would be nice to have a local source on the bath salts, so I hope it works out,” Lin Fa said.

Xiao nodded. “Yes, yes, I hope people come to like it too.”

And it seemed like people did. It was a little extra work, trying to catch people coming out of the bath to take Kiel's surveys. Twice, Xiao had to deal with complaints about them experimenting on people in the bath (although one of those was Leon who followed up with the comment that he really liked it and looked forward to when they could manage the heavy spice again). But overall, most liked it and a few were surprised to hear that it was the first bath salts that he'd created.

In the evening, she was in the lobby when Kiel came back to pick up the surveys. She was going to tell him that he was doing well, but looking at him made her concerned. His face seemed paler than normal and his cheerful demeanor seemed forced. “Are you not feeling well?” Xiao asked. “Is it one of those headaches?”

“Oh, uh, don't worry about it,” he said, not quite looking at her. “It's nothing big, I'll be okay.”

She frowned sternly at him. “You really don't look okay, all pale and worn like that. Seems to be that you may be working too hard again, or you're getting sick. You should talk to Jones.”

“It's not that bad,” he said. “It's just...” Kiel finally looked at her, which didn't convince Xiao that he was going to be okay. “It's just the headaches, but I got used to working through them.”

“You really shouldn't because they came from a hit to your head and that pain would mean your head is still sore inside,” she said. “At least, I think that would be how it is. You should take a day off tomorrow. I'll tell Forte so.”

“Aw, you don't have to get her involved,” Kiel said, now embarrassed.

“Well I won't if you do what I ask,” Xiao said. She felt bad about using that against him, knowing that he really didn't like it when his sister got overprotective of him. Still, he could be stubborn about neglecting himself if someone didn't get stern with him every now and then.

“All right, I think I could manage a lighter day tomorrow.”

* * *

 

Summer 22

As Kiel returned to his alchemy shop, he felt really happy to have helped Dolce and the others with the artist's ghost. Seeing one of the ghosts peacefully sent to the Forest of Beginnings was something he'd been curious about for a long time. But it seemed really interesting, especially that it could be done through finding out more about the ghost and solving the issue that kept them there. Dolce said that some ghosts took a lot of work to put to peace, like the pair that she'd had Meg, Frey, and Wendy help on. However, it seemed like all Ignis needed to do was reveal the secrets he'd been keeping and gain forgiveness from Pico. And one of his potions had helped with that.

Although that inversion of lamp squid venom made him wonder about things. Kiel did want to find a potion that could allow someone to converse in multiple languages at once. It was an intriguing idea. However, he was still trying to work out the heavy spice bath salt for the inn. Could he manage both lines of research through summer? He'd planned on the linguist potion as his final research paper for the Alvarna correspondence classes. But today's experiments with the inverted venom needed a lot of tweaking in many ways, while the bath salt was now down to the one issue with the spicy oil. Would they accept his work on the bath salts as a suitable final paper?

There was also something else. He'd been feeling a little ill the past few days. Even after taking a day off as Xiao had asked him to, the feeling of uneasiness and thoughts wanting to break out of his head into words remained. It might be the long-term effects of his concussion last season. But he didn't think so; those headaches really were trailing off, this was something different. However, he didn't feel ill at all now.

Was it because of the inverted venom compelling him to talk when he'd been trying to restrain himself? The compulsion hadn't felt good, not when it dried out his mouth and made it hard to drink anything for several minutes. Once it had passed, Kiel had felt a sense of relief in getting to ramble freely. And Leon had been more amused at the incident than annoyed, which helped. Did that mean that he'd been thinking right all along? That this curse was real and he had to talk about things he'd found out?

“No, no, I know that's an excuse for a habit I need to break once and for all,” Kiel told himself. “Talking to myself is better than passing along any bit of gossip that comes my way, no matter what it is. I'm an alchemist and a shopkeeper now, I need to be more reliable and respectable.”

Still, when Xiao came over later on and asked what had gone on today, he started feeling sick again when he kept himself from telling everything that Ignis had revealed about Pico today.


	97. The Code of Chivalry

Summer 25

Show respect to all, even thine enemy, for all life is sacred. Thine sword shall be used to protect, not to oppress. Do not favor protecting one over another unless specifically sworn to do so. Keep courageous and wise, so that thee shall not fail in service nor fight needless battles. Make certain of thyself in thine challenges, for once thy blade is raised, thee should not falter even if faced with defeat. Be an example of moral life in thine community. Be ever loyal to thine oaths. Live in honest effort, not in indulgence or falsehood. These were some of the precepts in the code of chivalry.

“I love the old precepts since they're a great guideline to being an honorable knight,” Corrin said as they walked along the old road to the northern ruins. Frey had let them use her teleport ring to reach the new water rune spring so they could get there and back to Selphia in one day. “You could live by them no matter what your situation in life was as long as you had the will. But then they added lots of new precepts over the generations that made living by the code a rigid mold with little variance. People are not all the same and there are times in life when adhering to the code as it is is nonsensical or even cruel.”

Forte gave it some thought as she hadn't questioned the code of chivalry much, aside from why it had to forbid women from being knights. In some versions, it didn't seem like the code did that at all. “What would make it that way?”

“Well this isn't so much nonsensical or cruel as against human nature, but I won't deny that I favored protecting Joyce when she was pregnant. Other times I knew she was capable and could help those who were having more trouble, but that was a rough time on her. And since it was my wife and my children I had to protect at once, you could be sure that I was going to make sure they were safe.”

Art agreed with her. “I'd count that as cruel since the guilt in failing to protect those so close to one's heart could drive even the purest knights mad. I'd rather the code be more forgiving for instances like that.”

“The older versions seem more forgiving, but the current mood among knights isn't so forgiving,” Corrin said. “The current version of the code definitely isn't forgiving or flexible.” Art nodded at that, but didn't comment further.

“You'd rather the standards be changed back?” Forte asked. While this trip was important to making sure the water source at old Syra was still functioning and safe, she was using it to make her recommendations to Lady Ventuswill about accepting these two as knights of Selphia. Their combat ability clearly wasn't in question and they both knew about Norad law well enough to adapt to local law easier than Sven was. Asking them about the code seemed like a good choice, especially considering how unusual Corrin's background was.

“I'd like them to be changed forward since there's things in the old versions that could be better adapted to modern society,” Corrin said. “And they should be using the formal thee and thine, not defaulting to he and his and making people think that the code could only apply to men. Besides, you can match the time frame when specific lines trying to disallow women from being knights appeared to when the royal lineage began losing powers as earthmates, so something's up with that.”

“I haven't seen a connection like that,” Forte said. “Or heard that the royal family was losing power; they still seem strong in central Norad.”

Corrin nodded. “Well it's not something they'd point out, obviously. But it used to be that that family was like my wife's: all the children born from the main line were born blessed as earthmates. Then things shifted. I can't be sure what changed, but more normal children came to them until with the current king, only one cousin of his had been born an earthmate. And that fellow disappeared in a storm, although there's been rumors ever since that he survived and threw away his royal lineage for any number of possible reasons. Maybe it's not connected to the stricter changes to the code of chivalry, but maybe both are signs of less than ideal shifts in the world.”

“The royal family is strong politically, although not without its own problems,” Art said.

“Don't try asking him for further thoughts because he used to be a bodyguard to the king and he still holds to that respectful silence,” Corrin added.

“Of course,” Forte said, although what Art said reminded her of the time when Arthur had misplaced those old glasses. Did he have some troubles from his heritage?

“Things being less than ideal, it is then up to those like us to show others what they could be,” Art said. “But what worked in the past doesn't work now. I would agree, the code of chivalry could be changed forward. Keep the ideals of honor, but do not fall for the restricted views of the past.”

Then Corrin made a playful smile. “So then, I was just curious to hear your thoughts on something too. By the old concepts of chivalry, putting aside gender issues for the debate, what would be the appropriate ranks of the four of us as knights? You, me, Art, and Sven.”

That was something that Forte had thought about. Worried about too. “Well, I must respect you both as my elders, with more experience than myself. Sven would remain as an apprentice knight because he has experience in battle but very little training under the code. The Dragon Knight is technically the highest rank of the region, but I have little experience in leading other knights, so I wasn't sure if one of you should be in charge.”

“Don't count on me for leadership,” Art said. “If I make my oath to Selphia, it is for this time of uncertainty and possible war. My point has been made and I'm old as it is, so once the threat from Sechs settles down, I will likely retire.”

“Technically I don't have much experience as a knight because I was denied before sworn in and acted as a town guard in the past two decades,” Corrin said. “The position as Dragon Knight is acknowledged as a holy knight, so even as your elders, we should defer to you by the code while you keep that respect as well. But we'll advise you along the way and help you if you're unsure of a decision. Although really it's on Lady Ventuswill and Prince Lest to give our orders.”

“That sounds good,” Forte said. And like a real blessing to have these two as advisers. There were probably many things they could teach her to better herself as a knight.

“Since we're talking of rank, I agree that Sven would be an apprentice,” Art said. “I would like to work with him as his master if that is acceptable.”

“That's fine with me, you could teach him better than me as I've gotten him familiar with the town and local laws,” she said.

“There's something more than that behind this,” he said. “I've heard that the young man was unwillingly the Executioner from the past war.”

Forte nodded. “Yes, that still remains an obstacle for him.”

“Perhaps more than you realize. I mean to teach him more because what he's been through is a much bigger concern than having the form of honor correct. It's something you should consider too.”

“What is?” Forte asked, not sure which part he meant.

Art replied, “What in life is more important than having the form of honor correct. True honor is about more than just what others see. True honor is at your core. Maybe you do have it, but no one can be sure of that until life itself tests that honor. That's the kind of time when you know who is a real knight and who isn't. You had best prepare yourself, know yourself, and know what you stand for when the time comes.”

“That's not the kind of thing any training can entirely prepare you for,” Corrin added.

What was more important than having the form of honor? Or maybe the better question was, what was true honor as they said it? It gave Forte something new to consider for a long time.

* * *

 

Summer 43

She really did have more grace and honor than many of the court ladies. They turned socializing into an ugly game of using everyone to obtain power and crushing them once in the way. They used manners and gossip to attack others. With Forte, her feminine manners were unpolished but she stood solidly for justice. She was loyal to Selphia and Lady Ventuswill, using a sword to protect her neighbors. And her face was pure honesty. She could not tell a lie without it being obvious and she only ever tried for a few things that embarrassed her. She never wore make-up and much of her wardrobe was practical rather than fashionable. Yet that made her beautiful and more attractive to his eyes than the beauties of the royal court. He felt comfortable around her, grateful that he did not have to keep a mental defense against talking with her.

Perhaps his father had once felt like this.

Whatever the truth of that was, Arthur didn't want to be thinking of that tonight. It was the Firefly Festival and this midsummer night was graced by more fireflies than he had ever seen in one place before. He thought about asking Porcoline how he'd accomplished that. Right now, he was sitting on the bench in the little nook on the southeast platform, the same place they had first kissed during the Wooly Festival. The glow of the night seemed to make Forte even more brilliant, especially since she'd forgone wearing her usual armor this evening. Instead, she wore a yellow and pink dress that made him want to just watch her. If she added some glasses, she'd be completely irresistible like this.

She was talking and Arthur felt like he should encourage her to keep talking, if only to keep her there with him. “Oh, that's from the Tales of a Mounted Knight series, the one with the elefun,” he said, recognizing a line she'd said. “They're popular books and that's one of the more common ones.”

“Right, but I hadn't really read it at that point since I never read many books,” Forte said, something that the court ladies would never dare say. “But that was a few seasons after our father had died and he'd never trained me to ride a horse or monster. He never even mentioned it and I don't recall him doing so himself. I talked to Bado if a knight should have a horse and,” she frowned at the memory. “You recall how he was at the beginning of this year? He was even worse about being lazy and greedy before.”

“His shop was very dingy in spite of being clean,” Arthur said.

She nodded. “The cleanliness was mostly Kiel's doing, not Bado's. Back then, he had some crazy idea to build a monster petting zoo so he could charge people to come play with monsters. Can you believe it?”

“Well some similar ideas have done decently well,” he said. “Although to my knowledge, most of the successful ones are run by folks who love monsters above all and they do so to support their love. And they focus on a lot of cute ones, so they can be nice.”

“I suppose a zoo of cuter monsters would get good attention,” Forte said, a little bashful. She probably thought she'd want to go to one like that, Arthur thought and smiled at. “But Bado wasn't even starting there. No, he was going to start with a silver wolf, a fortoise, a sky fish, and a minotaur. The wolf was kind of cute, but it wasn't docile at all. And he tried to get me to take one of them as a mount when he decided the zoo was too much work to start. None of them were appropriate and I really wanted to smack him for that suggestion.”

“The silver wolf might not have been bad, being quick and strong,” Arthur said.

“Maybe, but I'd have to get used to riding it as well as train it to run as I directed it. That wolf was ready to pounce on anything that moved and you can't be that reckless in battle.”

“That would have been a really bad addition to a petting zoo,” he said.

She nodded. “Right, that too. Then a couple days later, Volkanon approached me with the suggestion to use an elefun as a mount. He'd gone out and captured one, even gave it a ridiculous name, I think it was Pastrache. He did have a point that it was tough, strong, and fast; a horse would only be faster than the elefun. Well, I did consider it, but then it turned out that Pastrache had a strange hatred for puns and after a string of elefun related ones from Volkanon, it got mad enough to attack those of us who were close, including Volkanon and Kiel. Fortunately I reacted in time to keep them from serious injury, although Volkanon was melodramatically upset that his elefun had to be dispatched to the forest. Though it was a tough fight at the time.”

“Taking out an elefun in close combat is impressive,” Arthur said. That was another thing making her more attractive, although Arthur felt a little self-conscious that one reason he liked his girlfriend was because she could protect him in battle. That just wasn't where his strengths were.

“They're certainly not to be trifled with,” Forte said. “Then it turned out that Kiel wanted me to read that book because the lesson of it was that a knight didn't need to keep the full image of a knight, including having a horse. As long as one knew what they wanted to protect and the true form of honor, anyone could be a knight. I was embarrassed at the time to have been caught up by just part of the story when it had that message, but it was a relief at the same time. Something like that makes me feel like I can still be a good knight even as a woman. Although Art's recently brought up that point again and I've had to think about the true form of honor.”

“What does he mean by that phrase?” Arthur asked.

She seemed unsure. “I thought it was just that you don't need the outward image of a knight, but it seems that the true form of honor is something I haven't fully uncovered yet.”

* * *

 

“One of my first duties was helping out at the International Trade Office, so it came to me naturally through that.”

It was dark and the fireflies were still going strong, golden lights in the night. Their conversation was still going strong too and Forte didn't care what time it was. “Then you became a trader by being a trader? That's not exactly what I was asking about.”

Arthur chuckled. “But it is true. At the time, my father was having me assist various officials in the court to learn about the many parts of governance in more than just lessons and books. The trade office was the most interesting of the set. You get to handle all kinds of items and see glimpses into other cultures and lives. Even the simplest of goods had someone to make or raise it as well as someone who needs or wants it. As a trader, my goal is to bridge the divide between maker and customer in a fair way to all parties. After all, the maker deserves credit for their work and the customer deserves a reasonable price so the purchase keeps their budget fit.”

“That's a noble way to see it,” Forte said. Much better than Bado's previous view of trying to get the most profit from the least effort, which meant he sorely overcharged until he lost interest and had to undercharge to get rid of the item. Although the work he was doing now made her proud of him. Almost, there were still some bad ideas he needed to work out.

“It's only reasonable,” Arthur said humbly. Then he gestured towards the castle. “Take Lest for one, with his farming. He puts a tremendous amount of effort, time, and care into his plants, which really shows in the produce he has to offer. But there are things behind that quality that take money: his tools need to be top quality for his earthmate talents to shine, he keeps assistant monsters in cluckadoodles, a buffamoo, bees, and paw cats that he needs to care for, and he needs to balance the farm with his duties as prince. All this and he doesn't have a lot of money to work with. He has some allowance as the prince, but he prefers to invest some of that money back into the community. That and he wants to keep offering his produce to Porcoline's Kitchen at below market prices so that they can keep building up to their true potential.”

“I've seen him at work in the mornings, he really does put his all into it,” she said. “Although he's generous so I didn't think he had money to worry about.”

“Farming really isn't all that profitable due to laws that keep food prices low and all the gear they need to maintain,” Arthur said. “He does get help from his sister helping out as a crafter, although he tries to work things out himself so he doesn't rely on her. But I really like hard-working people like him that aren't in their careers for money; they deserve good fortune and someone like me can give it to them. I listen to what he's got growing and while he's busy with that, I look elsewhere in Norad for someone who might want that kind of produce.

“Like not that long ago, he told me that he had a large crop of green peppers that were soon to be ripe, more than the castle alone could use up before they had to be preserved. Porcoline would take it gladly, but I know of many other chefs in Norad that love working with fresh vegetables. I checked harvest reports and settled on two of them to make an offer of shipping some of Lest's green peppers to. Even at a slightly higher price than average due to quality, they took the offer and I could get Lest a better profit than he was expecting on them.”

“He probably went after more seeds with that,” Forte said, smiling at the thought.

“Sort of,” Arthur said, then chuckled. “I have to say, it had an entertaining result as he tried to use that money to pay back Frey for her work on his farm tools. She made some out of gold and others out of platinum, both of which are expensive and difficult to work with but the resulting tools are of the highest quality out there. However, Frey insisted that it was her contribution as being the princess briefly to make his required work on the royal farms better and they ended up in a teasing argument about not trying to owe each other any debts. In the end, though, Lest said that he'd use the money to buy some materials and plans so that she could make a better seed storage container to keep less of his stored seeds from going bad in off seasons. I have to say, working with earthmates is quite a treat due to their selfless natures and the excellent goods they produce.”

“Yes, you can really see it in all of them. Although it's a pity Dolce doesn't do as much with her sewing, since she does make wonderful clothes.”

“She could really do well if she wanted to become a seamstress. Maybe if someone brought up the idea to her.”

“I would suppose that you'd see less variety in goods working in a town like this rather than the capitol,” Forte added, thinking that the conversation could continue that way. Right?

Arthur seemed bothered about that. “True, but I like being in close contact with those who make and buy goods. Working in the capitol would mean I'd be working in the castle and everything else going on would be a distraction. And people here in Selphia treat me normally, once everyone got over the surprise of meeting a royal prince. I like that much better than all the fuss in court about my position.”

“You sound like you don't like being a prince,” Forte said, hoping he might explain more tonight.

“Well I don't,” he said. “How can I say I earned such importance when it is who I was born to rather than anything I did? I tried for a while not introducing myself as a prince, but only really inattentive people would fall for that. No matter how I think of it, I never felt truly comfortable accepting such attention for being a prince once I realized people did treat me special for it. My family even had to trick me into attending my own birthday parties for the past few years because it felt like people were celebrating one of the prince's birthdays, not mine.”

“That doesn't seem right,” she said, thinking she should do something nice for his birthday. But, “When is your birthday anyhow?”

“The fifth of summer,” he said.

Close but already gone by. “What? I don't remember anything about that a few weeks back.”

Oddly, Arthur smiled. “Right, I hadn't told anybody here. But that was fine, I felt it was refreshing.”

“But you should have some fun with your birthday,” she said.

He laughed at that. Sometimes Arthur could be strange. Still, it was very nice to see him in a good mood tonight, having fun just relaxing and chatting with her. He was so formal and polite most days that seeing him this candid, even a bit strange, was like speaking to a different person. Was it who he really was? While he spoke a lot about money and politics, she could see tonight that he was still a man of ideals and integrity. He wanted to see good people rewarded for hard work. He wasn't a knight, but still lived well within the code of chivalry in a way that didn't involve swords. That was really admirable.

But this way he preferred not to have his birthday celebrated and how he worked so hard for others without a thought to himself, who gave thought to caring for Arthur? Porcoline certainly did and Meg did in her bossy kind of way. Forte admired his lovely smile and wanted to protect him as best she could. Maybe even care for him? But she was horrible at housework, cooking, and the usual sort of care people expected from a woman. Sometimes it seemed so bad that she felt cursed. Then she'd wonder if she was cursed, but there were no other signs that she was cursed. Maybe some memories.

But, that was something to keep to herself. For now, Arthur seemed happy enough just talking with her on a beautiful night. He even trusted her enough to speak freely. If being with him and listening was all it took, then Forte was happy to care for him however she could.

* * *

 

Summer 73

Arthur watched the passing data in the seeing glass he kept on his work desk. It was a crystal orb that rested on a wooden stand, one that sometimes got him mistaken for a fortune teller. However, that was an overly simplistic view on what he did with this particular seeing glass. It was a complex magical device, constantly taking readings on many factors in the area to make projections about the near future. Not that long ago, he'd used weather readings to predict that a typhoon would strike on the 70th. That had been correct and the town had been able to prepare better than usual.

Currently, he was using the seeing glass to tap into sales data. This let him keep track of commercial trends and notice potential dips or spikes. Newspapers were good for tracking this information as well, but primarily on common goods and larger businesses. With the seeing glass, he could gather a lot of data on other resources and quickly sift through it for notable variables. Like the price on steel was ticking upward. The seeing glass' magic recommended one of his notes, that a new building project elsewhere in Norad was going to demand a lot of resources. Including steel, although that wasn't a commodity he often traded with. It was certainly a warning to beware of steel products in the near future as their prices would be high for a time.

A red light flickered in the glass, warning him that he had a scheduled meeting shortly. Looking over his notes, Arthur noted that he had gotten the information he'd wanted out of the glass for now. The steel trend and a few others had simply drawn his notice as a potential to buy or sell from his stock. He checked his docket to confirm that it was Corrin who wanted to meet with him. While she hadn't stated what for, she had warned him to dress comfortably for being out in the summer heat. Arthur normally kept to a formal attire for his business dealings, but this seemed like something that would be fine informal. He went upstairs to change into clothes that wouldn't be quite as hot, then headed out to the plaza where she'd said to meet her.

And Lest, as it turned out; the regional prince was dressed in his traveling robe with his casting gloves on. “Good, right on time,” Corrin said to Arthur, handing him a wooden staff as he got near. “Here, you'll need this.”

“Thank you, but what are we doing with this?” he asked. He knew how to handle a staff so that he could test any that came into his possession for sale, but not much beyond that.

“Training, she wants to prepare us as battle mages,” Lest said.

Arthur felt a little nervous at that. “Pardon? I've not had any battle training before.”

Corrin nodded. “I've heard and that's a problem. Whether you like it or not, being royalty means you're an obvious target. Sechs may not be as big of a threat right now, but both of you should be capable of defending yourselves. Lest is ahead of you and I'm expecting more out of him, but Arthur, I'd still like you to know some techniques and tactics in case you need end up needing it. If you want, you can add this training session to your schedule. But join us for today at least. I think it's a serious issue that you haven't been given such instructions before.”

“The knights who trained my brothers were focused on physical fighting,” Arthur said. “I wasn't as good at that, but I do know some magic. Not much battle oriented, but I'm sure I could learn it.”

“Good, then we're heading down to an opening near the airfield for this training,” Corrin said, then hurried them across town to take the northern staircase down the cliff.

According to her, Corrin had been trained as a squire when a boy, then modified her fighting to a mage knight style while living in Grelin. She had also spent some time battling as a pure mage then, so she had a lot of practical advice and spells to teach them. The field had been set up with some gongs hanging from poles. If their spells made the gongs ring, then they were casting and aiming correctly. Corrin had Lest do drills by casting a fireburst spell repeatedly, calling him to back up a couple feet once he got several correct casts in a row.

Lest wasn't doing all that well, to Arthur's surprise. One time, he showed off how the fireball formed in his hand before being thrown. “I have to form the bursting orb while holding back my rune breaking power to keep it from forming on my hand,” he said, with a fireball shaped more like a rain drop. “And it tends to sputter apart instead of burst after I throw it because the bonds are weak. Straight fireballs are easier because there's no added effects and a sphere is the easiest shape to mold.”

“You're actually getting magical fire instead of smoke like you used to, but you need to improve more,” Corrin said.

“It would make sense that the low tier spells come in the easiest shapes to mold,” Arthur said. “From what you've said, it doesn't require as many bonds to make as a higher tier spell?”

Lest nodded and tossed the fireburst. It flew straight for a few feet, but sputtered out as he said before hitting the gong target. “Right, not as many bonds, not as many additional instructions in the runes.”

Meanwhile, Corrin had Arthur getting used to casting with the staff and learning a few basic attack spells. It included one Arthur didn't recognize as common, one called Stun Wave. “It's something I adapted as a rune ability for a staff wielder rather than a spell,” she explained while Arthur was practicing the motions without the magic. “One thing you must acknowledge when battling with magic is that you want to be able to keep your distance from your enemy. You could smack an attacker with the staff, but a person who fights purely by magic usually doesn't have the strength to make it useful. Stun Wave addresses that weakness by paralyzing a target close to you so that you have an opening to run off.”

“Ah, that explains the short range on it,” Arthur said. “I figured mages would want to take advantage of the range their spells provide, but an option for a bad situation would be needed.”

“Practice it enough and you won't need the staff to use it,” she said. “That's also good for an emergency.”

“Although if you really want to be a battle mage, your safest option is to have a partner in battle who can handle close range fighting and support them in that,” Lest said. “We'd want to practice some healing and buffing spells.”

“You can be successful alone, but yes, that is a good way to go for both sides of such a partnership,” Corrin said.

He could work well with Forte in that manner, Arthur thought. Should he pick up and practice such spells as well? Although would she want to fight with him that way? She might rather he be protected and not go out with her into battle.

“So what did you mean the other day about chivalry politics being involved in this?” Lest asked, making Arthur curious abut this.

“It's our duty as knights of the town to make sure the people are protected,” Corrin said. “Even if you find yourselves in a situation where we can't be there immediately in a dangerous situation. On the more political slant, I want to get the idea of female knights more widely accepted so that other girls can follow such dreams. If I can say that I helped train the high king's son, even just in self-defense methods, that should help. I hope you don't mind that.”

“To help that cause along, I don't mind,” Arthur said with a smile. After all, it might be a little push, but he'd like to see knights like Forte be honored. “Although, did you hear that Dylas' sister was a female knight in the past?”

“Yes, Lest was telling me about that,” she said, glad for it. “If her story could get widespread and popular, it would help greatly. It's just a matter of getting him to part with some more information so a good story gets spread.”

“I've been trying to get him to let it get known,” Lest said.

Meanwhile, recalling that also reminded him that Dylas had also called them his half sisters. Arthur kept meaning to ask him a bit more about it, but would it be a touchy subject for him? A lot of things were touchy when talking with him, and it was a subject Arthur was reluctant to speak of as well.


	98. Mixed Herbs

Summer 75

Kiel was sharing lunch with Doug and Vishnal today at the restaurant. Normally their conversations were aimless with some silliness thrown in. Today, the major topic around town was the revelation that Ventuswill didn't have long to live, but she had plans to trade bodies to live as the doll Wendy instead. Out of their group, it impacted Vishnal the most. But it was something everyone was thinking about.

“There's something I've been trying to figure out in all this,” Doug said. “So her main body as the dragon is dying but her secondary body as the doll isn't really alive. Then is she going to be dead but possessing Wendy, or living as Wendy?”

“I don't entirely grasp it myself, but she says she'll live on as Wendy,” Vishnal said.

“Well Wendy isn't exactly a doll as what the word normally means,” Kiel explained. “She's more of an effigy, a soulless vessel. The divine wind is a physical god, so Lady Ventuswill and soon to be Doomgale are in the flesh with us. But, there are other gods who have no permanent physical form. People of various cultures make such vessels for those gods to communicate with us when needed.”

“But she won't be a goddess, so wouldn't she lose the ability to take over a doll or vessel like that?” Doug asked.

“She'll probably lose the ability to leave Wendy at will,” Kiel said. “Given that she says she'll live on, I believe what she wants is for this move to transform Wendy from a vessel into a full mortal being, being herself.” Glancing at the table, he got some inspiration from the drinking glasses. “Here, see, how it works now would be kind of like if I took a full glass of water and poured it into an empty one. The water's still the same, just in a different vessel. But if I then completely sealed up the full glass because the empty glass has a crack in it, then the water couldn't move between the two and has a permanent vessel that will last it longer than the cracked one. Sort of like that, I'm just hypothesizing on this.”

“That makes sense,” Vishnal said, then smiled. “It's a neat idea, though, if a person could simply move into a new body if theirs was damaged.”

“Yeah, then nobody'd have to be afraid of dying,” Doug said.

Kiel frowned. “Well, that is a basic concept behind reincarnation, except that the soul's memories are wiped. Also, a soul can be damaged and destroyed as well. Though that takes some significant damage to accomplish, usually through spells that end up forbidden for the risk. Then you might end up with the body turning into a cryptid, which is a really horrific thing when I've read about it.”

As he said it, Kiel didn't think they'd know anything about cryptids. It was a rare circumstance that he had only seen referred to in highly technical books on magic and alchemy. However, they both ended up staring at him. “You know about the cryptids?” Doug asked in surprise.

“Not a lot since there isn't a lot written about them,” Kiel said, puzzled. “How do you know about them?”

“We've seen someone turn into one, well two actually,” Vishnal said. “But we thought no one knew about it. Frey certainly wasn't sure what was going on and was trying to find out a while ago.”

“There's a whole bunch of them on Maya Road supposedly,” Doug added.

“How is that possible?” Kiel asked. “Cryptids are weird creatures of corrupt runes. They only come in unnatural colors and trying to cut through them will heal them. More importantly, you'd have to be using some crazy powerful magic just to create one and they can't reproduce themselves. Having a whole bunch around would be really improbable.”

Vishnal leaned over the table and lowered his voice. “Well keep it to yourself for now, but since you know about them, you might want to find those references and let Frey see them. Remember how the Sechs soldiers talked about having dangerous rings? They were allowing normal people to use earthmate spells like Omnigate and Etherlink, but carry the risk of failing and turning the user into a cryptid. It was through fragments of rune spheres, like what Frey made and Lest put into the rune springs.”

“Oh geez, that would do it,” he said, horrified at the thought. “Most people, even trained mages like me, aren't capable of handling the amount and quality of runic power that earthmates handle even in their common magics. Kind of like the glasses I was talking about earlier. Pouring water between those is the level of magic that I can handle; most people could take that amount if taken slowly. But earthmate magic, well you know the waterfall in Yokmir Forest? That'd be the kind of chi they handle and that's just with the magic in our world instead of tapping into runes beyond it too.”

“So it could have been the magic alone?” Doug asked, clearly not liking the thought either. “I thought it had something to do with Etherlink since that's a forbidden spell to them.”

Kiel thought about it. It might be getting too technical, but his friends seemed interested. How to explain it? “Well... from what I understand, Etherlink itself is a versatile spell. What it does is...” he snapped his fingers while thinking, but looking at Doug gave him an idea. “It's like what you do with wires in your electrical work. Etherlink makes a connection between two points and allows runes to flow along it in a strong current. But the connection itself doesn't lie in the physical world; it flows through the ether sea itself, hence the name, a link of ether. That's how the guardians were working to support Ventuswill in the past: their bodies and souls were given a new connection in Etherlink, then the natural bonds were taken out so their souls could be sent deep into the ether sea to draw power. Their bodies were then fused with the earth at the rune springs to pull that power into our world.”

“Then they're being serious when they say they can still leave their bodies from time to time?” Vishnal asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. Although that's something that most earthmates can manage, leaving their bodies briefly to end up in the ether sea. Usually it's a dream with a powerful insight that causes that. Doing so intentionally is a skill that has to be learned. Anyhow, since Etherlink draws from a huge source of magical energy, then connecting that to anyone without proper care would risk such corruption.”

“Oh Kiel!” Porcoline called out across the restaurant, waving to him from behind the counter. “Hope I'm not interrupting, but I've gotten some tasty information that I thought you'd be intrigued by.”

“I should be getting back to the castle soon,” Vishnal said. “Just, well, talk with Frey about that if you remember those references, all right?”

“I'll see what I can find for her,” Kiel said, then got out of his chair with the other two. Doug followed him over to the counter while Vishnal left. “What've you got, a new recipe?”

“I would love some new recipes!” Porco said, twirling a wooden spoon in his hand. “But no, something else. Tell me, do you know anything about a book called 'Arcane Philosophies and Alchemical Studies of Phaedrus of Eaios Ath'?”

He could feel his heart skip a beat at the name. “What, the Tome of Phaedrus? Of course, it's a classic in magic studies and a cornerstone of alchemy! It supposedly even has secrets of alchemy that aren't common knowledge even today. But most students work from mundane partial copies as the tome itself is magical in nature. I've never even seen one with power.”

For another oddity in someone knowing something unexpected, Porco nodded. “So I hear, there's only a limited amount and making a new true copy is a difficult feat. Now I don't know much about magical books myself, but various members of the Sainte-Couquille family collect various things. An uncle of mine once collected books. His son inherited the collection, including an authentic Tome of Phaedrus under that name. Actually, my cousin Shermnn wasn't sure for a while if it was authentic, but it's stirred back to life and has caused much chaos in his library. He's planning on an auction in a few days with some of his acquisitions, including his father's book collection. But Sherman wants to make sure the Phaedrus tome gets into the hands of someone who can actually tame and use it.”

“Certainly, you can't read that kind of tome without it liking you,” Kiel said.

“What, would it bite someone unworthy?” Doug asked.

“Possibly, depending on the temperament of the particular copy,” he said.

“News about the auction has gone out in newspapers,” Porco said. “I wasn't sure if you'd be reading those papers regularly and Sherman wrote me recently since I'd mentioned there was an alchemist in town here. He's a reasonable businessman and if you can prove your worth, he would give a fair price on it. Though it would still be quite a cost, given the nature of it. So I felt I should let you know that the auction is set for Summer 78 and while it isn't a part of it, he'll be taking offers on the tome starting that day too. You'll have to pop on over to Sharence where he lives, but it could be a worthwhile trip.”

“For a chance at that book, it would be,” Kiel said, feeling excited. “That's not long to plan a trip, and then...” Xiao's birthday was on the 77th and he had planned on making a special dinner for just the two of them. But that was Thursday when the town marketplace was busiest, and thus the best day for him to find an airship headed to Sharence. He could delay his flight, but something like a Tome of Phaedrus would attract a lot of attention. Unless he... “Hey, are you familiar with Sharence, Porco?”

He nodded. “It's been a few years since I visited, but it's a lovely little town, in a different way than Selphia is. They have a great chef there and a traditional eastern inn, much more traditional than the Bell Inn. Plus the sacred tree there is now in bloom, so it would be an excellent trip.”

That was right, the Sharance tree was supposed to be a blessing to couples. Though he'd have to convince Forte to let him go. And Lin Fa to help. “Actually, I was going to take Xiao out on her birthday, the 77 th , but I hadn't decided where. It'd be a bigger surprise to her if I took her clear to Sharence, wouldn't it?”

Doug laughed. “Yeah, sounds great! If you can talk Forte into letting you go.”

“I hope I can, because I think Xiao would like it,” Kiel said.

“Oo la la, that sounds like a marvelous romantic escapade,” Porco said, delighted with the idea. “There's some great spots around there to make an atmosphere and I should remember some. And if Forte troubles you about it, there should be a way to get her in agreement. Also, before I forget to mention it, I did say that my cousin Sherman is reasonable... to a degree. He has a habit of constantly speaking in opposites, so you need to pay careful attention to him to see what he means.”

“That's really weird,” Kiel said, thinking it wasn't reasonable. They discussed what could be done for a few minutes, then Kiel headed out to check on other pieces of his plan. This was looking better already!

* * *

 

Summer 77

Birthdays weren't always happy days for Xiao. Sometimes it seemed like people forgot when hers was. Or her mother would forget things and give her a meal with lots of tomatoes that she hated. But not this year. Meg and Amber had gotten together and planned a really nice party for her. They had decorated Meg's house and invited many people around town to join in. She got good presents, like Dolce had given her a knitting toy that was to help her learn to knit better.

Lin Fa even had something good this year, an adorable magic bag that was shaped like a cute chubby panda. “I packed some of your things in it already, so you should be ready,” she said.

“Ready for what, Momma?” Xiao asked.

“You were going somewhere, right?” she asked, a little confused. Oddly, it made Forte laugh (among a few others, but Forte was most surprising). “Where was it?”

“Um, I do not know of anywhere I'm going,” Xiao said.

“Actually, you are, but we haven't gotten around to talking about it yet,” Kiel said.

“Oh, sorry!” Lin Fa said, shaking her head.

“It's all right,” Kiel said. “Because, Xiao, I don't have a present to give you here, but I made a picnic dinner for us for later today that we'll need to go on a short trip for.”

Xiao laughed, partly at her mother's slip-up and partly in excitement. Any meal Kiel made was great! “Wow, thank you, I'll be looking forward.”

He smiled at her. “Good, but we've got to go catch the airship in an hour to get there.”

“Huh, an airship?” she asked in surprised. What kind of trip was he thinking about?

“Yup, we're going to be spending a couple of nights in another town, so you might want to make sure you've got everything you need,” Kiel said. Somebody in the room cheered, making others laugh, clap, or cheer along.

“It should be fun, but don't you two go and elope this time, all right?” Lin Fa said, riling up the others in a happy noise.

“No, that's not it,” Kiel said, looking embarrassed like she felt.

“What do you mean by not 'this time'?” Leon asked, barely hiding a smirk behind his fan.

“It's nothing,” Xiao said. “Um, but thank you everyone! It was a great party, but it seems I must make sure I'm ready to leave.”

“Don't forget about the letter Lin Fa,” Nancy said.

“Oh right, thank you Nancy,” Lin Fa said, bringing a small envelope out of her pocket. “Here, we know someone where you're going, but I'm not supposed to say who or where. Would you give this to her? You'll know who I mean.”

“Um, all right, I hope I get it right,” Xiao said, taking the letter. There was no name on the envelope, so hopefully it was someone obvious once she knew where they were going.

She put her presents in the panda bag so she could take them back to her room and check on what her mother had packed. Since Kiel had said a couple of nights, she should take three changes of clothes (two days plus one extra in case of trouble). Lin Fa had only put in some pajamas and two outfits, so Xiao picked out another and found some other things that would be useful on a short trip. Kiel had gone back to his house for his bag, but waited for her in the inn lobby. Then they hurried across town to catch a ride with a merchant's airship that was heading out.

Since they were passengers, the crew had them stay in a viewing room below deck. The large windows let them watch the landscape pass by below. “Did your sister give you much trouble about this?” Xiao asked.

“At first, but Lin Fa convinced her to go along with it,” Kiel said. “Porco might've helped, I didn't hear if he spoke with her.”

“That is surprising.” Their parents had died several years back, so Forte had taken care of him with Bado's help. She meant well, but could go overboard in trying to protect him, even now when he was an adult.

He shrugged. “Well it's not the first time she's agreed to let me leave on a trip. I just have to be careful and hope there's no accidents like last time to make it harder to convince her in the future.”

Not wanting things to get to heavy, Xiao giggled a bit. “There is no more warships flying about, at least we do not think so. So that won't be a danger.”

He laughed too. “Yeah, there's that. There is one thing I want to do where we're going, other than our picnic tonight of course. While there's going to be an auction, the person holding it is also putting a rare book up for sale outside of it. And it's a magical tome he wants to make sure gets into good hands, so anyone interested in it has to prove their worth somehow. So I'm going to be trying that tomorrow. But other than that, you can decide what we'll do on this trip.”

“I hope there are some good sights to see,” she said. She'd seen a lot in her travels with her dad and at times, she missed that. “What is it the book you are looking for?”

“I wouldn't want to bore you with details on it,” he said, odd because he usually liked to talk.

“It is fine, I do not mind because I'd like to know what kind of book it is,” Xiao said, to which he smiled and explained about how it was a large book on magic and alchemy. Apparently there were magical and non-magical versions of this Tome of Phaedrus. The one they were looking for was a magical version that would be capable of casting its own magic, with its own personality that had to be tamed in order to be able to read it. But it would have more knowledge in it than the non-magical versions. Although of what he described in parts he'd read before, either version was way over her understanding.

As their destination was in Norad, the flight didn't take long and they began to descend near a familiar landmark. “Oh, it seems we are stopping in Sharence,” she said happily. “I've been here before a few times.”

“I've never been here, but I hope it's still a good trip,” Kiel said.

Xiao nodded, then pointed out the window. “Yes, yes, I love this place. And see? That is the sacred tree of this town. It seems to be much different than before.”

“Well it was a big deal when it finally bloomed a couple years ago,” he said, standing up to get closer to the window. “It is an amazing sight now.”

“I saw it when it was almost all barren,” she said. “And it was such sadness to see a grand tree as that that bore so few leaves. Now it is all happiness with lots of green and flowers. I'm really happy to get to see it like this.”

Once they landed, they had to check into the inn to make sure there was a room to stay in. The path from the airfield led into the town plaza and the one inn here was east a short ways down the rustic path through Sharence. And this was where the letter was to go, Xiao knew, as the inn's owner was a friend of her mother's. She didn't know the young woman who was at the front desk, though. She had long pink hair and curved pointed ears, although she looked a bit different than an elf.

“Hello, welcome to our inn and bathhouse,” the pink-haired woman said exuberantly, almost in a sing-song manner. “Are you looking for a place to stay? Just don't ask about the squid and it'll all be peachy keen, 'kay?”

“Um, you do know that saying that is just going to make people curious, right?” Kiel asked, his words careful although he must have wanted to ask.

“Even so, don't ask,” she said with a big smile.

“Okay,” Kiel said. “We need a room for two nights, please.”

“Oh, and if Shino is to be here, I have a letter for her from my mother, Xiang Lin Fa,” Xiao said.

“Gotcha, she's in back. Shino!” After calling, she checking the reservations book. “So then, tonight and tomorrow? Looking for the honeymoon suite?”

“Um, no, we're not married,” Kiel said, shifting his posture in embarrassment.

“We'd rather take the screen if you have them,” Xiao said.

She nodded. “Okay, we can arrange that. I'll write you down for Room 5, but you'll have to wait until we can set it up. Should only take an hour.”

At that point, a screen door slid aside behind the counter. The black-haired woman who walked in was older than Lin Fa, carrying herself with elegance and refinement. “Yes Pia?” she asked, but then glanced over them and smiled on seeing her. “Oh wait, Xiao Pai? It's been some time, hasn't it? You've gotten to be cuter.”

“Not that much,” she said, feeling her face get warm. “But it is good to see you again Shino, yes? Momma sent a letter along for you.” She took it out of her bag to hand over.

“Thank you, I was thinking of writing her again just to remind her to keep writing,” Shino said, smiling in amusement. “Taking a trip with your boyfriend?”

Kiel was taking care of getting the room, so Xiao nodded. “Yes, he said he was going to take me on a picnic for my birthday, and then we came out here too, looking for a magic book called Pharos or something.”

Shino knew what she was talking about still. “The Tome of Phaedrus? It's been a troublesome thing since it woke back up, but I hear it's only cranky from a lack of a good owner. We've got a lot of people in town today and tomorrow for the auction, but I've only heard a couple speak about the tome.”

“We are hoping he can earn it well, since Kiel's very smart and taught himself from other books,” Xiao said.

Shino nodded. “I see. And a book like that could help one master magic if one knows enough about magic to work with it. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Then where are you going for your picnic?”

“I am not sure since I did not hear that we would come here until we came,” she said.

Kiel had the guest key now, so he came over to them. “Well I've not been here, but Porcoline told me about some good places. Like the beach to a large lake, or a forest waterfall that always has rainbows. There's even supposed to be a place around here where the snow never melts.”

“Sounds pretty, but that would be cold and we haven't prepared for cold,” Xiao pointed out. “I remember there being a nice flower meadow to the south too. Poppa took me there a few times.”

“There's also a really nice desert area nearby,” Shino suggested. “It's getting a bit late for dinner, but this would be a great time to head out there. The sands sparkle like jewels in the daytime, then completely change character when the sun sets and the stars come out. And with the clear skies, there'd be many stars out tonight.”

“Wow, I didn't think the desert here would be pretty like that,” Xiao said. “I had just heard there were lots of monsters that way. But if there's a peaceful spot, that would be nice.”

“There is, and you shouldn't run into any monsters on the way,” Shino said.

“Do you want to go there or somewhere else?” Kiel asked.

“Sure, let's go see the desert.” She'd seen a few deserts in her travels, all of them different in colors and character.

Shino pointed out to the east for them. “Just take the road out here as far west as you can, to where it splits north and south. Head south a short ways until the rock walls get tall, then there'll be a path to the west again to a good spot for a date. If you end up at an oasis, you're too far south on that road. We have people in town who regularly go that way to mine minerals or fish at the oasis, so the monsters steer clear of that area.”

“Okay, thanks Shino!” Xiao said.

“No problem, have fun,” she said with a smile.

Her directions were good and they didn't have any trouble getting out to an open area of the desert. It was a lower elevation than the rest of the Sharence area, dry rocky canyons with fossils in the walls. Pointing out a few, Kiel thought that this area might have once been a lake but something was keeping the water away from it now. While it should have been hot with the dryness and the lack of clouds in the sky, the lake south of Sharence kept a good wind stirring the air here.

While there was some sand in the large open area they ended up in, a bit of climbing got them onto a large sandstone rock with a flat surface. It made a good place to spread out the blanket Kiel had brought and sit looking over the desert scenery. And it was beautiful. Much of the sand appeared yellow-brown at first glance, but it sparkled in the sun and glints of other colors could be seen, like dust from hidden jewels. The sky spread wide and blue overhead, with the canopy of the Sharence tree visible to the northeast. From their vantage point on the rock, they could even see some lower areas to the south where cacti and rock pillars stood.

Kiel had made sesame chicken with stir-fried vegetables and plenty of rice, all in lidded bowls that made it easier to eat outside as a picnic. It was really good and she only fumbled with the chopsticks once (and fortunately he had brought some extras just in case). After Xiao asked him how he got the vegetables all done evenly, they ended up talking about cooking as the sunset made the sky shift colors. Then the stars came out, many more then they could see above Selphia unless they went further out of town than this spot. The sparkling sand took on cooler hues to make the dark sky above.

“I've got dessert too,” Kiel said as they were putting the bowls back in his picnic basket. He brought out a single bowl with some dumplings in it. “When I was looking up Chinese recipes to try for this, I found these which are supposed to be for good luck in love. Plus they seemed tasty, so I gave them a try.”

“That seems fun,” she said, taking one of them to try when he offered them to her. There was a strawberry and honey paste inside the dough, perhaps something else that she couldn't identify. But it made her think back on something that kept bothering her, often at night when she was trying to sleep. “These are good, but, does it seem to you like we are a couple?”

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, watching her. “We hang out a lot and go on dates.”

“Well yes, but, um, some of those dates don't seem very romantic.” She turned the partly eaten dumpling in her hand, thinking it over. “It's not that I do not like being with you, no. I like being with you very much. But, the others seem very romantic and we don't. Like Forte and Arthur are formal often, but you catch them kissing often if they don't think no one is seeing. Or Jones and Nancy are very romantic in their conversations.”

“I guess we're not, but it'd feel kind of weird to just start with that suddenly,” Kiel said. Then he took one of the dumplings and lay down on the blanket, to look up at the stars. “Although if you think about it, aren't all the couples in town different from each other? People express feelings in different ways, so they'd express love in different ways too. I see it in stories a lot, like one person will show their caring by being gentle and affectionate while another will show their caring by being tough and pushing the other to improve.”

“I suppose that it so,” Xiao said.

“And even in non-romantic friendships, you can see that,” he said. “Even with the same person. Like when you see Dylas and Lest talking, they're calm and discussing ideas. But you see Dylas and Doug talking, they snap at and make fun of each other a lot, but they help each other out a lot too. And Dylas is a bit of both towards Leon, depending on how much Leon is poking fun at him at the time. So it'd make sense that not every couple is the same.” He smiled up at her. “I like talking with you a lot; hanging out with you makes me feel like I'm floating on air with happiness, really. Although I always get self-conscious when I try thinking about saying something flirty because anything I come up with seems so cheesy in my head that I'd rather just talk normally.”

That did make her feel better, even smile back at him. “It seems you would be right. Even with who I was saying, because Jones and Nancy with talk all lovey-dovey anywhere when Arthur and Forte are more careful. And then Leon and Frey are always talking about stuff that's hard for me to follow, like magic and language. While they might argue or debate abruptly, they also fall into flirting abruptly before going right back to the serious hard talk. Although if it was from you, I would not mind some cheesiness sometimes.” She chuckled at the thought and put her hand on his.

“Uh, I guess, I just hope I don't embarrass both of us,” Kiel said, then clasped her hand tightly. “Come on, let's look at the stars! I was just thinking that I'm really lucky, to get to see a beautiful place with you like this. I actually wanted to ask you out years ago, but I never thought you'd agree to go out with me. Really, I thought you'd end up falling in love with someone better and stronger than me.”

“Why would you think that?” she asked, but took his suggestion and lay down near him. There were so many stars, hanging above like treasured dreams. That was something she'd heard on her travels with her father, that there were as many stars as there were dreams of all the people in the world. Which ones would be theirs?

“Well you're pretty, dedicated, and optimistic, so I thought a lot of guys would try to flirt with you. Plus you cook well and you're always meeting people working at the inn.”

“I don't cook half as well as you do,” Xiao said, although there was more than that in his statement that made her feel happy and ashamed at once. “I'm clumsy and have to watch the way I talk because if I don't, people will not understand me well. A while ago, I ended up causing a lot of people problems trying to talk to Amber about love.”

“I don't think your accent is that hard to understand,” Kiel said, squeezing her hand. “Just wait until tomorrow, because the guy we're meeting with about the book has a habit of talking in opposites, and he does it intentionally. Porco warned me about that.”

“Oh, that seems to be a hard thing,” she said.

“I think it's cute how you talk,” he said.

“It's cuter when Momma does it.” She could remember it clearly, a while back when Lin Fa had been talking about something to make their inn more special and memorable. When Xiao wasn't sure (and turned down the idea of putting fish in the bath as was a fad elsewhere), her mother had suggested playing up her accent and did so for a few days. It had been embarrassing, but amazing to watch her do it. “A lot of things are cuter when she does them. Like I can't look anywhere near as good in a swimsuit as she can.”

“It's different, but I wouldn't say she's better,” Kiel said.

“You'd be one of the few to think so. And, you're nobility, right? You should be the one attracting better people.”

“I'm not really nobility, since my title hardly counts for anything.” He sounded uncomfortable even saying that. “And there's not a lot to me. I know a lot, but I don't know much when compared to people like Jones or Frey. Plus I'm not much like what people expect out of a man. I've always been weak and get sick easily and it seems like nothing's going to let me get much stronger. People have always called me cute, but now that's childish and I'm really just an ordinary guy living with lots of great people as neighbors. Even my sister is beyond what I can reach.”

“I think you're great how you are,” Xiao said. “After all, Jones and Frey learned from others, but you taught yourself almost entirely. Even that correspondence course you're in seems more like you are working things out yourself by the goals those teachers send you. That's amazing. And you are good in so many things. Maybe not like what people would expect, but I think being great enough in them excuses it being unusual.”

“I don't know if it's enough.” Kiel pointed up towards the stars. “Like my parents hoped I would be there, but I ended up way over here far from that. My Dad especially tried to get me to fit in better. But every time I went out to train with him and Forte, I would wear out so fast and could never make a good hit with a sword. He even promised to give me the key to my mother's music box, the only real heirloom we have of her now, but only if I got strong enough to protect others. But I don't know if I could manage it even now. It really would have been better like they said, if we were how we are but switched genders.”

“Your parents said that?” Xiao asked, feeling bad for him. It was bad enough getting compared to her mother, but at least Lin Fa never complained about something she couldn't change at all. Her father could be hard on her, but Yang was always trying to help her get better.

“I don't think they meant for me to hear it,” he said sadly. “In those days, I ended up hearing a lot of things I probably shouldn't have because I was more attentive than adults realized. But it's true, can't you see it? If I was the girl who was good at housework, cooking, and magic, and reading a lot, then it wouldn't be looked down on at all like I get at times. And if Forte was the boy that was dedicated to being a knight to where more normal things were hard, she'd be honored for that dedication rather than suspected for it. Heh, even if she still liked cute things and sweets as a boy, I think she'd still be accepted with only a bit of teasing.”

“Most people in town do not seem to mind the both of you being like that, yes? I like you both how you are.”

“Thanks. But even if most seem okay with us, our parents still were bothered by it and I get bothered by it at times. Dad even said once that he thought we were cursed like that. And when I remember that, I start wondering if we really are cursed.”

“If you were cursed, it would be more obvious I would think,” she said. “And there are people around who can see runes now, yes, and they would have said something if you are.”

It didn't convince him much as he said, “Curses can be subtle too. But see, ever since Mom died, I...”

“Kiel? You what?”

“Well I don't want to bore you, but...”

She squeezed his hand back. “It's okay, I do not mind.”

“Thanks. Well, you remember last winter when there was that story going around town about people disappearing around Maya Road and people got mad at me for making it worse by talking about it all the time? And you said that my need to tell people everything was all in my head and I could learn to not gossip as much? Well I've been trying, but it's started backfiring on me. It used to just be feeling odd if I didn't talk about something I just found out or was interested in at the moment. Now when I'm trying to keep things simple, I've started feeling sick from time to time.”

“You sure you're not just being sick then?” she asked. Because he did get sick easily.

“I'm sure because it passes as soon as I start talking with someone. Like today, I had a hard time eating at your party because I felt so unsettled keeping quiet. And the thoughts I want to say keep looping in my mind, sometimes even painfully like they're beating down a door trying to get out. But now that I'm talking freely, I feel fine again. Sometimes I have to talk to myself to get focused or try to sleep. Or you know that mixed herb bath salt I made? I made a fragrance satchel with the same kind of scent because I ended up using it as steam every day to counter these ill feelings.”

“If you can counter it like that, then would it really be a curse? It seems that curses would be difficult to fight.”

“Scent is a powerful force even if we don't think about it a lot. Just smelling something can affect how a person feels or trigger memories. And you know how Jones has a shell ornament on his reflection band lately? Dolce made that with a relaxing scent to counter his fear of blood. It has some enchantment, but it wouldn't be as effective without the scent. So the fact that some days I need to keep a reassuring scent like that around constantly to feel normal, something's not right with me. And I don't think an ordinary illness could be affected just by how much I'm talking.”

“Why don't you ask someone who knows more about curses to see? Because I would not know much.” Thinking that might seem uncaring, she added, “But, if it helps for now to talk with me, I do not mind.”

“If you really don't mind me rambling, since sometimes it's several thoughts trying to get out of my head that have been banging around in my skull. I've thought about asking around about it, but I feel really bad having to admit that it might be a curse my parents put on us. Like how Forte seems impossibly bad at housework and cooking, that's not just a lack of skill and experience that could make it a disaster every time she tries. If it was, she should have gotten better by now. And I used to not care about rambling, but ever since last winter, I've been really self-conscious about it.”

They ended up talking for a long while under the stars, but Xiao kept wondering if there wasn't something other than just listening that she should be doing as his girlfriend.


	99. The Tome of Phaedrus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that thus far, there hasn't been a lot in this fic worthy of a Mature rating. That's because this story started up on a site where I had to keep it to a Teen rating, exactly a year ago today. However, I did have ideas for some scenes that pushed that limit. So when I joined AO3, I decided to bump this up a rating and write some of those scenes (for practice, mostly). This is the first chapter that has a scene only being posted here, but eventually there's an entire chapter I couldn't post under a T rating.

Summer 78

While the auction was going to occur in the afternoon, Shermnn de Sainte Coquille had opened up his mansion's doors early in the morning so that people could take a look at the items up for sale. Kiel wanted to see if he was taking offers on the tome already and Xiao said she was curious about what was on sale, so they headed in to look around. There were a lot of amazing antiques on the display tables, like a variety of vases, large sets of undamaged china, glass and crystal figurines, a few old paintings, and a variety of books. Among the latter, some were being sold separately as pristine first editions and rare works. Other books were to be sold as sets, even some with their contents as a mystery.

There were a lot of books Kiel was intrigued by, but either he had a copy in his family library or he knew where it was in the public library. Though there was one Ath text that he and Xiao discussed buying to hold as a present for Leon. However, there was no indication of what the book was about, just that it was written in Ath and an estimate of how old it was. They'd have the check with Frey since she could read the alphabet. But that was if they could afford it. The others browsing the items definitely looked like nobility or wealthy and all the items were of high quality.

The auction may have been too rich for them, but off to the side, one of Sherman's daughters had a small clothing boutique where the prices were more reasonable. The boutique's owner was there and Evelyn seemed happy to talk with them about her wares. “A lot of people like working in ordinary materials like cotton, but I like more creative sources. Like fish scales.” She pulled out a men's jacket that didn't look like it was made of scales. The fabric was seamless, although it had a low gloss and color that was like fish scales.

“It does not seem to be of scales,” Xiao said. “And how would you keep the clothing from smelling like old fish after some days?”

“They can be treated just like leather,” Evelyn said. “It just needs some more creativity and work.”

Activating a rune sight spell, Kiel saw that it was indeed fish scales. “Wow, that's a nice transmutation you've done to turn scales into cloth. Are you an alchemist or is this magic crafting?”

She smiled. “A bit of this, a bit of that. I dabble in alchemy where it pertains to things I can use in fashion. Personally I like the scaled look, but customers prefer the transmuted fabric. Do you do alchemy?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I came to look into the Tome of Phaedrus being offered.”

“Good luck with that,” she said. “I tried browsing its pages before, but it used to always be scribbled nonsense. Then it woke up. When I tried again, it didn't like that I wanted to use it to make clothing better. It's picky and cranky, knocking other books to the floor like a child with a tantrum.”

“It is supposed to have great knowledge, yes?” Xiao said. “It may feel poorly to be read for only a portion of what it can do.”

“Guess I can't fault it when looking from that angle,” Evelyn said, then tilted her head while looking at her. “Oh hey, you know, you'd be really pretty in a kimono.”

“Oh, I wouldn't be that pretty,” she said, embarrassed.

“No, you could be,” Kiel said, trying to encourage her. And she would look nice like that, he thought.

Evelyn came over and brushed her fingers along Xiao's gray hair. “And if you grew your hair out, styled it a little. You could be a delightful model, especially of fashions of the eastern lands that you have the look of naturally.”

“Both of her parents are from there, that's why,” he said.

“Yes, but my hair can never decide if it's straight or wavy,” she said, trying to brush it down since Evelyn had pointed it out. “Plus I am clumsy. If I had long hair, it would get caught on a lot. It's better like this.”

“Have you had long hair?” she asked.

“Um, well no, I kept it short like my Poppa does.”

“You should try,” Evelyn said, fussing over her like Meg did. “Really, you'd be a beautiful girl. Oh here, I've got a lovely kimono here that I made with rose petals and spider silk. Transmuted too, so it's solid.” She went to pull out a pink and yellow kimono that had a beautiful rose print all over it.

“Wow, that is gorgeous,” Xiao said, following her to take a closer look at it. She smiled as she did. “It even smells of roses still.”

“Yes, it's so much better than just the silk alone like that,” Evelyn said, holding it near her. “It'd need some adjusting for your height, but it might just fit otherwise. You want to try it one and see if you'd want to buy it?”

Xiao didn't seem sure of it, although with the way she looked at it, she admired it a lot. But Kiel saw something that was a potential problem. The fish scale jacket might have been fine, but this... “That has some stronger enchantments on it,” he said. “It would look really nice on her, but there might be some trouble with buying it due to the enchantments, as, well...” did he talk about that? Or was it too close to gossip? At least he knew now he could talk to Xiao if this caused him trouble.

“Yes, that could be a problem,” Xiao said. “See, a friend of ours can disenchant things unconsciously. He can control it, yes, but he'd had to be really attentive if I wore something with a strong enchantment so it didn't turn back to petals.”

“Oh dear, that's not something I ever considered,” Evelyn said, thinking about it in worry. “I'm pretty sure most of my enchantments hold up well.”

“If you have something with a naturalistic or organic kind of enchantment, it should be fine near him,” Kiel said. “It's a really rare condition and we wouldn't want to trouble him.”

“Actually, I do have some because certain customers really like the idea of buying something with an organic enchantment,” she said, putting the rose petal kimono away and looking for another one. “I thought there really wasn't much of a difference, just the word's powerful. Still, such enchantments are a lot harder to break. Makes it harder to fix a mistake in crafting... oh here, I think this one would look lovely on you too. It's made entirely out of corn, every part of the plant. Transmuted, yes, but in a more organic fashion since corn's easy to work that way. And some colored grasses to make it richer.”

“That has the colors of corn, but does not seem much like it,” Xiao said, impressed with this kimono even more. It had the green of the corn's husk and the yellow of the kernels to make clusters of sunflowers on a green background. “It's soft and light, very pretty. You do great work, Evelyn.”

“Thank you, I'm glad to have another fan,” she said. “It's the corn silk that makes it nice and soft, with the core of the stalk and ear to keep its structure. Come over here and try it on, don't be shy.”

“O-okay,” she said, although she looked really happy to get the chance. Even though she hadn't said anything about buying one, Evelyn checked her over and did some adjustments on it before bringing her out. Xiao looked extra mindful of her steps with the kimono on. “It feels as though I should change to my sandals, but I do not think it too noticeable.”

She had worn kimonos before, or eastern style dresses. But this sunflower kimono reminded him of how pretty she could be, especially happy and relaxed like this instead of busy and worried. It was like all those past crushes had returned had returned to him and he wanted to do whatever he could to keep her happy. “No, I think everybody would be seeing how beautiful you were instead of noticing your shoes,” Kiel said.

When she smiled, he wondered if she had a point last night that they hadn't seemed like a couple so far. But just as he knew it, he also knew that it had changed. “I do not know about that. But it is very nice, I love it a lot.”

“Want me to get it for you?” he asked. “Since I didn't really get you any thing for your birthday.”

“Oh, but you made the picnic last night and brought me here, that's really great,” Xiao said. “Are you sure? You came looking for the book you wanted.”

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can still make an offer on the tome.”

“Th-thank you, Kiel, I'm not sure what else to say,” she said, almost teary but really grateful for it.

“Aren't you the lucky one to be so pretty and have a sweet boyfriend like that, huh?” Evelyn said, smiling at the thought of it. “Oh, but you know, I might be able to cut you a deal... if you'd go for a yakuta too and let me take a picture of you both! You'd be so adorable together, I'd love to have it as part of my customer gallery.”

“Huh?” Kiel said, startled at the offer. “I've never worn anything like that.”

“Oh, but you could look very nice in one,” Xiao said, thrilled at the idea.

“I've got some nice ones,” Evelyn said, going to another rack. She took a glance back at him while he was still considering it (it would make her happy, but would it be strange to wear something so different?). Then she pulled out a dark blue outfit that looked similar to the kimono, this one with yellow koi on it. “Here, this is another one done with corn, so you shouldn't have any problems with it. And I'll get a picture guide here in a moment that'll show you how to get it on properly. It won't be too hard, promise.”

“You should do it,” Xiao said, smiling at him.

“Okay, I'll give it a try,” Kiel said, taking the yakuta and then the guide she found into the dressing room.

While he was in there, he heard Evelyn call out, “Sofia! Would you get the camera for me please?”

“I don't know where it is,” another girl called back. “I won't be going to look for it.”

“All right, thanks,” Evelyn called.

“Um, why thank her for that?” Xiao asked.

“It's nothing, just a game of opposite speak she and my father play at times. But if you listen to their tones, it's easy to tell what's opposite and what's not. She just said she knows where it is and will get it for me.”

“That seems hard to keep up with every day.”

“People can get used to a lot of things.”

Kiel was more surprised that she had a camera; they were rare devices that made pictures of an instant, although it took a long alchemical process to develop them fully. Still, if this family was rich enough to sell all those expensive antiques in an auction and still keep their house very well decorated like it was, a camera and developing kit wouldn't be too expensive for them. It would be for himself, and just about anyone else in Selphia. Maybe Porcoline or Arthur could buy one, but they were like Kiel, always investing back into their careers.

While the yakuta was very different, it was nice and Xiao seemed really happy, so Kiel accepted to buy both pieces. Evelyn was delighted and got their addresses so she could mail a copy of the photograph to them when she got the film developed. As their deal closed, a man came by to see what they were doing. He certainly resembled Porcoline in girth (more so then Evelyn, who was slender in build), although he had wavy brown hair and dressed in a darker suit. Evelyn introduced him as her father, Sherman.

“The young fellow here is an alchemist that's interested in the Tome of Phaedrus,” Evelyn added.

“Yeah, Porcoline told me that you were putting it up for sale alongside the auction, not in it,” Kiel said.

Sherman nodded. “Of course, that's the kind of curiosity that should go into the hands of the highest bidder. A waste otherwise! Porco's a stern and silent sort, so it's poor that he got word to you about it. Come, I suppose you wouldn't want to see if you could handle it?”

His cheerful jolly tone would have made this a confusing mess. Knowing his habits and putting some common sense to it, Kiel could make some sense of it. “Yes, I'd really like to see it.”

“Got it, then don't follow me to the library,” Sherman said.

“Oh, hang on a sec,” Evelyn said, glancing at Xiao, then him. “Just in case, you should know that with the interest we've gotten on the book, we're handling the sale as a silent bidding over this week. But the main deciding factor is going to be how you interact with the book and how it reacts to you, not how much you bid. Obviously we don't want any skimpy joke bids, but we'll take the best meeting with the book at a reasonable price, making the decision by the end of the season. That's how it stands, it's just less of a headache for me to explain now than to have questions later.”

“Okay, thank you,” Kiel said, thinking that it would be difficult to parse those instructions even knowing about the opposite speak.

“You are so thoughtless, you make me red with anger!” Sherman said happily, giving Evelyn a hug. “Now go, we're not off!”

Sherman led them to a library on the second floor of the mansion. In spite of the number of books down at the auction, there were still many left on the shelves here. The magic tome was obvious, floating above the small table in the center of the room. It opened and closed its dark brown covers to make its pages ripple, as if bored or anxious. As a large thick book, it would definitely take both hands to hold if it wasn't floating. It was dense with runes, ones far more active than the static ones found in ordinary books.

“I have seen lots of things, but not a book that would float on its own, no,” Xiao said, impressed but keeping her distance.

“Well I haven't seen one of this power either, but I'm pretty sure I know how to handle it,” Kiel said, stopping at the table. The tome tilted towards him, a painted eye on the cover shifting to look at him. Recalling what he'd read, he held his hands up near it to let it examine him before trying to touch it.

“She said you were not an alchemist, so what school of magic or not-alchemy did you learn under?” Sherman asked.

“I studied magic on my own from books, so I don't follow any particular school,” he said. “I've read books from different schools of thought and studies of magic, using a mix that worked for me. But once I got interested in alchemy, I knew I couldn't take it on entirely on my own. So I've taken a correspondence course with the Alvarna School on that, reading books and doing experiments that they recommend.”

“They have offered to have him be a teacher through letters once he finishes his final research project because they're impressed with his progress,” Xiao said proudly.

“I don't know if I'll be taking it since I still feel like I have more to study before I could teach effectively,” Kiel said.

“There isn't such a thing as furthering learning through teaching, so that is not a thing to think about,” Sherman said. Which made Kiel wonder if he could solidify his studies by teaching the more basic parts to students. “What kind of final project do you have going?”

“Well I had one plan, but it turned out to be more advanced than I could handle,” Kiel said. “A potion of many tongues, so that the user could understand and speak other languages while affected. It'd be useful in diplomacy and such. But then I got a puzzle from Xiao here, as she works at an inn with public baths. It got me interested in formulas to bath salts, since many of the makers guard their formulas well. After I found a few different ones, I managed to derive a base formula to which I could add new scents to.”

“Yes, it's very nice for baths,” she said. “He's made three great ones based on spice mixes of mixed herbs, sour drop, and sweet powder.”

“Oh, sounds disgusting!” Sherman said with a big smile. “Like the bath would make me lose my appetite.”

“Well I was worried at first that it was mundane like the potions I brew a lot of,” Kiel said. “But people really like them and trying to make that fourth one based on heavy spice has been tough. It has the oil of purple grass that can irritate a person's eyes, but I've got some ideas based on dilution to try. Besides, it helps her and her mother. When I wrote a draft summary earlier, my teacher said that she didn't know of any base formula to bath salts available to the public, so it seems promising.”

Then the book bumped into his hands, rippling its pages again. Kiel smiled at it, then tried stroking the spine to see if that would make it agreeable. The tome slowed its rippling and didn't struggle when he took hold of it.

“That's not promising at all,” Sherman said. “What would you do with this kind of book if you got it?”

“Mostly I just want to learn from it,” he said. “I started studying magic when I was eight and I still have a lot of questions about how things work. But my alchemy and magic levels are getting to the point where people are really reluctant to part with further information. They might agree to teach me if I joined an academy or school. Even so, I really love my hometown and I've been using what I know to help my neighbors out when I can. I'd be happiest if a book like this could help me continue my studies so I could stay there.”

Now that he'd shown that he could get the tome to cooperate, Sherman had him write down his name and bid on it on a piece of paper, then sealed that in an envelope. Kiel patted the tome in goodbye. Hopefully that meeting worked in his favor.

* * *

 

That evening seemed sparkling like no other. Kiel and Xiao had gone to look more closely at the Sharance Tree and its famed blossoms. Even though it was autumn, there were still blooms and buds. A guy who lived there said it could even bloom in winter, although it was most profuse during spring and summer. And they weren't the only couple who had thought to come here. The auction had brought a great many other visitors to Sharence and several people asked them if they were from the eastern nation due to their clothes. It was funny since Kiel was very clearly not but others still wondered.

And there was being together, talking about anything and everything. They didn't worry like last night, just had fun, did some different things, and didn't want it to end even though they were heading back to Selphia tomorrow. The others here, they didn't know what was expected of them or what they did. Once that was realized, it was liberating just to be who they were and not worry about it.

Eventually, they got back to the inn, still talking. Xiao yawned unexpected. “Oh, sorry, it is getting late, yes?” she said, walking past the screen in the room. But yawning made her start to feel tired. “We should be getting… oh wow, it is really late!”

Kiel felt a bit disappointed, but he stayed on his side of the screen. Checking his watch, he had to agree. “Yeah, past midnight. Heh, I'm never up this late unless I'm reading.”

“Usually I am so tired that I cannot be staying up to midnight, save maybe for New Year's Eve,” Xiao said, taking off her shoes. “But that was a great day, sad to see it end.”

“Yeah it was,” Kiel said. “I don't even care now what the auction comes to, I just had so much fun with you here.”

“Yeah, me too. Good night Kiel.”

“Good night Xiao,” he said, checking his pants pocket before getting fully undressed. There were a few things in there, including something one of the men visiting the Sharance tree had given him. Hadn't even explained what he was giving, just offering a wink and telling him to put it away for later. Once he saw what it was, his thoughts fumbled for a bit trying to shift gears where he wasn't used to. “Um...”

“Hmm, what's the um for?” Xiao asked.

Should he tell her? There was a part of Kiel's mind that was all, no, don't do it. Just brush it off as something else, you're getting ahead of yourself. But there was that possibility here and maybe… and there was that voice that was always in his head encouraging him to talk about nearly everything. Some secrets were meant to be kept because they were too dangerous, but most secrets were unneeded and you should be honest about everything. That voice really liked this possibility.

“Well, uh,” there was still a fight in his mind but now that he'd started, “you remember when that guy gave me something and just told me to put it away for later?”

“Yeah, that was weird,” she said.

“He gave me a condom.”

On the other side of the screen, Xiao immediately blushed even though nobody could see here. “Huh? R-really?”

“Yeah. That's really weird.”

“That's kind of sick,” Xiao said, although there was an enticing opportunity here. She had been worried about them seeming like a couple instead of just really close friends. Using that would erase that issue thoroughly. And it wasn't like it was entirely bad, the marriage between her parents remained after over twenty years in spite of… then again, that was not a way she wanted to be like her mother. Except, it was a condom, so that shouldn't happen.

“Maybe he thought he was being helpful,” Kiel suggested. He knew he'd been holding himself back earlier at the Sharence Tree primarily because there were other people around. Perhaps that guy had seen it in them. And this was their room, just them now.

It was just them now, they both thought. It was the kind of thing that should stay secret; nobody else had to know. They had their own lives and they could do what they wanted. Besides, the night already was a glow in their mind and thinking about each other now made it seem like it would be even better if they didn't let it end just yet. And if that screen was pushed aside.

“Xiao?”

“Kiel?” she asked, at the same time. Then they both asked, “What?”

Kiel chuckled, but he then said, “We should just forget about it. That's better.”

“Yeah,” Xiao agreed. Kiel was disappointed because he'd been hoping that maybe some reluctance to agree on her part would be a good sign that they should just go ahead with it.

“Well it's not because I don't like you,” he said hastily. “I love you. But...”

“Yeah, same here,” she said, hoping that maybe he'd find some excuse or flirtation that could let her agree to let go of what they should do. “I love you, but we're dating and I know what I said last night, but I feel differently. Just, not really ready to jump that far ahead.”

“I know, let's not get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “Well, good night, again.”

She made herself laugh. “Good night again.”

But the thoughts lingered, shifting how they saw each other and themselves.

* * *

 

Autumn 2

Xiao opened up the envelope that the mail woman had given her. Inside, she found a short letter from Evelyn and a large picture from their visit to Sharence. It was inside of the clothing boutique so it had a curtain for a backdrop rather than the famed tree. Still, she saw how happy both her and Kiel looked in the photograph and that filled her with joy again. The trip had changed them. While they still didn't flirt as openly as others might, she now felt like the moments she spent with him, even the ordinary ones, were dear to her heart.

“Momma, you should see this,” she said, smiling as she held the photo up.

“What is it?” Lin Fa asked, coming over to the lobby desk to see. Her eyes lit up in pride and admiration when she did. “You two look so darling dressed up together like this! That is beautiful, we ought to get it framed and hang it up on the wall so everyone can see.”

“I am not sure of that,” she said. “Though it would be nice to frame to protect.”

“But you'd want everyone to see how happy you are together, yes?” she said, back to imitating her.

Then the door opened as Kiel came in. He was followed by a large book with a single eye on the cover; it seemed much like an affectionate monster. Another book was under his arm. “Hey Xiao, did you get the picture too?”

Happy for his successful bid, she smiled. “Hi hi! Yes, I did, right here! And it looks like you manage to get the book as well, congratulations!”

“Yeah, Sherman wrote that it was persistent in trying to keep my bidding envelope apart from the others,” he said, glancing at his new tome. “Look, it even picked out that Ath book we were looking at for a while in the auction. Nobody made a bid on it, not even when he extended it to a longer offer, so he threw it in for free. I think I'll wait to give it to Leon until we hear that he's done with the Book of Guidance translation.”

“Yes, that one has taken him a long while,” Xiao said.

“You both made for such a lovely picture,” Lin Fa said happily. “Have you seen it?”

He nodded. “Yeah, Evelyn sent me one too. We had a really great trip, right?”

“Right,” she agreed, but that reminded her of something. “Oh, but I have some news for you! You said that the key to your mother's music box had been lost long ago?”

“Oh yeah, we've searched the whole house and not come up with it,” he said, some of his happy mood coming down with that reminder. Although all it took was a nudge from the Tome of Phaedrus to keep him smiling.

“I might have a lead on it,” Xiao said, bringing out the paper she had kept aside from when she'd cleaned up the lobby's message board. “Remember when that awful bird was around and stealing stuff left and right? Amber and Doug found several keys in its nest and were able to return all but one, a small gold key that they thought belonged to a music box. They had asked Leon to use some spell insight, but all he could tell was that it had gotten lost outside town by a man and had a song connected to it. Amber may still have that key with her, she left this notice with us trying to find the owner.”

“Really, she could have it? And it would make sense if it got lost outside of town.” He took the paper, looking over the crude drawing of the key that had been made. “Only thing to do is go ask her for it and try.”

“I think I would like to come, it should be fine,” Xiao said.

First they had to find Amber, not easy as she'd been flitting all over town the past few days helping Doug as he had been caught in thelnar. She wasn't at the flower shop. Kiel checked on his tome, getting it to display a map of Selphia Town with strong sources of wind runes. There were three in all: Doomgale as the divine wind, Wendy as the former divine wind, and Amber as an earthmate of the wind element. By that guide, they found her at the workshop the Sechs scientists were using.

She was immediately drawn to the book following him, her eyes wide and her antenna attentively forward. “Wow, where'd you find a flying book?”

“It's a long story,” Kiel said. Xiao noticed his eye twitch at having the restrain that, but he managed. “I've got everything gathered for my last batch of dyes, so I should be starting in on the concrete mix tomorrow. But while I'm taking a break, me and Xiao figured out that you might have a key that used to belong to my parents.”

“Yes, the little gold key could belong to his mother's music box,” Xiao said, showing her the paper as a reminder.

“Good, I didn't like the thought of keeping some music box silent,” Amber said with a smile. “You go back to your house, Kiel, and I'll fly back to mine to get it. It'll be quicker that way.”

As she said, it was faster since by the time Xiao and Kiel made it back across town, Amber was flying towards the Greenwind house. Xiao was happy for him, but at the same time she was sure that he'd want to talk about it later or it would bother him. After all, it would seem too easy for him to get the key like this when he'd been promised it for a goal he was unsure of reaching. The front door was unlocked, which wasn't too unusual.

What was unexpected was running into Forte and Arthur in the dining room, doing some cleaning in polishing the wooden furnishings. “Sorry, we've been trying to overcome one of my shortcomings, and surprise you since you're busy with that concrete project,” Forte said.

“Well you seem to be doing all right,” Kiel said, glancing over the room.

“Has it been hard?” Xiao asked, knowing that Forte often got frustrated with her lacking in household skills. Things kept going strangely wrong.

“I feel like I have to keep my eye on her or something else improbable will happen,” Arthur said, worried about her. “There was nearly a fire and we were just dusting.”

“I didn't think I was using the rags that aggressively,” Forte said, downcast and focused on getting every spot on the china hutch polished.

“How do you dust aggressively?” Amber asked, puzzled.

“Anyhow, we came by because we might have found the key to the music box,” Kiel said, probably to cheer his sister up.

It worked because she immediately left off on the polishing. “Really? That'd be wonderful if it is. How'd you find it?”

“It was among the things in the twinkle bird nest,” Amber said. “Leon thinks it was picked up somewhere outside of town by the bird. Where is it so we can try it?”

“In the music room,” Forte said. Both she and Arthur came along to the second floor where it was kept.

Amber handed off the key to Forte while Xiao and Kiel pulled the table towards the center of the room so that they could all watch the test. Having been in their house many times before, Xiao had often admired this music box. But she couldn't remember ever hearing it for herself. When their parents had been alive, the music box had been in the master bedroom. Then it got brought in here after their mother had died. Xiao glanced over at Kiel and noticed he seemed worried. Probably about the promise. She took his hand in reassurance and he smiled at her for that.

“Ah, it's working!” Forte said as she was able to wind the box on putting the key in. A couple notes got played in between turns.

Once she let it go, the music box hit a discordant note, shrill and painful. It was enough to make them wince before it turned even more wrong. Instead of a song, the box played an ominous laugh as red energy appeared near both Kiel and Forte. It popped and knocked them both back. Kiel stumbled onto the floor, pulling Xiao off balance too as she was still holding his hand. Not far, Forte had managed to stay on her feet, but was clearly shaken by the odd strike.

Then a man spoke, one that seemed familiar as if she'd not heard it in a long time. “I defeated you.”

“Father?” Forte said in shock. Kiel turned pale at the voice.

“You're not capable of defeating me as you are,” another male voice said. “Is fighting all you know? A soldier's orders and obedience all you can speak? Tsk, don't think I haven't noticed how you fight my puppets. They'll never satisfy your frustration over the ones you can't fight. Even me, no matter what you say about protecting your children.”

“Handel, I will defeat you for what you've done to them. I'll find a way.”

The other man laughed, similar to what started this strange recording. “I already told you that you can't. And I didn't completely curse them, no. I only built on what you'd already done. Fool, do you really think you can solve a mistake you see by covering it up? Do you really understand what you're doing? I don't think so. I'm not the one you'd need to fight to fix the source of this problem. For that, you'd have to fight yourself. And if you want to solve the issue, they need to know the truth. Or the next time they hear a particular treasured song, the curse they bear will grow much stronger. The truth is all it would take to break even my magic in them. But I can tell you this because you're a coward at heart and won't be able to tell them to their faces.” He laughed again, but this time it trailed off into a music box's normal tones as the song it should have played took over.

Xiao felt really afraid even though it was going to be Kiel and Forte suffering the most from whatever was happening here.


	100. The Music Box Curse

Autumn 2

Kiel had never liked the clinic. Sure, Jones and Nancy were great people and he loved to talk with them too. But, too many bad things had happened here and it was hard to feel happy with all the memories this place held. Today might be one of those bad memories. He thought that getting the music box key from Amber would at least make Forte happy. He still hadn't earned it, but at least the music box would no longer be silent. Since she could protect people, Forte could keep that key. But no, playing the music box had turned out to be an awful mistake as it revealed that they really were cursed and things would now be even worse. Maybe their father had gotten rid of the key outside of town to keep them from it.

While Amber had gone off on her errands, Arthur and Xiao came to the clinic with him and Forte to see what was going on. Jones checked them over, sent Nancy off with a message, then looked up some references. “There were some suspicions ever since you both escaped Obsidian Mansion together, but I could never conclude anything about a curse,” he explained. “It's certainly been a subtle one. The aura signature is noticeable now, so yes, you both are under some kind of curse and it's developed significantly in response to the music box being played again.”

“What kind of curse are we dealing with?” Kiel asked, although he had some suspicions of what it was. The Phaedrus tome was snuggling up to him trying to comfort him, so he kept his arm around it.

“It's not a standard curse and each of them differ, so it could take some testing. But I asked someone to come who might be able to identify it and treat it better.”

Not long after that, Nancy came back with Lest. Kiel smiled as he thought that maybe this wouldn't last long. “Oh right, you'd be the best one to figure the curse out and even break it.”

“I'm sure I can do the first, but breaking it depends on other factors,” Lest said.

The stone fox Sano, with him as usual, added, “Correct, if the magic ends up tied to something vital, a direct break will not do.”

“Sorry about bringing them both in, but they could help me find more details about the curse,” Lest said to Jones.

“Whatever it takes,” Jones said. “Before we start, all of you here should be aware of some side-effects in having Lest help. You probably know, but there's a good chance the two of you will end up briefly infatuated with him if he uses his element on you. Given the circumstances and company, I'd rather that be clear first.”

“Oh, yes, I remember that well,” Xiao said, glancing away and blushing. “I would understand.”

“Well, I guess a temporary effect would be worth getting out of a long curse,” Forte said, although not comfortable with the idea.

“Right and I'll be respectful to all of you,” Lest said.

“I'm sure of it,” Arthur said. “It'd be better if whatever curse this is doesn't last much longer.”

“It's fine,” Kiel said.

Having their approval, Lest nodded and came over to the bed Kiel was sitting on. “All right, then, I have to take a close look into your runes. Sorry book, you'll need to hold back for a moment.”

“Yeah, sorry Phaedrus,” Kiel said, letting go of the tome.

The Tome of Phaedrus looked at Lest for a second, then slowly moved away from him. It kept watchful as Lest passed his right hand in front of Kiel. Searching for the curse runes, he then put his hands on Kiel's head. He didn't have his rune sensing spell active, but Kiel could feel the shift of runes in his mind. It was a warm caring touch that reminded him of good memories with his family. While it was probably smarter to try ignoring it to avoid the infatuation effect, Lest's aura was soothing and reassuring. Kiel felt like he understood better why the guardians sometimes called him an angel, beyond just having the looks for one.

Without warning, Kiel felt weak, tired, achy, and cold. It was a terribly familiar illness from past years, one that had gotten hold in him young and almost claimed his life. His mother stroked his forehead, but he could hardly get the energy to react. Softly, she said, “Get well, you'll be a strong man someday.” Thinking he was asleep, she added, “Although I thought I'd be getting a sweet and charming girl, not a speedy tomboy.”

She hadn't gotten a girl to read and cook with, but she did get Kiel. “It's a miracle he survived, you can't push him too much or he'll get sick again.” She thought he hadn't heard that either. But, she did tell him as they were mixing up cookie dough, “You're the smartest kid I've ever known and I'm so proud of you.” Yet she also said, in a weak voice during her own sickness, “Are we doing the right thing with them? Kiel should be succeeding you, but he couldn't handle being a knight. And Forte has been working so hard and doing so well, but she's going to be harassed about being a woman knight. If they were just swapped boy for girl, everybody would think they were wonderful.”

There was his father too, a presence like a rough mountain he was too weak to climb. Once again, he sternly watched Kiel trying to following their sword practice. Forte's form was excellent, but their father would sigh softly and correct Kiel again and again until both dreaded these outings. Kiel kept trying as he was expected to follow his father's footsteps, even making himself exhausted and sick to where Jones would complain about it when he thought he was out of Kiel's hearing. But, he heard more than he was meant to hear many times.

Then came a day when Kiel read about a wind blade spell and was able to cast it himself within a few tries. He loved reading about magic in the stories he shared with his mother, so he got excited and showed it to them. When he was trying to read more on magic late that night, he heard his father say, “I can't teach a mage. That kind of study will sap his strength further... but yes, he is good at it.” Then there was that disappointed sigh again. He wasn't the son his parents wanted.

But this is what I do well, please, see what I'm doing and hear what I have to say.

“Kiel?” The love element runes snapped his attention back to the present. Lest was still close, his hand still on his head and now deeply concerned.

“I'm okay, I'm okay,” he said, although a shiver ran down his spine. Had he said anything? “What was that?”

“Did something happen?” Jones asked, coming to the end of the bed.

“There was a brief moment of lucid dreams in concerns with memory,” Uno said.

“I didn't see what it was, but it felt painful,” Lest said, taking his hands off him. “The curse runes are tied into his memories, so I don't think I can safely undo this curse without damaging them. You'll have to figure out what the source of the curse in those memories is to know how to release it from them. Then it'd be no problem to undo, might even undo itself if the truth is found.”

“That is just what the music box voice said too,” Xiao said.

“Amber said it was Handel Obsidian,” Forte said. “But, Dolce already dealt with him and Handel suggested it had something to do with our parents.”

“So wait, is it a memory that's not real or wrong somehow?” Kiel asked. Because that could end up making a lot of things better. If some of his memory was false, maybe the worse parts of it were the false ones.

“I'm not sure of that,” Lest said.

“Incorrect, what memories you have are your own,” Uno said.

“But the memories may be misinterpreted,” Sano added.

“Thus your goal would be to find the true interpretation,” Uno finished.

“If it has to do with your parents, did they have any writings left behind?” Lest asked. “Or perhaps Bado and some of their other friends could help.”

“They both had diaries, and we can get Mom's out of the music box now,” Kiel said. “But we don't know where Dad's is.”

“What are the effects of the curse in particular?” Arthur asked. “They'll need to know how to deal with it while we're trying to find the information needed.”

Lest nodded. “Right. So it's been in you both for a while and has gotten boosted today? I think it'll be different for you both, if only because of what I'm seeing in him. Kiel, your health is going to continually deteriorate as if you were poisoned. However, it's countered by talking, so the more you talk, the better you'll feel.”

“Oh, really?” Kiel looked down at his lap, uneasy about that. “Geez, and here I had been trying to talk less so I don't accidentally annoy people.”

“The deterioration is countered more effectively by lying or telling half-truths,” Sano added.

“What?” Kiel asked, shocked to hear that. Sure, he'd already figure out that his curse was related to talking, but not that it was also related to lying or gossiping. “It's like a lying curse?”

“No, it simply compels talking and works better with lying,” Sano said, trying to clarify his words.

“That is not good,” Forte said, worried about him. “Would it still be effective if he just talked and didn't lie?”

“We would need further observation over time to determine the relative effectiveness of varying modes of speech,” Uno said.

“Well, it seems more people in town are already used to you being chatty, so I think most would understand,” Xiao said.

“I'd still want to find both diaries soon before people stop trusting what I say,” Kiel said. Although to find the truth of what his parents thought of them was a frightening prospect as well, both worries could be put to rest with some searching. Hopefully. “What about Forte?”

Lest nodded and went to check on her, scanning her with his hands on her head as well. While she seemed calm at first, it only took a few seconds for her to be disturbed as well. Kiel might not have noticed if he hadn't experienced it himself. Meanwhile, Xiao had come up behind him. She leaned closer and whispered, “I will still listen, even if you must fib to make sure you feel good enough to find the answers.”

Hearing that did cheer him up. He took her hand and smiled, whispering back, “Thanks, if this does get worse, I'll need it.”

“Forte,” Lest said, calling her attention back to the moment.

“That was troubling,” she said, closing her eyes to calm herself. Nearby, Arthur watched uneasily, like he wasn't sure what to do.

“The curses are similar in structure, but the effects are different,” Lest said. “It has the same solution, some truth to your memory needs to be found and cleared up. You don't have the deterioration to worry about. On the other hand, this curse makes sure that any time you do something domestic in nature, like cooking or cleaning, you will get confused. You might be able to focus at times on such tasks, but the curse itself will make sure something goes wrong. The better you seem to be doing, the worse it will end up.”

“It really is going improbably wrong because I'm doing those tasks?” Forte asked in embarrassment.

“Well you can avoid that better than I can avoid talking,” Kiel said.

“If it gets avoided entirely, the curse may spread itself to other tasks as well,” Sano said.

“We apologize for being bearers of bad news, but we are not capable of lies,” Uno said.

“It's better to know then not, I suppose,” Forte said.

Jones nodded. “I'm afraid so. Even so, it may alleviate the curse some to go along with it in a controlled manner, like if you did some cleaning under supervision. We wouldn't want the curse to confine your lives by developing further. Still, you'd best focus on finding those diaries and finding the truth for yourselves.”

* * *

 

This afternoon activity was supposed to only take a couple hours. At least now they had the reason Forte was so bad at certain things, something she couldn't practice her way out of. Arthur wasn't sure what to do about it. They needed information that he had no leads into; they knew more about where the diaries might be than he did. Once they had them, the information should be inside and reading was a one person task. He wasn't needed here and he had meetings scheduled later today. Leaving at a time like this seemed rude, but he really didn't know how he could help.

“If Dad's diary was in the house, I would have come across it by now,” Kiel was saying as they discussed the matter. “Or if it was at Bado's place since I clean in there too.”

“Bado may know as his friend?” Xiao asked.

“What if it's out at our training spot?” Forte asked. “That's mostly where I saw him writing in it and I don't recall seeing it at home much.”

“But that's outdoors, where would he keep a diary?” Kiel asked.

“Going to stick with them?” Lest asked, quietly coming over by where Arthur was sitting. Quietly enough that Arthur tensed in surprise. He almost didn't say anything. But then Lest added in a lower whisper, “You advise me where I know little, so I can do the same for you.”

Arthur nodded to that. It was sensible. “I'm not sure what I could help them with right now, and I have things scheduled later today.”

“Sometimes listening and paying attention is enough help,” he said. “I really didn't see what it was, but what I felt from both of them tells me that a sympathetic ear would be a significant help. Besides, you won't really know yourself if you stick to fair weather in relationships. It's storms like this that can help all of you grow beyond what limits you think you have.”

He stared at Lest for saying that. Was he trying to help him more than Forte and Kiel? Or maybe he was taking the chance to help them all. Arthur had begun to think that he might just be a fair weather kind of person who didn't handle storms well. If he had been Selphia's prince on the day Teo's group planned on attacking, he knew he wouldn't have been able to pull off what Lest had done. He wouldn't have even had the information that made that strategy possible. But, he thought this could help him get past his own limits as well?

Lest then smiled at him, seemingly confident that he could do something to help. Then he spoke up, “Would you like me to check with your clients and tell them that today's meetings will have to be rescheduled? I know your form well enough that I should be able to do that for you.”

“Yes, thank you,” Arthur said, smiling back at him. He had to at least try. “I hope they don't give you trouble about it.”

“Arthur, what are you doing canceling the meetings?” Forte asked, surprised that he'd do so.

“I don't know how much help I can offer, but I can at least stick with you all for today to help talk things out and plan ahead,” Arthur said. “If you don't mind.”

“That's fine, thank you,” she said, smiling warmly at him. “Oh, but Lest, sorry if I'll have to take the rest of the day off, we really should go look for his diary right away.”

“That's fine, I'll let Art know he's in charge for the day,” Lest said.

“Oh, and would you tell Momma that it's an emergency and I'll explain later?” Xiao added.

He smiled. “Got it, I'll get that all taken care of. Oh, and Kiel? You told me that your tome was able to pick out a particular book just because you handled it. In that case, it should be capable of sensing a book of personal importance like a diary. So even if you only have a vague location in mind, it might be able to find it if you bring it there.”

The Phaedrus tome bowed in the air, which seemed to be an affirmative gesture as Kiel smiled. “Oh right, a book might just be the key to finding another book! Heh, thanks for everything Lest.”

“No problem, I hope you get it sorted out soon,” Lest said, bowing his head before heading out to deliver the messages.

“Yes, good luck with finding the missing diary,” Jones said.

Just to be sure, they headed back to the Greenwind home to open the music box's hidden drawer. It was quite an interesting music box, Arthur reflected. He'd seen in before and looked it up with his scrying globe to find that it was an Ivory Alpine style that was a traditional make in a mountainous country far from Norad. From the year stamp of 1555, it was a classic piece rather than antique due to how long that particular style had been manufactured. Still, it was a rare piece in Norad and could still call for a high price. He doubted they'd want to sell it since it was a memento of their mother even after this incident, so it had been mostly a treat to see one in person.

The small diary was inside the drawer, another enchanted book meant to fit neatly inside and matching the mountain scenery on the outside of the music box. There were also a letter inside to Forte and Kiel from their mother. While that was one half of the puzzle, Kiel took off to take his magic tome to where other books in the house were in case it could sense their father's journal where it had been missed here. Xiao went with him.

Forte had tried to call after them, but it didn't work. “Geez, he can be so impatient at times,” she said, but stayed in the music room to wait on them.

“He does dive headlong into any task given to him,” Arthur said. But agreeing with her didn't seem to help here as she started pacing about in thought. There were several questions on his mind, with varying degrees of worry that they were too personal. Still, they were dating. Personal subjects, as hard as they could be to speak about, were to be expected between them. “Pardon me for asking, but what truth are you looking for?”

“It's hard to say what exactly,” Forte said, still pacing. “I don't know if any one thing can answer it. But, well, it might be what our parents thought of us. For both of us. They weren't very clear on that. And I know it must sound awful, but I'm afraid of what might be there. Even right here.” She looked at the envelope in her hands, putting a finger on the seal. But she didn't open it up.

“I'd be worried about seeing something like that myself,” he said, although the more precise thing to say would be that he'd be scared as well to see what any of the three who could be considered his parents would write privately about him. In that, he could see some of what Lest meant in that listening alone might help. Arthur didn't know if he could bring himself to read such a thing on his own. “What were your parents like?”

The question made her smile a little, so it wasn't that she disliked her parents. “Father was a noble knight who had a kind heart; he lived by the code of chivalry every day. But, he was a stern and quiet man. It was rare we could get more than a few words out of in him a social situation and a smile was even rarer. He expected everything to be disciplined and orderly in our home, although he made it clear that he did so for our sake, so we have a safe place to be happy and healthy. And he would help others solve problems without being asked to, as he wanted to keep Selphia peaceful.

“On the other hand, Mother liked to make things cheerful. She really was a bright presence in many lives, wanting to see that everyone had some fun. Though she was also really cunning and could make just about anyone do what she wanted though trickery. Harmless trickery, actually, which many didn't realize it until later. She didn't have any ill intentions, I'm sure, but she made some others mad from time to time. But she never tried to trick our father, at least not that I know of. She would do what he said without question.”

A silent man and a tricky woman... it didn't sound good, but neither of them seemed to hate their parents, so it couldn't be completely bad. “If she knew her time was short, I'm sure she would be straightforward in that letter,” Arthur said.

“I hope so,” Forte said.

* * *

 

To my children:

I've been worried the past few days that I've ended up causing you more heartache than help, so I deeply apologize if I have. I tried to do what was best and often thought that I had a grasp on what that was. But while I've had this time to think for lack of much else I can do, I can see that I never did. I changed my mind too often and tried to be who I wasn't, but it may be you both who suffer the most for it. I wanted to make our family ideal when I should have just worked on how our family was. That would have made all of us happier, or at least that's what I believe now.

Forte, I thought once that I wanted a sweet girly girl who liked flowers and was gentle, rather than the rambunctious girl who liked mud and adventures like me. But now that I think back over things, I love you much more for how you turned out, a rambunctious girl who would fight for justice and honor. That's far better than I could ever achieve. So when I see you get disappointed in people telling you that girls can't be knights, I really feel terrible and would like to get back at them in an embarrassing manner. But, I'm supposed to be a knight's lady now, so I have to hold back.

I did try at least to give you another reason to keep after that dream no matter what tradition may say. I would hate to see you settle for less than you could be. Still, Kevion thinks it would turn out better if your energy got directed elsewhere. I tried to talk him out of it and I don't know if he will agree. Or if it'll end up hurting you in the end. I hope it leads you to a place where you can be proud of yourself, also that you really do stick to that better path.

Kiel, I do wish that you hadn't gotten so ill, but there's nothing more that could have been done to prevent it. Besides, I really enjoyed our days together more than I thought I would. But it was in watching you shine in an unexpected way with magic that started my realization that I was going about things the wrong way in making everyone fit a particular image. I wonder how much better you could be if we followed your wishes for yourself more.

But so many around us kept saying that you seemed unfit to succeed your father that I believed it for a while. I'm sorry for both of us in trying to change you. Hopefully, more people will see that you'd both be happier following the path your talents lead you on rather than what's expected of you. And I don't know if I'll get the chance to say it, but I really liked those pecan pinwheels you left for me this morning. You really are the smartest kid I've ever known and I love you how you are.

Also, there's something that I've been worried about you two and your father finding out, but I think you deserve to know the truth. It has nothing to do with you three, I love you all and my life is blessed for your presence. But at first, I was really unhappy with settling for a domestic life. I've tried my best to be an ideal wife and mother on the outside, but it just wasn't who I was. I love to explore and seek strange places far from civilization. When I was a teenager, I used to spend more time outside of town than in it, no matter what the weather was or what monsters roamed. You probably wouldn't believe it, but once I defeated a mountain giant that had natural stone armor. That was one of my proudest moments, it's in my diary here and you're fine to read it.

I was also a big trouble maker, unfortunately. I was even a con artist for several years, tricking travelers out of their money and goods so that I didn't have to go back home and ask my parents for support. When my neighbors began to suspect that the mountain bandit was me, I turned to a rich family's daughter who was convinced that we were friends and talked her into running away from home. We were stowaways on a sailing ship and I got to fight off some pirates, but then we had to work for our passage. I overheard the captain say they were going to make sure we got back home, so me and Katarina slipped off to continue having adventures in Norad.

Well, I had planned on ditching her at first, but she grew on me and I stuck with her until she got married to a man from the House of Sword. At her wedding, she was the one who gave me this music box as a gift of gratitude, saying that she knew it would match my diary (not knowing that I stole the diary from her in the first place). She also influenced me to give up on theft and cons, although once I was on my own, I was tempted to return to that. But then I met Kevion and his way of life really impressed me. He didn't know it at the time, but his words let me see how foolish, selfish, and harmful I had been. So I wanted to devote myself to him and being the best wife he could ever have. But I went too far and we all ended up unhappy with the situation even if none of us would admit to it.

On the other hand, if I do manage to get through this, maybe I'll steal off with Forte and have a bit of adventure with her. That could be fun. I at least want to live more honest to myself, and to you.

Please, be true to yourselves now. I love you and now I just want you to be happy.

Sincerely, Estelle Kivetov Greenwind

* * *

 

Forte felt like she'd just been slammed with truth, worse than even the night Lady Ventuswill had announced her premonitions of death. Or even the days when her parents had died. Those times at least had some warning, illness or knowing that being a knight meant putting one's life on the line. This was completely unexpected. “Mother was a bandit?” she said after Kiel had finished reading the letter.

“Oh my,” Arthur said, surprised even though he only knew their mother through what she had said.

“But she was such a sweet woman, she did not seem at all like that,” Xiao said. They were sharing dinner at home to discuss what they'd found today. Fortunately, the Tome of Phaedrus had been able to point out where a box had been hidden in a rotten stump with their father's journal. While it seemed like they would have to get through the diaries, there were also these two letters that had been with them.

“Right, she told us to follow good morals,” Forte said. And she hadn't been happy to be a housewife? But she had always seemed cheerful. At least she had loved them.

“That is so cool!” Kiel said, smiling at the letter.

“Kiel, it's not cool that she had a criminal past,” Forte said, feeling some anger about it.

“Right, but I was thinking more of how she was an adventurer and even fought pirates,” Kiel said. “But also sad at the same time. I mean, she had that kind of free amoral life doing what she wanted and then forced herself to change to fit in with Dad's strict moral code and keeping house while he was working. That's really drastic.”

“It would be, though,” Forte stopped herself. Was it really better that she'd gone from a life that was honest to herself but amoral to a life that was considered an honest one but wasn't to herself? Or was it more of an even trade-off?

“It would be an interesting tale to read at least,” Arthur said. “Although I think it's more sad that she had such an epiphany at the end of her life.”

Xiao nodded. “Yes, and that she would want you to read it even if it's not what you thought she was once, maybe so you did not end up like her? She does love you.”

“Yeah, but I wish we could have talked about it,” Kiel said. “But what about Dad's letter? And why he didn't let us see her letter.”

“Maybe he didn't know about it because he lost the key?” Forte said.

“No, I know he had it for at least a year after, so he should have found it too,” Kiel said, looking down at the table.

“Oh, well...” she picked up their father's letter and unfolded it. There wasn't as much as their mother's letter contained, but it was equally shocking. “Um...”

“What's it say?” Kiel asked, now looking back at her in worry.

Forte bit her lip, not wanting to read it out loud. She would like to deny it. But, that wasn't right. Even with what it said. “It's not long, um... 'Forgive me for I am truly a coward and a fool. I have the outward appearance of a knight, but I have long lost the meaning of chivalry to my heart, making me a sham. Only that heartless ghost and the night's shadow know me for who I really am. The former has mocked me for cursing my own children and the latter seems to be offering to save them. I have made so many mistakes even in trying to correct my mistakes and it may be another to trust that shadow. Would the truth be enough? I want Forte and Kiel to have a safe and stable life and they have come grounded again after their mother's passing. I really do not wish to trouble them to know how broken I have become. If I can undo this curse before it becomes noticed, then I would be satisfied with whatever else life has for me. They can have memories of a good home and not know how flawed we as their parents were. If not, then I pray that my children and the gods forgive me. I just fear that I may already be forsaken.' And he signed it with his knight's seal.”

“Dad wasn't a coward,” Kiel said in disbelief. “Is that really what it says?”

“Of course it is, you'd think I'd lie abut something our parents wrote?” Forte asked, sending the paper over to him.

“No, but that doesn't sound like him,” Kiel said, looking at the letter. His shoulders sank as he saw it was real. “It is his handwriting.”

But could it have been faked? It would be nicer if it was because her father was a great man and she'd never seen anything of a coward in him. If anything she was the coward lately in worrying about and fearing that she'd be forced to stop being a knight. And she wasn't sure if she could read the diary now, not after that letter. Even if reading it could explain the fears she had and what the truth was behind what she'd seen earlier with Lest. Mostly that had been her and her father at practice, him watching her critically and keeping an impersonal tone.

She had really wanted to ask, are you proud of me? Or are you angry because I stole your son's birthright?

* * *

 

Autumn 3

Xiao had found herself out of sorts today. She'd spent much of last night worrying over Kiel and Forte. Arthur too, since he'd seemed oddly quiet and uncertain yesterday. Both the curse and the letters from their parents had really troubled Kiel and Forte, to the point where their normally tolerant kinship gained friction and nearly broke out into an argument a time or two. Because of that, it had fallen on Xiao to be the voice of reason and keep things civil. She did her best because they needed it.

And now she was paying the price for not sleeping much last night and worrying a lot. When things seemed to quiet down at the inn, she went out to find somewhere less busy. Her head had a dull ache and that was with headache medicine. “Maybe I should've taken a stronger dose,” she said to herself, then headed out. Maybe to the lake, or even to the flower field outside of town. Just somewhere quieter to gather her thoughts.

As she walked down the road, she noticed the smoke coming from Bado's forge. He was important to them since he'd taken over their care after their father had died. Did he know about this yet? He was very busy lately trying to keep up with Doug's thelnar project. It would be noisy and hot in there, not really good for her headache. But, Bado should at least know what was going on. Taking a moment to prepare herself, Xiao entered the blacksmith shop.

There was a powerful smell of flame and metal inside. No one was in the shop area, so she headed towards the forge. Doug was busy at work with molten metals and molds while Bado was supervising. Not wanting to get near them, Xiao walked towards the wall to get into Bado's sight and wave at him. “Um, sorry to bother,” she said, having to speak louder than normal.

Bado held up a hand signaling her to wait a short while as he watched over Doug's work. Once he was sure the work was going fine, he came over. “Hey Xiao. Something up? Sorry I can't talk long, but this is dangerous stuff to be teaching even without the breakneck pace he's at.”

She nodded. “Okay, I have just wondered if Forte or Kiel has spoken to you today, or if you heard what happened yesterday.”

“Afraid not, since he has to be practically tied down to take a break so I haven't gotten much of one either. What's going on?”

“It seems there is trouble about their parents and a curse,” she said, then explained it as best she could while keeping her words clear. This wasn't a time to be careless and speak without thinking.

Bado listened in concern, frowning occasionally or scratching his chin in thought. Once she was done, he glanced back at Doug before saying, “I was worried that something like this would bubble up, but at the same time, I had no idea where that music box key or Kev's diary were. I'd like to help them, but I also need to keep an eye on him. In this state of mind, he could burn himself severely and not even notice.”

“It seems so, but I thought you should at least know,” Xiao said.

“Yeah, thanks.” Bado gave it some thought again, then sighed. “You know, looking after those two taught me some things about myself as well. Mostly that I'm not that great at being a parent, especially not in trying to replace one. Kev and Este weren't perfect either, although they certainly tried their hardest. Kevion was raised as a knight and really knew little else. And Este, I always suspected something was up with her. She was a good person, but she enjoyed hearing about mischief and troublemakers a bit much. They did love their kids, I'm sure of that. They just weren't so good at expressing that openly.”

“Well they have the diaries now, so hopefully that becomes clear,” Xiao said.

“Maybe, but still...” he rubbed his chin. “Look, could you tell the two of them to come talk to me sometime soon? Separately, I think that'll work better. I'd like their hear their thoughts from themselves and see what I can help with. Might not be much, but I might know a thing or two to add.”

She nodded. “Sure, I will let them know.”

Bado smiled at her. “Good. And you look after Kiel too, all right? You know him well and mean a lot to him, so your help could be better than mine.”

“I do not know if it is so, but I will try,” she said.

“Nah, it is so,” he said. “Enough that it didn't surprise me to hear that you two were going out. Actually, it was more of a thought of finally rather than surprise.”

Xiao felt embarrassed at that, but tried to laugh at it. Still, it was enough to convince her to go to Kiel's shop next instead of out somewhere else. Not just to let him know to speak to Bado, but also to see how he was doing.

Not too well, as it turned out. He had the mixed herbs bath salts set to steam but still seemed pale in the face with dark rings around his eyes. Even so, he was trying to work on the dyes for the elevator pillar concrete. “I can still focus and talk while I work, although it doesn't seem to be doing a lot,” Kiel explained. Even his voice lacked energy. “I am better than how I woke up this morning; I think mornings are going to be the hard part since I don't think I talk in my sleep. And then the customers I've had today aren't the sort who want to talk.”

“Well, I can stay for a while time,” Xiao said, then smiled on remembering something. “Oh, but I had an idea for you! I know that you do not like to lie but this curse is supposed to be less so if you lie. And if you did try lying, then there was a problem of if people trusted you less. What you do is that if you feel unwell like you seem to now, you can come to me and say that you want to tell a story. Then I will listen and you can make up all kinds of things until you feel better, and then say that is the story.”

Kiel lit up with hope in hearing that. “Oh, yeah, that could work! Thanks Xiao, it's a great idea.”

“You're welcome, I just want to help as much as I can,” she said.

“Well then, I would like to tell a story,” Kiel said. So Xiao nodded and listened to him.


	101. Sour Drop

Autumn 3

Forte's day did not start off well. Kiel had made breakfast as usual, but she managed to break one of the bowls and made a small spill of orange juice start some flames. Fortunately, Kiel had that fixed quickly. Then her hair would not cooperate with just putting it back in a ponytail, so she had to settle for it being off-center and not neat on top. At least her helmet would keep the latter from being noticeable.

She went to check the knight's office in the castle, on the second floor of the servant's wing. There should be some reports from the others in there she could check on how things went after she got busy yesterday. However, Corrin and Art were both in there. “Is something the matter?” she asked.

“No, but you look like you're having a bad hair day,” Corrin said, coming over to her. “Would you like me to fix it up for you?'

She did always have nicely styled hair. “Thanks, that would help,” she said, taking off her helmet. “Ugh, but it might be this way for a while.”

Corrin snapped her fingers and summoned a hairbrush. “Now why would that be?' she asked warmly as she pulled out the ponytail band and started brushing.

“Well, there's always been suspicions that my brother and I had some kind of curse on us for years,” Forte said. She didn't like saying it, but she should be frank with these two at least. They might be able to help. “We could only confirm it yesterday, as it's developed further. Mine makes me fail horribly at domestic tasks which apparently include taking care of my own hair now.”

“Oh dear, you really ought to see about working on that quickly,” Corrin said. “Do you know the conditions of the curse?”

“Not clearly,” she said. “We're supposed to find out something about our parents. We do have their diaries and have found a few things they were keeping from us. Though that was just from the letters so far. I'm not sure how it'll be clear when we find the right information, unless it makes sense of other things.”

“That why Lest said you'd be off-duty for an indeterminate time yesterday?” Art asked.

“Yes,” but then what he said caught up with her. “Wait, he said that? I thought it was only for that afternoon.”

Art nodded. “It's probably not a good idea to keep on duty with that kind of curse hanging over you. Too distracting.”

“Well I know that patrolling and battling won't trigger it, so I thought it'd be safer,” she said.

“But you'd want a clear head to be effective at either duty,” Corrin pointed out. “Don't worry, we've got things handled.”

“That would give me time to read through the diaries too,” Forte said. “Thanks.”

“It should be a quiet time,” Art said.

Corrin stepped in front of her to make the parting of her hair more even. “I think so too. Hey, mind if I give you a braid? I think you'd look really pretty with one and you always keep the same simple style.”

The suggestion startled her as she rarely gave thought to how her hair looked. “Huh?”

In the background, Art gave a small smile. Meanwhile Corrin had pulled two strands of Forte's hair to the sides of her head. “Add a couple of foreloops to frame your face better, the length should be fine... yes, that'd be nice. How about it?”

“Sure, I guess it's be nice to take a different style for a day,” Forte said.

Corrin smiled and called up a small drawer to get a few more hair ties. “Great, it shouldn't take too long. I hope you'll like it.”

* * *

 

'To Arthur Norad:

I apologize for this sudden correspondence, but I have heard that you have a good ability to track down rare goods and I wish to purchase something that would be of great personal value. My mother, Katarina Lorezna Sword has been suffering under depression for some time and we think that some part of it is homesickness as she has not been able to return to the land of her birth for many years. While there are several reasons we cannot take her for a visit at this time, I would like to at least give her some memento of her homeland to help her regain her spirit and health so we can.

The most promising prospect would be to find an Ivory Alpine music box as she brought one from her home but gave it as a gift to a dear friend who has passed away some time ago. I do not know if her music box in particular can be found or purchased, but I hope something of the style would be available...'

As soon as he read the first part of this letter, Arthur knew what this young man of the House of Sword meant. His mother must have been the very same Katarina that Forte's mother Estelle had convinced to leave their homeland. And he would be looking for the music box that Forte now owned (as she was keeping the key). Arthur still didn't think she'd agree to sell it. However, would it be possible to copy it and send the copy to Katarina? That might be easier than trying to find another Ivory Alpine music box.

There was also the significance of the family asking about this music box. It would be nice to rekindle that connection between the families because of the mothers. In a more practical logic, the House of Sword was a family of knights considered on equal weight among the nobility as the Greenwind family. The House of Sword lived and served in Central Norad, with more contacts among the rest than the Greenwinds out here in Selphia. They were most likely to challenge Forte about her position as Dragon Knight now that Doomgale was the divine wind. If Arthur could pull the two families closer, put the House of Sword in debt to the Greenwinds for getting them the copied music box, then perhaps he and Forte would have some extra weight with them and other legacy knights to keep them from questioning her position.

“This has to be tried,” Arthur said to himself, checking his schedule. He might end up a little late to a meeting next hour, but he decided to go for it while the idea was fresh in his mind. He took the letter to visit Forte.

Corrin reported that she wasn't back on patrol today, as they were giving her some time to look into the diaries and find whatever key would undo the curse. That made things a little easier, at least in finding her. When he knocked, it didn't take long for her to answer the door. “Oh, hello Arthur,” she said, smiling on seeing it was him.

Being that she wasn't on duty today, she was wearing a very cute green dress with Pomme Pomme decorations on it. Not only that, but her hair was now in a lovely braid, with the hair at the sides of her face drawn up into a loop with white feather ribbons. It was several different colors instead of well coordinated, but that didn't seem to matter. “H-hi Forte. Sorry, you just look different today, and really cute. Especially with your hair like that.”

She blushed happily at that. “That was Corrin's doing, I think she was trying to cheer me up when I was in a bad mood earlier. Do you want to come in?”

“For a little while, there's an opportunity I wanted to talk with you about,” he said as he took her offer and stepped inside. “But first, how are you doing with the diaries?”

She led him into the parlor to speak. “Well, there's some trouble with our father's. It's shorter and reads more like the security reports I make than a recording of his thoughts. He wrote a few things about my progress in training and notable monsters, but it's spartan with little in the way of emotions. So I've already read all the entries but nothing seems important. He doesn't even mention Kiel once, which I'm afraid may make things worse on him.”

“That doesn't seem right,” Arthur said. Maybe it wasn't a diary he wrote his personal thoughts in? “Although... well don't be letting others know, but I keep a separate journal and diary, one for recording my business observations and musings and the other for my personal thoughts. Perhaps your father had the same habit? Although then we'd have to find the more personal one.”

“Xiao did tell me to speak to Bado when I got a chance,” she said. “Maybe he knows something more.”

“Then what about your mother's diary?”

“I've gotten it started,” she said, indicating where it was sitting on a small table. Forte frowned. “I get uncomfortable when she boasts about a successful con. She found it thrilling and I find it appalling. On the other hand, some notes on her early adventures without banditry are interesting reads. She kept saying that she didn't know much about our work, but she actually did have a good head for exploring uncivilized areas. In that way, I do feel sympathy towards her in having to give up that life when she clearly loved it.”

Thinking it might help, he asked her as a reminder, “Would you have wanted to go out on a trek like that with her?”

It worked since she smiled wider at that. “Actually, I think I would have had fun with her. It makes me feel better about the life I chose, since she used to feel the same way. Well, not about the cons, but after she met father and changed, she would have been good to travel with. Then, what kind of opportunity do you have?”

“You remember how your mother mentioned a friend named Katarina who gave her the music box? I've gotten a letter that seems to be from her son in the House of Sword who is looking for the same kind of music box as that one. As it turns out, she's not doing well at the moment from a combination of weakness and depression; her son wants to cheer her up with a gift. He said he'll accept any of the style, but he described your mother's with a few matching details he got from her. I would like to see if Bado could copy the music box you have in order to get it to them.”

“I don't know if he could copy a music box, but it's worth asking about it,” Forte said. “I'd rather keep it, since it seems to be fine now that it played that message.”

Arthur nodded. “I thought so much. But I also thought this would be a good chance for you to befriend the House of Sword, even just Katarina and her son. The whole family has a strong influence on all knights in Norad, so if you could influence them with this contact, there may be more acceptance for women like yourself to serve as knights.”

“I don't know if I should take advantage of a friendship like that,” Forte said. “It seems underhanded.”

“I wouldn't think it's taking advantage of them,” he said. “Seeing a good example of chivalry in a woman could be enough to change their minds.”

“I'll discuss the matter with Kiel and see what he thinks,” she said.

* * *

 

Autumn 6

This morning was particularly bad for Kiel. His stomach felt nauseous so he had to eat a light breakfast, plus he didn't feel steady on his feet and found some bits of concrete still stuck on his fingers. While Forte fussed about him and asked if he needed to go to the clinic in case of him being sick otherwise, he tried just talking with her. Normal subjects weren't working all that well and letting himself talk made his thoughts come out without much of a check. “I wonder if Dad just didn't care about us.”

“Of course he did, he just didn't express himself much,” Forte said quickly.

“But he didn't write about us much either,” Kiel said. “He wrote about you like one of his recruits and nothing about me. All he wanted was a secure and stable home for us even if it meant hiding Mom's letter to us.”

“You can't know that for sure,” she said.

“But that's the only thing that makes sense,” he argued. “He wasn't the sort of person who'd misplace the key, especially outside of town. And he would have been just as shocked as you were to learn her past and with his strict adherence to the code, he would have rather that not be exposed so people found that he'd married a bandit. So he was a coward in that way.”

“Don't talk like that about our father!” Forte snapped, hitting her fists on the table.

“Why else would he do all that he did to keep us from finding out when he knew telling the truth would help us faster?” Kiel said. “Even if that goes against the code itself.”

“We can't know yet but I'm sure it's a better reason than that.” She glared at him sharply, but he was feeling bitter himself and returned it just the same. Then Forte grumbled and got up without a word to leave the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

Kiel looked down at what was left of his breakfast that he had yet to eat, but he really didn't feel like eating now. “He'd rather save his image as an outwardly chivalrous knight than to apply it to his own life and care about us,” he said, tears falling down his face. Once he realized how awful his words must have been to her, he really started crying and felt terrible. He shouldn't be so mean to his sister. But, she had taken their father's attention away from him. He had hardly talked to Kiel in his last year and now hadn't written about him at all. Meanwhile, he'd spent nearly every day with Forte and wrote fairly often (if in a dry manner) about her. He wouldn't mind it as much if it had been even.

This wasn't doing him any good. Thankfully, doing some work cleaning up after breakfast helped to calm him down. It didn't make him feel any better even when he talked the whole while. That was something he was noticing, that talking with no one to listen wasn't helping with the curse much. Staying in the house didn't seem much better, so he left for the inn. It wasn't easy when he still felt weak, barely strong enough to keep on his feet. But telling stories to Xiao was the best manner to help. At his side, the Phaedrus tome kept a watchful eye out for him.

Unfortunately, she wasn't in the lobby when he got in. Lin Fa was at the desk. “Oh my, are you okay Kiel?” she asked. “You seem pale.”

“Hi Lin Fa,” he said, still going to keep polite even in this situation. “It's the curse, I needed someone to talk with and was going to ask Xiao if she wasn't busy. Is she in?”

“She's out on an errand, but should be back soon.” She came out from behind the desk to bring a chair over to it. “Here, she can run the desk while you two talk. Unless you're going to make it personal this time.”

“No, it should be fine, thanks,” he said. “How are the bath salts I made working?”

She smiled as she set the chair down. “Just wonderfully, lots of people love them! You know, some salts are just fragrance and don't do much, but the ones you've made truly enrich the bath waters. I really like the sour drop one, it makes me feel really sharp and alert.”

“That really is a wake-you-up kind of scent,” Kiel said, sitting down and trying to relax. “I'm sorry I haven't come up with a solution on the heavy spice yet. I was on to something, but then Doug's thelnar came up and I got asked to make a lot of high level concrete and dyes. While it is helping in getting me past a stall in my development, having to work on those and deal with this curse is taking up all my energy.”

“It's fine, we're going well with the other three,” Lin Fa said. “Actually, I'm impressed that you can keep working like you are under all this. How are you faring with your parents' diaries?”

“Well there's good and bad news on that,” Kiel said. “The bad news is that Dad's diary isn't of much help because he's just as restrained there as he was in person. We haven't even figured out what he was referencing as the night's shadow so anything left hidden would be on his side. But the good news is that Mom wrote a lot about us and we can see better what she meant in her letter. And did you hear that she was adventurous when she was younger, even living as a bandit for a while? It was pretty awesome. I mean, not good that she was stealing from and tricking people, but it was exciting to read.”

Lin Fa raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? I knew Este loved stories of adventure, but never heard that she'd gone on adventures herself.”

“I'll tell you about it sometime,” Kiel said, then glanced over as the door opened. “Oh, hey Xiao!”

“He'o Kiel,” she said, smiling but turning concerned as she got closer. “Are you okay? You do not seem well enough to be walking over here.”

“I could,” Kiel said, making the tome bump into his arm. “Well, barely. But I wasn't going to get any better staying in the house alone, so I came to talk to you.”

“You could have gone to talk with Leon in the library as that would be closer,” Xiao said. “I am sure that he would understand and enjoy chatting with you.”

“Aw, but isn't it so nice that he'd come to see you even if it's tougher?” Lin Fa said teasingly.

“Well, I guess,” Xiao said, trying not to seem as happy about it when she was trying to be stern.

That made him laugh a little. “All right, if I feel really bad again, I'll try Leon first. Or maybe I'll send Phaedrus out to get you.”

“That would work. Did you want to tell a story?”

“Yeah, I would like to,” he said.

As it was on his mind, he started with one of his mother's adventures as if he'd been involved, but elaborating on it a great deal. Leon came into the inn during the middle of it, making him pause so Lin Fa could ask if he wanted to use the baths. He did, but he decided he wanted to stick around and listen instead. For the fun of it, Kiel didn't clarify that he was making it up and just continued to tell the story.

He got to feeling really good, so he did some quick thinking to wrap up the tale. “Since we had managed to stop the crystal golem, the cloud people felt that they could handle the rest, so they sent both of us surface dwellers back home, thanking us by giving both of us a winged hat that could whisk us back to their great city in the sky in a wink, just in case we wanted to come visit and have more adventures above the clouds. And that's the story.”

“Oh wow, that was an amazing adventure,” Lin Fa said, impressed. “What's a winged hat look like, though? Could you bring it in sometime?”

“Momma, you do remember that was his framework for making stories up, yes?” Xiao asked, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, it was, wasn't it?” she said, a little disappointed. Then she chuckled. “Guess I just got carried away in the tale.”

“That was pretty fun to hear,” Leon said. “At first I just couldn't figure out why I felt your words were lies when I know you're honest all the time. Funny way of fighting a curse.”

“I'd rather it just be countered with normal talk, but it is the best way to counter it,” Kiel said.

“Yes, but I told him he should visit you to talk if he's feeling really bad again,” Xiao said.

“Fine by me, but you'd do better to work out how to break it,” Leon said.

Kiel frowned. “We know it has to do with finding the truth, but our Dad's writing is no help at all. He only wrote observations, and not even all of them I'm starting to think.”

Leon's ears shifted towards him on hearing that. “You have his writing to figure it out?'

“Yeah, from both of our parents. We found the truth about our Mom, but that's only half the solution.”

Lin Fa put her hand on her chin. “Kev usually had a stony expression and voice. Straightforward in everything but himself. As he said, his duty as a knight was to serve so his personal feelings were to be less important than the safety and peace of the town. But he was a great man, very reliable.”

“Doesn't sound like my kind of person,” Leon said. “Since you have his writings, I might be able to help you dig deeper into them and read the impressions that don't have words.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kiel asked.

“I can get glimpses into the past of the writer from a book, more strongly if it's handwritten,” he explained. “Sometimes the reader too, but something like a diary is only going to get me information on the writer.”

“Wow, that could really help a lot,” Kiel said, trying to sound excited although he had some trepidation on finding the truth from his father. But, it had to be found to break the curses. Then the Phaedrus tome shut itself loudly to get his attention so it could show something it had recorded. “Oh... is this it? Phaedrus has a Text Insight spell, says the form is only available to earthmates.”

“That could be it,” Leon said, coming around to see into the book without taking it himself. “Then it does have a proper form, even for stuff like those keys... I do this automatically since my price has to do with language, but knowing the spell itself might let me better target what I'm looking for. Tell you what, I'll get with you both this evening and use the spell on the diary to see what I get. But since it is a personal matter, it'd have to be just you two.”

And he'd have to find some way to apologize to Forte for getting into a fight with her this morning, Kiel thought. Later, when she came back. “All right, we'll see you then.”

* * *

 

A sword was very little against feelings of frustration, sadness, or betrayal. Forte knew about swords, but she didn't know how she should deal with this. While she could practice taking out her aggression on imaginary targets, that only brought to light that she wasn't really dealing with the problem. Like how her father didn't seem to have dealt with the real problem about their curse. He could have just told them the truth. What was so important for him to keep secret? Might he really not have cared about them?

No, Forte was pretty sure he cared about them. But even with that, she couldn't explain why he would not be honest even in his private writings. Or how he could only have the outward form of honor rather than keeping it within his heart. Or how one really kept true to chivalry if even her father couldn't manage it. It all seemed plain and good. Then she had argued with her brother this morning, letting the passion of her temper overrule her reason. A knight should be slow to anger... although Forte had to admit to herself that she didn't always keep that part in mind. Perhaps she needed to work on bettering herself for a while, like Clorica had done earlier this year.

“Ah, here you are Forte,” Arthur said from several feet behind her.

What was he doing here? Forte turned around and glanced around the area she and her father had always practiced in. It was a wide flat area between three hills north of town, not deep enough to become really muddy in rainy weather but not in sight of the main road around one of the hills. There was even an old shed with a bench where he had given her lectures on chivalry some days. “Arthur? Why are you here alone?”

“I came to look for you and remembered where this spot was from the other day,” he said.

While he had a staff to better wield magic, he was wearing his checkered traveling cloak that wasn't much for armor. That kind of thing was meant to be over a chestplate or chainmail shirt; he was wearing normal clothes underneath. “What are you doing out of town alone?” she asked sharply. “Especially without proper protection as there are monsters around here, some rather aggressive. You could get killed if you're not careful.”

Arthur cowered at her tone, almost shrinking at it. “Uh, w-well no one knew where you were in town, um...”

Forte felt a bit sick. First she'd yelled at Kiel and now Arthur. “I'm sorry,” she said, moving closer to him but stopping as he still seemed defensive. “Ugh, I'm really sorry I got angry like that; I know I shouldn't. It's been a bad day and I'm just worried seeing you out here on your own like this. You don't even have a full set of gear. I'd feel really horrible if you got injured like that looking for me when I couldn't protect you.”

When he looked at her, Arthur seemed really vulnerable, moreso than just being out of town in normal clothing. “Oh yo-you were just worried? Sorry, I wasn't thinking I'd make you worry, just I was sent to look for you and I didn't think it'd be too much trouble. But yes, it really is kind of thoughtless of me, um, I'll try not to do this again. It's just that Kiel and Leon wanted to talk to you and nobody knew where exactly you were, and I remembered you saying that you come out here often to practice and think on your own, so I figured it'd be the best place to start. And, well, Corrin has been giving me some training to defend myself but I guess that hasn't been long and I probably should have asked her or someone else to come along, sorry.”

And now he was babbling. Was she really that scary? Even if she was, this didn't seem right. She'd only seen Arthur get like this when those old glasses had gone missing. “Are you okay? I didn't mean to trouble you.” She went over and took his hand.

“Sorry,” he said. But he relaxed and even smiled again. “That was a surprise, but I have been worried about you lately. I shouldn't be like that when you're the one having to deal with trouble. Could we forget about that for now and just get back to town?”

Maybe even someone like him needed someone to care about and protect him. If she got over this curse, then she'd be in a better position to do that. “All right. Although... I headed out here this morning because I got in an argument with Kiel.”

“Yes, he mentioned that,” Arthur said. “He's more worried about having made you upset and finding a way of apology.”

“I should apologize too,” she said. And even just saying it made her feel better than trying to fight it out here. “He had a point, even if it wasn't one I wanted to consider. A lot of things I'm finding lately are things I didn't want to consider. But what about Leon wanting to talk too? He keeps making fun of me and it'd better not be that.”

Arthur shook his head. “I'm sure it's not that. He's offered to help find out what your father wasn't writing through using earthmate magic on the diary. Since it's about words and his price is in language, this is a serious matter for him to offer help on. He'll be talking with you both privately on it.”

Leon was Kiel's friend too, so Forte felt like she would trust him for this and see what happened. Arthur walked with her back home. In talking of lighter things, he admitted that he'd run across a group of woolies on the way that he couldn't bring himself to fight, even though one tried to give him a spiral punch. They found the group and Forte was able to point out the particular troublemaker as it was a shmooly instead of a wooly. Shmoolies could be dangerous to unwary travelers as they were aggressive and reckless. Although she made a mental note to come look into its presence later, they avoided being seen by the group so as not to bother Arthur.

Back home, Kiel greeted her with a hug. “I'm sorry about this morning,” he said. “I wasn't thinking what I was saying through, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.”

Forte patted his shoulder. “It's okay. I just didn't want to accept the possibility, even if it's as likely as anything else right now. But I hope it's not.”

“Me either,” Kiel said. “Um, I made some quiche for dinner, so I hope you like it.”

“That sounds good, I've been practicing a lot today,” she said. Kiel was good at making just about anything, the only exception being fish since he was picky about fish himself.

“It still has to cool down some, but it's almost ready to slice up.”

Hearing that made her think of something. “Oh, but, when we do manage to break this curse, would you help me work on my cooking skills? Since if it's not going to confuse me into doing odd steps anymore, I should be able to make something good.”

That made him smile. “Sure thing. I'm sure you can learn it well. Maybe even soon, depending on what Leon finds tonight.”

Leon came over for dinner, bringing Frey with him even though she left for the library afterwards so he could talk with them alone. At that point, Leon brought out some candles and lit them on the cleared table of the dining room. “It's something I do for some of my duties as a priest,” he explained. “And words are truly sacred to me now. Given the situation, I felt this was appropriate.”

“It's odd seeing you take something seriously, but I appreciate it,” Forte said.

He did briefly smirk at that. “There's a time to be wise and a time to be silly. I do know the difference, believe it or not.” Then he recited a prayer to Doomgale while weaving his fan in a focused manner. After a moment of silence, he nodded. “You have the diary here?”

“Yes, here it is,” Kiel said, handing over a plain looking book with a tan color.

It didn't take long for Leon to frown at it. “This book... it's been censored.”

“So we didn't even have all the entries in the first place?” Kiel asked, surprised.

“I did wonder how it didn't even get halfway full when it covered several years of time,” Forte said.

“It should be full,” Leon said, turning to the first page. Running his finger down the page, he studied it before putting it on the table for them to see. “From the censoring spell's form, I can show you how to unlock the hidden writing. It should stay unlocked for an hour before being hidden again. But that fits what you and Lin Fa said about him, that he was a very private man. See, this first entry was written by whoever enchanted the book. Make sure the black thread marker is on this page, then brush your fingertip along the line 'sky should open up' to get all the entries.”

“I didn't even notice that,” Kiel said. “That should help figure things out.”

“Do you want me to try the insight spell or let you read it from here?” Leon asked.

Kiel hesitated, but Forte couldn't help but think of how she'd snapped at Arthur harshly enough to scare him. “I'd like to read what was hidden, but this curse has made the past week especially difficult on both of us and those who deal with us,” Forte said. “See if what you could find would be enough.”

“Yeah, we've troubled a lot of people lately,” Kiel said.

Leon nodded and picked up the diary again. “All right. This could take a few minutes, it depends on how much the spell lets me see.” Silver lines shone bright over his skin as he cast the insight spell on the book, then remained while he stared silently at the book as if in trance. As he did, his tail swayed regularly like a clock's pendulum until one point where it went still and his eyes went wide. The silver faded shortly after that, but he still stared at the book.

“Is it something bad?” Kiel asked, putting his hands on the table.

“My father,” Leon murmured. Then he rubbed his forehead. “Well... it's not pretty. Then again, there's no way it could be. What I saw has to do with your father's death. But first, there was a promise Forte made to your mother.”

“I think I know what you mean, shortly before she died,” Forte said, but wasn't sure how to say it. She hadn't told either Kiel or their father about it.

“You mean when she said she'd be a knight to protect me?” Kiel asked.

“What, you knew about that?” she asked, embarrassed but more shocked that he knew. It hadn't even been in their mother's diary, at least not directly.

Sounding guilty for it, he said, “Yeah, I was there. See, I'd come in earlier to talk to her, but she was asleep and Nancy said I could read upstairs. I came down when I noticed the sun was down, but stopped on the stairs because I heard you both talking. And, Dad knew because he was there too, but I don't think he knew I was there. I didn't mention it because I felt even back then that Mom was trying to help you in not giving up your dream to become a knight; I didn't want to stop you either.”

“I didn't bring it up because I didn't want him to talk me out of it,” Forte said. It was surprising that Kiel could keep a secret that long when he talked so freely on nearly everything else. Maybe he was more secretive than she thought? “But the secret was futile all along.”

“With that cleared up, are you ready to hear about this?” Leon asked.

It still made her nervous. From his expression, Kiel felt the same way. But there wasn't any getting around this and it would be nice to finally know why their father had died. He'd just been found early one morning outside of town, already killed. It was painful to hear, but it turned out to be the last truth to break the curse.

* * *

 

Summer 68, Year 1602

Ventuswill was sitting up, but her eyes were closed in sleep. Kevion stayed in her chambers for a while, thinking. If she were awake, he could ask for her advice. She surely would keep quiet on a personal matter if he asked for it. But, was that right? She was a formal dignified goddess who had higher duties and he was her ceremonial guard. He couldn't just talk to her on such matters, strange as they were. Although, whenever she had these days when she was mostly asleep, he worried about her greatly. Sometimes she'd mumble something sadly and not realize it. Kevion felt it was too personal to ask her what was bothering her, so he left her alone and defended the town as his practical duty was.

He stopped by the blacksmith's shop to check on his old friend Bado. It troubled Kevion to see Bado now, getting obsessed with money and losing his passion in forging. Although, he could understand why after he'd been humiliated by some other dwarven blacksmiths who undermined Bado's work at an important time. But any time he tried to bring it up, Bado acted like he didn't care.

Which made him not even want to try discussing the matter with him when Kevion might end up asking him to look after his kids if something went wrong.

In the evening, he returned home to a meal that Kiel had cooked. It was really good even though he was a child. The boy had many talents and a brilliant mind, shining like he could be a star on earth. But all of his talents and brilliance lay in fields that Kevion knew little about. It was distressing at times that he couldn't teach his son like a father should. Anything he could teach, Kiel was no good at. Kevion never felt as inadequate as he did with Kiel. He could do great things when he grew up, although he was already proud of his son. His power could possibly do a lot more than what his father could do with a sword. A sword was best at hurting others, after all. Kiel could really solve problems and help people.

What could be said to help him? Kevion had no idea. He was never good at talking to people who weren't knights or soldiers with the same kind of training he had. With all the times that he'd gotten embarrassed or guilty over something he'd said and how someone else reacted to it, he found it easier to just keep quiet until he knew the right thing to say. Although the words he wanted to protect Kiel from the most were from some of those other knights, men who had visited from the capitol to talk with him. They thought something was wrong with Kiel to be a knight's son and be so small, frail, and weak. They didn't see how amazing he really was. Someday, they would. For now, Kevion tried to keep Kiel from hearing such comments.

I'm not the kind of man who would hug his children, but I want to now and tell you to keep shining as you are. Especially if these plans went sour.

After dinner, he and Forte went outside to take care of some orcs that kept wandering onto the airfield at night to establish one of their camps at the cliff base. They could steal items from town and airships, as well as be dangerous with their weapons and shields. Keeping them out was a priority. But even if they were dangerous to most, Kevion didn't worry about Forte around them. He trusted her to keep a cool head in battle and dispatch them quickly. After all, he trusted her to take out a group of palm cats earlier this week and they were more powerful with their fists and claws. Harder to hit with longswords as well with their quick dashes and dodging, but Forte was an excellent swordswoman even at just sixteen years old. She was also fair and just, eager to help out her neighbors. She had the heart of a knight.

But, people often bothered him for similar reasons to Kiel. They didn't think a woman would have the strength to be a knight in full armor. Being the daughter of a knight, they thought she should be looking for a husband now and focused on bearing children, not aiming to protect the town as his successor. Years ago, he would have agreed. But when her talents and heart belonged to a knight, even the sacred Dragon Knight of Ventuswill, why should he stop her? He'd tried to at first by being relentless in her training. But she excelled under that and Kevion was proud of her for it. Still, he was used to training that criticized to continue improving, not praising on reaching a goal and cheering the progress to that. How did he praise her without sounding false?

I want to see you become the next Dragon Knight; I'm sure you could serve better than I have with my inner weaknesses. I just hope it doesn't fall on you soon.

There was still some daylight when they got back home, so he went to the music room to look over his wife's music box. It still caused him pain, both at her loss and at the secret that only came out when he checked on the secret drawer. Being with Este, he had not felt the lonely strain of his chosen life. He might spend long hours watching over the town and keeping out of what happened around him, or face possible death to keep threats from disrupting the lives of others. But as long as he could come back to Este's bright smile and warm words, he had a home to protect and seek his own refuge in. He'd be surrounded by life and love, not silence and violence.

Then she was taken away by death, leaving him with no one he trusted to see his tears. Even worse, he hadn't known the woman he trusted his heart to at all, not until she was gone. She'd been new to a moral life and she wasn't fully happy with it. Had she even loved him or was that a con in itself? Kevion felt like his life was a lie at points, like he would go mad with this grief and pain. But, he still had their two children to protect; they were expecting a stable and strong father to protect them. So he played that role while he didn't feel stable or strong at all. He kept his silence so they didn't realize their young lives were not as ideal or happy as they thought.

Now looking at the silent music box, he wished he hadn't thrown away the key in a fit of cowardice. It might be worth it to actually read her diary and understand Este better. But since Handel had linked the progression of his curse to the music box, Kevion wasn't sure if he wanted to get the key back. He'd have to reveal the secrets he was keeping, about Este's past and his own failure to keep the code of chivalry by letting the situation get this bad. They might hate him for it, which would further tear his heart apart until there wasn't much left to him but being a hollow knight. Yet if his plans for tonight worked, he could keep Forte and Kiel thinking their lives were good and there was nothing wrong with their parents.

He might even be able to bring himself to say that he hoped they kept shining on their own paths, if only to further bring down the chance they might hate him.

When the sun's rays no longer touched the sky, Kevion quietly left town for the Cave of Bonding that was a short walk southeast of Selphia's main gate. Most people who came this way were couples, but there were a few hidden passages in the walls that led deeper into both Yokmir Caves and Selphia's underground caverns. The latter were less known, but a group of dwarves centuries ago had made tunnels and staircases to work on strengthening the cliff line against erosion and further collapse. Although he was unfamiliar with this underground passage, he soon spotted a ghostly green orb hanging in the air, with swirls similar to the wind blades in various spells.

The voice of the night's shadow spoke to him when he got close to the orb. “You do well to trust me. Come to me.” The orb then moved down the passages to guide him.

He'd first heard this voice shortly after Este's death. It unnerved him in how much it knew about him, especially the painful feelings he revealed to no one else. But, it was always offering to help. It wasn't a fae creature. In dealing with them, they'd offer something for their tricks three times before they revealed the selfish intent in getting angry on being refused. This shadow being had not gotten angry, although often it seemed weary. It had told him that it needed some help of its own or it would run out of energy to exist. Thus, Kevion felt they were both risking something and could make a deal on equal terms.

But as they continued down, he felt more suspicious. They were getting deep under Selphia where only one being dwelt as far as he knew. Kevion knew for sure when the orb led him to a cavern where an enormous gate waited. Instead of sticking to one or two elements like other gates, this one rapidly shifted between all seven. He stopped at the entrance. “You're my master's enemy,” he said, preparing to teleport back up to the surface. He could not make a deal with the old divine wind Storgane; it was a demonic wind now.

All he heard was a head-splitting roar and the cave melted around him.

Kevion was traveling in some confusion. There was a road that seemed real and yet shifted from dirt to stone to concrete to all kinds of roads while remaining the same road. But, which way led to home? And where did the other way lead?

It wasn't until he ran into a priestly spearman that he got some answers. “My name is Samuel Karnak,” he said. “Although it's a good day that I can remember that. One way of the road leads to the land of mortals; the other way of the road leads to the Forest of Beginnings. However, no lost soul can reach either end, so it is in truth an endless road. There is a reason for us to be here. Sometimes I can even remember that reason, but not now.”

“Surely you'd get somewhere,” Kevion said.

Samuel shrugged. “You might reach one of the pillars, but you don't want to get near them or it'll wring your heart out. The road's incomplete and illogical, with the pillars using emotions as weapons. Still, keep your wits about you as best you can. If you lose your name and identity, you'll turn into one of the mad souls that are more violent and cruel than most monsters. There are many of them around.”

“But if someone like you can forget their name sometimes...” he seemed like a level-headed man.

“There really isn't a lot we can do but try,” he said. “Although, I believe I've kept myself as long as I have because my son's still alive. I keep thinking that through some miracle, I can talk with him one last time. I can only hope that happens and somehow that's enough to keep me from going mad.” Samuel brushed his fan across his face, then pointed down the road. “Well, I can travel with you as long as the road lets me, make sure you can handle yourself. You seem capable.”

He would like to speak to Forte and Kiel again, if he could find his way back home now.


	102. Turnip Purses

Autumn 29-30

When it came to Valentine's Day, Kiel had always baked the cookies for Forte to give out. The few time that she had tried ended up with charcoal cookies, weird doughy lumps, or once an exploded oven that had to be completely replaced. But now she wasn't under a curse. She wasn't losing track of her progress or getting results that even she couldn't explain. Having practicing cooking and baking with Kiel ever since the sixth, Forte felt ready to try making the Valentine cookies on her own. Almost.

The cookies had sat outside the oven and on the pan for a few moments, finishing off their baking while reducing the amount of burning on the bottom. With that time up, Forte took the pan to carefully pull the cookies off the parchment paper onto a cooling rack without breaking them. A few had broken or weren't of a nice shape, but most would be good to gift tomorrow. She'd taste-tested a few of the broken pieces (after checking with Kiel on the runes, just in case) and they'd turned out pretty good. Feeling happy with the results, she set the pan back on the stove before going into the dining room.

There, Kiel was doing some experiments with his fragrances and wax. It gave the room a chaotic kind of smell but he'd seemed excited at the prospect of expanding his shop's wares. Trying not to breathe in too deeply, Forte said, “I've got most of the cookies done, they're looking good.”

Kiel smiled even if he hadn't seen them since testing the first batch. “Great, I knew you could do it! Hang on a minute and I'll be in there to help you with the chocolate.” He blew out the one candle flame and held one of his tools in the thin line of smoke to take measurements. The Tome of Phaedrus flew closer to Forte. While it liked to be near Kiel, it obviously didn't like being near the small flame of the candles.

Carefully, Forte patted the book to reassure it. It wouldn't cooperate with her since she didn't have much potential for magic, but she tried to keep on friendly terms with it. As far as she could tell, it liked her enough to not clamp onto her fingers if she got too close. “Can we open the windows in here now? Those smell nice, but not all at once.”

Kiel chuckled. “All right, just a bit...” he watched the crystal on his tool, then started making notes. “Okay, they can be open now.”

Relieved to hear that, Forte went to let fresh air in and the smoky scents out. “What kind of scents are you trying to make now? One was like flowers and another was a bit spicy, but then I couldn't identify some others.”

“Well I've just about got the heavy spice nailed down,” he said. “I'm going to ask Xiao to run some trials in the baths soon and if one of the formulas does well, it will be done. Then I've got a few more standard scents I'm trying out, finding out the basics so I can spread out to other types. Ellie gave me two roses of different scent profiles that are both popular as fragrance bases, plus I've got some wood and herb fragrances that are also popular and common. Though I would like to tweak them to make them more attractive as being unique.”

“I can't say that I know what you're doing, but you seem happy for it,” Forte said. After seeing how much her father regretted being restrained but couldn't make the step to change it, she wanted to say something supportive and not stay quiet.

Kiel smiled for it. “It's not what I thought I'd be doing in alchemy, but it is fun. And my teachers at the academy were really impressed with my paper on fragrances and the bath salt formula, so I must be doing something right. All right, we're going to need the double boiler, a whisk, and some glass jars for this. I'll have you make a large batch of the chocolate sauce since I can use it later.”

With the dining room now airing out, she headed back into the kitchen with him. “All right, so the double boiler is that pair of pots that fit with each other.”

“Yeah,” he said, making sure she got the right pot before taking out some baking chocolate. “You have to be careful with chocolate since it can burn easily, so we use this to melt it gently. Do you know if Arthur likes sweet sweets or would he rather have a bit more of the bitter edge?”

“I'm not sure,” Forte said. “He mostly likes pickles, turnips, and simple dishes.”

“Turnips aren't much of a sweet veggie, so let's try keeping the sauce dark,” Kiel suggested, then instructed her on how to melt the chocolate into a sauce she could add into the last portion of cookie dough she had left. Although it was something she had to pay careful attention to, it was a lot of fun with Kiel helping her. And she could make something tasty that others would enjoy, an idea that made her really happy.

She wouldn't be as lost as before if she could no longer be a knight. But, Forte still wanted to serve as Dragon Knight. There was so much here in Selphia that she wanted to protect. And not just her little brother anymore, especially since he could take care of himself and prosper independently. It was a change that had been long in coming and one she had feared. Now it seemed like she could be more of a friend to him, even a better sister. Their family wasn't perfect, but they tried to be the best they could be. And she still loved her family even with her parents' secrets revealed.

The next day, she took the cookies to give to her friends, old and new. Some had to be convinced that they'd be perfectly fine cookies, but it was nice to see that more of them knew she'd been practicing and accepted them gratefully. She even felt like she should give one to Doomgale as her new master. Also because the little dragon was cute and Forte thought she might like cookies.

She entered the central chamber and had to look around before spotting the much smaller dragon flying about overhead. Doomgale called a greeting and went to fetch something from a bin up high. And, it turned out that she decided she'd be giving out cookies too as she offered a tan cookie with some bits of dark green to it. “Thyme cookie, for my protect,” she said, holding it out.

“That's certainly a different kind of cookie,” Forte said, but took it anyhow. “Thank you Doomgale.” She got excited and cartwheeled off in the air, making her call over, “Oh, I have one for you too.” This was something she was getting used to, that Doomgale was a lot more active than Ventuswill was.

“Tank you,” Doomgale said happily, flying back over to take the sugar cookie. “You work ard for it, I smell. I enjoy it.”

“I hope you will,” Forte said, smiling at her. “I'll enjoy yours too. How are you doing today?”

She slowed in her flitting about, looking unusually serious for her. “Um, I make trouble find. See, I make name be doom to danger gales. But I tink on time abyss and see tat ev'n real bad storm 'ave purpose. Is sad, but as divine wind, I not to stress weater balance to stop storms.” She made a brief whine and held her cookie gift close.

Doomgale seemed troubled enough at this discovery that she couldn't kill typhoons like she wanted that Forte reached over and petted her head, only to think as she was doing it that it might be disrespectful. But, it was her duty to protect and help the divine wind. Maybe even in little things like this. “That is sad. But I think I understand. I had to learn recently that pretending things are fine when they're not can make your situation worse. So you have to endure the stormy part of life so that it can pass.”

Making a soft contented growl, Doomgale nodded. “Yes, tat it. Stop all storms and you bring one tat be unstoppable and too worse. You nice, you stay to protect me?”

She bowed. “Of course, it is my duty as your knight.” Another thought came to mind that she might have dismissed before. But it was like Arthur had said: she could balance the masculine qualities of a knight with some feminine qualities and still be true to chivalry. “Perhaps as your friend as well, if you'd like. I don't understand dragon speech, but you're doing well speaking Norad.”

That made Doomgale cheerful again. “Yes, friends good. And speak tis way to tose who ear only tis way, I work to speak good.”

And Doomgale really needed the assistance of a Dragon Knight. Forte smiled and saluted her, to her delight. Then she headed out to find the rest that to pass out cookies too, including Arthur. But she'd be surprised if she had trouble finding him, since he was predictably in a few places. Most likely his office, then at other stores in town, then at the castle, and finally perhaps down on the airfield with other merchants or at his storage cave.

As luck would have it, Forte found Arthur at her brother's alchemy shop. They were discussing his plans to stock the new items he could produce in good quantity. “Since we may be having more of a tourism slant in the future and you're making soaps and lotions, it would be worth considering gift baskets,” Arthur said, then saw her coming in and smiled. “Hello Forte.”

“Hey sis,” Kiel said. “We're just about done, so you can steal off with him soon.”

“Um, okay,” Forte said, a little embarrassed. How could he be so blunt about such things?

Arthur had nearly the same reaction. “Kiel, sometimes your honesty is a bit much,” he said.

“Well it is Valentine's Day,” he said, not seeming to notice they were commenting on his bluntness. He even picked back up on the discussion of shop business immediately. Fortunately, his word was good and she was able to leave with Arthur before long.

“Did you have Corrin do your hair again?” Arthur asked as they came out on the street.

Forte smiled at that. “No, I had her teach me how to braid it myself. It's not that good yet, but this could be nice to do sometimes.” She was talking to Corrin more often and could easily forget about her past as a man in doing so. After all, that past didn't matter when she really was an excellent knight. Forte thought she could learn more from her. Some simple hairstyles was a nice way to start.

“I think it looks nice on you,” he said.

Since the street seemed quiet for now, Forte brought out the bag of cookies and card she had made. “Well, since I've got you here, I made this for you for Valentine's Day. And I was able to make it all myself this year, with your help to get there, so I did my best on them.”

“Thank you, but I don't think I did much,” Arthur said, accepting them and looking over the handmade card. Knowing that he liked cute things too, she didn't try to hold herself back with stickers and colors. He smiled at the outside before opening it.

“You listened even when I was unreasonable out of frustration,” she said. “Besides, there's some things that I wouldn't have realized as readily if you hadn't been there for me.” Like how important it was for her to work on herself and make sure her adherence to the code of chivalry went right to the heart. She let herself slip in the turmoil over her parents' secrets and she'd ended up hurting him. To protect those who were dear to her heart like Arthur, she needed better her patience and temper, even her caring, so that no one here in Selphia would hesitate to ask for her help.

Arthur hadn't said anything in response. Instead, an odd look crossed his face and she wasn't sure what it meant. “These are your words?” he finally asked.

“Yes, I just wrote down what I wanted to say,” Forte said, thinking back over her message. She hadn't picked anything elaborate or poetic, just that she loved him for the warmth when he spoke to her as himself (and many reasons besides, as she wrote) and that she would get better in more than just handling a sword so that she could be more valuable to him than anything else. “Was it something inappropriate?”

“No, no, I...” he looked back over the card, then at her. He was trying to be stoic and calm but for some reason there was a sadness in his eyes. “Would you mind if I told you something about trust?”

“No, go ahead,” she said, wondering what the trouble was and how this had to do with trust.

“To be blunt, I can't fully trust people,” Arthur said. “It's something I picked up growing up in the royal court and learning to work in the trade business. Most people are not entirely honest and look out for themselves. I don't even fully trust myself because it's not possible to be fully objective in life. People make errors and as such, some caution is needed in everything. Numbers are the most reliable things but even they can be spun to selfish means.”

“That's a cold way to look at things,” Forte said. Also an odd way to respond to a holiday gift. Did that mean he didn't trust her? She didn't like that thought but wanted to listen to him like he had for her.

“When money and power are involved, full trust is a naive and foolish course because people will take advantage of you,” he said. “But you're right, it is a cold way to go about things. Some trust is needed to make people comfortable and glad to work with you, so I've spent years finding an ideal balance for my life. So, this, well,” he tapped the card, “I'm a little surprised at how much it speaks to me. I know from knowing you that you would be sincere and these words, they make me feel like I want to trust you more than I do myself.”

“I do mean it,” she said, subconsciously moving her arm to her chest in a salute. “Being with you made me realize what I really want to protect, and also that I still need to work to keep true chivalry in my heart. I will do so and make sure you can rely on me for anything.”

“You hold the code closer and truer than others I have known,” he said. “Which is why I want to help you, even in this deal to get a copy of the music box to Katarina. Trade is what I do best, so I will give my best for you too. Sometimes I wonder if that's really like me. But then that made me think about other events of this year so far. The trust and love in this community is powerful and amazing things have come out of it. Doug's elevator should have taken at least three years to design, approve, and build, but with the trust of the community, it's complete. We even turned an invasion into a tea party that turned our enemies to our allies, which I would have a hard time believing if I hadn't been here watching it happen before my eyes. Things like that make me think that my views on life may still be flawed, and words like this make me feel like I've wanted to hear them in a long time. It's a scary place to be.”

Forte didn't know what the right words would be. But she'd try anyhow. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she said, “I'll keep things peaceful around you, so take what time you need to consider the changes. I hope you can trust me, because I love you and I trust you.”

In response, he hugged her tightly. “I love you too Forte, even if it makes me scared. Perhaps my heart can be as strong as yours someday.”

* * *

 

Autumn 46-47

In the end, Kiel had decided to have Xiao test three formulas of the heavy spice salt in the public baths. One he tried to approximate the effect without the purple grass oil, one had half the amount that was in the actual spice mix, and one had been made just like the other spice mixes. She had shown him a few bags of other bath salt mixes where he'd noticed particular instructions on one. Following that lead, Kiel instructed her that with the last option, she should wear gloves when handling the salt and make sure that the water circulated for ten minutes before allowing guests in. That seemed to be working for these large baths. But for salts for a smaller private bath, he might have to go for the second formula to avoid the customer harming themselves on accident.

Kiel went to check on how things were going at 1100 hours. Unfortunately, Xiao looked like she was in a bad mood, not really smiling and having a bandage on her cheek. He was tempted for a bit not to bother her. But when she looked at him and her eyes sparkled in being happy to see him, he thought it might not be so bad. Besides, she'd been really patient with him when the curse had been strong. Kiel could be patient with her if it wasn't a good day.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked as he got close to the desk. He briefly saw the inn's new cat Jun holding her tail high as she passed by Xiao's feet.

“No, not really,” she said, touching the bandage. “My bad luck seems to be sharp today. See, a couple nights ago Momma slipped up on putting things away again, so I had to fix that when she couldn't find something she had misplaced. She had to start the baths and drain them yesterday. When I got the pump room this morning, the test salts were mixed up. I did the light one today, but grabbed the heavy one first and didn't notice until the smell hit my nose and my hands stung a bit. So I had to be very careful not to touch my eyes until I could get washed.”

“Oh, is that how you bumped something with your face?” Kiel asked. She really was doing better, but her coordination had never been great.

She shook her head. “No, not exactly. See, once I got the right salt in the filter to start, I headed out to wash my hands and I tripped twice, stubbing my toe hard. Then a little while after that, I was being careful of my stubbed toe, but then walked right into a door that was opening, so I got cut.” Xiao sighed while the calico kitten near her mewed. “It's been a long day even though it's not lunch yet. At least Jun is nice enough to keep me company.”

“Sounds rough,” he said, but then offered a small basket he was carrying. “But you know what? I decided to try those potsticker recipes you gave me and I brought some over with rice for your lunch!”

“Great, I'm sure it'll be yummy!” she said, accepting the lunch basket. “You've been making real nice Chinese dishes lately."

That made him think of something which nearly made him laugh. “I haven't really tried any before, but it's been fun. Although I think it's making Forte jealous because I've been making more lunches with sharing with you in mind.”

Xiao did laugh at that, so he did too. “I suppose that I shall have to apologize to her somehow. Although she had made improvement too, so you should say she can make lunches for her and Arthur sometimes.”

“Well she does, which is good for her since he mostly likes simple dishes,” Kiel said. “Although she was asking me about pickles and I had to say that unless you use magical means, most pickles take a long time to develop.”

Without much warning, Lin Fa came down the stairs. “Oh, Kiel?” she asked. Then she smiled. “Nice to see you, although it's a surprise.”

“Oh Momma, we've been talking and not too quiet at that,” Xiao said, amused and yet annoyed at her mother's inattentiveness.

Lin Fa shrugged, not bothered. “Maybe, but I got lost in thinking about Yang. We haven't gotten a letter from him in a while, so I'm a little worried. He can take care of himself, but these times when there's not much word are troubling.”

“That is true,” Xiao said, worried as well. “Although you know Poppa. He's probably in some wilderness with no airships and can't get a letter to us.”

“That's true,” Lin Fa said. Then she smiled again. “Of course, we could always wait a few weeks for Tanabata. He always comes back home then. I hope he likes Jun, you're such a sweet kitty.” She knelt down to pet the kitten.

“You'd think that being a merchant, it wouldn't help him much to go into a wilderness area,” Kiel said.

“It's more because he's a free spirit and no kind of work can tie him down,” Lin Fa said. “If he wants to go somewhere, he will one way or another. Actually, what are you doing here?”

“Several things, mostly visiting Xiao,” Kiel said. “But also to check on the bath salt experiment and give you two some lunch.”

“Yay, I was just trying to figure out what to do about lunch because my plans for it got messed up,” Lin Fa said happily.

“I suppose that is another good thing to come out of this,” Xiao said. When Lin Fa excused herself to go get something from the staff area, Xiao leaned on the desk. “Hey Kiel? Um, this might sound strange, but lately, I've been thinking that you're like my good luck charm.”

“I'm happy to help out any way I can, so if that's so, I don't mind,” Kiel said. He didn't think he'd be a source of luck for anyone, not with how things happened through his life. He had to work hard, often on his own, to get to good places.

“Well, it is so,” she said. “Momma is always so careless, like just now, but somehow it always works out for her just fine. She has lots of good luck. I hope I am not so careless, but I get troubled and hurt by a lot out of bad luck, nothing wrong I did. Like today with the salts and hurting my toe then face. Maybe I did not look so carefully at the containers. So much should not have come from that error.”

“That's true,” he said.

She smiled and clapped her hands together. “Being around you gives even me good luck lately. Like I do not have to scramble around to find something for our lunch. And with your help, the customers have been happier. I just hope I am as good to you.”

“No, I think you're great,” Kiel said. “You've helped me out a lot, and so it's no trouble for me to do the same. Though I still think I'm lucky to get the prettiest girl in town dating me.” It made her laugh, so he went over to give her a small kiss. “Oh, and could I get a favor from you?'

There were several things he wanted to get done today and she was working, so Kiel left her after telling of his plans, in order to take a test sample of the water, drop it off at his shop, then head down to Bado's place. Tomorrow was the market day of the week and Kiel wanted to try his hand at running a booth. As his new products were selling slowly, mostly to townspeople who knew he'd been working on them, he wanted to get attention for them from visitors. A festival market would be bigger, but the regular would let him try a new tactic as well. He could set up a special deal and Bado had something to tie it together with.

Since early this autumn, Doug had been doing some side work with Bado as an apprentice in forging and crafting. The two of them were at the crafting table working with wood, gold, and paint. “Hey Kiel, good timing on your part,” Bado said. “Doug's just about got the music box put together.”

“Really? That's great! Though I didn't expect you to be working on it.”

Doug grinned. “It's not that bad once we got a design blueprint off the one you guys have. Although getting the spool and tines tuned right took some doing.”

“Well he's got a better head for clockwork than me,” Bado said, watching over his work. “And the box is a good start on small carpentry projects.”

“It's easier than you make it sound like,” Doug said, currently carving out the wood panels with notches to make them fit snugly together. “You just got to get the shapes fit right.”

“That kind of tiny precision isn't my strength,” Bado said.

“You did well on Sven's scythe,” Kiel said. “Anyhow, I came in to ask if you still had those turnip purses in storage.”

Bado put his hand on his forehead. “I was hoping not to get reminded of those. Yeah, it doesn't matter what slant I try with them, they only sell once in a blue moon and there's hardly a dent in that crate.”

Doug paused, glancing over at Bado. “When do you have purses for sale? I don't remember seeing any.”

“See, that's part of the problem,” Bado said. “People keep overlooking them.”

“They probably don't expect to find purses in a smith's shop,” Kiel said. “Would you sell the whole lot to me? I want to try selling them.”

His eyes widened in surprise, but then turned to concern. “You sure about that? I got 'em because they were supposed to be really trendy. However, the guy who sold the crate to me was trying to off-load them as they were falling out of fashion and they've been nothing but a load since.”

While he knew that, this was his quickest chance to get a lot of purses quickly for his plan. “I know. But since I'm adding skin lotions, soaps, bath salts, and candles to my regular inventory now, I thought it'd be nice to offer something to carry or gift them in too. They'd make a lot more sense offered that way, I think.”

“That's a good point,” Doug said when Bado hesitated.

“Guess so,” Bado said. “All right, I just hope they don't become a big load to you either.”

Kiel smiled. “I've got a plan, I can do this.”

The next day, he went to the marketplace early to set up his booth. He had a few of his regular potions on display too to show what else his shop offered, but much of this was devoted to the scent-related alchemy items he'd been developing. With Xiao's word that she'd use the strongest heavy spice formula today, he put up a sign noting that it was in testing phases at the Bell Inn. Hopefully that got them some more business as well.

Kiel had talked with Arthur on a few occasions about this inventory expansion, getting some price ranges from him on what were considered standard pricing on such goods. This allowed him to put a fair price on the new items but also set up a sale involving the purses. If the customer bought one of the purses, they had the option of buying any three of the other items as well at a reduced price provided the three could fit in the purse. Some of the stronger potions he'd only break even on with this deal, but anything else would still give him a profit. And if his thoughts were right, most people wouldn't chose the strong potions as few people wanted such things at hand.

He did have to clean up the turnip purses from the dust of being in a blacksmith's storage, but they looked nice and bright today. They looked just like turnips, with a plump white form in a plush material. Dark green leaves at the top held some hidden pockets along with the zipper-closed main compartment in the middle. With a dark green strap to hang on a shoulder, they were cute items. Kiel bought one out of his inventory for himself, partly to use for today.

Early on, Vishnal and Dolce stopped by his booth. “These are really cute,” Vishnal said happily as he picked up one of the purses.

“I thought you didn't like turnips,” Dolce said, looking over them herself.

“Well I don't like eating them, but they still look nice,” he said. “Something seems familiar with them, but I can't place them.”

“Bado's the one who had them, so you might have seen them in his shop,” Kiel said.

“Really?” Vishnal asked in surprise. “Huh, I should have seen them before. Guess I did but they didn't seem so interesting.”

“Sunlight probably helps the appearance,” Dolce said, toying with one of the leaves and finding the hidden pocket there.

“Right, it's so dusky in there that stuff looks even dustier,” Pico said.

“Being cleaned up helps them too,” Kiel said.

Dolce then picked one up and unzipped the main pocket, poking around at it to find other hidden crannies. “Hmm, this has some interesting construction. Do you know who made them?”

He shook his head. “No, sorry. I don't think Bado would know either, it's been years since he got them.”

“It'd be nice to get one to study, for ideas,” Dolce said.

“And cause they're super cute and you'd like to wear one too, right?” Pico asked. “But you didn't make them, so I don't want to copy them.”

Vishnal chuckled. “Trying to get one made for you then?”

“Shh, not so loud!” Pico called, clenching her fists at him.

Dolce smiled at them, but turned to her usual quiet expression. “Could also be cute as a strawberry. Maybe some other produce, even a large one adapted to a baby supply bag.” They ended up buying two since Vishnal wanted one to use and Dolce said she might end up taking hers apart to see the pattern better. Although Kiel had the thought after they left that she could get a pattern without doing so. Bado and Doug had done so with the music box, so surely she could do just the same.

Around noon, Bado stopped by as well. Arthur was with him. “Good work on your marketing strategy,” Arthur said as he looked over the pricing board. “Especially the part about the trial at the inn, that's a nice touch.”

“I couldn't have done this without their help, so it's only right,” Kiel said. “Besides, some of the merchants here don't explore the town much beyond the marketplace. I hoped that might give them incentive to check out other places.”

“They run tight schedules, but we can hope they try,” he said.

“Having much luck with these things?” Bado asked about the purses.

Kiel smiled. “Yup, I brought out a hundred of them today and the twelve I've got on display there are all I've got left. Xiao said she'd clean up a few more and bring them out to me so that I don't have to end the sale before the day's half over.”

“Wow, what kind of sales pitch do you have going on them?” Bado asked, impressed at it.

“Nothing much past the offer,” he said with a shrug. “If someone's interested in them, I agree that they're cute, point out the hidden pockets, and make sure they know about the sale with the rest of it. I just got real lucky with one lady buying up a whole bunch, not even taking advantage of the sale.”

“That's always a nice luck to have,” Arthur said. “Why did she take so many?”

“That was a pretty cool story. She's the head of a social club called The Turnip Ladies and back when these were a fad, she really wanted to get a bunch to use at charity events and special club meetings. But they were always at a high price and then vanished out of Central Norad's markets when they went out of style. So she was really happy to see them again at a reasonable price. I told her that I had a bunch more still in the crate that were a bit dusty, so she took a good number of what I had here and said she'd get in contact with me if she wanted a couple hundred more.”

“Never heard of them,” Bado said, scratching his head. “Huh, so guess I just needed to figure out who actually wanted them.”

“That does help,” Arthur said, slightly amused at the obvious advice. “They're a nice group who do a lot for charity, so it wouldn't hurt to give them a low price on a large order.” A watch on his hand chimed, so Arthur checked it. “Pardon me, I have to get to a meeting with Lest since we've finally got Yang Fan in town.”

Kiel smiled. “Oh yeah, Xiao's dad. He stopped by a little while ago. I haven't got to actually talk to him much since he's nearly always out of town, but he seems like a cool guy.”

Oddly, Arthur was apprehensive of that. “I can't say that I have the same opinion of him. He has a very limited inventory since he focuses on buckets, but he is a sly shark among merchants and traders. Every time I meet up or even contact him, I feel I have to keep on my toes.”

“I wouldn't think selling buckets alone could get a guy by,” Bado said.

“Yang's different. You can trust him when it comes to buckets, but you still have to be cautious around him.”

Kiel hadn't seen that in him. Maybe that was just how Yang was in business.


	103. Word of Gossip

Autumn 50

Something was going on today. Xiao wasn't sure what, but she could feel it. Maybe it would be her father and Forte arguing again; it seemed like Corrin and Art didn't much like him either. Xiao loved her father, but knew he could be a difficult man to deal with. Especially with people who favored rules and order since Yang did not like to be bound or restricted by anything. It was amazing that Lest and Arthur managed to get him to sign a citizenship form, also that Lin Fa managed to get him married.

Or maybe it was something else. People were looking at her differently today. Some of them would start to ask her something, but then decide not to midway. While it was annoying, it was also worrisome. Was there something wrong with her today? Xiao had checked herself in the mirror several times but couldn't find anything.

Things didn't even look up when Arthur came in. His eye shifted from concern to annoyance to busy thinking during their conversation. Not even Jun being cute nearby distracted him. “May I check on your booking schedule for the rest of autumn?”

“Yes yes, are you wanting to set up a reservation?” Xiao asked, turning the room registration list to the season's block for future reservations.

“Not myself, but I need to recommend some times to others,” he said, taking the book so he could look over the dates better.

“What is it of concern to you?” she asked. “It seems to have you hurried.”

He nodded. “Right. My father's going to be visiting several regions soon and he's certain to visit Selphia this year.”

“Huh, we are going to have the high king here?” That was an exciting yet nerve-wracking prospect. Xiao knew that she could be informal with Lest and even Arthur here. But that was because they were neighbors too. King Gregory was a whole different matter and everything would have to be excellent to impress him.

“Well not in the inn, per say,” Arthur said. “As a guest of royal status and with political business, he'll likely be staying in the castle, along with the queen and whichever of my siblings come. But the guards with him might rent a room as well as any other members of the court, depending on how big of a retinue he brings this year. Plus a few will come ahead of time to check on how things are here and make sure it's secured for his visit.”

“I see. We will make good service for any who stay.” It might not be as intimidating as having the high king stay, but they'd still need to be on the ball to deal with royal knights, nobles, and courtiers. Hopefully they didn't have anyone allergic to cats.

“Could you hold off on making any reservations for these dates? They may just need to rent out the whole inn since I wasn't told how many were coming.”

It was for late autumn, not so late that it might conflict with the Harvest Festival. Also not so soon that it would interfere with this week and the fishing contest tomorrow, as there were already a number of bookings for today and the next two days. “Okay, I do not think anything should interfere.” She made a note on a small piece of paper to stick there with a paper clip.

“Oh, but try to keep word on this visit low for now,”Arthur said. “Things are still being arranged and locations might change. Although I'm almost certain he'll want to come here about our dealings with the empire.”

Xiao nodded. “Okay, got it.”

He paused for a moment, looking at her now. “While I'm here, well... please be careful of rumors.”

“Rumors, what for?” She looked up from her note and saw that he really was concerned about her.

“I've been hearing some troubling rumors concerning you and Kiel today,” he said. “Of course, I don't believe them because they seem extremely out of character. Others in town believe in you too so I'm sure they'll see things clearly. But visitors are another story. Try to keep calm and don't do anything rash; it should blow over if left alone.”

“What kind of rumors are we talking about?” Xiao asked. Was it about all the looks she was getting today? And those who would be speaking in the lobby but quiet down while seemingly talking of her?

“I've heard a few different ones, but one seems to suggest that you've been putting addictive enchantments into the baths with the salts that Kiel's been making for you,” Arthur said. “I reviewed their runes myself when I was advising him on what market avenues he should be looking into with them. And having watched you and your mother operate this inn for a few seasons, I'm certain you wouldn't try a sleazy strategy like that.”

“Certainly not, the bath is for refreshment, not profit,” Xiao said. But it was a good thing he was warning her of what was being said. Otherwise, she might get angry at the accusation if someone who didn't live in town made it.

He nodded. “I've said something to try dispelling the notion when it's come up, but rumors can be tenacious things. But that's the easier rumor to try breaking. The other one I've heard is that Kiel's been planning to dump you in order to date your mother soon.”

“That's even more ridiculous,” she said. “Momma's so oblivious that she only notices Poppa's affections and you could say that Kiel has known her longer then me since I traveled for several years.”

“That's the one I find really out of character since Kiel is one of the most sincere people I know,” Arthur said. “Normally it wouldn't be of concern, but I've heard both and variations on them fairly often today. So has Dylas. According to him, it's only popped up last night. It might be deliberate in having spread this rapidly, which worries us.”

“That is a problem,” Xiao said. “Thank you for the warning. I will have to be vigilant today.”

After he left, she waited until one of the residents that she knew could identify magic came in for a bath. Thankfully, it was Frey who could easily reassure her that there was nothing going on with the bath water that she didn't know about. That meant that any who questioned her about the bath rumor could be told that they could test it themselves as she was confident it was good water for an invigorating bath. Maybe not as invigorating as she was using up the last of the medium strength heavy spice salt, but still good.

But the rumor about Kiel trying to date her mother wasn't so easy to dismiss. Sure, it didn't seem like him. Xiao was sure he'd deny it if asked, but then anybody would whether it was true or not. Kiel was also a lot younger than Lin Fa, younger than herself too but only by a few years. If he had wanted to date her, for whatever reason, then he would have asked her and not tried to get to her through Xiao. She knew other men had tried that tactic, but they were a lot more shady than Kiel. Unless Kiel was a lot trickier than she gave him credit for... no, it was just wrong, he said he'd wanted to date her for several years but wasn't confident enough to ask. He was honest to a fault.

He could keep a secret, though. Xiao had learned recently that Forte had become a knight in part based on a promise she made to their dying mother. And, Kiel had overheard them but never said a word about it to anyone. That was while he was cursed, when he had been prone to spreading rumors himself. Maybe everyone just thought he was honest while he kept a lot more secrets. And maybe she was extremely lucky to have dated him, more good luck than she should be capable of having.

But he made cookies based off her name, and not just once. He did love her. Or maybe he didn't? She could think of many times when she came back to the inn to find him talking happily with Lin Fa. Of course, he'd smile at her and turn out to have been waiting for her to come in. Or had that been a lie? But surely her mother would have said something if she was involved with Kiel. Unless she hadn't noticed yet like she didn't notice when various men were hitting on her. Although Lin Fa did have some unluckiness in that Yang was home so rarely. She deserved a man who would be around more often, would be responsible, could cook and clean really well... but Kiel was dating her, not her mother. It was a silly rumor, probably started as Arthur thought by a visitor who misinterpreted something.

Yang came in in the early afternoon, glancing around as he did. “Seems to be clear,” he said, then headed to the desk. “Hey, if Forte comes in, tell her I'm not here, all right?”

“Why, is there something wrong?” Xiao asked. She didn't like being asked to trick Forte. Unless it was in jest; there was one time when Meg had been trying to put ribbons in Forte's hair and got Xiao and Clorica to help her get the knight to hold still while she did so. Although she hadn't fought as much as she could have, and lately Forte was experimenting on her own with styling her hair more.

“Just a misunderstanding, nothing big.” In spite of trying to hide out, he stopped for a moment there and smiled at her. “Don't worry about it. So how have things been going with you?”

That was right, she hadn't really gotten to talk to him much since he'd been out and around town the past couple of days. “It's been really good, a great time for Selphia,” she said. “And me. Some of my friends were looking for ways to improve and I joined them, which turned out great. From it, I have been learning to improve my spirit and body center so I have better balance. It's been working, so I do not break as many plates this season.”

“That's a handy way to lower expenses,” Yang said, although it was hard to tell if he was praising her or making fun of her. “What else?”

“Well, I got a new way to organize everything in the inn.” She patted the counter. “Things do not get put out of place and it's easier to see when we do need to order things. It saves time and the customers are happy with better service, yes?”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “Huh, well that'd be why things seem neater back there. But can Lin Fa follow it?”

“It was hard at first but she is getting better and following it,” Xiao said. “She gets used to it enough now that if something is misplaced, she will first check where it should be. And sometimes that is all that is needed.” Either because the item wasn't misplaced at all or because Xiao had put it back.

“That's good, we wouldn't want to trouble her,” Yang said. “What about your boyfriend?”

“What about him?” Xiao asked, feeling a bit nervous. It had to be a false rumor. “He's wonderful, yes? He cooks really well and often brings us lunch if it seems to be a busy day here. He doesn't mind helping to clean the bath and helps even more because of the bath salts he's been working on. And on my birthday, he took me on a picnic to Sharence.”

“That's quite a trip to make,” he said.

“We did take the airships and a few days, but it was fun. He bought me a nice kimono and also got the book that follows him around now.”

“Ah, so was he after the book and just took you along for the ride?”

Xiao shook his head. “No, that's not it. He heard of the book's sale coming at the same time but didn't want to miss out on my birthday. So he found a way to do both. He's nice like that.”

Yang shrugged. “He seems very nice, but I don't like to trust people like that. The nicest folks can turn out to be the meanest in disguise while some really mean ones turn out to actually be nice at heart.”

“Kiel's not like that, he could not be mean to anybody,” Xiao said, sure that it was true. Unless these rumors were true... they couldn't be. What was her father up to? When he seemed nice and asked questions, he was often up to something.

Just then, Forte entered the inn. “There you are,” she said sharply while glaring at Yang. “We have to talk.”

“Uh, well it seems I have some work to help with here, yes?” Yang said, trying to keep cool but Xiao could see the small signs that he was nervous and trying to work his way out of trouble.

She liked her father, but he thought he could get away with anything. Even pranks against her. “He has said to tell you that he is not here,” she said.

“Aw, Xiao, can't you play along right?” Yang asked her.

Forte nodded to her in thanks, but kept her attention on him. “Yang, we agreed the other day that the wingapedes that weren't actually in town weren't to be bothered. But I've heard several accounts that you've called several clusters into town limits. They had to be kept out of the community's way, not drawn into it!”

“The job as the request box card asked was to assist getting rid of wingapedes and ants, yes? I did that.”

“It's still irresponsible and now that you're a citizen of the town, you can't be drawing more danger to us.”

They argued back and forth for a while, but this one actually ended up in Forte's favor. Yang had to apologize and forfeit the reward for the request. While he was in a bad mood from that, it was nice to see that he didn't always win with his tricks.

* * *

 

When Arthur called him and Forte into his office, the last thing Kiel expected was to get a warning on rumors. But it was a good thing because they were pretty nasty. “Both of them are ridiculous stories,” Kiel said. “Though I wonder how they got started.”

“I know, but I didn't want you both to get into trouble over them,” Arthur said. “I already warned her earlier, although it wouldn't hurt to talk with her about it. But I do have news that's a great deal better. I got a letter today from Katarina's son thanking us for the excellent copy of the music box. He couldn't find another in the style, but this turned out a lot better than he thought. With the news that it was a replica of the box she'd given away, she was pleased in more than just having the music box herself. They asked me how to mail you in return, if you don't mind me giving out the contact information.'

“That's fine, it'd be nice to hear from her,” Forte said with a smile. “I'm glad she likes it.”

“Yeah, I hope it helps her out,” Kiel said. An item alone might not be enough to help her, but maybe some letters could help along with it.

After the meeting with Arthur, Kiel considered what he needed to pick up at the general store today. Although, he really should be leaving more of this to his sister. She should get used to doing more housekeeping herself now that she could. Eventually they'd both be getting married and would go to live in separate houses. Maybe not soon, but given how the year was going with four marriages so far, anything could happen.

“Kiel?” Forte asked, putting her hand on his shoulder from behind.

“Oh, what is it?” he asked, pausing. They were at the crossing where roads lead west and south, not far from Arthur's office door.

She came around to look at him. “Are you okay? You sound tired.”

“I'm fine, nothing to worry about,” he said. He did feel tired and sore in some places, but he could still get things done. Maybe he should take a nap like he'd been thinking. Although, he didn't think he was extra busy right now.

“You've been doing better lately, but you could still get sick. Don't neglect yourself.” Thankfully, she left it at that for now.

A few minutes later, he came out of the general store thinking about the rumors and what he could say to Xiao about them. She worried about a lot, so a warning might not keep it from bothering her. But just as the door shut behind him, someone ran right into him and knocked them both over. “Whoa, sorry,” he said, seeing that it was Vishnal. And he'd lost hold of his turnip bag along with some change from the purchase.

“Sorry, it's more my fault for running without looking,” Vishnal said, helping him get some of the coins back before grabbing his own turnip bag. “I have to be going. Oh, but there was some silly rumor about you...”

“I've heard, it's not true abut the bath salts or Lin Fa,” Kiel said, getting up while Vishnal was making sure he wasn't dirty. “Not sure why it got started.”

His friend smiled. “Of course, I didn't believe you'd do underhanded things like that. I don't know why either, but the person I spoke to said that he'd heard it from some bucket salesman.”

What? “Huh, but the only salesman I know of that specializes in buckets is Xiao's father,” Kiel said. “Why would he be saying such dumb things?”

“Well it is a rumor, so we can't even be sure on that,” Vishnal said. “I hope it doesn't involve him because it sounds like an awful cruel thing to do to his daughter.”

“I'll talk with Yang and Xiao and see if we can't clear things up,” Kiel said. “Thanks for letting me know, I won't hold you back any longer.”

“Oh right, I need to get something to Lest,” he said, looking really worried. But he ran off, so Kiel figured he'd ask later.

He went to put the change away in his coin bag rather than the hidden pocket, but there were several items that he didn't recognize inside. He must have grabbed the wrong bag as they both had the same turnip bags with them today. But an open letter caught his eye with mention of Forte's qualities as a knight. Kiel knew he probably shouldn't, but his curiosity was too much to ignore.

'Dear sirs:

With the sorrowful passing of the old divine wind Native Dragon and the ascension of a new divine wind Native Dragon, we believe it is time to review Forte's qualifications as the holy Dragon Knight. It was long tolerated having a woman in such a significant position due to the lack of other local candidates and the ignoble denials of her brother, but it has also come to our attention that a few other potentials are now citizens of Selphia. Selphia itself has been showing signs of growth, so it may be necessary to consider candidates who are not local but willing to move. After all, a woman is not as capable of handling such an important position in the defense of a region as a man.

Furthermore, we have discovered several incidents that prove that she herself is not capable nor qualified to remain a Dragon Knight. Such incidents include an unplanned absence of leave in early Autumn when the new divine wind had recently come into power, attempting to command knights of greater experience and reputation than herself, and recommending to knighthood a person who was previously stripped of nobility and possible knighthood due to immoral behaviors. The full list of grievances are listed on the included page.

We believe, with these faults and weaknesses, that Forte should be made to give up her sword or take a duel of honor with a candidate approved through official means to prove her worth.'

It had been signed by three royal knights from the capitol, including the head of the House of the Sword.

“That can't be right,” Kiel murmured, everything else going on today leaving his mind. He checked over the list of grievances to see what was going on.

With nearly all of them, he could immediately think of something to explain it. The absence of leave was the time when the curse was strong and they had to focus on getting it undone. Commanding knights with more experience was something that both Art and Corrin had agreed to from the start, which made Kiel sure that they'd dismiss the charge themselves. As for recommending an immoral person, it took him a moment to figure out that they meant Corrin. But she was physically a woman now, so there might even be arguments to counter that. The other charges were even weaker in logic.

Kiel could think of how to pick the arguments apart, but he needed proof. The castle would have records with such proof, and he needed to switch purses with Vishnal again. Hurrying over, he found Vishnal already in Lest's office, having realized the problem. “Sorry, we grabbed the wrong bags,” Kiel said, heading in.

“Thanks, I just noticed that,” Vishnal said, but then asked, “Um, did you see the letter?”

“Yeah, sorry about reading it, but I had to,” Kiel said, handing the bag back. “It's terrible, all those grievances have got it wrong. Only people who aren't around town would have a problem with all that.”

“This is about someone challenging Forte's position?” Lest asked, observing them.

“Yes, here's the letter,” Vishnal said. Lest took it to read over.

“It's horrible timing too,” Kiel said. “We were almost done with a plan to get some allies in the House of the Sword since their word holds a lot of weight among knights. But while we were working on that, they must have been working on this.”

“We've been delaying this for years, but they've finally come out and challenged her,” Vishnal said. “This isn't going to be easy to get out of.”

He knew it, but Kiel still wanted to find a way. “If we can prove that their grievances are ill founded, we might get them to retract it. But it'd be really hard to get a knight to back down from making a challenge like this since it goes against the code of chivalry and the one we'll have most trouble with is their idea that women aren't as capable as men. To get them to even consider retracting it, we'd have to be able to counter all the grievances.”

“Couldn't we get Doomgale to back Forte up?” Vishnal asked. “Not even a knight would want to go against the word of a Native Dragon.”

“Possibly, but even if I'm sure Gale would agree to it, they could weasel out of it because she's still a young dragon,” Lest said, rubbing his forehead. “Sheesh, another issue coming up at this time. I'm not even sure how to go about countering this since I don't know the code of chivalry that this seems dependent on.”

“If I could get some time in the castle records, I can find the evidence to disprove or counter nearly all of that,” Kiel said. “We'll have to talk to some people for testimony to counter others, including the one about recommending your dad as a knight. I don't know what to do about the one on her gender.”

“We could secure arguments against the rest and figure out what to do about that when we know the others can be solidly disproved,” Vishnal said.

Lest nodded slowly, but looked at Kiel intently. “I see. While I don't have a problem in giving you access to the castle records for this, I'm not sure about giving you access now.”

“Why not?” Kiel asked, nearly losing this temper. This was really important! Forte could lose her dream. But this time, he could protect her with his talents.

“Your chi is sluggish and weak, like you're sick,” Lest explained. “I couldn't diagnose you or anything, but you don't look well from your face to your runes. Because of that, I don't like the idea of giving you a big project like this unless Jones says you'll be fine with the work.”

This was going to be tough to talk him out of. “It's not like it's heavy work. I am a bit tired, but that's nothing to worry about. Even if I tried to sleep, I'd just be worried about this, so let me do some work towards getting it solved.”

“I still don't like this,” Lest said. “Vishnal, would you accompany him? And be sure to stop him if he seems to be getting worse.”

“Yes, I'll keep a good eye on him,” the butler said, adding in a salute for good measure.

“Fine, that should help too,” Kiel said.

* * *

 

While they were making good progress towards disproving the grievances against Forte, Vishnal was still worried about Kiel. He seemed worn out at first and didn't improve as the day went on. He even let Kiel stay at a desk to work on the arguments while he went through the shelves searching for the files he wanted. Still, he seemed pale, rubbed at his shoulders as if they were sore, and was determined to keep working at this as long as he could. Knowing Kiel, he could do this kind of research through the night without realizing it.

He barely recognized as dinner time came and passed. At 1845, Vishnal nudged him. “Hey, want to go to the restaurant to eat?”

“Is it dinner time?” Kiel asked, looking towards the clock and staring at it for a moment like he didn't quite see it. “Oh, you're right. Sure, if we're at a good point to stop...”

“We're done with this file, so that seems good,” Vishnal said. “I already let Volkanon know to leave the files here for the time being.”

“Okay, though I made notes on which ones we used,” he said. Vishnal had to nudge him to get him to leave his seat and walk over.

At the restaurant, things were winding down. “Sorry, we got a little caught up in work,” Vishnal said as Dylas brought them to an empty table.

“It's fine, we can still get you covered,” he said, then let them know what was still available from the menu and what Porco could cook for them quickly as a couple options were sold out.

Kiel looked like he was still thinking over the work, so he didn't notice as Vishnal wrote a quick note to pass off to Dylas when he came back with drinks. 'He may be getting ill but he's not going to stop working like this. Would you please get him something to help him sleep? I'm afraid he won't if I leave him at home.' Dylas looked over the note from his writing pad, then gave a nod before heading back to the kitchen.

Unfortunately, Yang Fan came into the restaurant while they were half through their meal. “He'o, you hard work folks out for late dinner? I came for a late drink.” He took a seat at their table without asking.

“It's not that late to be getting off,” Vishnal said. He had worked well into the night sometimes. Although now that he and Clorica were both married, Volkanon was taking the night shifts alone.

“I hope you have fun as it is not much good to work hard long late when work not fun,” Yang said.

Dylas came by to check on what Yang wanted, during which Kiel looked at him thoughtfully. Once he had the drink, Kiel asked, “Hey, Yang? Were you helping to spread those rumors about the inn today?”

“Now why would you think that?” he asked with a neutral expression. Which made Vishnal think that maybe he did have something to do with this. Most people would get angry about that kind of question. Or maybe Yang was just really composed.

“You are the only bucket salesman in town and I've heard two people mention it came from such a person,” Kiel said.

Then Yang gave a smirk, pleased at it for some reason. “Makes sense, so it seems you've got me figured out. I was the one who started it and about you as well, and encouraged some of the growth when it turned more interesting. But don't tell Xiao.”

“But why would you do that to her?” Kiel asked, his weariness coming through as his anger only came half through. “She and Lin Fa have been working hard to get the inn a good reputation and even just rumors of using drugs in the baths can wreck them for years to come.”

“You are being alarmist, boy,” Yang said, confident in his plan. “It can be proven wrong with little effort. In a few days, people will have forgotten with a new topic to gossip about. That is how things always go, yes?”

“It could be worse now with the contest tomorrow,” Vishnal said, taking Kiel's side. “If that's what the visitors hear and they leave before knowing what's going on, they'll take that impression with them back home.”

“Right, words aren't something to use carelessly,” Kiel said.

“I do have a plan,” Yang said. “This is a test, so leave her to figure out what to do. See, I'm not home very much, but I am always left to worry if it is a good idea to leave Xiao with Lin Fa.”

“What does that have to do with any of this?” Vishnal asked. “They're happy working together.”

Yang shook his head. “It may look that way, but it is a matter of the stars, see? Lin Fa was born under a very lucky star and so she has extraordinary good luck. Believe me, I have seen her make mistakes in thoughtlessness that would ruin another person, but it always works out for her. She even got lucky with me as I would not be tied down by anything else in the world. But Xiao was born under a misfortunate star and so she has extraordinary bad luck. No matter how hard she works, and she does, things will never work out for her. That is just how things are.”

“That can't be right,” Kiel said, although he didn't seem sure of it. “She's been doing well lately. And a person's astrological influence couldn't be that bad.”

“No, it is that bad,” Yang said. “Everything, like the time, day, and place of her birth, that marked Xiao for bad luck to increasing degrees. She must work twice as hard as anyone else to be doing well and that can be lost quickly. Which makes it even more unfortunate that her mother is so lucky. Xiao does admire her mother, yes. But is it hero-worship or is it defeatism? It would be all too easy to think in that situation that she could never live up to her mother and then give up on having any good to her life. I don't want that, but there's not a lot I could do.”

“Well you aren't around a lot,” Vishnal said, which made him think that Yang wasn't helping this situation at all. In fact, he was being a jerk in starting these rumors. Not just against Xiao, but Kiel didn't deserve this either. Yang barely knew Kiel (which Vishnal knew because Kiel said he barely knew Yang), so to make him out to be a heartbreaker like this was awful.

“I can't keep still long enough to live in one place,” Yang said as if that was a suitable excuse. “In fact, I tried to help once by taking Xiao along on my journey to get her out of her mother's shadow when she was most vulnerable. To have a broader perspective and perhaps find some things to counter her bad luck, it should have been a great thing. But both Lin Fa and Xiao weren't happy about it even if they agreed to it at the start. Lin Fa would write that she missed her girl so much and Xiao always going off on her own to cry. I found her out on bridges a lot no matter how I tried to keep an eye on her.”

“Why bridges?” Vishnal asked. It wasn't that odd, but he wondered why that particular detail would be what he remembered.

However, Yang just shrugged. “Who knows? Probably for the views even if some weren't very high views.”

“What, you don't know why she loves bridges?” Kiel asked, finding that surprising.

“Who can explain why anyone likes anything?” Yang said. “Sometimes I do not know why I like certain things over others, so how should I know about someone else?” Kiel frowned and looked away, which Yang ignored. “I had to bring her back to her mother in the end, but it's come to the point of troubling me again. Hence why I had to test her in such a way. If she doesn't pass, well, I'm going to take Lin Fa this time and not come back because Xiao won't be able to break out of her shadow with her around constantly.”

“What?” Vishnal asked in shock. Kiel looked alarmed at the idea too. “I don't see how that's going to help because that's going to put all the responsibilities of the inn on Xiao with her mother suddenly gone. Nobody could handle that well.”

“You think, but at some point you have to sink or swim, yes?” He seemed satisfied with that as he left their table to talk to some others soon after.

Kiel wouldn't finish his meal after that, didn't say much either. When they left, Vishnal had to walk him back home, partly because Dylas' enchantments were kicking in. He was hoping to get Kiel back home and to bed soon, but they came across Blossom, Doug, and Amber out together on the western road by the royal farms. Amber was now living with them above the general store since Doug hadn't wanted to leave Blossom by herself; her age left her elderly while, as an elf, Iluminata was not as vulnerable even if she was older.

“Hey Kiel, what's up with you?” Doug asked in concern. “You don't look so good.”

“I'm just tired, I'll be fine,” Kiel said, trying to defy his physical condition. He did that worryingly often and Vishnal had only known him for two years. Even though she should know him better, Vishnal made a mental note to make sure Forte was aware that he wasn't doing well.

“I still agree that you seem sick, but we'll see how you are in the morning,” Vishnal said.

“I hope you'll be not sick,” Amber said. “Is it cause of the hurtful things people are saying? Cause they're dumb and wrong about it. Don't listen to them and be tough.”

“I don't know if they're hurtful in that manner,” Doug said. “But still dumb, I agree.”

At first, it seemed like he might brush off their concern. But Kiel also wavered on his feet like he might pass out. Vishnal quickly took his arm and something about all of their concern caused him to break. “She doesn't deserve any of that, but she doesn't even realize the rumors happened because her dad's a cruel jerk and he says it's some kind of test or he'll run off with Lin Fa. It's got a dumb reason behind it too, it's stupid. I want to help her but he said not to and before that, we got word that some knights in the capitol have challenged Forte's qualifications as a Dragon Knight when they obviously don't know anything about her skill and dedication. I want to help, but why'd this all have to happen at once?”

He was crying now, which got Amber to hug him. “That's awful, but you have to take care of yourself too, okay? Cause you won't help as good if you're not well.”

“At least don't try to handle everything yourself,” Blossom said. “There's plenty of people who'd be more than happy to help the three of you out.”

“But I don't want to be someone who's always dependent on others,” Kiel said. Although there wasn't much time to reassuring him from that as he was falling asleep. Doug followed along so that they could talk about how to help their friend out of this mess. Although some of it was up to him and Xiao to clear things up between them.


	104. Never Gonna Give Up

Autumn 51

Something got Xiao's parents to talk over breakfast about their wedding even though the conversation had started about the fishing contest today. “It did come about quickly, but sometimes it's better to keep running with what happens than to stop and think about it,” Yang said. “Otherwise you miss the chance forever.”

“No, I'm pretty sure it came quickly because my parents insisted you take responsibility for us,” Lin Fa said.

“Oh please, don't put such a negative spin on it,” he said, making her laugh. Xiao didn't think it was so funny. “I was claiming what was mine because a lot of others would have been happy to steal you away if I didn't act fast.”

“I don't think it was a lot because you were the only one to ask me out.”

Yang smiled, in the same kind of way if he won out in a business deal. “Trust me, there were and probably still are. Doesn't worry me any since I know you're better than to be messing around.”

“It seems I do have to say to a lot that you are married,” Xiao said. She hated those moments when some stranger was asking about her mother and she had to keep nice and pleasant as she was working. It was really awkward, especially if they tried flirting with her but still looked right to Lin Fa when she walked in. Although, she was really pretty and cute in her carefree manner while Xiao could never manage to be convincingly carefree.

“I bet they're really surprised to hear that you aren't married yet,” Yang said. “All the girls back home were already married with one or two kids at your age.”

“Poppa, that's not the only goal allowed for girls here,” Xiao said.

“Now you be careful with that kind of thinking,” he said. “I hear that mostly from selfish young people who don't want to contribute to society and would rather advance their hedonistic ends.”

“Aren't you always chasing your hedonistic ends?” Lin Fa asked with an innocent smile. “If I've got the word right, I'm never sure with big words like that.” A chuckle escaped Xiao because she did have it right in a way. But whether or not she really was innocent and ignorant of what it meant, that was harder to pin down.

“My life is anything but hedonistic,” Yang said, tapping his fork on his plate. “It's not often that I can be sure of having nice warm meals like this.”

As Xiao left the inn for the day, she wondered whether to find Kiel or not. She watched people registering for the contest. The spring fishing contest had been fun, but more because she and the other girls had gone to play kickball after a while. However, the summer contest and this autumn one were both real tests of skill in fishing. The summer one was about catching the largest fish while this was about catching the largest variety of fish. Could she keep up with that? She yawned before deciding that it would probably be too hard for her to have a chance in. Leon, Bado, and especially Dylas were just too good to compete with in a skill-based contest like this.

That left her with either going back to the inn, watching the others, or talking to Kiel. She wanted to do the last, yet at the same time was scared of what she might find. Last night, she had herself convinced that it was unlike Kiel to play anyone else like that. Once she was trying to fall asleep, she started doubting that all over again. It was all too easy to imagine him laughing at her and saying that he had been after Lin Fa all along. Everybody looked to Lin Fa before Xiao and did things for her first. Even Yang had brought Xiao home after their travels because Lin Fa was sad and lonely working at the inn alone. And then he'd taken back off in less than two weeks. They were her parents, though, and it would make her a really bad person if she hated them.

Xiao ended up going to the lake to watch the others fish, thinking that when she saw Kiel, she could talk with him then. However, a couple hours in and she still hadn't seen him. It seemed like everyone was out, from Wendy (occasionally swearing at trying to learn to fish during a fishing contest, while Meg kept alternating from trying to help her to laughing) to Lest (acting as a judge this time so Volkanon could participate). Even Amber was out here, not fishing and flitting away when someone had a fish, but trying to be social all the same. Kiel didn't seem to be anywhere. Xiao saw Dylas when he was trying to keep to the trees where other people weren't fishing, but not Kiel who would have been out talking to people.

Because neither of them were participating, Xiao ended up talking with Amber. “I do not mind fishing on my own, but I would not have the skill to keep up with people here.”

“I try not to be scared cause the little fish can't eat me,” Amber said. “But I nearly got ate once and that's way too scary to forget.”

“I suppose so,” Xiao said, looking around and still not seeing him. She sighed without realizing it.

“Is something the matter?” Amber asked, tilting her head. “Is it about those dumb rumors? Cause nobody here believes them.”

“That is nice to know, I guess,” she said. “I kind of want to talk to Kiel about it, and kind of don't because it's got me nervous. But I haven't seen him yet today. Or yesterday, I didn't see him at all then. Is he avoiding me?” That could be a really bad sign that there was some truth to the rumors.

Amber actually pouted at that. “I saw him yesterday. But he was really unhappy and might be sick, so that'd be why he hasn't come out today.”

“What, he's sick?” Xiao asked, feeling a pang in her heart. Suddenly it didn't matter so much if there was some truth to the rumors because Kiel had a tendency to take illnesses hard.

Shrugging, she said, “Nobody was sure, but maybe. He was supposed to go to bed early yesterday and take it easy today, especially since he got real worried about the rumors and Forte and worked a lot trying to do something about it. But I only heard Forte say that he was going to stay inside during the contest instead of participate.”

“I know about the awful rumors, but what was he worried about Forte about?” There was a lot that could mean, since he worried if she was in trouble, if she was injured, or even if she was being overprotective when he didn't want her to be.

“Some other knights from the capitol said that she shouldn't be a Dragon Knight and they want to make her prove she should be, something like that.” Amber shook her head. “They probably don't know anything about her cause she's strong and awesome. She helped Ven out lots and she can protect little Gale real well too.”

That made her feel bad. With all that hanging over him, Kiel would feel terrible and work against his health trying to fix things he hadn't broke. He did that an awful lot. “I see,” Xiao said, then thought of something else. “Even if he's not well, I know he doesn't like being stuck at home on a day like today. I'll go check on him and see if he wants to take a little walk. Not far so he doesn't get tired out, but it would help.”

Amber grinned. “Yeah, go cheer him up! That's an important thing to do when you love someone.”

“Thanks Amber, I will do that,” she said. Then she left the lake area to go to Kiel's home.

When she knocked at the front door, there was no answer. Xiao waited a minute and tried again. Hoping that she was a close enough friend to not be minded, she went inside as the door was unlocked. There wasn't a lot of crime, but the Greenwinds had a lot of antiques and valuable heirlooms that called for such caution. She looked around and quickly found him in a study on the first floor. With a lot of documents spread out on the desk, he was writing a draft in pencil.

“Kiel?” she asked, coming into the study. “Here you are.”

“Huh, Xiao?” Startled, he lost hold of the pencil and had to quickly grab it from hitting the floor. “When did you get in?” He sat back up and went still for a moment like he felt dizzy.

“I knocked but you must not have heard,” she said, taking his hand before he could argue. “Are you okay? Your skin feels cold.”

He nodded. “I'm fine, it's just a bit cool in here. Must have been focusing on this too hard, since I should have heard the door from here. Sorry, I've been drafting this counter argument against a list of faulty grievances came from the capitol. It's for Forte, she wouldn't be sure how to organize and word this even if she lives by chivalry more than I do.”

“Maybe you have been working a bit too hard if your hands are cold this time of year,” Xiao said. “But, well, I wanted to talk with you about some things going around town.”

His eyes widened at that. “Oh right, that. Man, I kept telling myself that I had to talk with you, but then this challenge and grievances came up against my sister and then Lest convinced Vishnal that I might be getting sick. Sorry, I really should have talked with you right away but there's so much going on...” he seemed at a loss for where to go with his apology.

“There has been a lot going on, yes?” Xiao said, gripping his hand. “A lot of it seems to be headaches all the way. But, well, do you want to go for a short walk outside? You seem like you can use a break. Besides, I remember long time ago you said that you didn't like being stuck in the house alone when the rest of your family was off doing important things.”

“You remembered that?” he said with a sad kind of smile.

She nodded. “Of course. Well maybe today your work is important too, but you should take a break or you'll get all fuzzy headed thinking a lot. Get some sun and some time to breathe.”

“Sure, I should be able to leave this off for now,” he said, standing up. “Where do you want to go?”

She had thought about it on the way over. “Well the lake is busy with lots of people, not really a place for a break today. I had been thinking of going to visit the mushroom bridge, but if you're not okay, we can go somewhere in town.”

“That's not that far out of town,” Kiel said. “And the main road's been clear of monsters for a while, so it shouldn't be any trouble to go out there. Yeah, let's go see the bridge.”

“You sure? I don't want to push you.”

“I'll be fine,” he reassured her.

Even if he tried to convince her of that, she made sure to bring some water bottles and intentionally take things slow. Kiel's mind was still on his document, so Xiao let him explain about the grievances against Forte and how he was breaking them apart. The biggest obstacle was one they couldn't easily deny even if it was wrong. Because knights were traditionally men, the capitol knights thought that a woman would not be capable of being one. The only knight that Kiel could think of who was a woman before Forte was Dylas' sister Braidy and she'd kept her gender hidden so well that Kiel, an expert on local history, had only heard about it this past summer.

They had reached the bridge by that point, this side surrounded by the forest of giant mushrooms. While it was an incredible scenery she'd appreciated more after her trips around the world, what was around them wasn't on Xiao mind. “Wait, but his sister was the Red Knight, yes?”

“What?!” Kiel asked in shock, as if he hadn't thought of that. “He never said that.”

Which was odd. “Well that is what would make sense, yes?” she said. “You've told me a lot about the Red Knight over the years cause you love the story and he was very influential on all knights in Norad. But see, Dylas' sister was Braidy Leland and the Red Knight was Branden Leland, which would be an easy shift of names if she wanted to be taken for a man. Braidy got secretly married and supposedly the Red Knight never got married, but that fits right.”

“Oh man, I'd even wanted to ask him if he knew Branden Leland but didn't think of it when he told us about Braidy,” Kiel said, thinking it over.

Xiao put a hand to her chin. “And also, the very image of him or her is the rust red sword that was an heirloom that he gave up to prove his loyalty to Selphia and the high king of Norad. You told me a few times that it was registered in the royal treasure as the Catfish Sword, no? Even though you were not sure of the origin. But I have heard Dylas talk of a time when he took revenge on a giant catfish that tried to swallow his little sister by making it swallow a sword instead and then dispatching it later. So if Dylas was important to Braidy like Forte is important to you, wouldn't it make sense that she would use the sword he used, even if just that once to save her?”

“Oh my gosh, that fits perfectly,” Kiel said. “He didn't mention anything about the sword being special when I heard that story, but it did spend three years in the gut of that catfish. That could be why it looked the way it did, if it did rust but the magic of the catfish kept it strong and sharp at the same time. And Branden Leland is one of the most legendary of knights in Norad. If we could prove that Branden was really Braidy, that would totally destroy their argument that women would be poor knights. We might even request that they test the Catfish Sword to see if its runes match the story.”

“Or if there was someone who could see into the past of a sword like Leon can see into the past of a book,” Xiao said.

“That would take an earthmate, but I'm sure one could be found,” he said. “I'll have to talk to Dylas about seeing if he has anything to add to such proof. Man, but that just makes the Red Knight story even more amazing!”

Xiao laughed; this wasn't what she meant to talk with him about, but it was still a great thing. “Maybe he would be shy, but I think he would help.”

Kiel laughed too. “It might not seem like it, but he really cares about his sisters. I think he'd love it if she got her proper recognition. Thanks Xiao, I have no idea how I missed that, but it helps so much.”

“Well you have had lots to think about lately,” she said. “I'm happy to help. It's just, well, I'm sorry to change the subject so soon, but it's about those rumors that have been going around. I want to believe you and I feel like I should. But I can't stop worrying about it and Poppa keeps needling me with questions.”

“They're not true at all,” Kiel said, tugging her to go onto the bridge with him. “I mean, if I had wanted to date Lin Fa, I would have asked her myself. Which is an incredibly silly idea because she's your mother and way too airheaded for me to be around a lot... sorry, what I mean is, I don't mind talking to her in little bits, but talking with her as much as I do you would drive me nuts.”

Xiao felt like crying in shame for not thinking of that. “Oh. Well, I could see how that would be with you. Heh, and yes, for a smart person like you, Momma would be airheaded. She was talking just this morning about not being sure she was using the word hedonistic right, although things like that make me wonder if it's an act sometimes.”

“Kind of a weird act,” Kiel said. “I like her, but you're the one I love. Even for things like this, talking me out of work for a walk. I know you care about me and that makes me happy.”

“That's good, I want you to be happy because I've seen you try to hide your sadness too much,” Xiao said. “And like I said before, you're my good luck charm. With you, I actually feel important to someone even though I'm clumsy with bad luck and worry too much. It seems I've messed up again, but don't worry! You're too important to me and I'm never gonna give up on you no matter what happens or what people say. I love you and all I want is your love in return.”

“Xiao, I feel the same way, all of it,” Kiel said quietly.

Hearing that made her feel like being bold. Her parent's wedding had been messed up because Lin Fa had already been pregnant with her. But, sometimes you did need to be quick to claim what was yours. “Kiel, how about we get married?”

“Huh?” He looked at her in shock and his hand was shaking.

Was he afraid? “Oh, sorry sorry, was that too bold?” she asked. “I wouldn't want to make you if you did not want to, but I thought if you felt the same as I do, we would work to be together.”

“No, that's not it,” Kiel said, still shaking. “I'd be happy to marry you, it was just... a surprise.”

“Is something wrong Kiel?” Hearing herself, she wondered, “Is it too many questions?”

“I'm tired,” he said, quiet again. His eyes didn't seem right for a moment before he collapsed.

“Kiel?!” Xiao knelt down and checked on him. Working at the inn, she found it good to know how to help someone in an emergency until the doctor could arrive. He was unconscious but his skin really was cold even for the autumn air. They were out on the bridge, so she had to cast Escape to get them back to the town gate. Glancing around, she called for the first person she saw to go get Jones and someone who could help get Kiel into the clinic.

Leon was the one who arrived to get them there, with Jones and Nancy at the clinic ready to help. Once Kiel was in bed, Nancy gave Alice to Leon. “Here, why don't you play with her in the other room? Think of it as good practice.”

“Sure, I think I've got it,” Leon said, leaving them.

Once he was outside of the screen, Nancy tried to keep things light by quietly saying, “Well sooner or later you've got to learn that being a parent isn't all fun and games. It might be a nice realization before his own children are around.” She went to get a clipboard to write down symptoms.

“Yes, I see that enough in the guests with young children,” Xiao said.

Meanwhile, Jones had been checking over Kiel. “This looks unfortunately familiar,” he said, carefully pulling one of his eyelids up. “Anemic, wearing down early... what exactly happened here?”

“Well Amber mentioned that Lest thought he might be sick because I hadn't seen him today or yesterday,” Xiao said. “He said he felt well enough to take a walk down to the mushroom bridge. He seemed okay and we took a slow pace. After we talked a while, I proposed and he fainted at it.”

Nancy giggled and it seemed like Jones nearly did, barely turning it into a cough. “I see. That reminds me of something that happened with Nancy once or twice.”

“Maybe, but I don't think it's the same thing,” Nancy said.

Despite the situation, Xiao smiled a little. “That does sound like you. Actually, there were a few small things. He'd been talking just fine until a few seconds before he passed out. His hands were shaking and his eyes looked odd. I don't know what about them, but it didn't seem right. And his touch felt cool even before we went out.”

“He's always had frail health, but he's gotten persistent in covering up when he doesn't feel right,” Jones said. “Yes, sometimes these symptoms do pass on their own, but he should know what precautions to take when they show up so it doesn't get this bad. It's an illness he's had for a long time that we can't fully cure, separate from the curse that showed up later.”

“Oh dear, and he seemed to be doing so well too in not having to stay here for long,” Nancy said, patting Kiel's head even though he was still unconscious. “Xiao, if you are going to marry him, you should pay close attention to his health and make sure he doesn't ignore what his body is telling him.”

Right, if she was, she would be responsible for his health as well. Xiao nodded. “Yes, I'll watch over him.”

* * *

 

It seemed like a long time since he'd woken up like this, feeling cold, weak, and tired in the clinic bed. Still, Kiel recognized it before he even opened his eyes. Not here again. He'd spent more time recovering here than he liked, not able to leave this bed. Even worse, this was where his mother had died.

Every time he was sick like this, he worried that he might not survive either. He didn't want to die. There was too much he wanted to do in life still, like gaining recognition as a great alchemist or continuing his list of books he wanted to read (which seemed like a never-ending list since he kept adding onto it). More immediately, he wanted to protect Forte in the best way he could, doing something she could not. And Xiao had just asked to marry him...

Wait, were they engaged now?

Kiel opened his eyes and found something different. Forte wasn't in the room. Usually, she would stick around whenever she could. Maybe there was some business with the contest going on that she had to handle. Instead, Xiao was somehow reading from the Tome of Phaedrus. She wasn't strong in magic so the book should not have liked her. But she did keep petting its cover. That may have been enough for it to keep still and open.

It took a moment for him to find his voice. “What are you reading?”

“Oh, you're awake?” she asked, loosening her grip as the book left her to hover near him. “I was waiting so I started talking quietly to it. Then I asked if it had a simple story or information I could understand, and it did give me something to learn about the arrangement of the rune elements.” She smiled. “It was kind enough that when I wasn't sure of something, it rearranged its own words so I did.”

Kiel smiled back, then tried to pet the book in thanks. It had to move in his reach since he felt so weak. “Heh, it's a powerful book even of its kind to be able to change its own words to help the reader. Though impressive you got it to cooperate.”

“I just did what I've seen you do,” Xiao said.

Then Nancy came in and fussed over him taking a walk outside of town when he didn't feel well. As she adjusted the bed so he could sit up and drink a vegetable smoothie, Jones came in too and reviewed the usual instructions, rebuking him too about watching his health better. Kiel tried not to mind it too much. They were caring people who wanted to help, that was why they worked like this. Still, he wished someone could do something more to stop this altogether.

Once they had left him and Xiao alone again, Kiel asked, “Did my sister come in?”

She nodded. “Yes, but they are busy with all the visitors in town. She said that she trusted you were in goods hands with me.” She smiled and blushed at that. “I didn't tell her about what we talked about yet, mostly because we didn't get to talk long on it.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said.

“Well you can't help when you fainted, but you could have agreed to a shorter walk in town if you felt that worn down,” Xiao said. “Never mind that, I hope this doesn't last long.”

“Yeah, me too.” He was sure that nobody would agree to hold the wedding if he couldn't stay on his feet for it. And really, he wouldn't want to make Xiao worry. “We'll wait.”

“Um, I hope you really don't mind that I asked to be married so soon,” she said, brushing her bangs aside. “All that has happened made me think that I want to always be with you. Even now, even if I have to keep bothering you to pay attention to your health and not let yourself get so bad.”

He tried to smile at that. “I don't think I'll mind it from you. I don't want to make you worry.” That made him think of something else. “Um Xiao? About those rumors?”

“Well I'm not worrying about them now and all our friends don't believe them.”

While it made him nervous to say something troubling, it would be worse if she didn't know the truth. “Actually, I found out yesterday that, your dad was the one who started them.”

“Huh, Poppa did?” Although she seemed less shocked and more like she was connecting the dots.

He bowed his head. “Sorry, I know you love him, but he's a jerk. He didn't want me to tell you, saying it was some kind of test to make sure that you weren't being defeatist because your mom's so lucky in managing to drift successfully through life. It was absurd, especially when he said that if you failed, he'd take Lin Fa with him once he left town again.”

“I had a feeling, especially after what some said,” she said sadly. “It is like him.” Then she got angry and hit her leg. “Why's he got to be difficult like this? And to bother you like that the first time he gets to really meet you?”

“I just felt really bad that he'd treat you like that,” Kiel said, barely keeping himself from adding that he thought it was cruel.

Xiao sighed. “It has always been this way, of sorts. You know, I think he played us both so roughly with the point of getting us married. It would make sense of why he kept bringing the topic up but not asking me directly if we would marry. Like saying I should already be married with kids like others he knows.”

“Geez, and he'll probably feel proud it ended up like he wanted before he splits town before the wedding,” he said.

“That would be just like him,” she agreed. “But, he is officially a citizen of Selphia now. Lest and Arthur made sure. We could tell people the truth. It's got to count for something to be spreading such hurtful lies knowing they're false.”

“Slander?” Kiel said. But other thoughts clicked into place. His head ached, but he could still work it out. At least plans. “People should know the truth. But, we have to be careful. If we made people hate him, Yang might be able to shrug it off. Lest is affected badly by hate, I think even if it's not directed at him. I don't want to trouble him like that.”

“Me either. Though, it might be a little late. I know Forte does not take kindly to Poppa; they got in an argument yesterday.” She sighed again. “He gets away with a lot of things, usually by faking ignorance.”

“I want to do something about him, but I can't sit up on my own right now,” Kiel said. “But, I think if we ask the right people, we can make sure he pays for what he's done this time. Then the trick will just be getting him to stick around and I'm sure our neighbors can help in that.”

“I'll ask, but what do I ask?” Xiao said.

* * *

 

The sun was setting and the castle bells had tolled for 1800 hours. Nearly everyone gathered in the plaza to wait for the prize ceremony. There, Xiao finally found Dylas when he wasn't busy with fishing. “Dylas, a moment please,” she said, coming to his side.

“About what?” he asked, glancing at her.

“I'm doing some work for Kiel, since he's ill,” she said. That made his expression soften; he was worried about him. “And Forte. She's been challenged for her position by some other knights, but she might not have to fight if we can prove all their points false. And, it seems you may know something. I have heard that your sister pretended she was a man to be a knight. Did she use the name Branden Leland?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and they called her the Red Knight because of the sword she used.”

That made her smile for getting this right. “See, that is exactly what we needed to hear. Did you know that the Red Knight is a legend across all of Norad for being recognized as one of the best knights in history?”

He raised his eyebrows at that. “No... really?”

“Yes, you should ask Kiel more about it,” Xiao said. “As it turns out, one of the points of the challenge against Forte is that women do not make good knights. But if you have something to prove that one of the legendary knights was actually a woman, then that means they have no points to challenge her with as Kiel and now Arthur can disprove everything they said about her.”

After thinking about it a moment, Dylas said, “I'm not sure what kind of proof you'd need. I've got her letters, also some seals of her position as a Dragon Knight. Oh, and I'm not sure how much it helps, but she left a card stating that the sword had been accepted by the royal treasury of the high king. And the box it was all in was notarized, so it has the dates it was sealed and unsealed.”

“I would think that would be more than enough help,” Xiao said.

“Hey Xiao, whatcha up to?” Yang appeared near her. Where from? Not that it mattered, he was right where she wanted him.

Fortunately, she was saved from answering by Lest speaking up and quieting the crowd. “Sorry this has taken some time, we're finishing sorting things out,” he said, then looked towards her and smiled. He was good about acting casual about this. “Oh, hey Xiao, I just heard that you and Kiel got engaged. Congratulations.”

“Yes, thank you,” she said happily. There were some cheers and clapping from the crowd. It was fun getting to be the center of attention like this for a few seconds.

“I also heard that your father Yang here had something to do with it,” Lest said.

She had to keep casual too and not show how frustrated she was that he'd done things the way he had. “Yes, it was mostly his doing.”

“What you talking about?” Yang said, although he had a smug smile. “I just said some things, yes?”

“Yes, that seems to be what's happened,” Lest said. Continuing on with a threat veiled in pleasantry, he added, “You spread malicious false rumors about her and her partner as well as the inn that your wife owns. Those rumors could have potentially destroyed both the inn and Kiel's alchemy shop when you know very little about him and know that your family would not dare use underhanded methods at the inn baths that they take great pride in. But you got what you wanted, so was it worth it?”

The plaza seemed extra quiet with anticipation as people were hooked on the unexpected drama. Yang had a look resembling that of a winter wooly knowing that it was about to get sheared. “It was not intended to harm, rumors come and go all the time.”

Smiling at him, Lest came over and gave him a piece of paper. “At least we can be glad that the truth came out of who your neighbor really loves and of the hard honest work they all put in to make the inn what it is. Since you are responsible for causing this wedding to occur out of libel and slander, you will either report to a court session or take care of this.”

“Take care of what?” he asked, taking the paper and looking it over. From Xiao's angle, she could only see a list of prices.

“The bill for all the services required to hold the wedding,” Lest said, still friendly in his tone. “After some thought, myself, all the listed people, and a few more besides agree that this is a suitable penance for your words.” There were more cheers from those who had known this would happen

That was Kiel's main idea. As a merchant, being asked to foot such a bill was a kick to the gut. It was particularly effective as Yang could laugh off a lot of things, but not having to give over so much money at once for something that didn't directly benefit him. “What, you crazy? Listen, I know Sef'a traditions and I know the castle usually gives some benefit to community volunteers for members of community in wedding.”

“Well you want to support your daughter, right?” Lest asked. “You can hold a meeting with Lady Doomgale if you wish to challenge it. But you do have some time to get this together since we can't hold the wedding until the groom is well again, and also not until you pay it. Or you could ask for a court hearing still, but if you lose that, you're going to have to pay that and maybe some extra.” He then stepped back and waved to the crowd. “Okay, sorry for delaying the awards presentation for that bit of business, but I wanted to make sure it was clear with everyone what was going on.”

“Goodness Yang, you delay people a lot,” Arthur said, getting some agreement and applause from the crowd.

Yang stepped back and seemed like he wanted to shrink right out of the plaza. “This is false judgment, I will fight,” he said to himself. “But, the groom isn't well?”

“That's right, Poppa,” Xiao said. “Kiel's really sick right now, made even worse with all the stress he's been through. He couldn't even sit up on his own this afternoon. But, he says we're still going to marry once he's able to participate.” She went over to his side. “Are you going to stay for the wedding, Poppa? That would be great!”

He put his fingers on his forehead and didn't want to answer.


	105. The Red Knight

_Excerpts taken from The Lady of the Red Sword by Leon Karnak, published Spring 1615_

It started on a warm spring day at Dragon Lake. Dylas, a teenaged boy with a rough manner, had brought his two small sisters out to play at the water's edge. Since Braidy was just able to crawl and Lissa was not even four, he kept a close eye and didn't allow them in the water. Not long after they arrived, a vain knight came by for a swim and took the chance to taunt them. The knight even tossed his sword at them and said that the boy couldn't handle something like that.

While he was angered at the knight, Dylas held back to keep close to the girls. Lissa went over to check on the sword in curiosity so he had to follow her over to keep her from touching the blade. The knight did not bother to take back his sword and noisily went into the water. In doing so, he stepped on a giant catfish that had been settled in the mud at the shoreline, angering it into lunging out. Then it saw the tiny girl at the edge of the water and took her for a snack.

The knight ran off in fright, but Dylas grabbed the sword without a second thought. Not knowing how to use it, he stepped on the catfish's lower jaw and forced it to open its mouth. Once he had it open, he shoved the sword into its throat and grabbed his little sister. Braidy was wailing with many bruises, but she was alive. Dylas jumped back from the catfish and left it to thrash about in pain. Calling on Lissa to take hold of his jacket, he hurried as fast as they could manage to get the toddler to a healer.

But the monster didn't die. It continued to lurk in Dragon Lake, attacking any who came too close. With that danger, the king of Selphia restricted children from going near the lake and offered a large reward to the person who could catch and kill the giant catfish. Many tried and had their poles snapped in two. A few had their feet or hands bitten off before the monster got away. Even so, Dylas wanted to be the one to destroy the giant catfish.

As he couldn't get accepted as a squire, he trained himself with his fists and some old gloves. He made up his own exercises with stone weights and local monsters based on what he saw the knights do. He even worked on his strength and speed by carrying his sisters on a run through town. While others thought they were simply playing, it was serious business.

Dylas already had some experience in fishing but knew he needed more to catch this legendary fish. Knowing that any ordinary poles would be useless, he caught regular fish to sell at the market and build up funds for something special. It took three years, but he finally got enough savings to make a bold investment. Instead of dealing with the human blacksmiths in town, he went into new tunnels underground where a group of dwarves were busy repairing damage from an earthquake years before. As their race was renown as blacksmiths, he asked them for a pole worthy of the giant catfish.

Most of the dwarves laughed off such a project, trying to get the human out of their work zone. But one saw merit in all that Dylas had done with his own hands towards this goal. After goading him into showing his strength in punching a shield, the dwarven blacksmith agreed to make a fishing pole designed with the singular goal of catching one bloodthirsty fish. Dylas' parents were not impressed that he'd spent all that money on one tool. A few days later, they were made to change their mind when the dwarf, going against racial beliefs that the sun would weaken them, showed up at noon to hand over a powerful fishing pole and a pair of battle gauntlets made specifically for him. Both were peerless masterworks that should have been worth far more than what had been paid for them. But the blacksmith would take no more payment as long as Dylas made good on his word and defeated the monster.

Although three years had passed since the first attack of the giant catfish, none had managed to conquer the terrible beast. Many had given up and refused to go anywhere near the lake. Knowing the habits of catfish, Dylas arrived well before dawn to start his vigil. As the sun was rising and one of the patrolling knights stopped by to see how things were going, he finally snagged his nemesis. It was a long battle, but the pole held strong and the young man barely managed to hold his ground. When it got close enough that he could see its face clearly, the giant catfish lunged half out of the water. Dylas had to dodge on instinct to avoid being bowled over, then got into the shallows of the lake. He was going to do all that he could to keep it from returning to the water.

The catfish leapt into the air and pounded the ground so hard that windows rattled and plates broke all across town. But it could not move easily on land and Dylas knew the weak points to killing fish quickly. Putting all his strength into his fists, he pounded its thick skin until it could thrash about no longer. The glow of ether surrounded the giant catfish to claim it for the Forest of Beginnings. All it left behind were some barbed whiskers and a sword that gleamed bright red with rust. Yet a magic of the catfish left it sharper and stronger than it had been before.

But when he presented the drops to the king, there was no reward for slaying the monster. Dylas was the son of a washerwoman and an unknown man, the same mother but not the same father as his two sisters. The king was loathe to acknowledge that a lowly bastard had accomplished a feat that eluded many greater fishers and fighters, and that he had done it alone. Told he could keep the sword as reward enough, Dylas was made to give over the whiskers to prove a story that the catfish had died on its own and the lake was safe again.

The discrediting of something he had put so much of his heart into was a terrible blow to Dylas, but one that would eventually lead him to do something even greater. He offered to put his life on hold in order to become a Guardian to one person who did believe in him, the Divine Wind Ventuswill. Since he had no use for the sword, his family hung it over the fireplace and made sure to tell the real story behind it to the girls Lissa and Braidy.

Braidy in particular was so captivated by her brother's feats that she made her own sacrifice in order to take up the rust red sword and take on a man's life to protect what her brother held most dear.

* * *

 

Navigating Obsidian Mansion's halls required alertness and caution. A painting of an archer could fire arrows at anything in range, while a suspiciously clean rug could cover up a trapdoor. Walking slowly down the hall, Braidy listened for signs of what might be around. Someone had been seen going into the mansion recently and hadn't come out. She knew how to get out of this place but one mistake could either kill her outright or trap her inside to die eventually. Finding the young man needed to be done quickly, at least as quick as caution would allow.

Seeing a signpost hanging on the wall was strange enough that she found it suspicious. She looked over the floor, walls, and ceiling around it, but there were no obvious cracks or holes for traps. Just to be sure, she tapped the floor with her sword to make sure it was solid. As she found that it was, white letters appeared on the sign. 'You are another sworn to protect Lady Ventuswill.' It added a symbol of a shield with a dragon's head on it, a sign of the Dragon Knights.

“Are you one as well?” Braidy asked.

'Yes, although I don't always remember.' The sign came off the wall as if someone was holding onto it. Other than the lack of dust in the air, there wasn't much else of this ghost. 'Lady, are you sure you should be in here?'

“I've been in here before so I know what to expect,” she said. “A young man has come in here and must be found.”

'But you are with child, this isn't the kind of place to be for you.'

If she had been more like her older sister, that kind of news would exciting and joyful. But this person only knew her as a woman by being a ghost. The news gave her chills. “What? I had no idea; this is going to be tricky to handle. Still, I need to find him as my responsibility.”

'Let me accompany you, I can tell where he is.' The knight's ghost then led her with the sign.

* * *

 

Entering Ventuswill's chamber with Terrance, Braidy focused ahead even though she wanted to be looking around in case someone was in hearing. This was the biggest risk to her secret being exposed since Terry had discovered her out of armor. That had led to good things. She remembered that one of the few times she'd seen her master smile was the day she wed them in secret. Similarly, this could be a great thing. But there were a lot of choices waiting ahead of them.

Ventuswill raised her head as they came before her. “Branden, Terrance, welcome. What do you need?”

They bowed low to her. “We beg your pardon for what we are about to ask, but we must ask to leave service for several months. We would tell the others it's for training, but...”

“You don't need to say anything more,” Ventuswill said to her surprise. “Take what time you need, both of you.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Braidy said, relieved that she had agreed so quickly.

For another surprising thing, Ventuswill lowered her head closer to them. “I understand. It must be a difficult time for you both. Still, I hope you can find this to be a blessing and joy. I would not want to deny anyone that.”

“Your kindness is a blessing itself,” Terry said.

* * *

 

It was liberating to get to live as a woman and mother for a few months. She could speak however she liked without mentally watching her words for things that would betray her identity. She didn't have to keep her chest bound to fit into armor meant for a man. Since they might not get a time like this again, Terry was happy to indulge them both with romantic gestures and affection. Openly and publicly, with no need to hide both of their feelings. He even bought her a silver necklace chain to put their wedding rings on as they could never wear them. The midwife, who had never met them until they showed up in town a couple months before the birth, had said that they seemed like one of the happiest couples she'd met.

As wonderful as her husband had been, the greatest happiness she had was being with her newborn son. He opened his eyes to look up at her not long after he came into the world. Braidy wanted to protect him through his whole life, a different feeling from her duty to protect others as a knight. She wanted to stay be his side to see him grow up strong and happy. But, there was wanting to do that and being able to do that. In her case, those were different matters.

Selphia was in sight once again when Terry stopped the Buffamoo pulling their wagon. “Braidy?”

Sighing, she didn't want to let go of her son Dylas yet. “Sorry... Braidy has to go back to not existing. But I'll always be watching over you.”

“We could still lose Branden instead, if you'd rather do that,” Terry said. Either choice was weighing heavily on his heart too.

The option to return as Terry's wife was tempting. She'd have to grow her hair out and learn the ordinary life of a woman. However, Braidy knew there was going to be guilt in her heart either way. “That would be nice, but I can't do that. I swore that I would protect Ventuswill and Selphia. As my duty comes before myself, I can't break such an oath.” Tears escaped her, but she let them. There wouldn't be a chance to let her heart's pain out once they got back. Terry joined her.

An hour later two knights and a baby entered from the south gate. Terry explained to the prince and Lady Ventuswill about that. “He's an orphan since we were too late to save his parents. As we could not be sure who they were, I've decided to take him into my home.”

“May this child have a happy life in your care, Sir Terrance,” Ventuswill said.

* * *

 

The battle paused as Braidy and Thunderbolt stopped to reconsider each other. There was some kind of madness to this unicorn's eyes, like it was living a nightmare and had attacked her before she could attack it. While there were some monsters who behaved like that, every now and then that fear would turn to hateful fury and it would try to kill her. That made it unpredictable and with how quick and strong this one was, this yearly battle was the most challenging she faced.

She waited until its mood shifted and it charged at her recklessly. Stepping out of the way, she slashed her sword at its neck. Thunderbolt fell in defeat, quickly absorbed by light. But the light did not vanish as with other monsters. Instead, it flew to the central building of these ruins. “Leave my brother at peace,” she said sternly.

A couple minutes later, a pair of footsteps came up after her. Terry had accompanied her this year, along with their eight-year-old son. Dressed in the white armor of a page, Dylas looked up to her with admiring eyes. “Sir Leland, that was amazing.”

It gave her a bittersweet happiness, that he admired her but as an unrelated man. “The non-returning monsters like that must not be underestimated. If we want to keep the good waters of this place, we must deal with it as our duty to Selphia's well-being. But thank you.”

“Could you be my father?” he asked. Braidy couldn't resist laughing at that; neither could Terry. Dylas was confused, not seeing what was so funny about the question.

Since they'd broken the stoic manner of knights already, Braidy ruffled his dark brown hair. He looked much like his father, but he had eyes much like her own. And like his uncle as well. “Terry's your father for taking care of you. If you want to call me that too in spirit, that's fine. But only in private and off-duty.”

“Okay, sir,” he said, smiling.

“We need to take care of the aqueduct, but would you like to see where your namesake sleeps first?” Terry asked. Dylas nodded so they walked up the steps towards the water rune spring in the central building.

* * *

 

“Sir Leland,” Dylas said, then stopped. He had the look of a man and knight before he was even twenty. In his hesitation, something child-like still came through his eyes. “No, mother.”

“Where did you hear that?” Braidy asked, caught off guard by something she'd wanted to hear.

“Father told me the truth before he died.” Although he was trying to be calm, he touched the silver chain that he always wore. “That this was my mother's necklace, but with his and your rings. I... why did you keep all that hidden? I want to hear it from you too.”

They were in her office with the door closed, so there was no risk of others hearing them. Maybe one of the servants if they were in the hidden passages, but hopefully they respected her enough to come to her first about this. Walking over to the rust red sword that had become synonymous with her, she said, “Once I took up the path of the sword, there was no turning back. I had to become what I was not in order to be accepted, thus I had to truly put my duty before myself. I thought for a while that I could keep some private side as a woman, why I married Terry out of love and how you came into our lives. But it couldn't last. If people found that I wasn't a man, then I'd have no chance to keep my oath to protect Lady Ventuswill and Selphia. I couldn't keep my promise to my brother Dylas that I would protect what he held dear, what he sacrificed his life for. He saved me with this sword when I was a baby, you see.”

“But you weren't even at father's side when he died,” he said.

She nodded. “I know. We agreed on that well before then, that we would take these secrets to our graves even if it meant swallowing our heartache and waiting until no one would see us together. The Sechs raiders were still a threat and... I did fail all my fallen brethren, not just your father. Even so, I was the last one standing and I could not let them set one foot into our town. But I'm not heartless. It hurts a lot, but I must keep silent for my oath. That's why this challenge doesn't surprise me, only the part where they think I'm plotting to take over all of Norad. If my behavior is erratic, it is because I am a human who can suffer who chooses his duty over her heart. I will do what I must to keep the people safe; I have already sacrificed all parts of being a woman so I do not have the will to quit.”

“I see.” Dylas bowed his head.

“I hope you don't hate me for this,” she said.

Thankfully, he said, “I don't. At first, I was angry about it, that we couldn't be a family like we should be and that you seemed so cold for everything that happened. Then I saw that you were trying to hide your pain too and I realized that you must have been doing that for a long time. Yet you kept devoted to your duty and our town is peaceful once again.” He looked at her and smiled. “You're still the man I admire most even knowing that you were once my mother. I would be proud to succeed you, but only through proper means, not this forced challenge to your honor.”

“That means a lot to me,” she said. “Actually, when you were still an infant, I promised that I would watch over you even if you did not know who I was. I have, and I would be proud to see you do that. Still, we should keep things as they have been and be formal with each other as is proper.”

“Unless we're off-duty, in private?” he asked, but already knew.

Braidy had once thought she'd only been free during that brief time when she could openly be a woman. Strangely, this made her heart feel just as free even if the rest of the world would still see her as a man. That let her know what to do about this challenge. She became a knight because she treasured her brother's memory and his sword. She would not do anything that would put Selphia in danger, especially not some vain plan to take over all Norad lands. To prove that to the high king, she would tell him so and trust him with the keeping of her brother's sword. A knight could fight through other means than a sword.

Although, she did have other swords to protect her homeland with.

_End excerpts_

* * *

 

Autumn 67, 1611

The air seemed charged with a solemn anticipation. Conversations were not free and causal among Selphia's residents. While they hoped things would come out for the best, there was an uncertainty about what was to come. Strangers had challenged Forte's right to be Doomgale's Dragon Knight and they were coming today for what could end in a knight's duel. Nearly everyone had contributed in some small way to defend her and prove the grievances wrong. However, this moment was Forte's to decide how to deal with.

She didn't feel like she was the best to deal with such a circumstance. At the same time, she had been touched by her neighbors' concern and assistance. It reminded her that her duty was to protect them, so they could live their lives in peace and safety. Her duty came before herself. However, hearing the true story of the Red Knight through Dylas, his family's letters, and even Leon when he looked deeper into the words, she knew that if she sacrificed too much of herself to her duty, it would only lead to a silent pain. She needed to find the right balance.

Not just with her own life, but with what she could represent. Her mother had to make her promise to pursue a dream that many other argued against. Now that she had achieved it, she didn't want others to struggle so much following their hearts. If a girl wanted to protect her homeland, she should have the right to do so, with the same training and support that boys got. Even those like Corrin deserved that right. This could be more than just about her position.

In their meeting in the castle's central chamber, Doomgale put her front paws on Forte's arm. “Venti believe in you; I believe in you too. Do what you must, we 'elp.”

“Yes, the whole town believes in you,” Lest said. He'd been here as a translator, but Doomgale was doing her best to use her own words even if they were unwieldy.

“Thank you,” Forte said with a nod. This was a formal circumstance requiring formal manners. “My way has seemed unclear for some time, but this has changed my perspective completely. We'll go with the plan we've discussed, bold and certain.”

In the evening, the knights gathered in the plaza. Forte stood on the east side of the central circle, with Art, Corrin, and Sven behind her. Marden Sword, head of the House of the Sword, stood on the west side of the central circle with two other knights from the capitol behind him. As a witness, Lest stood to the north, out of the way in case this did come to a duel. Doomgale sat down by him since this was to decide who would be her knight and protector. Kiel was allowed to be in the north with them as he had composed much of the counter arguments; he sat in a chair behind the other two since he couldn't stay standing on his feet for long yet. Others stayed at the edges of the plaza to watch, Frey and Blossom sitting together on one of the benches as they might tired easily too.

Marden started things off after a formal introduction and bows. “You have presented an unexpected case against our grievances and challenge.”

“Many have contributed as they wish for me to keep my position in this community,” Forte replied.

“But we still have to find you worthy as you took the position as a child due to your inheritance,” Marden said. “What of the others here? Would any of you challenge her?”

Art spoke first. “I will not because I'm too old to take on a position of such importance anymore. As the times become peaceful, I would rather step back and instruct boys and girls on the arts of combat and the true form of chivalry.”

Then Corrin. “Putting aside what you may think of me, I will not because I do not wish to trouble the prince and our Lady Doomgale, both of whom I consider as my children, with whispers of nepotism. I would rather stay as a town guard and keep our home safe.”

Lastly Sven. “I will not because I swore my loyalty to the prince because of a life debt. If circumstances changed, I will still protect him. I cannot take on the position of Dragon Knight in full honor.”

“What of the one who should have taken your father's inheritance, your brother?” Marden asked.

“Ask him for yourself,” Forte said, nodding over to where Kiel was sitting.

He smiled. “Sorry, but I fight with words, not weapons. I could never qualify to be a Dragon Knight.”

Technically, he could. There was nothing stopping a knight from specializing in magic rather than weapons. But she knew that he had decided years ago that he wouldn't stand in her way. Now she had to keep from standing in his way, let him live his own life. Forte had kept her promise to her mother; she had protected Kiel until he could be responsible for himself. While he could stand to take better care of himself, she wouldn't nag him about it as often (since Xiao would nag him about it too, perhaps more effectively than she could).

Whether he knew any of that or not, Marden did not try to question Kiel further. Instead, he looked back to her. “Then what of you? What is your reason for wanting to stay a Dragon Knight?”

“To honor my family tradition, preserve the peace of the town, and protect the divine wind,” Forte replied. “It is more important than ever with a young Native Dragon here. Doomgale already trusts me and I do not want to betray that trust. If any wishes to challenge me for this position, they must first take the time to earn her trust as well.” Before he could continue, she took the initiative from him to ask, “Are you willing to do that as well as earn the trust of all of Selphia? You have no right to make such a challenge if you do not yet have the trust of those you are to protect. So I will not accept a challenge of replacement from you, not until they are willing to accept you.”

Marden narrowed his eyes at her, but only briefly. “You could have said so before. It is a strong point in adherence to the spirit of chivalry. If so, why allow me to come to this point, to challenge you in person?”

“Because I will accept your challenge on the grounds that you don't believe a woman is capable of being a knight,” Forte said sternly. “We have already proven you wrong in uncovering a secret from our own region's past, but I will prove you wrong here in person if that is what it takes to convince you. This is not for myself, but for any other woman in Norad who wishes to protect her home just the same as a man.”

This was risky. The House of the Sword did not chose its head through inheritance alone. Their leader was the knight in the family with the most skill, often demonstrated in duels like this. Nodding, he drew his sword. “Very well, show me what a woman can do.”

Drawing the silver-blue blade that Bado had made specifically for her, Forte entered the duel of honor. They both used longswords, putting them on equal footing. Marden was strong; a lot of power came into his strikes. Sensing this could easily come down to who got staggered first, she blocked him until they both had to step back to prepare the next moves. He seemed to be assessing her while she had already decided on her next move. Forte went to use a move she often relied on, Wind Slice.

As she activated it, the runes changed on her. Instinct told her to go with it, so she pulled her sword in to strike out with the wind itself extending her swing. This time, the wind gathered around her blade in a green flourish. It felt so light that she easily fell into a swift combo more fitting of a short sword. Her range was still extended so she knocked Marden right over. With his sword tossed several feet behind him, the duel might be over. She quickly came over with her sword held low. “Do you yield?” she asked.

Marden had the option of saying no, which would force her to let him retrieve his sword for a second round. Instead, he moved into a kneeling position as she came in front of him. “Yes. I yield to you, Lady Greenwind. For your victory, I will let it be known that the House of the Sword will now train girls as fairly as boys.”

“That was an honorable duel, Lord Sword,” she said, offering a hand to him.

Marden took it while those watching applauded for the result. Since they were close, he smiled a little and quietly said, “And thank you for fulfilling my son's request for the music box. It seems like a long time since I've seen Katarina smile.”

“I'm glad it pleases you all,” she replied quietly.


	106. The Fifth Wedding

Autumn 54

Arguing his way out of this ridiculous bill was getting nowhere. Everyone was convinced that he had committed malicious slander and libel with his plot. In a way, he had. But Yang was certain it would not have destroyed their businesses. If it had, then they weren't worthy of owning a business. This wasn't anything new or unusual. People started and maintained rumors all the time, for all kinds of reasons. That was the way of the world and one had to know how to roll with it.

But even the new divine dragon thought he should be responsible for something Selphia never charged for. When a member of their community married, even to an outsider like when he had married Lin Fa, everyone would pitch in for the couple's behalf and any costs were written off or covered by the regional government. The option of a public wedding was one of the nice things about Selphia, one reason he had liked that Xiao would marry in this town. Was paying for supposed damage from rumors really worth changing that tradition? He was tempted to take the argument to the capitol. That would give him a nice bit of vengeance against the prince for making him sign into legal binds of citizenship. Asking for justice here? He was certain that a court session in Selphia would not be in his favor.

All he had wanted was to do his last duty as a father and make sure that his grown daughter was taken care of by a good husband. That was the proper thing to do. And it wasn't like he'd taken offers and sold her to the highest bridal price without her input. No, she had decided on her own who she'd marry and got the boy to agree. Then she wouldn't be Yang's responsibility anymore and he would be free of one more bind. Perhaps he'd even be able to take off with Lin Fa as he'd claimed. That would fulfill his ideal vision of life and people would finally believe that he was married to the most beautiful woman in the world.

Xiao's marriage wasn't even working out like he hoped it would. She was marrying some scrawny egghead and being delayed because he was frail enough to get sick because of rumors. Sure, he had some noble blood and family wealth. But it was a throwaway title and he didn't act like nobility, not even half as well as his sister. He liked to study, clean, bake, and alchemize. He was practically a girl in that way. Still, she was twenty-three and dangerously close to being too old for men to want her for marriage. Yang had to do something drastic once he had this chance. But they didn't have to make him pay for the minor bit of nudging he'd done.

At this point, the best path he could see was getting the hell out of Selphia and taking this to the courts in the capitol. He would make them pay for this slander and libel against him. When he came back to see them grovel and apologize, he could talk Lin Fa into leaving with him and have no reason to ever come back. That would be easy. Xiao would be married, so she would have her own life. Yang could imagine the moment he'd get a chance to tear up these citizen papers so he wasn't tied to one place anymore.

But no airship would take him out of town. They all had that false cheer about how he should be happy and proud for this marriage, that he should stay to see it happen. Yang never liked ceremonies, as they were too restrictive. Lots of rules forming an event that conditioned the human mind to be satisfied with the daily grind that made civilization work. Somehow, they all heard about it and refused to take him away from this 'joyful occasion'. It was turning less and less joyful for him as time went on.

Not that he needed an airship. That was just the fastest way around. Yang knew the Selphia countryside. With the aide of their newest maps, he was confident that he could make the trek on foot to the nearest town that he could catch another airship from. That kind of trip was a lot more joyful to him than being made to stay within walls and find a way to pull together the funds for a wedding without putting a huge dent in his business. They even had him paying the castle butlers for their services setting things up and cleaning afterwards!

It was after midnight, the safest time to slip out of town unnoticed. Yang left the inn with his gear and headed towards the stairs. This way, it was just a few feet and a few rounding flights to get his flight started. The road to the stairs seemed clear... at least until a dark shadowy figure appeared in the middle of the road. It had a smooth profile like a long overcoat, a clank of heavy armor boots, and a tall muscular build meant to intimidate. In a move of pure grace, the stranger grabbed a long staff and swirled it out into an enormous scythe.

For a moment, Yang's heart stopped as if he'd met Death itself. Then the man stepped further into the streetlight's ring and was clearly not supernatural. He had a thick curly beard and sharp eyes. To make things seem less mysterious, a brown kitten entered the light as well in accompanying the man. That was when Yang realized that he'd never spoken to the fourth knight of the new town guard, the one the old butler had described as being very good with his scythe.

“Oh, you're Lin Fa's husband,” Sven said, shifting his scythe back to its folded position. “Be careful wandering around at night.”

“Uh, y-yes, that's good advice...” he said. Stop this Yang, he told himself. He had to get a hold of himself so he could take control of the moment. “Though really, I am just fine, see? I roam about much more dangerous ways than the streets of Se'pha.”

“But what are you doing leaving town this late at night?” he asked. “Or are you really just wandering about equipped to leave town because you can't sleep?”

No matter how much bravado Yang had, this young knight was clearly an earthmate of some power. It radiated from him in a similar manner as old Art. Yang felt much the same way about both men: don't dare tangle with them or they will mess you right up. “Just wandering... I don't feel entirely safe without my gear, no? Not in town much, not used to having guards.”

Sven nodded. “I see. I'm afraid that I must I accompany you if you're going to be outside during my patrols at night. The prince has made a request of you and said that you are a potential flight risk. No hard feelings, but Kiel and Xiao are my friends and I don't want to see them disappointed.”

“Of course, they're your friends, everybody seems to be friends here.” Except with him, no matter how nice they were could be. He wondered who had convinced them to do that. Perhaps the prince since he'd started it.

“More him than her, we've been close ever since the time we took out a Sechs warship together,” Sven said as if it wasn't a big deal.

That was another frightful skip to his heart there. “W-wait, you mean, you and Kiel? I heard that some people had blown up the warship, but I had not thought him capable...”

“I would have just made it crash to the ground eventually,” Sven said. “Kiel was the one who actually made it blow up from the damage I started, and it was his idea in the first place.”

That was incredible. His future son-in-law, that silly and unassuming girlish boy, had been the one to destroy a huge heavily armored overpowered airship? Suddenly his plan looked like it had been terrible all along. If Kiel had that kind of magical firepower at his disposal, he could have had a much more devastating reaction.

Now it seemed like it would be a good idea to just go ahead and foot this bill so that there was no bad blood between him and Kiel in the future.

* * *

 

Autumn 61

There wasn't a lot Kiel could do while he was sick like this. It was one reason he liked doing as much as he could when he was well. This time, things were a bit better. He had the Tome of Phaedrus, which was not only interesting to read and learn from, but was also capable of going to his home, his lab, or the library to retrieve other books for him. Even better than that, Xiao was visiting him every day and bringing snacks that she had made to share with him. Mostly she brought healthy things like dried fruits, sweet potato dumplings, or veggie cakes, but sometimes she snuck in cookies or jam rolls too. She worried a lot about how good they were, so he told her what he thought of them each time.

Fortunately, he was getting better. That was proven when Jones came into the clinic area with Xiao when she visited today. “Kiel, you're getting to the point where it's going to help more to move around, but it's still going to wear you out,” he said. “I want you to stay in the clinic for a few more nights just in case. During the day, you should have someone with you if you want to leave.”

“All right, and keep to stuff like staying in town and don't climb the observatory yet, right?” Kiel asked.

Jones nodded. “Of course. Xiao, make sure he's keeping his activity light.”

“I'll do my best,” she said. “So, want to come outside? It's kind of blustery, so we might want to go somewhere else instead of stay outside.”

“Sure, could we stop by my shop at least? I don't mean to open it or do anything in the lab today, but there is something I want to check on.”

“Okay.” They headed outside and as she said, the wind was blowing strong. Colorful dry leaves tumbled through the air and gray clouds were visibly moving overhead. From the looks of things, it might even rain in the afternoon or evening. Kiel didn't like that much since if it did rain, he should head back to the clinic before the streets got too slick. He couldn't stay well balanced when this weak; even the wind could knock him around.

His alchemy shop near his home was mostly clean, as no one had been in since he collapsed on the bridge. He wondered if he should have asked Jones if he needed more potions to stock. However, he was sure that if they had been really low, the doctor would have mentioned it once Kiel said he was coming here. Instead, he led Xiao to a back hall that led to a hidden stairway upstairs.

“See, I'd been thinking about where we'd end up living,” Kiel explained as they came into the apartment upstairs. “Since Forte's the Dragon Knight, she should keep our old house. We might be able to live at the inn with your mother, but there isn't a lot of space in the back area for three people to live in.”

“I guess not,” Xiao said, looking around at the central room. It was mostly a living room, with the kitchen only separated by a counter. “And I suppose you would not be so happy there because our kitchen there is tiny.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that's another drawback. But I've had this place that I thought I might be able to rent out someday. Except, there's never been anybody to really rent it to. It's a pretty typical layout, I guess, but it's a nice size and I own it already. So we could move in here if you want.”

“Why did you never move here yourself yet?” she asked, turning to him in curiosity.

“Mostly because I never felt the need to,” Kiel said. “When we were under our curses, things would have been a disaster if I moved out and left Forte to take care of that big house. I don't know how she's doing now, but she hasn't had any complaints when she visited and nobody's shown up in the clinic because of her cooking, so she must be doing okay.”

“Oh yes, you were kind of needed there,” Xiao said with a smile. Then she went over to a couch and touched it. “The things here seem to be old.”

“I don't know how long it's been since anybody actually lived up here,” he said. “I know everything works and I've been making sure there's no bugs or mice making nests up here. We could always change things if we don't like them, maybe not right off, or everything at once. But little by little, we could make it work.”

She nodded. “It seems like a nice idea. And it is not too far from the inn. I think I could like it. Let's look around some more!”

He laughed, glad she liked this place. “Sure thing, I'll show you around.”

After deciding that they'd go with this apartment, they went to the inn to let Lin Fa know. She seemed sad to hear about it at first. “I see, it does make sense. Though it's going to be tough trying to work here without you.”

“No, no, I will still be working here,” Xiao said. “I will just be living with Kiel, yes?”

Lin Fa grinned at that. “Great, that's even better! You know, I'm not sure I could run this place without you anymore. I'm not even sure how I managed it before. On the other hand, I'm sure between the two of you, you could run this place really well without me.”

“No we couldn't, it wouldn't be the same without you,” she said.

“Yeah, it's better with all of us,” Kiel said. That'd be putting helping out here higher on his list of responsibilities. But he liked helping others.

Then Yang came in behind them, at first looking annoyed. He saw them and smiled. But, it wasn't the smug smile he'd had before. “Oh, there you are, Xiao,” he said, coming over to the counter with them. “You know, you can be a hard one to find sometimes.”

“Heh, yeah, I've had to wait for her here several times,” Kiel said, smiling at the thought. It would always be worth it.

“Sorry Poppa, what is it?” she said.

“I'm in a bit of a pickle, see?” Yang brushed his hair back, although that didn't help its messy state at all. “Didn't bring enough capitol here to take care of these wedding costs, but I've figured out how to get things taken care of. For that, I've got to go pick up some stuff from my storage and make a few pitches for large sales in other towns. I managed to get a friend to lend me his airship for a few days to do this, but it seems like people here don't trust me that much. Guess I can't blame 'em, so would you come along with me to get this taken care of?”

“It might be nice, but no, I've got to watch after Kiel and help Momma,” Xiao said, scratching her head.

“Oh yes, I have no idea how this place is organized sometimes,” Lin Fa said with a giggle. “But when I do remember, it's great!”

Smiling, Xiao shook her head. “Oh Momma...”

Yang looked disappointed and worried. This really wasn't like how he had been before. As he had heard that people were trying to keep an eye on Yang to make sure he did what was asked, Kiel wondered who might be willing to go along with him to see to it that he returned in good time. Someone who'd like to travel and could be responsible... or maybe not just one someone. Brightening, he said, “Hey, how about you ask Margaret and Wendy if they'd like to go along? I'm sure if we explained things to them, they'd like to help out.”

“Margaret is that elf musician, right?” Yang asked. Meg was responsible and bossy enough to keep Yang in line. Meanwhile, Wendy would really like an airship trip and Yang would have no clue that he was traveling with a former Native Dragon. “And, um, the other girl... is that the other elf?”

“No, the other elf in town is Ellie,” Xiao said. “Wendy is the artist with long silver hair; she works at the general store some days.”

“Hoo boy, a trip with two artsy types,” Yang said. “Perhaps, we shall talk and see.”

“We can go take you to meet them and ask,” Kiel offered. Though he wasn't sure how long he could keep up a search for them. They weren't always predictable in where they were any particular day. Perhaps if they found one, she would know where the other was.

It worked out since they found both girls at the general store. As he thought, Wendy was excited for a trip if she could talk to Blossom about getting those days off. Meg was a little harder to convince since she didn't trust Yang either. After Kiel told her that she'd be making sure Yang got back in a reasonable amount of time (much to Yang's embarrassment, but he didn't say anything about it), she agreed to go. Kiel was getting tired at that point, so Yang left them to take care of other business with Xiao walked him over to the clinic. He had to hang onto her arm because he didn't feel well balanced. Perhaps not a smart idea since she could be clumsy and trip a lot. But they made it over safely.

“You know, your Dad seemed different today,” Kiel said.

She nodded. “Yes, something happened a few days ago that changed him. I do not know what, but it is nice to see him trying to get along. Usually he just does what he wants.

“He was actually treating me with some respect today,” he said, making her laugh. “Well it's true, he kept calling me boy before and didn't like me much.”

“That is good,” Xiao said. Before they went into the clinic, she tugged at him. “Um, Kiel? Could I ask you something? I don't mean to be downer, but, do you think it was wrong to let us get tricked like that and marry like this?”

“I don't like how Yang did it and that's wrong, I think,” he said. “Maybe we did jump ahead a bit fast. But then, I haven't changed my mind about this. I still want to marry you. Um, unless you're not comfortable with it, I don't want to be pushy about it.”

“No, it's okay, I want to marry you,” she said, still nervous about it. She did worry about things a lot. “I was just worried if that maybe we made a mistake and we'll regret it later. Sorry, you must think I'm worrying too much on silly things.”

Kiel smiled, hoping it would convince her. “It's fine, I know you're like that. And, I know how that is, since there was a long time I felt like that. So I'll keep reassuring you and we'll keep working at things until you trust me enough not to worry so much.”

While she smiled back, she seemed embarrassed. “Oh Kiel, sometimes you can still be terribly blunt. But that would be nice.”

“Well just remember that I'm your lucky charm and you're the same for me, so it'll turn out for the best if we stick together. Besides, um,” he wasn't sure if it would be right to talk about now, but he really wanted to assure her now so she could rest a bit easier. He pulled her closer and whispered, “I can't craft things right now, but I'm not worried about making the wedding ring because I know my reasons clearly. See, there was a long time when I would smile without ever feeling happy because I thought people would hate me if I wasn't smiling.”

“There are times like that,” Xiao agreed.

Kiel put his hand on her shoulder. “That was when I thought my family was ashamed of me and hated me. That lingered for a long time, even to this year. But once I started dating you, things started turning around for me. You made me happy and even stuck by my side through this rough season. I would have been lost and in a much worse state without you around. While I wasn't thinking about marriage when your father showed up with his crazy plots, I'm not going to give up on you either. I'll protect you in my own way.”

She clung tight to him, enough to where her tears were on his cheek. “I'll keep working to get it together so I'm not a burden to you.”

“I know,” then he thought of something else to say. “Oh, but you know, Yang doesn't know why you like bridges.”

“I thought that, but why do you say it?” she asked.

“Because I know,” he said. “Bridges are links between this way and that, bringing two different places together. People should be building more bridges in their lives, keeping up links with different people and places. Not burning them down like your father does to keep what he thinks of as his freedom. But I'd think that kind of way would end in being alone. I wouldn't want that kind of freedom.”

“Maybe he has changed and might see that for himself?” she asked, pulling away with a hopeful smile.

“Could be,” Kiel said, for it would be a nice change.

* * *

 

Autumn 66

Dolce's business was starting off slow. Most sales were on festivals or market days, when visitors were in and had a mind to look around town. Still, that gave her time to build up some inventory and read up more on modern fashions. There were magazines with beautiful illustrations and photos of many clothes. Some where artistic disasters to her eyes, like what Clorica's sister had shown up wearing some time ago. Thankfully, those 'haute couture' pieces were rare and there were many more reasonable pieces around.

In the magazine she'd gotten today, there was an interesting series of pictures on a subject that should have shocked her, except that she'd seen it before. It was a group of male crossdressers that had put on a fashion show for charity. And for the fun of it, as one of the interviewed men said. She remembered Lest in that cute but bright floral outfit during the Cooking Contest. However, this group was far more glamorous in style: dazzling dresses that really looked like a woman's profile, all kinds of sparkling accessories, vivid colors, heeled shoes, even feminine hairstyles and makeup.

“So this is that drag queen style that Venti wanted to see Lest in,” Dolce said, putting a finger by one of the participants in a gorgeous red dress that was really attractive.

“Oo, that's hot,” Pico said, peeking over her shoulder. “And those are all men? Some of them really don't look it.”

“Most of them are using enchantments, but apparently this guy isn't,” she said. Maybe she could find a way to contact him? It seemed like an interesting riddle, how to dress a man to look like a glamorous woman. Lest could do cute on his own. Could she help him take that hobby to this level?

“Are you gonna help Lest pull that off?” Pico asked.

“He still has a promise to keep to Ven... Wendy.” Dolce smiled at the thought. “We'd have to get some other help for the makeup, but I already asked to handle the clothes. And he does have those boots that he was really excited to get. I could always build an outfit around them.”

“This is gonna be so much fun,” Pico said, probably grinning like a lunatic.

Then the bell over the door rang as Yang came in. Setting the magazine aside for the moment, Dolce considered how to deal with him. She'd already given a price on the wedding attire, rounded up since he'd been so rotten to Xiao. Still, her shop was open. “Welcome,” she said.

“He'o, I've come around about payments for the wedding,” he said, coming right to the counter to hand her a large envelope. “Got it all there, no worries.”

“Let me see,” she said, taking the envelope but first checking her records book to see the estimate she'd given him. When she counted out the money, it was all there. “All right, thank you. I'll start work on them once there's a date to the wedding.” Although she already had some sketches for adjustments to fit this couple, nothing she was certain of yet.

“Also, could it be that I have a suggestion?” Yang said, offering a plain black bag to her. “See, I know you have a certain style for weddings here, yes? But I thought perhaps something more traditional to my family's homeland would be nice to have. I do not know if you know the styles, so I got several patterns for you to see.”

“What the heck are you saying, man?” Pico asked, acting like she was clearing out her ears.

Yang laughed. “Sorry, sorry, this is second language for me, yes?”

Meanwhile, Dolce found that this was an enchanted bag with not just the patterns, but also materials for making these alternate outfits. He was even offering that? It didn't seem like her initial impression of this man. Cautious, she pulled out the patterns and looked them over. They were similar to the kimono and yakuta that Xiao and Kiel had come back with from their trip to Sharence, except more ornate in being wedding clothes. “Could be nice, but these materials could be hard to get,” she said, pretending like she hadn't noticed through her earthmate senses for fabrics.

“I worked out some deals to get the required materials, I think,” he said. “Should be enough in there for both. I do not charge for this; it is gift of apology on top of penance, yes? So please let it be surprise and not say it is so to them. If you think you want to stick to tradition, just return materials to me. You may keep patterns, as I do not think I could resell those.”

“Do you mind if I take some time to consider this?” she asked. “I need to look these over carefully.”

“Fine, fine, you find me at inn or leave bag with my wife. Thank you.” He bowed, then left.

“Hmph, I don't know if changing the clothing for a surprise is going to be enough to make up for what he did,” Pico said, hovering in sight with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I agree,” Dolce said, continuing to look over the patterns. They were pretty. But weddings in this era were more about what the couple wanted than what their parents wanted. “Would you bring Xiao and Kiel over here? This should be discussed with them, no matter what he thinks.”

“Sure thing, milady,” she said, heading out through the wall.

It took over ten minutes, but Pico got the pair to the store. “What seems to be the matter?” Xiao asked, glancing around the shop. “Pico said it was a big question.”

“Possibly, or she could be exaggerating,” Dolce said. “Your father came in to pay for the wedding clothes and he dropped off something else with it.”

After a few seconds of quiet, Kiel asked, “Um, what else?”

“He told me not to say,” Dolce said. She could just tell them, but where was the fun in that?

“Aw, come on Dolly, are you really going to do what he says?” Pico asked.

She shrugged. “He told me not to say it, but didn't say anything about you. And if they happen to ask me about it, I'd have to talk about it then.”

“Hmm, that's true,” Pico said, then turned to them. “He wants to change the wedding clothes on you without your notice, but we have to agree to it. He even got the patterns and materials for something more traditional to your family's homeland, or something like that. But really, you should have a say in the general design even if Dolly adds her own finishing touches.”

“Oh dear, sorry, it seems both my parents are troublesome,” Xiao said. Based on her reaction, it wasn't the only thing they were meddling with. “But thank you for letting us know. What kind of patterns did he give you?”

“Here,” she said, passing over the patterns. “I believe I can handle any of them with magical crafting if I get in some practice with the materials used. Hopefully it's not too expensive to import or anything. What he gave me doesn't leave much margin for error.”

“These are really pretty,” Xiao said in admiration. “But it would be really different.”

“We could surprise everyone else,” Kiel said, smiling at the thought.

“Are you sure you're okay with it? Your family has no connection to the eastern lands like mine.”

“It could be fun, and besides, I'm a bit different than the others in my family. Though I know you like the traditional dress too.”

“Let me know which of those patterns or the traditional one you'd like done,” Dolce said. “As he gave me the materials, I should be able to use the payment to get samples to practice on. But that will take some time.”

Watching them discuss the matter, Dolce felt like they were erring on being over-considerate instead of stating what they each wanted. They still decided on using the eastern outfits instead, although she had to encourage them to be a bit selfish for their ceremony. When they left, Dolce sent Pico to either get Arthur or see if she should go to him.

Somehow, the ghost managed to get him to come in sooner than the other two. “How are things going here?” he asked.

“Still slow, but I've got a pair of interesting projects I could use your help on,” she said. First, she brought out the silk that was in the bag Yang had given her. “Someone commissioned an eastern-style outfit from me, but only gave me enough material to make it with. As I haven't worked with this fabric before, I'd like to order some to practice with.”

“Ah, well is there a pricing tag with it?” He checked a few edges before finding a paper clipped to the silk. “Let's see, this... if you want this exact material, we're going to have to import it. This is some excellent quality; this village goes through the whole process from raising the silk worms to weaving and dying the cloth. Someone must have paid quite a lot to get this. But if you want something to practice with, there are manufactured silks that should be similar in properties but less expensive.”

“Let's go with that,” Dolce said.

Arthur nodded, but didn't make a note in the book he always carried. “Manufactured silk shouldn't take long for me to get to you. What else do you need help with?”

She brought the magazine out and flipped back to the page she'd been studying. “I want to contact someone for advice. Not on the eastern outfit, something else. Here, I want to find him.” She showed Arthur the model with the red dress.

Not warned on what the article was about, Arthur stared at it wide-eyed for a couple of seconds. Dolce had to keep herself from chuckling. “Wow... that's something else. I mean, Lest looked amazingly cute in a dress, but I didn't think a man could pull off a look like this. Not unless there were enchantments involved or gender-swap accessories, neither of which would work well around him.”

“Apparently that one in red didn't use magic, which may or may not be true,” Dolce said. “I'd still like to ask him for tips I could use for Lest. Not that I've agreed to anything yet, but it may come up.”

“What for?” Arthur asked, looking at her curiously.

“A hunch,” she said with a shrug.

Pico giggled. “More than that, but we're not telling!”

He skimmed back to the article, eventually finding something promising. “Hmm... I have contacts with this charity, so I'll ask around to find him. This is, well, one of the odder reasons I've had to find someone, but I can usually find who I'm looking for.”

“I'm sure it will be worth it,” Dolce said with a smile.

* * *

 

Autumn 77

When Xiao brought her mother into her room to help put on the wedding kimono, Lin Fa squealed on seeing it. It was white and ivory, with strings of silver and gold beads as wishes for a good married life. Instead of a veil, it had a flowery comb for her to wear. Normally eastern brides would have plenty of hair to work into a traditional style, but Dolce had sent some pins and a silk scarf to manage the appearance with Xiao's shorter hair. “Oh my, this is really exotic for Selphia! But, why did Dolce make it like this instead of like usual?”

“She asked Kiel and I some time ago which style we wanted and we picked these,” she explained.

“Well I'm sure you'll look just as beautiful, but this is extra special,” Lin Fa said, excited about it.

When she had it on and looked at herself in the mirror, Xiao did see a beautiful young woman there. It felt strange to think that it was herself this time, even with the special clothes. Was she going to find her good ending with a 'they lived happily ever after' here? She wasn't sure. Try as she might, her anxieties still tried to get her to doubt and be nervous even at this stage.

But she had found new sides to Kiel over this year. They had been good friends, but there had been a lot she hadn't known about him. Like how he'd had a crush on her but gave up at first. Or that there had been a painful loneliness and insecurity behind his constantly sunny smiles. But he'd found a happier place in life with her, soon to be at her side. He wanted to help her conquer her anxiety and insecurity too, so they'd both be in a better place. Perhaps once he had the ring in her hand and she had the one he held, she would feel more confident that the dream would come true.

A few streets over, Kiel had asked for Vishnal to come over to help him with getting dressed. This had more layering than the yakuta did and was quite snug, but it was good for the late autumn weather. Vishnal had known this was coming because he'd seen Dolce's work on it. But when they came into the parlor where the others were waiting, Forte and Bado were really surprised to see him.

“Um, what is that?” Forte asked.

“It's traditional to the eastern lands,” Kiel explained. “Man I'm glad I had some practice with this kind of style before. What do you think?”

She smiled. “It's unexpected, but it does look really good on you.”

“That's nice of you,” Bado said, amused at it. “Going with some of her traditions and some of yours, yeah, that's perfect.”

“Really does drive the point in that I'm giving you away to someone else,” Forte said. “Kind of strange, I'm a bit sad but mostly happy.”

Kiel chuckled, knowing his sister wasn't good at this kind of talk. “That's okay, I might feel the same way in a few weeks, don't you think?”

“Ack, well m-maybe not that soon,” she said, blushing while Bado and Vishnal cracked up laughing. “I don't have to tell you. But, I think that'll still take some more time.”

While he might joke around, Kiel was nervous. He wondered sometimes about Xiao's question of if they were wrong with going ahead with marriage after they'd been tricked into the engagement. No matter how others might see them, they were both nervous and insecure people. Would that get better or worse if they swore to stay together for their whole lives? Kiel wasn't sure, but he wanted to try.

As he was still easily fatigued, Kiel was entering the plaza from the west entrance with Forte and Bado, while Xiao went around to the east entrance with her parents. It was a surprise that Yang managed to stick around this long, even if he had been fidgeting all morning and uneasy with following along. He'd probably be out of town by the time the sun set. But, that was fine. Thoughts about him left their minds as the bride and groom came together in the center of the plaza.

“We'll find a way to work things out together,” Kiel said to her when they were close. “I'm not sure how, but I want to believe that.”

“Yes, if we could be happy together, we'll do what we must,” Xiao said.


	107. Cats on Cookie Mountain

Autumn 30

In the morning, Dolce gave him a packed lunch as she often did. But today, she had tied a red ribbon into an ornate bow with a group of red, white, and pink heart-shaped buttons on the handle. “For Valentines Day,” she said. “I made you curry rice and added some cookies to the smaller compartment. The chocolate ones with chocolate chunks are from me and the sugar cookies are from Pico.”

“Thanks, I'm sure they'll be great,” Vishnal said, giving her a hug. On getting hit with a turnip, he added, “Thanks to you too, Pico.”

“Good, you'd better be grateful,” the ghost said with her arms crossed over her chest. Instead of wearing her usual jester-style hat, she was wearing a hair ribbon copied from the bow on his lunch box. She'd even changed to a loud heart themed pink and white dress to go with it.

“There's more of the chocolate ones in the jar over there,” Dolce said, pointing out the one on the island counter marking off the kitchen area in their home. “And a few of the sugar cookies, since the batch ended up a bit too large to pass out to everyone even with both of us giving them away and me mailing some off to your family too.”

“That's good, we should have plenty of treats to enjoy,” he said.

“Well it might not be for long if milady,” Pico started to say, but then Dolce shot her a withering look. Vishnal made a mental note to make a lot of cookies for White Day too.

On getting to the castle, both Clorica and Doomgale both gave him cookies as signs of friendship, which he gratefully accepted. He hadn't gotten many cookies last year, although he would have been happy just with the chocolate ones from Dolce. But his mind soon turned to other things. Maple was nudging her kittens to find their own lives now while she still watched over the castle farms. Since she was originally a wild paw cat, she didn't trust coming indoors except for the barn and his office windowsill. But the kittens had been around people all their lives and he planned to take them out to their new owners today.

The brown and white male kitten was already living with Clorica and Sven; they were calling him Page as he liked to follow Sven around at nights. The only other one that was claimed individually was the calico female. As she was very social and pretty, she was going to live at the inn where she could get along with guests. When Vishnal had some time, he found her just outside the barn and picked her up to take over to the inn.

Fortunately, he ran into Xiao outside taking care of the flower beds. “Good morning,” he called. “I've brought her over to see if she takes this as her new home.”

Xiao grinned and took off her gardening gloves. “Great, she's inside now! I've been getting ready, let's go in.” She went in ahead of him and called over, “Momma, I've got a surprise for you!”

“Hmm, I thought we already exchanged cookies?” Lin Fa asked, puzzled. Then she saw him carrying in the kitten and smiled. “Oh hello, who's that little cutie in your arms?”

“One of my cat's kittens,” he said. “Xiao asked that she live in the inn.”

She nodded. “Yes, this kitten is a gift to you.”

Lin Fa's expression brightened in happiness as Vishnal handed the kitten to her. “Wow, thank you so much Xiao! And you too Vishnal. I'm sure our guests will love her.”

“She's really sociable, so I think she'll be happy here,” he said.

“I suppose she's why I found a bowl of water on the floor,” Lin Fa said, rubbing the kitten's chin. “She looks like a Jun to me, don't you think so? A pretty little name for a pretty little kitty.”

“She'll be your cat, so you can pick her name,” Xiao said, happy that her mother was happy. And before he left, they both offered him cookies, which was a great thing. They'd have to be repaid on White Day.

On his way back to the farm to pick up one of the other kittens, he found one near the fairy fountain in the marketplace, the brown and white female. She was sitting by a woman he recognized as one of the Sechs refugees; the kitten was trying to get her to share some of the cream from her hot cocoa. “Sorry, I hope she's not bothering you,” Vishnal said as he paused by them. The kitten looked up at him and mewed.

“It's fine, she's a cute little one,” the woman said. “I was just wondering if my girls would like to have a paw cat pet again. We lost the last one when we got arrested.”

“That's too bad,” he said. “Actually, she's one of my cat's kittens and I was giving them away to new homes today. I've got request for all but one of them, so you may adopt that one if you want.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking up at him. When he nodded, she smiled. “Thank you, sir, I'm sure they'll be delighted. This one can come back home with us too. Would the general store have supplies for a cat?”

“They should since they know these ones need new homes,” he said. “Then I'll leave her with you. If you get separated from her, just ask for one of us at the castle to help find her again; she's been living in the royal farms.”

With the odd one out taken care of, he had just two more to decide on which to go with which store. He decided to go get Blossom and let her decide between the two. That took some searching around the farms to find the black male and the black and white female. “These young kittens are always a delight with such energy and mischief,” Blossom said, happy to just watch them.

“These two are certainly the most energetic,” Vishnal said, trying not to seem out of breath. “They might end up going outside a lot. But I think as it gets cooler, they'll settle right in.”

“I think I'll take the fully black one over here,” she said, trying to wave her fingers at the kitten to get his attention. “He reminds me of one I had when I was a girl.”

That meant Vishnal had to trick the kitten into coming closer so he could pick him up again to follow Blossom back to the shop. The black kitten wasn't too happy with being held and nearly went right to the cat door already in the wall of the store. Then he got a good sniff at what was around him and decided to check out the place while he was here. Hopefully that led him to decide to accept this place as his new home. While he was there, both Blossom and Wendy gave him cookies for the day. This was turning into one of his best Valentine's ever.

The black and white kitten was also uncooperative with being held. Once he got her into the flower shop, she sat right down and started cleaning. “Here Illuminata, I brought one of the kittens over to help with your store,” Vishnal said. “She's not too keen on being held, but she's good at getting mice.”

“Ooo, she's one of a very classic fashion,” Illuminata said, happy to have her. “I'm sure she'll be a good assistant around here. You came in good time, I just finished making a little fishy treat to make her feel welcome. And here, a non-fishy treat too.” Then she gave over a cookie, in part thanks for bringing over the kitten.

In fact, he got quite a few cookies over the day. It seemed that Doomgale got her unique taste in cookies from her human family, as Corrin was giving out thin crispy cookies and Frey gave out cookies made with orange juice and candied peels. Only half were sugar cookies, others being peanut butter or other non-chocolate kinds. While there was some worrying drama over the cookies with others, it was mostly a good day for Vishnal.

As he was heading back home after his work day was through, a pair of girls that were both younger than ten hurried over to him. “Excuse us, mister?” the older sister said. “Were you the one who gave us the kitten?”

He smiled at them as he nodded. “Yes, be sure to take good care of her.”

“We will!” she said, getting a nod from the younger sister too. “We're gonna call her Cocoa. Oh, and here, these are for you as thanks.” She then gave him some snickerdoodle cookies.

“Momma helped but we did a lot of work for our friends,” the younger sister said.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Vishnal told them, making them both giggle. “Did you have fun baking?”

“Yeah,” the older sister said. “We got to hurry back home, bye mister!”

“Bye girls!” he said, waving to them as they ran back. Knowing what the conditions in the Maya Road prison had been like, the gift was especially heart-warming. Maybe he'd find a way to return the gesture on White Day, since that should make them even happier.

* * *

 

Autumn 59

Arthur came into the kitchen in the evening, at a time when the place was usually winding down. Not tonight, as things looked busy as ever. There were few customers lingering around, but Porco was buzzing around the kitchen like a chubby bee doing a dance. Taking one cookie sheet, he pulled open the oven door, swapped the sheet in hand for another, then shut the oven and set the sheet aside to take the cookies off. Dylas was trying to keep out of the way with a few cookbooks at the edge of the counter.

“Good evening,” Arthur said as he went over to Dylas. “Thanks for helping me with this.”

“Sure, I need to work on baking skills myself,” Dylas said, then waved over at Porco. “He says he'll be done in time for us to have the oven.”

“At least before it's too late,” Porco said, working on shuffling cookies between the sheet, the rack, and a container.

A large container, with two others filled with already baked cookies next to them. Arthur was caught speechless for a moment. “Erm, just how many cookies are you making?” That was way more than enough to give out to everyone in town, including the refugees.

“Enough to complete my fantastical cookie art vision, something to please the eye as much as the mouth. It will be a genuine edible masterpiece!” He then picked up the cookie sheet and began waving it about. Something to cool the pan down with?

“Meg says he does this every White Day,” Dylas said, still flipping through the cookbooks rather than watching Porco. “What kind of cookies do you have in mind?”

He had given it some thought. “Something simple that makes a large batch would be ideal.” Then he glanced over at Porco. “Not quite that many. I'll be giving out the regular ones to friends and preferred clients, but it used to be that the castle chef would make them for me. I want to make them myself this year.”

Dylas nodded. “All right, I've seen a few that should be easy, and won't take softening butter like mine. You want just simple sugar cookies? There's also some simple peanut butter ones, I just saw,” he flipped back a page. “Yeah, here's one of the peanut butter ones, and a couple of sugar cookie recipes alongside it.” He handed over the cookbook.

“A sugar cookie would be fine,” Arthur said, glancing at the recipes there. “Do you know how these will turn out? Like soft or crisp?”

He shook his head. “Wish I could, but it's harder for me to judge the outcome of a baked good. Soups and meats and vegetables that you cook, yeah, I can tell in a glance, but cookies and breads I can't quite picture yet. Part of it is because baking requires precision with weights and measurements, meaning a small change can have a big result. I haven't been able to determine what the runes predict yet.”

“Usually you can judge by the differences in wet and dry ingredients,” Porco said, still cooling the pan off. “If there's a higher degree of wet like butter and sugar, it'll be softer. If there's a higher degree of dry like flour, it'll be crisper. If there's heavy ingredients like buttermilk, it'll be dense, and if there's light ingredients like egg whites, it'll be light. But yet other ingredients and the way you handle the whole affair can throw things for a loop.”

“Yeah, that's why I rely on recipes for these,” Dylas said.

Based on what Porco said, Arthur decided on the cookie that should come out crisper. “I think it'll be easier to mail,” he said.

“Hang on, I thought I saw one with a note like that,” Dylas said, going back to another cookbook. Once he found the recipe that said it was ideal for mailing as it would hold together and keep longer, Arthur agreed that was best. Then Dylas asked him, “What are you doing for Forte?”

“That's been harder to consider,” he admitted. He had an idea of how to present them, to match what she had done for him on Valentine's Day. But, “She does like cookies, but really loves cakes. That just seems like too much for the occasion, though.”

“There's some cookies that are basically cake dough baked into cookies,” Dylas said, checking his third cookbook. “Would that work?”

Hearing that was like a light illuminating the most fitting solution. Arthur smiled. “Yes, that'd be perfect.”

“There's heart-shaped cookie cutters for you to use over here!” Porco said happily.

By the time Porco was done, Dylas and Arthur had started work making the latter's sugar cookies. The shortbread cookies still needed some time for the butter to soften and the cake cookies needed chocolate melted for them. Meanwhile, Porco took his large containers of cookies and a big round display dish into one of the private dining rooms. He declared that nobody could see his masterwork until he was ready to reveal it tomorrow morning. They just had to hope that his dedication to cookie art was enough to keep him from eating the whole mess. Or that he had prepared enough for his own snacking habits.

Arthur hung around with Dylas through cooking all three batches and cleaning up after. When they were just about done, Arthur went back to his office to do a few final things for the day before going up to his bedroom to read. He figured Dylas and Porco would come up and go to bed before him, as they usually did. However, Dylas came upstairs a lot later than Arthur expected. He noticed mostly because he caught a glimpse of Dylas still in the day's clothes close to midnight when he came up. What had he been doing?

But it didn't matter all that much, he reflected, at least not enough to answer while he felt tired.

* * *

 

Autumn 60

Nancy had told her that the second season of a pregnancy was often easier than the first or third, but Frey still found herself sleeping in more often than not. It was usually because she could feel moving around now and sometimes that put on pressure to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Even with the things like that which she had to put up with, the thought made her happy more often than not. She was going to be a mother well before she expected. Of course, she was also married well before she expected to be. But those were great blessings that she was grateful for.

As she was coming out of the bathroom, Leon called from the other room, “Are you awake in there?”

“Yeah, just got up,” she said, looking for what to wear today.

“I left you some juice, so would you stay in there a bit longer? And don't get dressed yet.”

“What are you up to?” she called back, considering going to the door since that would be staying in here too.

“It's a special day, right?” he said.

“Is it?” she asked, looking at the calender to remind herself. “Oh right, it is White Day.”

He laughed a little. “I'll be back there in a few minutes.”

“All right,” Frey said, smiling as she went back to sit on their bed. What to do? A few minutes wasn't long enough to get into her studies. She decided to brush out her hair to pass the time.

As she finished and looked for something else, Leon called from outside the room, “Well I didn't get you cookies this time.”

“What, no cookies?” she asked, playfully pouting.

But then he came in with a tray and breakfast. “No cookies, but I did make you chocolate pancakes for breakfast in bed. Will that do?”

That made her grin. “Totally, that's way more like spoiling me.”

Leon chuckled and set the tray up so it sat sturdily on the bed. “I think I have every right to spoil you and our child,” he said, stroking her hair affectionately. “I'll be back to join you in a moment.”

While these chocolate pancakes were a bit dense, they were a wonderful indulgence. Leon was getting better at making them. He was getting better at cooking overall, since he took care of a lot of the housework lately. After eating a pancake, Frey asked him, “Do you think we'll be getting a girl or a boy?”

“Wouldn't you have the better insight on that?” he asked, smiling at the question.

“You don't want to hear my insight into that,” she said, delighted to get this chance to tease him.

“Aw come on, you know I do,” he said, now the one pretending to pout.

“Well then you answer first,” she said. “What would you think of either of them?”

It didn't take him long to come up with an answer. “A boy would be nice; I could teach him all my tricks. But then a girl would be nice too, although she'd be so darn cute that I'd spoil the heck out of her. I'd love to have either of them, maybe enough that we could try for a second after this.”

Frey laughed. “Geez, you'd make it so nobody would want to watch over our kids if we wanted some time to ourselves.”

“That could be trouble,” he agreed. “Then what do you think?”

“I think we're getting both,” she said.

Leon stared at her for a moment. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” she said. “It's a feeling I have, plus something that I dream of. My mom used to tell me that she dreamed that she was having twins before it was confirmed, although she thought she was getting two girls. Still, given how Lest likes wearing dresses, sometimes you'd think she got that right.”

“That would be incredible,” he said. “Also troublesome because this place is just big enough for the two of us. I had some ideas for how to manage things with three, but with four, this apartment won't cut it.”

Frey nodded. “We could find a house, I'm sure I've got the money for it.”

Nancy came by shortly after they were done with breakfast to check in on her. With her there, they were able to confirm her feelings that she was carrying twins (although not what their genders would be, that wasn't possible). It was a joyful piece of news, one that Leon could use to convince her to take a walk with him to tell others instead of starting her studies. It was important to figure things out, but this would be a good day to take a break. Since they would be talking to everyone, Leon brought along the minty sugar cookies that he'd made to pass out for White Day. They looked like ordinary sugar cookies, but a few drops of spearmint oil gave them an extra flavor. Unfortunately, they weren't quite the surprise he meant them to be as the mint smell was easily noticed.

Still, people were happy to get them, some commented that they were surprised he hadn't done anything really tricky with the cookies. Leon's response, as he told Kiel, was, “They represent gratitude, so I wouldn't want to make something disgusting for that. Hidden flavors is just enough.”

“Yeah, you wouldn't want someone to mistake that,” Kiel said. He was sitting up in a chair today instead of being in the clinic bed. At least he looked a lot better now.

“Did you have much trouble making cookies this year?” Frey asked. Since he wasn't able to stand on his own for long, he wouldn't be able to watch the oven as well. Or even use telekinesis instead of standing, since that took energy too.

“No, I worked with Jones on them again this year,” he said. “See, last year I had to help him out because Nancy did some really extravagant cookies for Valentine's. And this year he helped me out in return. I still got to mix up the batter, divide it up, then decorate after, so it's still my work in them too. It'd feel too weird for me to give out cookies someone else made.”

“I know what you mean and I don't even bake all that often,” Frey said. “If it's your gift, you ought to be the one to make them. Though I can understand with some people who are way too busy for it, like Arthur.”

But when they went by Arthur's office so Leon could exchange cookies with him, Arthur had made his own cookies this year. He had gotten help too, from Dylas. Even though Leon teased him for the effort, it was good to see him do this on his own rather than relying on others. Then Arthur told them that they had to see what Porcoline had come up with, so they went next door to the restaurant.

Porco wasn't there, but Dylas was. “He took off a little while ago to show Kiel his work,” Dylas explained while he chopped up vegetables for a lunch dish. “He should be back soon.”

“We'll just hang around then,” Leon said.

“Good, cause my feet hurt,” Frey said, taking one of the stools at the counter. And her back, and this was only going to get tougher as she put on more weight. Still, she wanted to stay active as long as she could.

“Want something to drink?” Dylas asked.

“Sure, we could use some cold milk to go with all the cookies,” she said.

“I second that,” Leon said.

“Got it,” Dylas said, taking a couple seconds to finish chopping up a stalk of celery before going to get them each a glass of milk. He also gave them two shortbread cookies each as his White Day gift. “It's my mother's recipe, what she made for us on these days,” he explained.

“Aw, it's nice to keep family traditions alive,” Frey said, then giggled. “Like my family's tradition is making weird non-traditional cookies that no one else would offer.”

“We should continue that,” Leon said, leaning closer to her. She laughed and across the counter, Dylas smiled at them. Then Leon's ears pricked up. “Oh, and we've got an update on how things are going. We're expecting twins now.”

“Yup!” Frey said, excited as she'd been all day.

“That's great,” Dylas said, though his smile was hidden some as he went back to his cooking task. “Then we're going to have to put up with two of your brats at once.”

“They'll be the best brats ever,” Leon said, making her laugh again.

Then the door opened with a jangle as Porco came in. He kept the door open while Lest behind him lifted a rolling cart up by telekinesis to get it over the steps safely. On top of the cart, there was a huge silver dome keeping something hidden. “Careful, something fantastical coming through!” Porco said.

“Thank goodness you got someone to help you bring it in too,” Dylas said.

“Well I had to know once I saw him rolling it down the street,” Lest said, pushing it into the restaurant as he came in.

“Yeah, what do you have under there?” Leon said.

“You'll see it unveiled in a moment,” Porco said proudly. “But first, something for you three.” He took some small cards out of his pocket and handed one each to Frey and Leon. “Here's for you, and you, and a special one for you Lest,” he said, making the last part flirtatious. He even winked as he handed the card over to Lest.

“A cookie I.O.U.?” Leon asked, flipping his around. “Did you eat all the ones you made?”

“No, no, my White Day gift is extra special,” he said, going over to the cart and putting a hand on the lid. “Every year, I make a magnificent work of cookie artistry, based on my thoughts at this time of year. It simply must be admired by everyone on this wonderful jolly holiday, then devoured tomorrow. These cards are promises that you will get a piece, or a freshly made cookie gift if you don't claim it in time. But I hope you come to claim tomorrow. For today, behold this year's masterwork, 'Cats on Cookie Mountain'!” He then lifted the lid off with as much flourish as he could without damaging his cookie art underneath.

Frey was immediately impressed by it. A cookie mountain could have simply been a big pile of cookies, but Porco had made sure to arrange them in a way that looked natural. At the bottom of the display, there were cookie trees among cookie ground with frosting grass. Bits of crushed cookie among earthy colored frosting made up the surface of the mountain, with flecks of white sugar crystals in the snowy cap. And all up and down the mountain, there were cookie cats, each frosted and shaped so that no two looked alike. Over the peak, a cloud cookie was set so that a rainbow cookie could arc overhead without having a obvious support like a toothpick.

“Wow, that's really fun!” Frey said. “But what made you put cats on a mountain?”

“It was all my thoughts combined to make this art,” Porco said, rubbing his chin. “Like all the adorable little paw cats we have around town now, I wanted to celebrate them. And Meggy was saying that I always make a mountain of cookies this time of year, so I decided to make a literal mountain! Lastly, I had to do something truly special for our very special prince, so I made the rainbow cookie just for Lest, with all my love for you. It's just a shame I couldn't make it of chocolate, this year at least.”

“Your kindness is overwhelming,” Lest said, a little too dry for it to be serious. But then he smiled and pulled some cookies out of the basket he carried. “Thanks anyhow. And here, as a gift of my feelings for all of you.” Then he handed Porco a dark brown cookie dusted with some powdered sugar. Wait, was that...?

“Whaaaaaat?” Porco shouted, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. “You... you...”

Lest just laughed and then handed another to Leon. Frey had to fight a grin as Leon stared at the cookie in shock too. “But, this is...”

“Have you finally got the courage to express your true feelings for me today, Lest?” Porco said, excited like a kid. “Are you going to propose to me too?”

“No, that's too fast,” Lest said after he handed one to her. He also offered one to Dylas who surprisingly only had mild puzzlement over the cookie.

“Hey, I know you love everybody in town, but isn't this a bit much?” Leon asked, still unsure of it.

But all it took was a smell to see what was going on. Frey laughed at all of them. “Silly, it's his nature to be like that!” she said, bouncing in her seat a bit. This was too fun. “I love your coffee molasses cookies, it's great you made them this year!”

“Coffee molasses?” Leon asked, now stunned in a different manner.

“Not chocolate?” Porco asked, going to the other extreme in near despair. But a play at it, that's how he was.

“Well of course I'm not going to give everyone a chocolate cookie,” Lest said, rolling his eyes. “But I'm grateful to everybody for many things, so I had to make them extra tasty.”

From behind the counter, Dylas snorted a laugh. “That's a good one,” he said. That triggered Leon into laughing so hard that he had to lean on the counter.

“Oooooh noooo, I thought my dreams would come true today,” Porco said, acting like a tragic heroine. “But at least you gave me a cookie, better than no cookie. And you'll still get your rainbow tomorrow, I couldn't not give it over to you.”

“Thanks, it's beautiful and I'm sure it's tasty,” Lest said, causing Porco's mood to bounce back up.

Frey patted Leon on the back. “Careful there, honey, don't make yourself hyperventilate.”

“I'm not,” he said, though he was trying hard to calm down. “Damn, Lest, that's a fine mind screw. This is my first time with this holiday and even I can see how ingenious and evil that is.”

“Well I'm not lying about them or anything,” Lest said. “People just assume things based on looks and I make sure they know the truth of it.”

“Oh man, now you're just daring me to top that next year,” Leon said.

Although Frey really enjoyed the prank, as she glanced around at the people here, she had a feeling that she'd missed something. Like a sign of something important, or a reaction that wasn't quite right. But what? She couldn't figure it out right off and as their conversation continued on cookies, cats, and the twins, the feeling slipped from her mind.


	108. Firefly Glow

Summer 43

“I have been thinking about someone occasionally, but right now it's too much of a risk. Too much else to, well, interfere and maybe hurt somebody.”

That was what Lest had told Clorica when she asked him if he was interested in dating. He was thinking about that again while he walked around checking on things before evening came and the fireflies started glowing. With nearly everyone else finding a date for this special night, she hadn't been the only one to ask him why he was still single. He'd been able to joke with a few that it was because he had been the oracle and not gotten a fortune for himself. But there was only one person who managed to get out of him who he had a crush on.

The one person who knew was his father, all because they had been talking about Dylas the day before.

…

Summer 42

As a widow, Corrin had neither the want nor the need for a big house. Instead, she took a snug little home near the library, one that would have been tiny even for a couple. She had made it friendly for visitors already by having a pair of comfy couches and lots of family trinkets in the living room by the main door. Lest felt comfortable in it immediately as it was like a condensed version of their old home in Grelin.

And it was his father, so he spoke freely with her instead of gauging his listener's interests and emotions. “I'm sure Dylas will do just fine once he really learns not to take all conversations as combative ones. But he learned that through various misfortunes, making it hard for him to change that. Still, I've got him friendly enough with me that he's disappointed if we can't get together at our usual time in the orchard. Well I am too, it's really interesting watching how his feelings and words flow, then rewarding when I manage to get him interested in a subject he'd usually ignore.”

Corrin smiled at him. “You falling in love with that boy?”

“Now what makes you say that?” Lest said, although more to make her laugh. He might know why already.

“He seems like your type,” Corrin said, then sipped at her lemonade while thinking. “Though all things considered, it's a lot better this time around. I know how you get when you're hooked on someone else's feelings.”

He nodded, not about to deny it with her. “I've been trying to avoid making that kind of mistake again. Actually, I nearly got hooked with him when we first met. He kissed me after his hell gate broke way back in mid-spring, but he was completely irrational from a great many things happening to him at once. I managed to keep some distance, but my attraction remained, changing as he changed.”

“He seems to be recovering well, so what's keeping you from telling him so?” she asked.

Setting his own glass down, he didn't have to think long on the answer. “To be honest, he thought I was a genderless being at first and freaked out when he found that I was a man. The era he came from was restrictive in morals around sex, to the point where he thought that waltzing was dirty when we talked about teaching the dance to Leon for his wedding. But I'm having a hard time figuring out if he himself would be attracted to other men.”

“One of those times when your own feelings blur what someone else feels?” Corrin asked knowingly.

“Exactly,” Lest said. “I've seen some things in him that might suggest he could, or even that he might have interest in me. But nothing certain that I could say it's not because I would like him to be interested in me. I don't mind telling you, but I'm not sure who I could ask and what I could ask for a definite answer. Since we have gotten to be good friends with our conversation practices, I'd hate to be direct with him and find out he's not. Not just for me, but he's still rebuilding himself and something like that would hurt him far more than another person.”

“You might have to wait a long while to get something certain if you can't ask directly.”

“I know, but I'm willing to be patient.”

…

Summer 43

Willing to be patient... but Lest could admit that he didn't want to be patient. Clorica was right in that sometimes you had to take risks. Perhaps he could set something up to get a definite sign? But how would Dylas show his interest in someone? He talked about spending hours practicing what to say to someone in his room before going out to actually talk (and then he complained about how such conversations never went how he practiced). He might be the sort who would have a crush on someone for a long time and have trouble getting the courage to say so. If that was true, it still wasn't easy to gauge his interest since he would hide his thoughts in private.

He was considering if he could let himself slip something in a way that he could blame it on the influence of wine or mushrooms if things didn't go as he hoped (but he couldn't fool Dylas with how safe a mushroom was to eat). Then his thoughts came to a crashing halt as he felt someone's eyes linger over him and want to consume him passionately. Uncomfortable with that, he looked around for some place to flee, to get out of notice or find someone that could help. He was near the inn, within sight of the stairs that led to the lower lands to the north. This was good, he could go inside and ask to take a bath. It would help to get rid of this sleazy feeling.

Unfortunately, the stranger came right up to him and started talking. “Hey babe, got a minute?”

It was a man this time, dressed in a snappy red suit and nice hat. Lest tried to keep his eyes just off him. “Huh, what?”

“Don't worry, I ain't about to harm a pretty face like that,” he said, tugging at Lest. Empathy made his attention overwhelming, to the point where Lest couldn't quite make out his face but somehow found it attractive. The playboy went on, “I just got into town and was wondering where the young folk hang out.”

If it would get him away... “Um, the restaurant over there is popular.”

“No bar?” he asked. When Lest shook his head, the playboy shrugged. “Eh, no big loss. Hey, you want to come over and join me for some grub? I'll treat ya this time. You seem like you could be really dazzling if you got to talking.”

His reason told him to say no. But the lust was already blurring reason and he felt like he wanted to say yes even as it was only going to get harder to fight. Then a rough voice interrupted them with, “Hey, what are you doing?”

Thank the gods you're here Dylas, Lest thought. He pulled his eyes from the stranger to his friend, able to clear his mind some by turning his empathy towards him as well. “Hey Dylas, um,” the lust still kept its sleazy fingers on him, turning possessive.

“Don't be so rude, we were talking first,” the stranger said, trying to get Dylas away by stepping closer to Lest.

“I asked you a question,” Dylas said in harsh tones. But there was a strand of worried care in there, not sure what was going on but not liking the looks of it.

“Well this fellow asked me if I'd join him for dinner,” Lest said, feeling odd in this emotional stand-off.

“Yeah brah, I started talking to her first so butt out,” the stranger said.

Was he looking particularly feminine today? Lest hadn't done anything special with his look today, wearing a light long sleeved jacket that did fit loosely on him. Clorica had pulled his hair back into a small ponytail while they were talking, since he'd kept forgetting to get it trimmed. While he wasn't sure what to say, Dylas glared at the stranger. “Seriously?”

“Hey now, don't be jealous because I asked a cutie pie out first, horse face,” he said.

Predictably, Dylas exploded at him. “Don't you dare call me that, you damn sleazeball! I don't know what you're up to, but I can take one look at you and know you're trouble. You'd better quit messing with him or I will punt you clear into next week.”

“Whoa, watch the threats brah,” the stranger said, holding his hands up. Then his hands and his jaw dropped as something finally clicked. “Wait, what'd you say? He's a guy?” The lust immediately let go, much to Lest's relief.

“Are you fucking blind?” Dylas asked. “Of course he's a guy.”

“Oh shit, nobody warned me about traps around this town,” he said. “Fine, I'll be on my way.” He then took off, trying to get away in a hurry without seeming like he was running away.

“What's he mean by traps?” Dylas said, satisfied with protecting Lest in driving him off. That emotion seemed strong and clear.

“Guys like me who can look like girls,” Lest explained. “Thanks Dylas, that...”

“How could you get duped by a joker like him?” he scolded him. “You'd think that with a power like empathy, you'd know that he was playing you.”

“Um, yeah,” he said, embarrassed about it. But there were strong emotions under those words. His empathy let him feel that Dylas was being intense today because he loved him but the easiest way he had to express himself was with anger.

And he was further certain that this wasn't his own wishes confusing things when Dylas continued talking without thinking. “Sheesh, most of the time you're on the ball but you really messed up there. You were coming across as naive and jerks like that are going to be quick to take advantage of naivety in someone as pretty and kind as you.”

This was a time to jump at an opening. Kind of like the sleazy playboy had jumped at his initial hesitation, but in this case, Lest was after something more meaningful. “You think I'm pretty?”

Tense now, his eyes widened as he realized what he'd said. “W-well that's just what people are saying about you,” Dylas said, trying to keep sounding angry when it had evaporated into shy embarrassment. “It doesn't mean anything to me, so don't get too excited.” He then decided that it'd be easier to get away as well, heading towards the restaurant without worrying about how it might look to others.

“I don't want to spook you,” Lest said quietly, bringing a hand in front of his mouth. He smiled. “But that was exactly what I was looking for. Maybe I will have a date for tonight after all.”

But the time was quickly winding down to the festival's start and he wanted to be in the plaza to see the plan Sven had been putting together for Clorica. Before all that, though, he still felt some queasiness from dealing with the playboy. Lest went to take a quick bath to clear his mind with some meditation. Then he went back to the castle to see what he could pull together on the fly to convince Dylas to take a risk too.

* * *

 

Dylas had once heard someone say that the whole world could be a stage with millions of plays going on at once. At the time, he'd thought the saying was conceited because the guy had went on to add that he wanted to be a sparkling actor noticed by all. But it stuck in his mind and he sometimes felt like he got caught in a big scene of someone else's play as a bit player. Or even as just stage filler. When the plays of life turned to his own, it was a solitary scene or one where he was the fool.

Today, it was a fool (that embarrassing scene with Lest) but mostly stage filler. Though Dylas couldn't help a warm feeling as the big scene unfolded around him even if he was filler. The two main players, Sven and Clorica, came in as a dazzling pair, the knight with a dark past and a magical princess with a crown of rainbow lavender. There was a dwarven custom of gratitude that seemed like a sweet gesture of friendship with some humor sprinkled in. To the surprise of most of the witnesses, it ended with a romantic proposal that seemed very fitting. Dylas had spoken little to either of them, but he'd seen or heard what they were doing around town. For that, he could be happy for them.

He came away from that scene with a feeling that he would like to be involved in something like that someday. A beautiful scene that would seem like it came from a bright optimistic story, a moment people would treasure in memory but the most valuable treasure would be someone who loved him so much they could hardly say yes for their excitement. If something like that happened to him, it'd be like the misery of his life had all gone. It might even give those terrible days meaning, to bring him to such a place.

Though he doubted such a scene would happen to him. He messed up too much and wouldn't be able to pull off leading a scene like Sven had there. Besides, he had no idea how he'd find someone who'd accept and love him like that. Nearly everyone in town had a date for tonight. The ones that didn't have plans were most of the older adults, himself, Meg, Wendy, and Lest. With the sun below the horizon now, he didn't think he could get one of the girls to join him last minute.

There was Lest...

No, that was a bad idea. Dylas shook his head and finally glanced around at where he was walking. He was in front of the inn again. Off to his left, Xiao and Kiel had found a spot in the lower observatory to chat and share some kind of snack. Off to his right, Dolce and Vishnal were headed into the empty marketplace. They'd all be looking for spots for privacy. Which he'd like too, but they should have their choice of where to go since it was a night for couples like them. He decided to walk down the stairs to below the cliff, doubting that any of them would go that far for a date.

How was he supposed to get a girlfriend at this time? It would feel odd to go out with Wendy, since that'd mean he was dating Venti at the same time. Dylas did love her, but not in that way. Venti was like a second mother to him. As for Meg, he wasn't sure if he could handle the way she fussed over people. She was nice at times, but also a nag at times. She had a beautiful voice and was pretty, but they had a comforting feel of family under Porcoline. Dylas didn't know if he wanted to change that dynamic.

The main clue he had in what he might find in love was the fortune that Lest had given him in spring. If that was for love, since sometimes it felt more like a hint for finding his way out of the dark time of his life. He had found a good way to follow that advice was in walking outside of town in a quiet area or in fishing. That was helping him figure out things. However, it also led him to think about Lest.

At first, he thought it was because Lest was a new friend and they were getting along well so far. Lest enjoyed teasing him a bit much, although he was never malicious in it and knew what matters were too sensitive to tease about. He paid attention not just to what someone was saying, but to what they were feeling. Watching him lead a conversation, Dylas saw him try to tug at everyone to participate. His eyes always seemed to be taking others as important, which in turn made others see him as important. More importantly, he had an enthusiasm for life, love, and nature that was infectious. He could make matters that seemed boring, like the composition of soil, seem fascinating.

Dylas could remember Lest taking a handful of soil from the orchard and pointing out all the particle sizes, colors, softness, health, and more that made it good for the trees but could be better. While soil was mundane and below their feet, Lest described it as vividly as a work of art. It should have been an ordinary conversation that would be forgotten. Yet when he quieted his thoughts so he could consider things more clearly, Dylas would remember that afternoon: the bright sunlight making particles gleam, Lest shifting the soil in his hand to find its qualities, the vibrancy of his runes giving him an angelic glow when all he was doing was looking for the means to improve the lives of his trees through the soil they stood in. It was really beautiful.

Then he'd had some dream where he could remember the tail end of it vividly: that same afternoon but instead of Lest glowing about the soil, he was talking about Dylas with the same kind of spirit. He couldn't remember what Lest had said exactly when he woke up, just that passion that made him shiver. As his senses had kicked in, Dylas had then been horrified that he'd been having a dream like that about a guy again. He would dream about girls in the same manner, even some of the ones here before they'd been claimed by others. That he didn't mind, but why did his sleeping mind have to do that with guys too? Even worse, the dream stuck in his mind and came back to him occasionally when he was talking with Lest.

When that happened, he was glad that Lest was an empath, not a mind reader. Dylas figured all he had to do was ignore it until someone else caught his eye. Even just this afternoon when he went fishing not far from here, he'd wondered for a brief time if this attraction to Lest wasn't all bad. It would be nice when Dylas wasn't sure what to say, since Lest could feel his emotions. But it was bad. It wasn't natural for a man to fall in love with another man. There was no way for a pair like that to have children and when you got down to it, that was one reason that love existed at all.

Then again, he had seen that couples other than a man and a woman could live together happily in this time. People were more accepting of that kind of thing. But wasn't it still wrong? And maybe it was just Selphia as it was now. There was talk that the post women weren't allowed in some communities because of their marriage. Still, if those people still fell in love in spite of all that, maybe it wasn't so unnatural? He certainly wasn't trying to be attracted to a guy.

He got down to the base of the stairs and walked a short ways into the grass when Lest suddenly called in a sing-song voice, not far from him, “Dylas...”

Dylas turned around so fast that he nearly tripped over his own feet in shock. Clenching his fists, he said, “What the heck are you doing, sneaking up on me like that? And how did you sneak up on me on those stairs?”

“Very carefully,” Lest said with a large smile. He took out a thermos cup from his bag. “Though I'm lucky I caught sight of you heading down here or I might not have been able to find you. Here, I made you a smoothie from carrot juice, harvested the carrots just this morning. It's thanks for helping me out with that guy earlier today.”

“That's not something you need to thank me formally for,” Dylas said, although he accepted the thermos anyhow. It was hard to turn down a carrot smoothie, especially if all the parts came fresh from Lest's farm. He opened the lid and the smell of it was amazing.

Lest shook his head, then took out another thermos for himself. “It is, actually. I was in a tight spot and if the guy had talked to me much longer, it would have been harder to get out of. Do you know what lust like that does to me?” He walked further from the stairs, holding a hand up near one of the fireflies nearby.

Dylas followed him. “No, though you really weren't sharp.”

“It clouds my judgment, for one thing. You know how there are monsters that mimic treasures, so that you'll pick them up and they get a free attack or two on you? To me, lust is like a mimic of love. It's not a total corruption like hate is, but it messes me up all the same. At first, I can feel their eyes on me like they are hungry to touch my body. It's really disgusting but at the same time makes me feel vulnerable.”

“If it's like that, you should have just gotten out right off,” Dylas said. Trouble like that didn't sound good to tangle with.

He nodded. “I know and I try to. But once the person lusting after me starts talking to me, that's when my judgment and perception get hazy. There's a natural aspect to lust. You can feel attracted to someone you barely know if they look good to you. Because of that, I get drawn to them even though I still feel disgusted. It was hard for me to say, but I hoped you'd do exactly what you did because I couldn't.”

That made Dylas feel disgusted to hear it. But also change his mind in that the gift was a reasonable thanks for helping him out. “Sheesh, sometimes these blessings are more like curses.”

“Right, but I don't want to be thinking about that for now,” Lest said, stopping near where the slope of a hill started. “How'd Porco manage to get so many fireflies in town tonight? They have been slowly increasing in numbers, but this is a lot more than were around just last night.”

The change of topic made sense, so he said, “Not sure, he said it was a family secret. Seems strange to me.”

“Yeah, I can understand some recipes and techniques being family secrets, but attracting fireflies is an odd one. It wouldn't do much good except for festivals like this and the Coquilles are supposed to be a really important and powerful noble family.”

“They were that way even back in my old time,” Dylas said, thinking about it.

Lest had a knowing look in his eye now. “Something else about that?”

His tail flicked in annoyance at being drawn into talking. But then, it was Lest and he seemed interested in this bit of trivia. Like he was always interested. “Kind of. We had a similar festival back then and it was the Sainte-Coquille family who gathered them. Maybe it is an odd thing to know, but maybe doing things like this helped them stay in power in many communities.”

“That could be,” he agreed. “I mean, I started getting respect as the town's prince before I brought you all back and about the only thing I'd done was fix up the marketplace.”

“Well you also listen to people, I mean really listen,” he said. “They do what you ask of them because you make them feel important to the town.”

“The people of a community are important because they are the community,” Lest said. “That's actually from the Book of Guidance, one of the few parts I remember well because I liked it. It's even more fitting now. Hmm, so I don't know how Porco attracts them, but I know how I attract fireflies. Don't think I could get as many.” He used his calming technique to soften the runes around them and started singing in a gentle voice.

It was one of the earthmate songs, so Dylas didn't know exactly what he was singing. But he knew the melody as the one Lest and Amber used to soothe plants troubled by the few things that troubled them. That combined with his radiant calm might soothe anybody, Dylas thought. Because they now perceived Lest as a safe and calm spot, the fireflies came closer to him. Even landed on him, making that soft rune halo around Lest sparkle.

Trying not to look at him too much, Dylas turned aside and drank some of the smoothie. Could he sing along? It was in truth a short song, to be sung repeatedly until the plants were calm. He didn't know if he could attract the fireflies with it too. Unless it was enough just to be calm and near Lest's influence? Dylas listened to a couple of recitations, absorbing it so that he was calm without any distracting thoughts. Then he sang along, not sure of the words but hoping the sounds were enough.

It only took completing the song once to make it work too. Now that the fireflies saw him as safe, they came closer and landed on him to rest. Observing a couple on his arm, he noticed that they didn't look like much up close. They were a simple kind of bug, like a beetle but without the colors or gloss of some others. But they had the ability to flicker points of light in the dark. Just that one blessing let them be beautiful.

For some reason, Lest laughed after one of the recitations. Dylas turned to him and a number of the fireflies had decided it was a good place between the two of them to fly and flicker. It was a pretty sight, mostly because Lest was there making this possible. Just as he was trying to find something to deny that thought with, Lest carefully stepped closer to not disturb the fireflies. “I love you Dylas.”

“What?!” This was terrible and yet also wonderful that he felt the same way... and that was terrible.

“I'm not kidding,” Lest said. He was close now, within arm's reach. But down here, the only lights they had were the moon and the fireflies. Him being close made it easier to see his sincerity. “You're fascinating to be around and I keep wanting to spend more time with you. Like now, you might yell at me but you don't want to disturb the fireflies.”

He was angry out of being embarrassed. But then, Lest was also right in that after drawing the fireflies to them, Dylas didn't want to spook them into leaving. “You tricked me into this, didn't you?”

“Sorry, but I wanted you to hear me out. I've felt like this for a while now, but even an empath like me can lie to themselves when it concerns love. I've messed up in that way before and didn't want to repeat that mistake, so I waited until I had a sign you were clearly interested in me. Which happened earlier today. I admire you in many ways, for times like that and times like this. I love you.”

“It's not right, things aren't suppose to happen like this,” he said. But he felt the same way, didn't he? He admired Lest in a lot of ways.... did he love him just the same?

“Well they happen anyhow,” Lest said. “Is it wrong only because other people say it is? Or because it's not something you're used to? I'm sure it'll be okay. Our neighbors might be surprised to hear about it at first, but I'm pretty sure most won't object. I know Volkanon might not be thrilled about it, but I think he can be convinced to change his mind. But that won't matter to me as long as you're happy with it.” He laughed a little. “Come to think of it, I'd be happy just to see you be happy more days than not. I can tell you're a little happy right now, but mostly confused. Even so, you are beautiful tonight.”

Dylas felt like he had a dozen different things to say. Even if he could pick which one, he wasn't sure what to actually say with it. He could say that Lest was more beautiful. Or he could say that he was crazy and wrong. How could he not think two men dating was wrong? It was obvious. It was obvious, right? But seeing him like this, with the fireflies by the rising moon, Dylas was reminded of his initial impressions of Lest: a light full of grace and warmth that pierced through the cold darkness of the ether sea and the dark coldness of his depression. He wanted to embrace that light again. He wanted to stop using it as a distant guide and have it stay closer. While he had found his own light in the warmth of this community, Lest's light in his life could shine brighter.

Something spooked the fireflies. Without the song to keep them close, they flew off back towards the ground, more familiar territory to them. Lest was distracted briefly in watching them fly off, but then looked back at him with that warm smile. Maybe he already knew that he'd won. Not sure what to say, Dylas stepped closer and hugged Lest. His heart was pounding in his chest and some thoughts in his head were still muttering that he was making a wicked mistake. They got melted away by a growing awe that he had someone who loved him as much as he loved them. Lest loved him too; how did he get this lucky?

Of course, it could all be too good to be true. Would their families and friends really accept them being together? And what about those outside of Selphia? He knew of the high king being wary of accepting Lest due to similar issues. Dylas didn't want to be responsible for others asking Lest to step down. And fear crept back into him, of being humiliated for this love, maybe even hated. Maybe he wasn't thinking things through as usual, maybe he'd regret this.

“C-could we keep this between us, for now?” he asked. “I-I, um, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with everyone else knowing yet. Or even what I really feel, I hope I'm not confusing you.”

Lest patted his back. “It's okay, I understand. Though it's going to be tough keeping a secret relationship in this town. There's a lot of gossips and nosy people.”

“You're one of them, you can misdirect, can't you?” Because Dylas didn't trust himself to keep quiet about it if someone asked directly.

He chuckled and looked him in the eyes. “I'll do what I can, it could be fun. Oh, but I have told my Dad I was interested in you. Nobody else and we can trust her to keep quiet. I'll let her know. She might want to talk with you about it.”

“I guess it'd be alright if she knew since she does already, sort of,” he said. Besides, it might be good to speak with Corrin. One of the few things that was weirder than two men being in love was a man who was convinced he was a woman but still fell in love with a woman and had two kids. Yet people still accepted her as a her, at least now that she was a woman fully.

“It could be hard to keep it from the butlers, but they are used to us meeting in the orchard.” Lest paused, then said, “We might want to head back up soon, separately, before the other couples head back home. Unless you want to try getting back after them.”

The smart thing to do would be to separate now, but that would mean giving up this warmth just as he'd found it. “Stay with me, please,” he said quietly.

* * *

 

Summer 44

Work for dinner didn't need to start for another couple of hours, but Dylas still checked over the parts that had been prepared before he took those couple of hours for a break. Bread dough was mixed and set to raise, herb sauce for the chicken was made to save a bit of time, some veggies Lest had given them this morning were waiting to be steamed... his mind checked him and he looked back at the pot with the herb sauce. That was not the amount he had made and the runes didn't seem like it had been reduced further. Glancing around the kitchen, he found parts of the sauce's runes with a pot that had been used for macaroni for lunch. They had not sold all of the macaroni since the other side dish was more popular.

Frowning, he called over, “Porco! What did you do with the herb sauce?”

“Uh, nothing?” Porco replied, but he seemed scared of being discovered. Even though Meg wasn't here right now.

“You're awful at lying,” Dylas said. “And I know we didn't sell out on the macaroni.”

“It's such a nice sauce, isn't it?” he said, trying to change the conversation. But he was nowhere near Lest's level in doing so. “Goes wonderfully with so many things, even the macaroni.” He smacked his lips, not even trying to cover that up.

“I'm telling Meg that you don't get an early afternoon snack today,” he threatened.

His eyes went wide at that. “WHAT? Oh please, you wouldn't be so cruel, would you Dylas?”

“That was a disgusting amount of pasta for one person to eat,” he said. At least it made him feel sick at the thought of it. “And now I don't have enough sauce for dinner tonight when I made more than necessary for the amount of chicken we'll be grilling to account for the breadsticks going with them. Even if I only used what was left for a marinade, it still won't be enough to cover all of it and the meat will end up dry.”

“Uh, wow, you've got a nice handle on judging needed quantities, heh heh,” Porco said, looking like he was sweating out of nervousness.

“Still not getting that snack,” Dylas said firmly. It made him upset, but that was okay. Porco would be back to happy affection by the time they started work on dinner. At the same time, he wouldn't learn the lesson this time either. Meg had explained that this was a mental condition that they simply had to be strict with him about. But that same condition helped make him such an excellent chef.

Shortly after thirteen hundred, Meg came in. She noticed that Porco was still pouting over the punishment. “What happened this time?” she asked Dylas.

“He took half my sauce for tonight to eat the unsold macaroni,” he explained. “I said no early afternoon snack.”

“Aw geez, Porco, and on the day that Dylas gets to handle part of the dinner menu,” Meg said, giving him a sharp glare.

“Well it was a really good sauce,” Porco said, mostly whining now.

“Then you should've waited until dinner,” she said, not giving him any ground.

“Not only that, but I think he took what was left of the yellow and green grass too, which I need again to get the sauce replaced,” Dylas said. “Pantry's empty on those, so is it in today's delivery?”

“Sorry, I don't think so,” Meg said apologetically.

He sighed softly. “Guess I'll have to see about using the request box, if she can handle something with such short notice.” The service was handy, but the box was inhabited by a spirit named Eliza. She could be as bossy as Meg and as particular as Arthur, so Dylas didn't like dealing with her much.

“You could ask Jones or Kiel if they have some they can spare,” she said.

Following on that suggestion, Dylas left the restaurant to head for the alchemy shop. Kiel made potions for the clinic, so it made sense that he would stock more of the ingredients. Before he even got there, though, he came across Lest and Corrin talking at the entrance to the farms. That reminded him of last evening. He thought about stopping, but also wanted to keep away because all his thinking on this was still confused.

But Lest noticed him walking their way and smiled, so Dylas decided to stop briefly. “Hey,” he said.

“Hi Dylas,” Lest said happily. “I thought you'd be getting off soon. Want to join us for a bit?” Though the way Corrin was smiling, it seemed she already knew.

“Um, about that, I can't right now, sorry,” he said. “I need to get some things for the restaurant.”

“Porco eating things again?” Lest asked.

Dylas frowned. “Yeah, and we're out of exactly what I need.”

“What are you after?” Corrin asked.

Figuring it wouldn't hurt to check, he said, “Yellow and green grass, for herbs.”

“I give what I get of those to Kiel, sorry,” Lest said.

“Actually, I know where various color grasses grow profusely outside of town,” Corrin said. “Found it early on when I was looking for a spot to train close by. I could take you out there and if there is some, we should be able to get back within an hour.”

After making sure it was only them in hearing, Dylas said, “You just want to get me alone to talk, don't you?”

Corrin chuckled. “You could say that. But I'm not pulling your leg, I wouldn't take you out of town to do that as one of the town guard.”

“She might do so otherwise, but she does take her duty seriously,” Lest said, amused at it.

“That does help, thanks,” he said. But if he left town now when they usually got together to talk, Dylas figured he should add, “Hey, but, I'm running this errand because it's for the sauce for my part of dinner at the restaurant tonight. Uh, just if you were wondering.”

“Ah, what've you got planned?” Lest asked

“Grilled chicken with herb sauce,” he said, some of his habits learned as a waiter kicking in. “Along with fresh breadsticks and steamed vegetables, with a kind of pudding called a berry fol as dessert.”

“That sounds really good, I'd be glad to help with getting ingredients for that,” Corrin said, pleased with it.

“Yeah, we'll be there for sure,” Lest said.

“Hope you like it,” Dylas said, feeling excited to see if he did. Well he was excited when anyone complimented his cooking, but this already was better.

Strangely, Corrin didn't mention him dating Lest while they went out to the grass patch, got the needed herbs, and headed back. She seemed to talk about everything but that, prodding him to join along as if they were friends. Dylas wanted to give a good impression to her, so he tried to talk like he would to a friend even if he didn't know her as well as Porco or Meg yet. In that hour's time, he decided he could be friends with her. She had a serious side, but she had that love of life that both Lest and Frey had as well.

They got back within sight of the main gate into Selphia when Corrin stopped them on the main road. “You are quiet, but you seem like a nice young man,” she said. “But there's something I'd like to know. If I came up to you and said that Lest needed you, would you come with me to him immediately?”

“Yeah, I would,” Dylas said. “Why'd you have to ask?”

“He told me about how you helped him out yesterday with that stranger,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “That's good, but that is not the only way that his empathy can ruin him. If you think about times that your own emotions have pulled at you strongly, think about what life would be like if everyone else's emotions were pulling at you at the same time. Lest has learned to let it guide him like a sail, not blow him about like a leaf. But there are certain emotions or events that are still too much for him to take.”

“That's got to suck,” he said. Thinking about it that way, it was more impressive that he managed to be a leader among others. How far did his empathy extend?

Corrin nodded slowly. “At times he's overwhelmed, it's best to get him out of the situation where everyone is being emotional. Being alone in a shielded area like this castle is nice and quiet for Lest's empathy, but his element being love means that he gets lonely easily. He really needs to be around other people. When his empathy is painful, we've found that the best way to help is for someone who loves him to stay close to him in a calm positive manner. It doesn't matter what kind of love it is, whether it's us as his family or his friends.”

“Or me now, I see,” he said. Though he'd need to practice at keeping himself calm and positive; that wasn't easy even if it was just for himself.

“Though I have a feeling you could be more effective at soothing him than me now,” she said, playfully pointing at him. “It used to be that his mother and I could calm him down in a few minutes. But that was when he was a child. Now that he's grown, he's got better control but it takes him longer to recover even with my presence. It's a little sad, but all children will grow to be less dependent on their parents. So I hope that you can stick with him.”

“Uh, I'm not really sure about all this,” he said. “Not about helping Lest, no, I'd help him with whatever he needs. This is just, um,” he scratched at his ear, “kind of hard to accept when I was told that those who followed perverse forms of love would burn in hell.”

“I got told that a lot when I was a boy, although more for perverse ways of life,” she said. “But denying yourself and having a divided mind can be hell on earth. Trust me, I lived through a lot of that.”

“I know that too,” he said, then felt warm with embarrassment as he heard it. “Ah, well, thanks for showing me that herb patch. I'm sure it'll help in the future.”

“You're welcome,” she said cheerfully, like they hadn't just been discussing something dark and serious. Maybe that was where Lest got that from. “Looks like you can handle yourself out there, so you should be fine going out that far on your own in the future.”


	109. Another Cooking Exam

Summer 58

Due to the unusual event of an emergency tea party (that had started as an invasion but then Amber stopped it cold and Lest gave their enemy a warm welcome), the restaurant's dinner menu had to be quickly altered to fit the time left. To make things even more pressured, there was a big name food critic that could spread good or bad word about their work to all of Norad with just one article. Meg said right that afternoon that they had to put their best efforts in, especially that the two of them had to keep check on Porco's behavior so that the critic and his wife actually got reasonable service this time around.

Porco was currently dishing up some apple cobbler to top with whipped cream and some sprinkled cinnamon. With the way he was looking at the serving spoon, Dylas poked him in the arm to keep him in line. The large chef smiled and put it down to add the cream. “Sometimes it's nice to have two consciences poking at me when my own doesn't work.” He finished off with the cinnamon, then gave the bowl over to him.

“It's always nice when you listen to us,” he said quietly, then brought it and the vanilla pudding with small cookies over to the critic's table. “Here's your dessert. Did you need anything else?”

After a glance at his wife, the critic shook his head. “No, we're fine.”

It was like always, but extra stressful with someone important around. Dylas went back to the kitchen and, after making sure Porco knew he was doing something, made some milk tea. While it was simple enough as long as he was attentive to heating the milk gently, it still involved using the stovetop and needed a license for him to do on his own. That hadn't been a law in his own time, but Lest had explained it as a measure to prevent fires in a historical town where a good portion of the buildings sat on wooden platforms over the edge of a cliff.

This drink recipe in particular was something he'd recently found out about and really wanted to try. If milk was used in tea, it was mostly added in last with any sweetener to give some creaminess. Milk tea called for milk used instead of water. The milk would be heated like for a hot milk drink, then the tea leaves would be soaked in it. While the magazine had said it took some effort to do right, Dylas didn't find it that difficult. He'd been able to make hot milk to drink since before he became a guardian. Once Lest had instructed him on using his rune sight to cook, there was no chance for Dylas to scald, burn, or otherwise ruin the milk unless he got distracted and walked away from the pot. This just added a few more steps to make a potentially nice drink.

As he double-checked the temperature he needed the milk at, the busy restaurant quieted when the critic called out, “Porcoline, old buddy, got a minute?”

“Does your minute mean a minute or an hour, dear Baldwin?” Porco called back, making people laugh. Since they were mostly cleaning up at this stage, he left the kitchen.

“Well you know how time can fly right on by us,” Baldwin said, getting up from his table. “And you know I love you and your cooking, but it feels like I've been here over a hundred times and only got to have a full meal served today. But every morsel of this meal was a delight and I'm happy to be able to say for certain that you really are one of my favorite chefs out there.”

Porco laughed boisterously and hugged him. “That's wonderful, I'm one of my favorite chefs too! And I'm really happy to have great people around me who make sure everybody gets a taste now.” It was ridiculous, but Dylas liked that side of Porco too. He made the people around him laugh and smile while having fun... it would be nice to live life like that.

After some more gushing (Baldwin seemed as full of ridiculous antics as Porco was), the critic said, “Normally I'd ask for a tour of the kitchen, but your's is right out here. Still...”

“Well bring your desserts over and we can chat over the counter, or behind it,” Porco offered.

That made things a bit crowded in the kitchen space, but Dylas was already working in the corner away from the main counter. Even knowing they were there, he got surprised when the critic's wife gently tapped him on the shoulder. “What are you doing, young man?” she asked.

Since he was on the job, he was getting better at holding his tongue at lashing out at people who surprised him. Baldwin and Porco were over at the counter chatting about other things. “Just making milk tea for me and some friends,” Dylas said.

The lady smiled sweetly. “Well, now there's something you don't often see outside ritzy tea shops or sweets cafes.”

“I wouldn't know, I just thought it looked good when I first read about it.” A tea shop might not be bad, but he didn't think he'd ever go in a sweets cafe knowingly.

“It is one of my favorite drinks,” she said. “Would you mind sharing a cup with me too? I'll pay for it, of course.”

That made him nervous. Was she a food critic too? It seemed like it, from the way she spoke with her husband through the meal. Then again, if she knew what it was meant to taste like, it could be some good feedback. And he was pretty sure he hadn't messed anything up. “Well, I only just found the recipe yesterday,” he admitted. But that gave him an idea. “I'm not sure how to price it. But if you let me know how I did with it, I'll give it to you for free.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said. The tea was already done, so he could only make a quick check of the runes before pouring some into a tea cup for her. He could give the same cups to Porco and Meg, but he brought out a pair of covered mugs to take to Lest. While he was pouring those, she sipped at her cup and gave it some thought. “Not as sweet as the cafe back home makes it. And you're using honey for the sweetener?”

He nodded. “Yes, I don't really like the qualities sweet powder or sugar have.”

“It may be your individual quality,” she said. “Still, this is nice for a novice. Doesn't seem to be a problem at all with the milk or brewing.” She gave him a few tips, mostly on picking good teas to work with. Then she went back over to the counter. “Honey? You should try a sip of this.”

Not even asking what it was, Baldwin took the cup for a sip. That would be nice, Dylas thought, to have someone you trusted so well that you'd eat or drink something you didn't know the identity of because they said you should try. Or to be trusted that much. “That's good, milk tea, isn't it? But it doesn't have the overly saccharine taste that some places put into it. I like it better that way.”

“It was made by his apprentice over there, and he'd just learned it,” she pointed out.

Immediately, Dylas worried that this might lead to hugging if Baldwin was as much like Porco as he seemed to be. Thankfully, he stayed where he was seated. “Gracious, you must be a fast learner.”

“He is,” Porco said proudly. “Especially once he got into cooking by the guidance of runes because he can learn from the food itself.”

“Sounds like an earthmate talent,” Baldwin said.

“Right, that's what it is,” Dylas said. They were looking at him to continue, which made him uncomfortable. But, this was what Lest had been preparing him for. He had to not worry as much about the words. Although, that was tougher in front of strangers, and food critics at that. “I wasn't expecting it, but I got the blessing and was told I had to learn cooking to pay for it when I hadn't really cooked before. But I'm lucky I got Porco teaching me and it all seems so natural that I don't know why I didn't start cooking earlier.”

“He's one of my favorite chefs too, even though he doesn't have a license for it yet,” Porco said.

Dylas got too embarrassed at that to continue, so he shook his head and turned back to pouring the rest of the tea. Thankfully, they left him to that to keep talking about cooking and food. He had just enough of the milk tea after splitting it up to have an extra cup. Maybe Arthur would try it, he thought. He sometimes talked at length about the tea trade and was happy to find a new source to market. Plus it would be a nice way to get him to sleep tonight. It was hard to tell how often Arthur actually slept since he seemed to be working as the restaurant was closing up and when Dylas came down early to start the daily tasks. Dylas was getting good at the sleep enchantment on food and drinks; he could probably make other effects too with the same method, but hadn't come across something else that would help others out.

He passed out the two cups to Porco and Meg to try, then went over to Arthur's office to deliver his. Busy as usual, Arthur had newspapers spread out over his desk and a table he'd brought over. His attention was on a scrying globe, his left hand resting on the top so he could write with his right. The runes were spectacular to watch as their chi swirled inside and outside the globe, then left the world into the rune sea to find and deliver the information that Arthur was gathering. From the state of the returning runes, with a lush green of plants and dense wilderness, he seemed to be studying a jungle.

And Arthur hadn't noticed him yet. “What kind of place is that?” he asked as he stopped the desk.

“A jungle where many natural resources can be found,” Arthur said, still absorbed in it. “Several of those goods and related items are starting to show instability in price and I think I've found why. There's been a civil war in the area that dropped their exports. Now that it's over, the government formed by those who won is about to pick up great steam in trade, especially exports to help pay for their costs in healing their nation. It would be advantageous to start dealing with them soon as it could be a fruitful partnership in the future, but any of the unstable goods should be offloaded soon as the increase in availability is going to decrease the prices. Some of them could really tank in value.”

“Wouldn't it take you out of Selphia to do that?” Dylas asked.

“Hmm?” He looked up finally, then smiled at him. “Oh, hello Dylas, didn't realize it was you. I'm just a small time trader, only myself. If I had the people working under me, I would send someone to go negotiate. For what I have, I need to pull the goods that could start losing profit by the end of the year. My father would like to hear about a potentially good partner on a political level, although that will take more careful observations than this trade focused look. Sorry, did you need something?”

“Not really, but I was wondering if you'd try this milk tea I learned to make,” he said, offering the teacup.

He did brighten at that, so this was a good choice. “Really, milk tea? That takes some skill to make, thank you.” He took the cup and drank from it, either forgetting that Dylas could use sleep enchantments or remembering and trying it anyhow.

“I didn't think it was that hard, but I already knew how to do the separate steps,” Dylas said, his tail shifting as he wondered how he would take it.

“That's nice, I like how you make it,” Arthur said. “Have you been studying up on tea brewing?”

He shook his head. “Not in particular, just this sounded good. Glad you like it.”

He smiled, more sincere than his usual pleasant expression. “I could let you borrow some of my books if you're interested. At the core, it's simple enough. But there's a large variety of teas and ways to prepare them, plus how to profile them like wine to pair up with foods to enhance both.”

“Maybe later, I'd rather focus more on the food itself for now.”

Now to find Lest. Dylas started by checking the castle, where Vishnal helpfully told him that Lest was out in the orchard currently. It was an odd time for him to be out there, since it was getting dark. However, he did like to relax by sitting in the twinkle tree and it must have been a hard day on him too. It was nice since it seemed to be their place to get together without others interrupting them. At first, it had just been because Dylas didn't want to be embarrassed as he was practicing his conversations. What they had now would be far more embarrassing to be found out.

“Well this is a nice surprise,” Lest said before Dylas even saw him. As he'd thought, he was sitting on one of the middle branches of the twinkle tree, hidden by its leaves. “Have some time to come up here with me?”

“Sure, I'm off for the day now,” he said, though it wouldn't be easy getting up with both cups. Once he was under the tree and could see where Lest was, he asked, “Actually, would you try this new drink I've made? If I can get up there with them.”

“Sure, hang on.” He left the branch he'd been sitting on to take one of the cups, then chose a lower spot to share with him.

Dylas didn't think this was quite the same as Baldwin accepting the drink his wife had offered. For one thing, he knew Lest read runes just like he did and might be able to identify the drink without a sip. He couldn't slip an enchantment on Lest like he had with Arthur either. That is, if his sleep enchantment would even work on Lest without being undone the moment he took the cup in hand. And it didn't seem safe to give him enchanted foods that could come disenchanted after he'd eaten them.

Getting up the tree was easier with just one of the cups to handle. As he got into a spot on a nearby branch to sit, he felt a gentle but sleepy greeting from the tree. This was the only plant that Dylas had heard like this, like how Lest and Amber could without trouble. Though it was less a greeting and more of a feeling like 'oh, a good familiar being is here, I'm glad' that the tree was having. Still, it was nice to hear. He patted the branch gently, not sure how else to return the greeting.

“That's nice and relaxing, but what is it?” Lest asked, looking at the cup. “Milk and tea... but a lot more milk than I usually see in tea.”

“It's milk tea, brewed in hot milk,” Dylas explained.

“I thought that sounded kinda sweet when I heard about it before, but I like this,” he said.

Dylas shrugged. “I cut back on the sweeteners they called for because I was sure I wouldn't like it as the recipe was made.” Thinking that he might as well put some of his conversation learning to practice, he asked, “You like tea?”

He nodded. “Yeah, though I only started drinking it when I got here because Volkanon loves the stuff. My parents both drank coffee, though we weren't allowed it until we were fifteen. It's not the kind of flavor kids tend to like.”

“I haven't tried coffee, although it's been an option for early comers and lunch,” he said, wondering if he should try. “Not many people take it.”

“You might like it with some milk,” Lest suggested. “But yeah, coffee keeps regular people wide awake so I try not to drink it after fifteen. You might want to be careful of that.”

“Yeah, I'd want to keep it weak until I know what it does to me,” Dylas said. Although being kept awake and alert seemed handy for days like today. “You doing okay? It's been a crazy day.”

“It has been. I'm tired, but really glad it worked out.” He chuckled a bit. “I don't mind telling you, but I wasn't sure the plan was going to work entirely until I spoke with the general in my office. There were many factors that had to go right to get it to work and I was making it up as I went along.”

Surprised, Dylas stared at him. “What, really? You seemed confident through the whole thing, like you'd somehow had the plan ahead of time.”

Lest shook his head. “No, I was just as surprised to hear about the invasion and then about how Amber captured them all. I did have some knowledge that made it possible to deal with Teo and his men this way, but some of what I used was intuition on what connected everything. Still, even that wouldn't work if I couldn't convince everyone else to help, so I had to bluff with everyone to get them to go along with it. Which I wouldn't want everyone to know, but I can trust you.”

“But that was amazing that you did that while bluffing,” he said, impressed at it. “Why wouldn't you want people to know?”

“Because I've been thinking over the stuff that Arthur has been teaching me and I may have to do it again,” he said, shifting where he sat so he could lean against one of the parts of the trunk. “I need to have people trust me to do big things like this or possibly make big changes. Hopefully I won't need to, but not everything can be planned for. I don't want to lie to anybody. Thing is, if I'm working on intuition or there's no way for me to be sure things won't go wrong, I might have to watch what I say and don't say when leading the town. Like I couldn't say that nothing could go wrong because lots of things could have. I just said that I had a plan I needed help with.”

“It's still deceptive, but we had to work quickly and avoid wasting time questioning it,” Dylas said.

Lest smiled over at him. “That's right. You're not as dull-witted as you think you are.”

“What makes you think I think that?” he asked sharply, although he was happy at the compliment.

Of course he noticed that and chuckled. “Just a hunch.”

“You have a lot of those,” he said. And he was right more times than not.

“So how's your day been? Did the critic's visit go all right?”

Glad for the change of subject, Dylas said, “That went well. Stressful, half the reason I decided to make the milk tea after it was all done with. We had to keep extra sharp with Porco since he acted like he forgot a critic was visiting us at the time and they asked lots of questions. Then when I made this, the guy's wife asked to try a cup of it and she seems as much of a gourmet and critic as he is.”

“That would be nerve-wracking to get suddenly judged like that,” lest said.

He nodded. “For a little bit, but thankfully she liked it and even told me how I can improve on it. They were joking around about when I could officially be Porco's apprentice with a license.”

“Do you have the test scheduled yet?”

“Yeah, Volkanon got with me on it this morning.” That reminded him of something he wanted to ask. “Hey, Lest? What's your favorite food?”

Without thinking on it much, he answered, “I like any vegetable, but I love squashes, especially zucchini.”

“Zucchini, huh?” He'd used them fairly often in the restaurant as Porco had several recipes that used them, but Dylas hadn't paid much attention to them in particular.

“Some of it is sentimental, but I do really love them,” Lest said. “They were one of the first veggies I grew successfully. Of course, zucchini is one of the common options to teach kids farming skills with since they're easy to work with. And you get so many of them. My mom knew a lot of ways to prepare them, like relishes, breads, grilled, steamed, pickled, even some cake recipes that call for shredded zucchini. But they're coming out of season now. I've been culling the plants I've got in preparation to replace them with winter squashes. Still, I've got plenty preserved to last a while. Why do you ask?”

“Since I'm going to be following cooking as a career, I have to take a harder cooking exam,” Dylas explained. “Volkanon is having me plan, prepare, and serve a formal dinner at the castle for it. Since you're going to be there, I figured I'd make something you liked.” Would Volkanon accept him planning a vegetarian meal if Lest favored that? Or would he want there to be meat in one of the courses as part of the test?

Lest was excited about that. “Great! Though you can surprise us, that would be fun.”

If he just thought of moments like this, he was happy. “Sure, but now I have somewhere to start.” Squashes... how fancy would Volkanon want this? And what was considered acceptable at a formal dinner these days? Because he could think of some squash casseroles that he could make sure included zucchini, but it'd need a good presentation to count as fancy or high class.

* * *

 

Summer 68

There was going to be a lot of people in the castle tonight for Dylas' cooking exam. Lest prepared for the formal dinner by putting on a dark green suit with a pale green tie. Not that he expected everyone to show up well-dressed, not with who was coming. Since it was Dylas' exam, Lest had invited the other three guardians and their significant others (which could be fun as Vishnal and Dolce were very recently married). That meant inviting Doug as well, which Lest hoped didn't cause friction between him and Dylas. But due to that, he'd invited Blossom over as well. Since it was at the castle and Frey was already coming, he also invited his father and Doomgale to attend. And in spite of the questions it raised, he lastly invited Wendy to join them so Venti could participate.

As he brushed his hair around the bandages on his head from the battle against the Terrable clone yesterday, his thoughts drifted from the dinner to his 'dates' with Dylas. They hadn't actually done anything that could be considered a date aside from the Firefly Festival, which had been spontaneous but the most romantic moment they'd had so far. He was trying not to make Dylas uncomfortable and keeping this a secret further complicated matters. When Lest tried to hug him, Dylas always tensed up.

His emotions were like the swirls in a marble, sometimes blurred together and sometimes highly opposed. Dylas managed both fear and desire being with him, with awe and anxiety at being with him. While the dynamic was fascinating, Lest didn't want him to remain in this constant tugging of conflicting emotions. That could break them apart if it got too stressful to deal with. Maybe he should ask for a proper date to ease some of those fears? But what did they do?

There was the option to take him fishing somewhere out of town. But when Dylas talked about fishing, he said he liked the solitary nature of it, being connected to nature through a process born from natural need. Taking that option would mean finding some way to take him fishing but then getting him to agree not to fish for part of it. Getting out of town did seem like the best way to get out of sight of others, so he might feel freer to be more romantic. Perhaps a walk in the woods?

Or maybe if he started something romantic, and a bit silly. Once he was ready for the dinner, Lest got a small pad of paper with a pencil to write a note. 'Good luck with your exam. You should know, I love you so very much. I want to give you a kiss for good luck, but people are watching. I want to take you out far into the hills so that nobody will be watching and I can hold you close and we could talk about nothing in particular. But that would be fine, I just want to have you in my arms and not have to worry about anything else. If I could, I would write you a gilded piece of poetry, but I'm no good at that, so this will have to do.' He drew a little heart at the bottom, then folded it up and stuck it in his pocket.

Using the basement hall to pass under Venti's chamber, he came to the kitchen where Dylas was still at work with some help from Clorica. The latter saw him first. “Oh, hi Lest,” she said, getting Dylas to glance over. “You look nice.”

“Thanks, you guys got everything under control here?” he asked.

“Sure, we'll be on time,” she said. Out of her sight, Dylas smiled a little in admiration of him. Lest glanced right at him, which made him blush and turn back to the last steps of his work. “Did you need anything from us?'

“Just this private note for Dylas,” he said, handing Clorica the paper.

As he trusted of her, she nodded and went to give it to him without looking at it. Not even over his arm when Dylas flipped it open. Reading it made him feel giddy, the sight of those runes tickling at Lest's heart. But then Dylas got worried about trying to cover it up. “Don't distract me,” he said sharply, but tucked the note into his coat pocket like he was going to hang onto it even after tonight.

“Aw, I was just trying to lighten things up,” Lest said with a smile.

Clorica looked at each of them in turn, wondering what the note had been but keeping out of it. “Hmm, was it some kind of joke?”

“Fell flat,” Dylas said, although his happiness was trying to win out.

“Well I tried,” Lest said. “I'd better go be in place to greet people, thanks for your hard work.”

“No problem,” Clorica said.

Although it was a formal dinner, some informality had to be tolerated since some of the guests were either uncomfortable with or ignorant of formal dining rules. Lest still tried to keep with good table manners, following the rules even if few others did. At least he wasn't the only one who showed up nicely dressed. Dolce and Vishnal of course showed up in formal wear, as did Corrin, Blossom, Doug, and even Amber.

“Dolly made me this dress, so I have to really be like a lady when I wear it,” Amber said when Lest complimented her on it. It was similar the older style that Dolce preferred, albeit without the underskirts that gave the usual volume and weight.

On the other hand, Frey did have a dress but nothing fancy. And Leon didn't look much different than usual. Wendy was like Frey, halfway between casual and formal. She had taken a page out of Margaret's book, apparently, as she had ribbons tied into her hair and many colors of simple bracelets. Doomgale was a dragon, but Corrin gave her a white ribbon around her neck so she could be fancy in her own way.

There was a lot of talking through the meal, everyone enjoying the company and food. Dylas was around, but he stayed quiet as usual except for talking about what he'd made. But after that night, the thing that Lest remembered was Dylas discretely handing a note and an extra piece of paper to him under the bowl of the soup course. He'd been given the head of the table was the prince, so it only took waiting for the conversation focus to be elsewhere at the table to be able to slip it out to read.

'I don't know much about romance, much less poetry, but I like that idea. I'm really sorry about making things difficult. But I can't forget the first time I saw you, as an angel with a golden halo who finally came to save me. I never wanted to let that light go. I wish I could get back to that feeling, but my mind is still messy.'

That was nice, but it took a few moments of listening to the conversation to get back in without making anyone suspicious about why he was extra happy at the moment. They might have even thought it was because of the food, especially when Dylas brought out the main course, a colorful and delicious smelling squash casserole. “That looks beautiful,” Lest said to Dylas. He did smile at that, which was a beautiful sight too.

“Oo, that's nice, it's even got zucchini in it,” Frey said.

That made their father laugh. “Usually this time of year, you'd be getting sick of zucchini,” she said.

“That's because we'd have it like all the time and that hasn't happened this year,” Frey said, sounding happy. “So it'd be mid-spring and it would be, hey, great, fresh zucchini again! But then Lest would grow so much of it and Mom put it in nearly everything, so by the end of summer, it would be, aw man, zucchini again?”

“I was the one bringing home most of the vegetables, so I went with what I liked,” he said.

“What one are you talking about?” Amber asked, picking apart the pieces to examine.

“The one with the dark green skin,” Dylas said.

“Oh, okay,” she said, taking out one of those to try.

“They really are nice, but if you grow them, you get to know a lot of uses for them,” Blossom said. “They make a nice relish.”

“That's good,” Amber said on tasting it.

After a little while of adding small pieces while making it look like he was doodling on his napkin, Lest managed to compose a return note, which he poked Dylas' hand with to make sure he got hold of it while passing the plate over. 'What I remember of that time was thinking, why's he got so many chains, and then, oh gods I don't have much time to save him. Your kiss back them made me want to be reckless, but it would have been cruel to take advantage of the confusion my magic left in you. Yeah, my love for you has been there all along. It's changed, but it's still love that makes me happy to be with you, in any way.'

A return note came with dessert. Surprising for Dylas, he had made a strawberry shortcake that Dolce was very pleased with. 'Would you meet me in the orchard after this?'

When the meal was over, Volkanon passed out the small pieces of paper for them to write some thoughts about the meal on. There was enough that Lest was able to write parts of his review on three different pieces of paper, one of which he was careful to print in a way not recognizable to him (unless Leon got a hold of it, which he had to hope didn't happen). A few others wrote on multiple sheets too, so Volkanon had a number to read aloud.

Including the one, “'Thank you for...' wait, what?!” Volkanon narrowed his eyes at the paper.

“For what?” Leon asked, his ears showing interest.

“'...for passing that love note.' Who was passing a love note?” There were giggles around the table, but Lest could tell from the emotions that only he and Dylas must have been doing that.

“I'm sorry, it's not polite to reveal that,” Dylas said. Lest was impressed that he managed to keep control over his embarrassment. Maybe he had braced himself for the possibility?

“Just let that one slide,” Blossom suggested, a fond smile on her face. “It is an honorable trait to help discretely in his trade and yours, right?”

“True, so that would be an extra point in your honor,” Volkanon said. But there wasn't much of a question when it came to the test. Even though he had Clorica's help throughout, Dylas had done well enough to earn a cooking license worthy of a chef.

Lest had to say goodbye to the guests while Dylas was cleaning up, so it was some time before he could get to the orchard. He was waiting near the entrance to it, in a darker area where lights from the castle didn't cover fully. Smiling, Lest went right up to his side. “I hope I didn't make you wait too long,” he said.

“Nah, I just got done myself,” he said. “Lest, about those notes...” Dylas closed his eyes, still thinking.

“That was fun, being honest like that,” Lest said.

He nodded. “I was going to write back, um...” he nearly said something but kept stopping himself. After nearly a minute, he put his hands over his mouth and sighed, his shoulders dropping in defeat.

“I think I know,” he said, going to take his hands. He might be trying to speak his feelings directly.

“No, that isn't fair,” Dylas said, half angry. When Lest touched his arm, he pulled his hands away and glared at him. But his anger was directed at himself. “It's not fair to you. You came right out and said it, so I should too, but... maybe you do know, but...” he was afraid again. “I really should just say how I feel like you, but I can't, not yet. I can't decide if this is right or not. But I don't know who to talk to because I don't want to reveal that... and your dad's obviously going to be on your side trying to convince me it's okay. I can't talk to the other guardians because they're all from older eras and I know at least Dolce's era would be against it. I don't know if Amber would see the problem and Leon would give me such a hard time even if he thinks it's okay.”

“But if you sang from your heart with them, that might...”

“No!” Dylas snapped. “I... it'd be too embarrassing to try, I had to totally ignore us to sing with them the other day for the tea party.”

This wasn't good, Lest thought. His emotions were bouncing all over the place so he couldn't think clearly. Although if he was prodded in the right ways, he might declare his love without intending to. That could be a break past this wall. But, Lest felt bad even thinking about manipulating him like that. It'd be better if Dylas could say it for himself, at a time when his emotions were more in his control.

But he had to try one more suggestion before letting him go. “What about talking to Porco? I'm sure he'd love to listen and help.”

“He might, but I don't know how much help he could be when he's so happy all the time,” he said. “He might not understand how I feel.”

“It's more like he has no middle ground and is happy most of the time,” Lest said. “You could still try him. Or we could take that date out into the hills for an afternoon. Want to go do that?”

Dylas froze up at that. “Ah, you meant that?”

“Yeah, just let me know when you have a good afternoon to spare,” he said, holding out his hand.

But he backed off, his fear getting the better of him. “N-not right now. Maybe later. I will tell you...”

“LEST?” Volkanon's voice was muffled from being inside, but still had a booming quality to it.

“L-later,” Dylas said, then fled out towards the marketplace.

Watching him go, Lest felt his own terror, that this relationship was also doomed to fail before it got very far because of his abilities. Maybe not to the extent as before. People felt really vulnerable as they came to realize what an empath could feel even if he could understand how they felt better than most. But no, he couldn't be giving up this early. He took the first note from Dylas back out of his pocket to read again. He had been happy, he wanted to say 'I love you' just the same as had been said to him. If he could just accept what his heart was telling him rather than what other people told him, this could still work out.

“I'll be back in in a second, Volkanon!” Lest called back, hoping the butler wouldn't come right out. He needed a moment to keep his calm and not end up in tears when they might not be needed.


	110. Crepes on Fire

Summer 74-75

What did he think of this? Dylas had once been told that he could sacrifice his own life to keep Venti from dying from her burdens. He’d taken the chance, the sacrifices had been reversed, and powerful artifacts were supposed to support Venti to keep her alive. However, she was going to die after all and she’d decided that she’d rather let it happen. But she might not be gone, if she could send her soul fully into Wendy and live on that way. That could fail. Why hadn’t she mentioned any of this before? When they spoke these days, it was mostly on minor things and gossip.

Dylas didn’t want Venti to die. On the other hand, he would rather do as she wanted this time around. The only one of them that she’d had any input on for becoming a Guardian had been Leon and he had made up his mind before telling anyone else about it. That had put a lot of grief in her heart with each of them. While it would be painful to his heart if she died completely now, he hoped her plan would work.

Then there was this rain. The others around him were hurrying to get out of it. Perhaps because of his element, Dylas wasn’t bothered by the rain. But there was something in the rain that greatly bothered him. It was chaotic, many feelings pulling strongly in a confusing mess. It was not just one person’s conflicted feelings, but many people’s conflicted feelings. Even his own, as everyone who had been in the room had an influence on this rain. Everyone but one. Lest’s feelings weren’t in the rain, but far overhead, he saw a pattern that occurred in Lest’s runes.

Imagine being assaulted by everyone’s feelings including your own… could Lest even know his own feelings in this chaos? If he felt the rain too closely, it hurt Dylas’ mind trying to make sense of it. Dylas could just walk out of this rain to get out of it; Lest had no way to escape, except as he had by falling unconscious and that had summoned this storm. But what did he do about it? Dylas had tried to go over to Lest, in spite of the many people there. But Volkanon had him already and seemed to have the situation handled. Did he really?

Someone ran up near him in the dark, but the streetlight outside the royal wing revealed it to be Corrin. She recognized him too and came over to take his arm. “Ah, good. Come on, Lest will need you.”

“All right,” Dylas said, following her in. As he cast a quick spell to get the water off him so he didn’t drip all the while, he recalled that it was Volkanon with Lest right now, the person Lest thought might be their loudest objector. And what really was he supposed to be doing? He had to be calm as best he could. But if Volkanon gave him trouble…

They ended up in Lest’s bedroom, making Dylas nervous at being here. Lest had been placed on a couch to rest while Volkanon was setting up the fireplace nearby. “Ah, thanks for coming in so soon Corrin… Dylas?” He raised an eyebrow as he shut the fireplace screen and stood up.

He wasn’t sure what to say. Thankfully, Corrin was quick to answer. “He still hasn’t mentioned it to you? Well then the two of us need to talk outside the room in a little bit. For now, hold back on being agitated or anything for Lest’s sake.” Then she turned back to him with a gentler voice. “You just need to stay near him, as calmly as you can manage even if we’re worried about him. He might wake up scared or upset, so reassure him until he can calm down too.”

Dylas nodded, although he worried if he could calm someone else down. He’d had to reassure his sisters a few times, but this would probably be different.

“Why him?” Volkanon asked.

“I said I’d explain it in a bit,” Corrin said. “Here, how about you let his head rest in your lap? That should help.”

That seemed to be a clearer sign of what was going on to the old butler, but thankfully he bit his lip and left the room instead of making a scene there. Dylas felt odd about it, but he followed Corrin’s suggestion and sat on the couch with Lest partly on him. Then Corrin left him to go speak to Volkanon, shutting the door behind her.

Now what? He’d been told to keep calm. Maybe he could think about fishing. Closing his eyes, he could imagine his way through tying a lure, setting the hook, casting, waiting… or he should be able to. Lest trembled and Dylas immediately forget about the image fishing to check on him. He didn’t respond to a tap to the shoulder, but seemed more like he was asleep. Since Lest wasn’t awake, there didn’t seem to be much more he could do.

Well, he could hold onto Lest’s hand. The gauntlets increased the strength of his fists, though, and that didn’t seem like something he’d want to happen now. Dylas took them off so he could hold onto one of Lest’s hand without worrying about accidentally crushing it. “I think I saw into your mind for a bit. The rain was full of chaos. Is this really all I can do when you're suffering like this?”

How much did it help anyhow? It didn’t seem like just being here was enough. But he wasn’t a healer; he didn’t know much of how to make someone feel better. It might be worse if Lest did wake up scared, unless he would respond the same ways as a child.

“Dylas,” Lest said weakly. It might have just been sleep-talking? But then he squeezed his hand, so he must have been aware of him.

“You awake now?” he asked quietly, brushing Lest's bangs away from his face. He still looked pale, if not as bad as when he’d come in. “How are you feeling?”

“As usual… drained and my head hurts. Though since I ended up like this with you, it's not so bad.”

“It's not...” it wasn’t a romantic thing, so he shouldn’t be flirting about it. Although, maybe the fact that he was flirting was a good sign if Corrin thought he might be afraid. Though that still left Dylas in a spot where he wasn’t sure how to respond. “It's not that much of a difference. Right?”

“How about I let you lie in my lap next day you're feeling stressed out?” Lest offered. “I'd be happy with that.”

“I'll think about it,” he said, trying to avoid certainty. “Corrin's here... well she and Volkanon were here, I'm not sure where they went. She's the one who had me do this when I asked how I could help.”

He nodded a little. “Normally she or Mom would stick by me at times like this. When someone who loves me and I love is nearby, it counteracts a lot of the bad side of the empathy. I'm glad you decided to stay here.”

Dylas clasped his shoulder, still holding onto his hand. “I couldn't leave you alone after I felt your influence on the rain. Though I'm still, um, not sure about this whole thing. It shouldn't be right, but it feels less right to not be with you when you're hurt like this. I don't know if...” why now? He should just be calm and not let these mixed-up feelings take over. That was bad when Lest had been knocked out by empathy.

To his surprise, Lest said, “You took your gauntlets off.”

“Well you fainted and your grip still feels weak,” Dylas said, wondering why he thought it was important enough to point out. “I didn't want to hurt you on accident.”

“I've never seen you without them. Not when you're working, not for sleepover parties, not even when talking with someone you'd never hurt like Amber or Venti. Why take them off for me? And put yourself in a position that you can't easily get out of. You never do that either.”

That… he couldn’t easily explain. Dylas didn’t feel comfortable leaving the gauntlets off. They were a defense in form of a deterrent; others were less likely to pick on him or pick a fight with him once they knew he had powerful enchantments on his gloves. Yet in leaving them off and sitting here, he had left himself vulnerable. But Lest was more vulnerable and having something that let him punch rock and metal without hurting himself too much seemed dangerous. Dylas should feel that way in dealing with other people he wanted to protect, especially when this relationship might be immoral.

To protect… that was what this was supposed to do, protect Lest against the confusing outer emotions with a calming love. Dylas had needed Lest once to pull him out of darkness, and now Lest needed him because he loved him. Needing each other to help in times of need, not just one always depending on the other… that made him feel a little better. But wouldn’t it make more sense if he was in love with a girl who made him feel that way? Or did that really not matter as Lest thought?

Lest rested in his lap quietly while Dylas tried to think of what to say. But there was always some problem with what he came up with. While it may have only been a few minutes, it seemed like an eternity before Volkanon and Corrin came back in. “Is he awake yet?” Corrin asked quietly.

“Uh, yeah,” Dylas said as Lest sat up slowly.

“Oh good, we brought you some medicine and snacks,” Corrin said, handing Lest a potion bottle. Volkanon was setting enough snacks and drinks for the four of them on the table. “You have to deal with your butler here knowing about the two of you now, but I think I’ve got him agreeable to it.”

“Thanks,” Lest said with a nod. “Sorry about keeping you three out of the loop, but we’re not ready to let people know.”

“Mostly me, sorry,” Dylas mumbled, looking down because his face got warm.

“Between what Lady Ventuswill has said before and what Corrin has said tonight, I decided not to trouble you unless it’s something I’d trouble any young couple about,” Volkanon said. “Are you doing well, Lest?”

“No, but once I have a snack and the medicine kicks in, I’ll just go to bed early,” he said. “I think I’ll be okay for tomorrow.”

“He’s certainly doing well enough to be sitting back up already,” Corrin said with a smile. “So what happened at that meeting? We didn’t really get to talk about that.”

“I know Venti said she had premonitions of her death, but it’s a blank past that,” Lest said. Then he looked over at Dylas. “Uh, does Venti know about us?”

“She hasn’t mentioned it to me,” Dylas said, which struck him as odd as he said it. “But you think she’d notice.”

“Yeah, her knowledge of runes should have made the bond between us obvious when things changed.”

“You managed to keep it from the rest of us, but I don’t see how our Lady would miss it,” Volkanon agreed.

“Unless it’s because she’s spending a lot of time as Wendy,” Corrin suggested. “I’ve heard that much about the meeting, so it would make sense to me that she doesn’t have access to the range of senses she has as a dragon when she’s using the doll.” Though in the end, that wasn’t as important as discussing what was going on with Venti.

At the end of the discussion, Lest was clearly falling asleep again but the storm was still rumbling outside. Volkanon set things up so that Dylas and Corrin could sleep in the room too. Dylas tried to sleep, but there was a lot to think about, thoughts that wouldn't let him settle down.

Lest woke up when the sun rose, right as Dylas came alert for the same reason. Although she wasn’t an earthmate, Corrin was waking up as well. On seeing him, Lest smiled. “Good morning Dylas.”

“Morning, Lest,” he said, stretching to shake off some of his fatigue. Maybe he’d try the coffee this morning.

Keeping quiet, Lest got out of bed and came over to him. “You look extra grouchy.”

He grumbled at the reminder. “Couldn’t sleep well. At least you look back to normal now.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” he said. “You heading back?”

“Probably should, before other people notice where I’m coming from,” Dylas said. “See ya.”

“See you later.”

As he came out into the flower garden in the central field, he wondered, should he leave it at that? After all, he knew how easily he could change his mind if he didn’t act on a decision. It might not come out pretty, but once he gave his word, he didn’t like going back on it. Besides, Lest always worked on his farm first thing in the morning, before he even had breakfast. It would only take a couple of minutes…

Dylas left the farm and hurried into the empty marketplace. He felt like a coward for doing so, but a new thought had crept into his mind: even if this relationship wasn't wrong, did he deserve someone as angelic as Lest? Could he really support him in this unusual vulnerability? He didn't know.

* * *

 

Summer 90

Building an elevator from the bottom of the windmill observatory to the airfield below had not been in Lest's mind in planning Selphia's future. There had been no such option in the order tablet. But today? It was there for him to choose to back with government funds and support, with a steadily decreasing point cost just over the past hour. And there was no way to stop it since Doug had done the design and was training for building it under the influence of thelnar. Lest worked at getting the permit forms completed, holding off on stamping his seal on it until the cost on the tablet stabilized.

He ended up eating lunch late, taking it out into the orchard to eat in hopes that Dylas would drop by today. While he did, Dylas had something in particular on his mind today. “Could you show me how to make pancakes? Venti made me promise to make them for her today for when her transfer to Wendy went well, and Porco's agreed to put them on the dinner menu. But, he says that you made the best pancakes he's ever had.”

“Sure, that won't be hard,” Lest said. “We could go borrow the castle kitchen to make a small batch. While I don't have my recipe written, Leon got it down when I taught him.”

Dylas shrugged. “It's okay, I think I could handle it if I watched you first.”

He had to smile at that. “Or you just want to watch me, is that it?”

“N-no, I'll be watching how you cook!” he insisted, not masking his embarrassment well.

Lest chuckled as he came closer. “Not that I'd mind it if you wanted to watch me, cooking or not. Come on, though we'll have to keep any flirting low-key because Vishnal and Clorica will be around.”

“That's more on you than me,” Dylas said. “Say, um... did she ask for any promises out of you?”

What would he think of it? Hopeful for something good, he said, “Yes, actually. She wants to see me dress up as a full drag queen some time. That'll take some practice and planning.”

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, unsure if he should be interested or not.

“You know how I dress up like a cute girl on occasion?” Lest asked, being cheery about it. “Well dressing as a drag queen is like that, but sexier and more glamorous. It should be a lot of fun.”

After having teased him already, Dylas turned bright red at that but also was really interested. Maybe even imagining it, from the way his eyes touched him. While it was close to what he'd felt off the playboy and others like him, Lest felt a giddy thrill at this and it thankfully didn't last into a haze clouding his mind. “Uh, i-if you say so,” Dylas stammered.

“Want to help me out with that?” he asked before he could even resist.

And he got even more flustered. “Can we just get on with the cooking lesson already?!” he snapped.

Lest laughed, but then had to cover his mouth and look away to stop himself. “O-okay. S-sorry, but, ah... alright, let's get to the kitchen.”

While they were working in the kitchen, Lest tried to get Dylas to agree to a fishing trip with him. Although once they got past his reluctance, the problem would then be finding a day they both could take a few hours to leave town. It was better now without the threat of war hanging over Selphia, but he was busy as the prince and Dylas got busy working in the restaurant. At least they could explain this trip as just fishing, something that others wouldn't suspect being anything more than a couple of friends hanging out for a few hours.

He let Dylas make a few of the pancakes once he had the batter together, to let him see how the runes changed in doneness. While doing so, they got a visitor from one of the Sechs scientists. She was the youngest of the group from Idra Cave at just seventeen, being the daughter of two of the older scientists. “Hi Sally, what is it?” he asked.

“I've brought over the information for the elevator permit form,” she said, passing over several papers clipped together. But she was looking at Dylas in curiosity, and interest. “Didn't expect to find you here, Dylas.”

Lest wondered if she was a rival for Dylas' affections. Right now, it looked one-sided as he recognized her but didn't have the same level of interest. “Just learning something new,” he said, not very comfortable in talking with her.

“Yeah, he's my friend,” Lest said, although he was tempted to say Dylas was his boyfriend to cut her off before she really had a crush on him. Once she had left, he asked, “You know her?”

“Not really, just that she comes into the restaurant about the same time every day,” he said. “Always buys a bunch of snacks for the others at their workshop and sometimes complains about being sent on such errands just because she's the junior of the group. Then the group of them comes in for dinner and talk about all kinds of strange things. Hadn't really known her name until you just said it.”

Then she wasn't a rival now, just a possible one. Maybe he was being overly jealous over something small, Lest considered. He put it out of mind for the time being; there were more certain things that needed planning or doing. On telling them the restaurant had pancakes for dinner, Lest got Frey and Leon to come with him to the restaurant that evening. Wendy was there, of course, and her enthusiasm had gotten many others in town to stop in too. That included the scientists, who were mostly talking over Doug's elevator plans still.

And Sally, so Lest tried talking with her some more. “Are you helping out with this project?” he asked.

She shrugged, shifting her red hair off her shoulder. “Kind of, mostly in the usual gofer way.”

“You don't sound that thrilled,” he said.

“Well the elevator project is certainly a puzzle to put together, but machines aren't my interest,” she said. “I'd rather be studying biology and runology again.” Bringing her glass up more to block their conversation than to drink from it, she quietly added, “Like these folks here who have animal parts on otherwise human bodies. Are they even human? And how'd they get that way?”

“That's kind of complicated to explain,” Lest said. That pulled her interest strongly, but he had to be careful in what he said. “A lot of it is personal matters, but the four of them were the guardians mentioned in local history. They got transformed using powerful magic that's currently forbidden to use on people. Since it transformed their bodies into monsters, they have some remnants of those lost forms.”

“Whose the fourth? I can tell the waiter here with the horse ears and the librarian with the fox ears, and the butterfly girl who works at the flower shop most of the time.” Sally glanced around the room trying to figure it out.

“It's Dolce, the one who owns the new clothing store,” he said. “But her's is more subtle. I wouldn't want to go further into the matter without them involved.”

“Hmm.” Her eyes lingered over Dylas, making Lest feel jealous again. There had to be some way to divert her attention from him. Still, he'd kept his word to Dylas to not let their relationship get known and didn't want to break it over something petty like this.

Then Leon's voice cut through the chatter. “Since you two are the pancake fanatics, whose pancakes do you like best?”

“Leon, that is totally an unfair question!” Frey said, her cheeks turning pink from the conflict of having to decide between her husband, her brother, and her brother-in-law.

“Yeah, all pancakes are good, can't we just go with that?” Wendy agreed.

“But you have to like some better than others,” Leon teased them.

“I'm not playing along with this one,” Frey said, getting a lot more upset than she should be even over a question like that. Looking at her, Lest felt that it had to be changes in her chi and body from the pregnancy that was getting to her. Still, they should do something to cheer her back up.

Leon certainly felt the same way, since his ears shifted sadly as he hugged her. “I'm sorry, I was just trying to have some fun. I didn't mean anything bad.”

“Wasn't fun,” she said, sniffling with some tears as she hugged him back.

“See, you didn't have to go making her upset,” Wendy said.

At the table where Lest was, Corrin smiled. “Well you know there's only one right answer to that question,” she called over. “Your mother made the best pancakes since she taught Lest and he taught Leon and Dylas.”

“I can accept that,” Leon said.

But that wasn't all their father had in mind. “Since there isn't a dessert on the menu, how about you go make crepes as an apology?”

“I'm doing what now?” Leon asked, willing to go along with it but not sure what he'd be doing.

“It's similar to making pancakes, but different in that it's thinner so you can wrap it up around a filling,” Lest said. “Wouldn't take too long as long as the ingredients are around.”

“Oo yes, we didn't plan a dessert figuring fruit would be enough with the pancakes,” Porco said, his eyes gleaming. “But I'd let you borrow what you needed to have some nice fresh dessert crepes!”

“Okay, I could give that a shot,” Leon said, but rubbed Frey's cheek. “Would you like that?”

“Yeah,” she said, still a little upset but coming out of that with offer of crepes. Then she had to ask, “Can you do the ones with the bananas that you set on fire?”

“Say what?” Leon asked, startled at the request.

“Excuse me,” Lest said to the others at his table so he could go over to help. “That could be more than Leon could handle with his level in cooking,” he said. “But some fruit and cream cheese filling should be fine.”

“You really have a recipe that requires you to set dessert on fire?” Leon asked, not sure if he should be horrified or intrigued.

Lest nodded. “That one and a few others.”

“Could Dylas handle it?” Porco asked, really intrigued. “I've heard of such dishes but never tried to make them for myself.”

He had to consider that question a moment against Dylas' rune patterns. Lest put his hand on his chin. “Well... it's a couple levels above where he's at, which is risky when dealing with the magic and technique. But I can definitely make them and could finish off a batch if it wears him out.”

“Sounds interesting, I'll give it a try,” Dylas said, although he seemed to be more interested in getting to cook with him more today.

That made Lest happy. “All right! Come on, Leon, you can mix up the crepe batter for all of them while we figure out if we've got the right ingredients here for the flambe banana crepes.”

“Oh, this I've got to see,” Kiel said, taking his plate from his table to the counter so he could watch. Clorica, Nancy, and Frey all did so as well, with others coming around as they finished their dinners.

Porcoline came into the kitchen with them, which was good for finding one of the key ingredients. “Okay, we'll need a rum, or some kind of alcohol for the sauce, but it needs to be a pretty good one and not just what they sell as cooking wine,” Lest said after Dylas had found the bananas, as well as some strawberries and pink melon jam for Leon's crepes. “What do you got, Porco?”

“For you, Lest, I'll grab something really nice,” he said with a wink, then went to find it.

“So why exactly am I going with strawberries and pink melons for mine?” Leon asked, checking the restaurant's recipe card on crepes.

“Because you're making them for your wife and that's a romantic combination,” Lest said, to some chuckles among those watching.

“Oh yeah, there's a drink that's a mix of juice of the two that can serve as a nonalcoholic replacement for wine in romantic dinners,” Kiel said. “It's even called Prelude to Love.”

“That's a sweet notion, but we're kind of in postlude here,” Leon said. Fortunately, that made Frey burst into a fit of giggles, so she was more lighthearted while they were working.

Crepes were more delicate to work with than pancakes, so Lest took over making them after Leon flubbed a few rounds. Instead, he mixed up the filling, spread it on the crepes, then rolled them up and finished them with some whipped cream. Meanwhile, Dylas worked with the sauce for the banana crepes, Porco keeping a close eye on him once the rum was added because then it was flammable.

“All right, you need to be able to call on and control a small amount of fire,” Lest said once they were ready to get those crepes made. “Like when we were messing with the candle flames by pulling them on and off the wick.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Dylas said, placing long slices of banana on a crepe with whipped cream, then rolling it up.

Lest held his hands up to those watching over the counter. “You all are gonna need to hold back, just in case. All right, pour a small ladle of the sauce over it, then get the plate away from the sauce pan. Ignite the sauce, keep the fire off the plate to avoid scorching it, let the alcohol all burn away, then pull back the fire and extinguish it.”

“What's the point of going so far as to set it on fire?” Dolce asked.

“It changes the composition of the sauce and the whole dessert with the quick high heat,” Lest said.

“All right, here goes nothing,” Dylas said, setting the plate on the counter and snapping his fingers. The plate erupted with blue flames, causing some admiring gasps in those who hadn't expected it to be that flashy. Since he had enhanced rune sight naturally, it was no trouble to Dylas to note when it was done and call the fire back. As a water aligned earthmate, it wasn't easy for him to control fire. But the alcohol in the dish was the easiest thing to burn and the fire lost energy as that fuel was depleted. “All right, here you go,” he said, passing it to Frey.

“Looks wonderful, thank you Dylas,” she said, waiting for a moment to make sure it had gone from flaming hot to safely warm.

* * *

 

Dear Mother,

I know you'll never get this letter like I got yours, but I feel like I have to let somebody know and you'd be the easiest person for me to talk to. Even if it's a strange thing that we'd have to talk about for a long while so that you were sure I wasn't being immoral. I'm still not entirely sure about that, but what I am sure of is that I'm happier than I've been for a long time. Wanting to keep that, I almost feel ready to ignore what I was told because it doesn't seem right to make myself unhappy just to stay in moral lines.

Well today while I was working under my replacement father, my boyfriend taught me how to make a dessert by setting it on fire before serving it, all because his pregnant sister was in a really sad mood and I was helping my brother (her husband) to cheer her up.

Yeah, that about sums up where my life has been lately. I've got two different groups that claim me as family now, my siblings in the other guardians and the sort-of family I live with where none of us are related but we all were adopted by the same man, Porcoline. He's been the one teaching me to cook because I'm now an earthmate who has to pay for magic through some daily work. Plus there's some remnant of our family still here in Selphia. I know a couple of descendants of Braidy here, although I haven't talked with them much about it yet. It's shocking for me to think about, really. Back in spring, I suddenly found myself brought back into Selphia where I only found Venti familiar, a smaller town where everyone was strangers. Now here it's only a few hours to autumn and I've got many people who call me brother or friend, and I feel like like they really are family and friends. Sometimes I still doubt it, but it grows more real every day.

I think it's all thanks to the one you would find most shocking about that statement, my boyfriend Lest. I can't even explain to myself how this happened. At first, I was under a kind of love potion effect because he was the one who pulled me out of the ether sea and it was an unavoidable result of that. I just avoided him at the time. But he was still concerned about me, finding me and talking to me long after that infatuation faded. Even when I lashed out at him rudely for doing so, he still kept talking to me and trying to encourage me to talk.

So we got to be friends and I was watching him in trying to find better ways to get along with people. But my feelings crept up on me, making me feel sad if I couldn't see him as usual and think about ways I could help him like he was helping me. Then came that night with the fireflies where he said he loved me. I know, I should have felt horrified and disgusted that a man would say that to me. But I felt so happy that it felt like my heart could burst. It was like Dolce said one time, we had been through hell in the ether sea and being in the arms of the one we love is pure heaven compared to that. Sometimes I feel so strongly that I don't want to let him go that it's painful, all those centuries of dark cold depression wanting to be released so I could be only in this warm light.

But my mind isn't done torturing me yet because I don't feel that way about a woman and that should be completely unnatural. This shouldn't be happening to me. But it is and I'm afraid of letting it go while I'm afraid of being judged as a terrible perversion. I have no clue what I'm supposed to be doing. Lest is offering me the peace and happiness I've been searching for, while admitting there are ways he needs me to love him. As he's an earthmate too, he has this extreme empathy that lets him feel what everyone else around him feels. If I can let go of my doubts and fears, I can be his peaceful safe refugee when others are unknowingly attacking him with their own feelings. That seems like a good thing to be, but is it enough to counter how wrong it is that we're both men?

I have another friend, part of my family under Porcoline, who is currently dating a girl even though she's a girl too. Neither of them have any questions of if that's right or wrong, only that Meg is a relatively young elf who could live a few centuries yet and her girlfriend is unsure how much longer she has to live after being a dragon for over a thousand years. I feel jealous of them, not afraid to be with each other but afraid of hurting each other with a death they can't control. Of course, I can't really control these feelings either. I didn't choose who I was going to fall in love with. I tried to choose not to follow it at first, but that choice is becoming more cruel to take on both of us.

Mother, would you really still love me even if I keep following this path? I will always love you, no matter what. I'm just terrified of you and everyone else rejecting me if I love Lest, and terrified of the pain of denying or losing him for any reason. I wish I could send this to you, and I would hope that you would encourage me to move ahead with him.

I can't send this letter to you. But, if that is my heart's wish, perhaps I should go ahead and believe that you would.

With love, Dylas


	111. Third Wheel

Autumn 8

Glancing in Dolce's shop, Dylas saw that the other three guardians and Wendy were in there. That made this a good time to talk to Amber about Doug. But as he entered the shop, he wondered again how he was going to bring it up without revealing that Doug had asked him to. Just asking her what she thought of marriage was going to bring up why he was asking, especially with the others in there.

“Oh, hi Dylas,” someone else said as he stepped inside, someone a lot closer than the others. It was that young scientist Sally. She was pretty, he found himself thinking. Although she tended to dress in dry neutral tones, she had dark red hair and gold framed glasses over her blue eyes. She also had a sprinkling of freckles over her fair skin.

Not that it mattered because he was already dating someone, although nobody in this room but him knew of it (somehow, it was still a secret). “Hey,” he said, not having come in to talk with her.

“Say, do you have some time to go talk with me at the lab?” she asked. “There's been some things I've been wanting to ask you, if you don't mind.”

What did she want? “Not right now,” he said.

“Ah, well maybe later. See you around.” She then left the store.

“What was that about?” Leon asked, a smirk on his face.

“What do you mean by that?” Dylas asked, going over to where they were gathered. Dolce and Wendy were hanging up some of the latter's sketches of the former's work.

“The way you blew off a girl who seemed interested in you,” he said. “That was not smooth.”

“Yeah, you had a chance there and completely flubbed it,” Wendy said.

“A chance at what?” he asked, although he had an idea of what they meant. It probably wasn't that anyhow.

Wendy shook her head, “At getting a girlfriend, duh. She was just asking about you.”

“W-wait, was she?” This was not looking good.

Leon put his fan over his face. “Well if you're not interested, I don't see the point in telling you.”

“Why not?” Amber asked. “She was just asking if it was normal for him to be grouchy and quiet when he wasn't working.”

“Oh Amber,” Pico said with a sigh. “She was totally interested in him with that kind of question.”

“Right, but he missed his chance,” Leon said as if it was terribly tragic.

“I don't know her, other than when she comes by the restaurant most days,” Dylas said, his tail twitching in irritation. That was right, it was better to come across as angry than embarrassed because it wasn't as weak.

“Well if she really likes him she won't mind waiting for another chance,” Amber said, then turned to him. “Go on, you should try talking to her! She seems nice and smart.”

“You should at least try,” Dolce said when he stared at the floor rather than answer Amber.

“Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask,” Amber spun back around to look at Dolce, “So what do you do when you want to ask someone to marry you?”

“Going to propose to Doug now?” Leon asked, looking happy but a little worried in it.

“Well not right now, but I was making plans,” she said. “I've been thinking about it for some days cause I know it's a really important promise to make for your whole life. But I want to marry him and I'm really sure of it, so now I just gotta figure out how to ask.”

“I made my proposal on the formal side, but I think you could make yours fun to fit you both,” Dolce said, smiling at the thought. “That'd be nice, another one of us married.”

“And Dylas not even budging an inch closer to getting there,” Wendy teased him.

“It's not like that,” Dylas said, deciding it'd be better just to leave before he really lost his temper. But, he did get the information he'd gone in for.

When he went right to tell Doug that it was okay, he was given one of those silver gratitude rings as his friend. Dylas managed to keep his cool in that conversation, but as he walked back to the restaurant from the store, he felt a bit choked up. People really did see him as a friend they cared about, even that idiot dwarf who kept making fun of him and arguing. Perhaps he had been overthinking friendship all along.

“Oh, hey again.”

“What?!” he snapped, then turned and saw Sally looking at him with mild surprise. ****, he could have a life-changing thought but he still had a lot of work to do on himself to actually live it. “S-sorry, but don't surprise me again.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” she said. It made him wonder how she kept her cool like that; Lest could do so because he could see beyond surface emotions. “Do you have a moment?”

“I guess so,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “What is it?

“You're friends with the prince, right? What's he like?”

Why did she want to know that from him? But more importantly, what did he say to her? Lest was a beautiful, patient, kind, mischievous, weird, wise, and sensitive person who was really nosy, could be even more embarrassing, and made life into a wonderful thing. “Uh, well he's a nice guy even if sometimes he doesn't know how to mind his own business,” Dylas ended up saying.

“I had gathered so much,” she said, looking thoughtful. Was she thinking of asking Lest out? The thought of it made Dylas feel sad, as well as jealous and wanting to get her attention off him quickly. “What kinds of things does he like?”

“How should I know?” he asked, regretting talking to her now.

“Well you are his friend,” she said.

He shrugged, then said, “He's a farming earthmate, so he likes that a lot. Really passionate about trees and vegetables and such, growing them at least.”

“Are all earthmates truly so passionate about something?” Sally asked, looking at him now.

“We have to be,” he told her. “The earth grants us special blessings and we have to work to keep them. If you don't have passion for your blessing price, you might lose interest and lose your blessings as a result.”

“I wonder what it is about those rune sphere fragments that allow such a thing to be bypassed,” she said, partly closing her eyes.

“I wouldn't know, but they were created by some very passionate earthmates,” Dylas said, recalling Leon's complaints about Frey studying like a mad woman lately. According to Wendy, that was completely normal for their family.

Sally brightened at that, even smiled. “Ah, so maybe it is a price already paid that can be loaned out? But if there is insufficient power or stability to what's paid, it'll default in a terrible manner. Pardon the extended metaphor, that's just how I think about things sometimes.” She shrugged again. “All well, I could always ask Frey if she's willing to talk on it. You know, you are cute.”

“Where did that come from?” he asked, taking a step away from her.

“Just a thought,” she said. “You might be interesting to talk to all the same if you tried. Well, I guess I'll save the other questions for later. See you around.” Then she headed back for the lab she and the other Sechs scientists were borrowing.

“You're weird,” he mumbled.

* * *

 

Autumn 30

“They're your cookies, go ahead and stuff yourself silly on them,” Porco said, joyful even though he'd already devoured his Valentine's Day cookies.

“But I've got over a dozen of them,” Dylas said, embarrassed to admit it. And they weren't all the plain cookies given out of friendship and gratitude either. A couple girls he didn't even know the names of had nervously given him wrapped cookies and ran off, leaving him to find that they'd given him the chocolate chip cookies given to a crush. Then Meg had given him two of her peanut-butter cookies, in extra gratitude she said. Doomgale had even given him a cookie made with thyme and cornmeal for some reason.

“You're a lucky guy that so many people love you, and it's not even noon yet!” he said. “I told you that you'd need a spatula to defend against all the girls wanting to be with you. Besides, remember the chef's credo! Always try any kind of food, even that you don't think you'll like. You may surprise yourself, or at the very least you'll learn something.”

“But I know I don't like sweets,” he said, although that didn't work. So he picked one he had at random, Clorica's from the note with it, and tried a bite. It was a sweet cookie coated in sweet frosting, not an unreasonable amount but it was all sugar which he didn't like. Maybe he should try the thyme cookie next. That one couldn't be sweet.

The bell over the door rang, leading Dylas to set the basket with his gifted cookies on the counter. It didn't matter to him if they were in sight of Porco, since that would be a convenient way to 'lose' some and not have to feel so bad about leaving gift food uneaten. At first, he was worried because it was another girl coming it. But it was Sally, if at an odd time for her to visit. “Welcome, are you here for an early lunch?” he asked.

“Not this time, sorry,” she said. “I do have something for you, here.”

And she handed him a chocolate cookie. Not a chocolate chip like the other girls who had run, but a full chocolate cookie that was supposed to be handed out to the one you loved. “What's this supposed to mean?” he asked warily.

“I like you a lot, want to go out on a date?” she asked bluntly.

Just to make things worse, there was a hush about the room as the few others in there noticed and were interested. Like any time he got to be the focus, he ended up as the fool. And when she didn't move, just kept watching him as he was caught speechless, he had to say something. “C-could we talk about that later? I need to think about it.”

Sally smiled. “Sure thing, I hope you say yes.” Then she left.

Somehow, this was even more of a shock than when Lest had first declared his love. Dylas had to go over to the counter to sit down there as he was reeling from it so much. Some of the people around laughed. At him for being such an idiot? There was an impulse in his mind to run up to his room and shut the door, hiding from everyone else for the day. But what did he do about her? What did he do about Lest?

Porco then strolled over in front of him. “Oh la la, a sweet Valentine's confession! You're a lucky fellow, Dylas.”

“I feel like I could die out of embarrassment,” he said quietly, slumping his arms and head on the counter.

“There there, no need to make any drastic moves,” he said, leaning over to pat his head. “Oh, I know. You made breakfast for us this morning, so you won't be needing to cook for your magic today. So how about you take the rest of the day off to do your thinking? Can't be making a decision like this in a snap.”

“You sure about that?” Dylas asked, lifting his head. “The private rooms are all booked for various couples today.”

Porco nodded, seeming serious about it this time. “Don't take me for a fool entirely, just partially. I've seen what your moods can do to your cooking, so while I'm really curious as to the masterpieces you could whip up when you were in love, this kind of embarrassment and indecision won't do good things for you or the food you make. Oh, but if you're still having trouble figuring it out on your own, feel free to talk with me this evening! We can figure things out together.”

“Thanks,” he said, although if he did that, then he'd have to tell Porcoline about him and Lest. Was he ready to do that? But before he thought of a place to go, he noticed that Meg wasn't around yet. She had planned a lunch date with Wendy here, so she wouldn't be available to watch Porco until later. “Let me at least help you through lunch,” Dylas said. If he just calmed himself for a moment, and put this chocolate cookie in with the others, he should be able to at least get through that part of the day.

Once the lunch rush was over, Meg and Wendy seemed to be fine diverting their plans for the day on hearing what happened. The first thing Dylas did on leaving, without hardly thinking about it, was to check on the orchard to see if Lest was there. He wasn't. Worried about if someone would see him and wonder why he was coming out of the farms, he waited carefully among the trees until he had a moment to jump the moat at a quieter part to act like he was just walking around town. He headed for the plaza in case Lest was in his office.

As it turned out, Lest was in the town plaza chatting with all the guys who got together during sleepovers, save for Sven as he would be asleep right now. Dylas came over quietly, thinking he could at least hear what they were talking about. Unfortunately, Leon spotted him. “Well well, it's our other unlucky single on this day,” he said.

“Shut up,” Dylas growled, with half a mind to leave already. But he wanted to talk to Lest, somehow get him out of this group and somewhere private.

“Well they always have the chance of getting a lucky surprise today,” Vishnal said with a smile.

“And they're popular enough that I wouldn't be surprised if they did,” Arthur added.

“Aw come on, a guy with a stormy temper like that being popular?” Doug asked teasingly. Dylas just glared at him. He would have taken just getting plain cookies today. This chocolate one threw a wrench in everything.

“Hey, but I heard that Dylas did get a chocolate cookie this morning when one of the Sechs girls asked him out,” Kiel said.

“What, really?!” Doug asked in shock. Several of the others looked surprised too. Across the way, Lest briefly looked uneasy when they crossed eyes.

Well now that it had been said, it was going to be hard getting out of it. “Y-yeah, that one girl Sally did,” he said.

“Wait, she asked you out too?” Lest asked, not able to cover it up from the others this time.

“Huh, she asked you?” Dylas asked, not sure if he should be in shock or anger. What was she up to?

Lest nodded. “Yeah, gave me a chocolate cookie and said she liked me.”

“That's what she did with me,” he said.

“That's weird, why would she do that?” Kiel asked. “Does she secretly have an identical twin with the same name?”

“That's a little too weird of a theory to be plausible,” Arthur said, shifting his glasses and looking at each of them in concern.

“That girl is seriously playing with fire, trying to get between two good friends like you,” Leon said, his ears shifted back in anger.

“Are you kidding?' Doug said, angered too. “That's purely rotten invoking that kind of drama.”

“She must have some reason, maybe not a very good one,” Vishnal said, mostly worried. “It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would happen on accident.”

“Well we should figure that out,” Lest said, sounding calm. But his chi was agitated; he had to be keeping a tight clamp on his emotions or else the weather would start changing. Then he made the mistake of looking at him again and Dylas could see this was difficult for him to keep calm. “Uh, Dylas, could we talk in my office for a little bit?”

“Fine,” he said, trying to sound reluctant even though he was thankful Lest had asked first.

Leon tapped his fan on his chin. “I'd like to go chat with that girl myself and get some information from her.”

“I don't think scaring her is going to be the way to handle this peacefully,” Arthur said quickly. “Let me talk to her and I'll see what I can learn. Kiel, would you come along?”

“Sure, I want to know too,” he said, going over to join him.

“Just make sure she knows that she's making a mistake in doing this,” Leon said, walking off for the time being.

Dylas followed Lest into his office, wondering what to say. But Lest was oddly quiet himself.

* * *

 

When Sally had given him the chocolate cookie, Lest tried to deny taking it. He could feel some interest in him with her attention, but it didn't have the right intensity for love. There was a feeling of being something rote and practiced, an impersonal touch to what should be a personal confession of emotion. However, she had insisted that it was a gift and shouldn't be given right back, so he had to at least take the cookie. It would just be a cookie.

When he had heard that she had made the exact same offer and gift to Dylas...

It was a kind of terror. Lest had been sure that he was softening Dylas' defenses. While he hadn't yet been able to express his love in words, his feelings kept building in a more positive direction. He was almost free of his doubts, his love almost too strong to be held back by his social expectations. While Sally's offer might have been impersonal towards both of them, it was an offer more in line with normalcy. Dylas would not have to wrestle with his conscious like he did in their relationship and he did have a shallow interest in her that could grow deeper. Lest was afraid that he'd end up as the losing point in a love triangle again, another relationship that failed before it got far. And this had been so promising to stick.

But he had to clamp tightly on his heart. At least for now, at least during the day. Bad weather building around evening wouldn't be seen as too unusual if he sorted through his thoughts later on. Bad weather popping up now on a sunny autumn day would be suspect and those who knew of his powers (just about everyone in town now) would question what was going on with him. Yet even if they broke up now, Lest would still hold his silence for Dylas. He knew that, no matter how much it might hurt.

No, he couldn't think of that yet. He had to keep calm... and deal with Dylas now. Logically. Bracing himself, Lest entered his office and found that Volkanon was in there doing some work. “Sir Lest, Dylas?” he asked, concerned on seeing them.

“Could you make sure we're left alone?” he asked, waving a hand at him. “This is really important to sort out now.”

Volkanon gently put a hand on his shoulder as he walked by. “Of course, call me if you need anything.” He then snapped his fingers, caused the curtains to close immediately, and shut the door into the office behind him as he left.

Lest didn't sit down, but went to his desk and leaned against it to look at Dylas. It didn't take rune sight or magical empathy to see that he was agitated, with his ears twitching and his hands not able to find a way to keep still. While Dylas clearly wanted to say something, he wasn't able to find his words as usual.

“Maybe you should take her offer,” Lest finally said, to break the silence.

That made him go still. “What?”

While he wanted to look him in the eyes for this, he just couldn't bring himself to do that. “Well it's not like we've really been dating this whole time when we haven't gone on a date at all. And if our relationship is still making you so uncomfortable that you don't want anyone to know about it, maybe we're better off as friends.”

“I-it's not like that,” Dylas said, his emotions becoming such a blur that it was hard to read them.

Or maybe it was Lest's own emotions blurring things because heated words burst through his control, “You keep tensing up every time I get close and your emotions are in constant battle that make me worried and unsure how to handle you. I thought being patient would work but it's clearly not and if it's going to be less stressful on us for you to go with something that appears more correct then you might as well go with...”

“No, I love you, dammit!” Dylas said sharply.

“Dylas?” Or maybe he'd goofed in the wrong way? For a moment, Lest wasn't sure what either of them were feeling.

Dylas seemed to realize how loud that had been as he paled and looked at the door. But he did come closer, shaking. “Lest, I was worried about how you'd react the moment she gave me that cookie. I didn't know what to do, I still don't know what to do. I love you so much that you seem like my salvation but I've finally got people all around me who care about me and worry about me, and would call me a friend no matter how quick I can be to yell at them. I'm, I... I'm terrified that I'm going to mess something up horribly and become an outcast again, especially if it ends up making you an outcast too. So I want to be near you but I don't want to be rejected and I just don't know what to do.” His voice trailed off into mumbling and he was in tears.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Lest said, not having to move far to hug him tightly. “I'm sorry, I was afraid you'd end up leaving me and thought it'd be best to cut things off if you had a better chance with someone else.”

“Don't want to leave you,” Dylas mumbled.

“I don't want to leave you either,” he said gently.

After a couple of minutes, Dylas' sobs softened into some hiccups, for which Lest had to get him a glass of water to drink. He also tried to wipe off the messy look of tears from his face once he was done drinking it and calming down. There was still some sadness even in his eyes, but Dylas gave him a lovely smile as he did, one that suggested that he hadn't been exaggerating in calling him his salvation.

Lest kept his hand on Dylas' face for a moment longer. “You don't smile much, but it's the most wonderful one in the world when you do.”

“No it isn't,” he said, embarrassed but happily so this time. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burden you with all that.”

“It's fine, I'll take on your misery so it might never come back to you,” he said. Now that they had that sorted out, they still had to figure out what to do about Sally. Perhaps leaving it to Arthur and Kiel might be enough. Lest got up to draw one of the curtains back open, but stopped as sunlight fell on his hand. “What?”

“Is something wrong?” Dylas asked, getting up from the chair he'd sat in after getting hiccups.

“Well no, but that's really strange,” Lest said, opening the curtain a couple more inches to let more light in. “After something like that, there should be some rain. Powerful emotions I feel, even from others, change the weather around me. But it's still sunny and cloudless out there, not even a puddle on the ground.”

“Lest?” Dylas took his hand, pointing to something close to them. It was a small glow that was strongest at their clasped hands now. “Your element is love, we get stronger in our element, and you recover better in the presence of any love. I finally got to speak honestly with you, so maybe my presence is enough to counter the parts of your blessing that are more of a curse.”

“I-I thought any form of love was sufficient,” Lest said, watching the faint sparkling around them. It was still weak, but even couples who bonded quickly like Frey and Leon started with a faint glow that built in intensity as they grew closer. He smiled in wonder at it. “I always thought I would just miss it being part of it, was even a little envious of others because I couldn't see what it was like within that wonderful glow.” He looked up at Dylas' face and it was surrounding them. “Maybe I've never really been in love before now.”

“I'm still scared, but I can't doubt this,” he said.

He nodded. “It's okay. We'll work out your fears until you're ready to let others know.”

“Thank you,” Dylas said, pulling him closer. They nearly kissed, but then Lest's bracelet flickered a few times. “What?”

“Oh, that must be a warning someone's coming here,” Lest said, reluctantly letting the moment go. Still, he might as well say, “Well we are going to have a date sometime soon, right?”

“Sure,” Dylas said, not reluctant at all.

They didn't get much time to figure out when they could get together as Arthur and Kiel showed up. “I'm no expert in personal matters, but it looks like I know more than she does,” Arthur said. “She said she couldn't decide which of you to ask out, so she thought she'd try both of you and see which one of you accepted without considering both or neither of you might do so as well.”

“Then I said she should decide, so she ought to take you both out on separate dates to try an impress one of you,” Kiel said.

“Uh, sorry, that idea came up quicker than I could really object,” Arthur said. “I'm not sure it was that good, but Sally said she'd do that.”

That gave Lest an idea. “I do want to talk to her about things if she's really clueless about this, so we'll go with that.” Once Arthur and Kiel left, he grabbed Dylas' hand before he could head back to work. “I'll make her see what she did wrong without revealing our hand and then win your heart when we go out.”

Seeing what he was up to, Dylas smirked. “No, I'll win your heart.”

* * *

 

Autumn 32

Dylas thought this date with Sally was going to be awkward and it was even worse than he expected. “Do you like fishing?” he asked.

“No, it's rather boring,” she said. Which cut out a lot he could talk about with her since she wasn't interested in training for fighting or being out in nature either. “How are your ears attached?” she asked out of the blue.

“Like normal?” he said. But then she took hold of one of his ears and tugged at it. “Ow, don't do that!”

“You're not going to find anything if you resist looking into it,” Sally said, reaching back to where the top of his ear connected to his head. His ear twitched trying to shake her off, so he moved out of her reach. “Hey, I was just curious.”

“That was like saying you're curious about someone's arm and yanking at it,” he said angrily. Even if he hadn't already been in love with another, he was pretty sure that she wouldn't have a chance with him after that.

* * *

 

Autumn 34

“You knew we were friends, so it was a foolish notion to try coming between us and forcing us to compete for you,” Lest told Sally. “You'll cause pain and heartache for the loss of a friendship in that, plus whichever of us did end up with you wouldn't be able to trust you entirely because of it.”

“I didn't expect lecturing would be part of a date,” Sally said, although she wasn't as mad as a regular girl would be. Instead, she was considering the situation from a very rational viewpoint with little emotion at all.

“I had to work hard to get his friendship, so I'm not that happy with you putting that in jeopardy,” he said. “Besides, you don't seem that emotionally invested in either of us. Why would you give us chocolate Valentine's cookies and ask us out if you're not really in love?”

“That is what's expected of a girl my age, isn't it?” she asked. “I thought it would make me more normal. How would you know that about someone else's emotional investment? That would be a useful thing to know.”

“I have a magic-based empathy that lets me feel what others do.” Which brought up a curious point, now that he thought about it rationally himself. He didn't sense much of any emotions coming from her. “You're not very emotional, that's curious to me.”

“Genetics and chemistry mean more to me than emotions do,” Sally said. “Which I know should be absurd, but it only bothered me because it bothered other people. Being locked in the cave did not even bother me because they let me study and experiment freely. But then the other scientists and my parents tell me I should be enjoying my youth more, so I tried to act more within normal bounds to keep a harmonious environment. However, it has been explained to me by that priest and you now that I have gravely miscalculated normalcy and moral bounds. I apologize, this isn't easy for me.”

Lest found himself thinking that Sally was even crazier about research than his sister was. But then, now that she wasn't trying to act, he could see it was a part of her mental construct, something she could not avoid just the same as he could not avoid his empathy. “You might find it more useful to read some books on morality and philosophy rather than trying to act on what you think is normal,” he said. “I can see where you'd have difficulty putting yourself in the shoes of others now. If you really want to keep a harmonious environment, you're going to have to think consciously about morals and behavior rather than know what's right like others do.”

That evening, he and Dylas met up in the castle library on the second floor of the royal wing. That seemed like the best private spot for them, as Volkanon could keep an eye from the first floor to make sure no one stumbled across them together. Lest brought up the phonograph so they could listen to music while talking together on a couch. This time, Dylas relaxed without much trouble and Lest tried not to tease him so much.

There was one point where he got nervous. “Is something wrong?” Lest asked.

“Well no, but, um,” Dylas blushed and pulled his shoulders in. “W-would you touch my ears?”

He immediately wanted to point out that Leon had suggested a time or two that that was a rather intimate action with him, as long as someone wasn't tweaking or tugging at them. For now he asked, “What for?”

“Just do it,” he said, still embarrassed even though he seemed to want it.

Maybe Leon had mentioned something to him too. “Sure,” he said, being careful as he rubbed his fingers along the tip. He didn't think he could tear the skin, but it seemed like that area would be sensitive. Before long, Dylas wasn't tense at all and it seemed like Lest might even be able to put him to sleep if he kept at it. He chuckled at that. “Your ears are really soft.”

“Your touch is really gentle, a lot better than hers,” he said quietly.

The thought came back and was a lot harder to resist this time. “You know, Leon says that...”

“N-n-no, that's not it,” Dylas stammered, but then leaned closer to him. “I feel like I could fall asleep here and not care about anything.”

“We'd better be careful of that because you still have to go back home eventually,” Lest said. “Are you going to have nice dreams tonight?”

“Yeah, I think so.”


	112. Smile Practice

Autumn 45

As Lest packed up a basket of produce, he whistled happily. His autumn plants were doing really well, especially the giant pumpkin he was training for the annual competition among Norad farmers of who could grow the largest pumpkin of all. The one he had this year was already big enough that even a large person like Leon or Sven could sit inside easily if carved out. Not that he would carve it out yet, the contest required that it be untouched.

He went to deliver a small portion of what he'd harvested today to Porcoline, only to find the chef standing outside the restaurant with a powerful aura of sadness around him. Why was that? Lest knew that Porco often had strong emotions over small matters, while bigger matters tended to make him serious and less dramatic. But he also knew if he got too close, the amount that Dylas' love checked his weather influence would really be tested.

Partly curious to that, Lest went up to him. “Porcoline? What's the matter?”

Porco immediately dived at him, taking his arm and looking at him with teary eyes. “Lest! Oh my goodness, it's a terrible thing, I don't know what I did wrong this time. I'm so alone and I don't think I could even open up the restaurant today.”

On the other hand, this could be pretty serious if he meant that. “Why not, what's the matter?” he asked.

“Well it's the kids, Meg, Dylas, Arthur, all of them are ignoring me today. And on my birthday, you'd think they'd remember! I must have done something really wrong, I don't know what else could have gotten into them. They are young so I understand if they're busy, but,” he sighed dramatically.

Lest knew what was going on, but he couldn't tell him that they were apparently ignoring him so that they could throw him a surprise birthday party. Which he didn't think would be much of a surprise since the four of them were really close. Maybe Porco recognized that and was being melodramatic. “They must have some reason,” Lest said, then got a rather silly idea. But he was being melodramatic anyhow, so... “But you should get to do something special on your birthday.”

“I know, you should have heard it when we found out about Arthur's birthday nearly a week after it had passed!” Porco said. “He just treated it as a normal day when I would have put together a tasty fun bash if he'd just told me sooner. Maybe I will take the day off and do something fun. Oh, but I'd be alone at it!”

Now for the silly part. “What do you say to you and me going out on a date today?” Lest offered.

“WHAT?!” he asked, staring at him like he'd revealed something incredible and shocking. He asked loudly enough that others far down the streets looked their way in surprise.

“Only if you really want to, it's just an idea if you're bored,” Lest said coyly.

“AAAAAHHH! This is a dream come true!” Porcoline just about squashed him in a hug; Lest barely shifted the basket of veggies aside to avoid damaging them. “I get a date with our wonderful prince, how lucky am I?”

“Careful with the veggies,” he said. Once Porco let him go, he offered him a cucumber. “We can head out in a bit, but mind if I drop these off inside first? We could tell Dylas that he's in charge of running the restaurant today and see if he appreciates you more after that.”

“That sounds delightful, I'll be waiting for you out here,” he half sang, then twirled about on the spot as Lest went inside.

Fortunately, he found Dylas, Meg, and Arthur all inside the restaurant. “Oh Lest, have you seen Porco recently?” Meg asked. “He was pouting over being ignored earlier but now we're not sure where he is.”

“You didn't hear him just now?” Lest asked with a smile, setting the basket on the kitchen counter. “Your ruse is working a little too well, since he was all depressed outside when I ran into him.”

“Shit, we didn't mean to make him upset, but we couldn't let him find out,” Dylas said, worried about it.

“I suppose we're not the best of actors,” Arthur said, shifting his glasses and trying to think of something.

“Don't worry, I can keep him occupied for a few hours this morning so he doesn't come across you guys setting up,” Lest said.

“Thanks Lest, could you try to cheer him up too so he's not all mopey when the party begins?” Meg asked.

He winked at them. “I did you one better and asked him out on a date. Nothing serious, but he's having fun now.”

That made them laugh. And thankfully, Dylas trusted him enough to know he hadn't been serious about it. Meg said, “Whatever works, that's great. We'll pay back the favor sometime, and I hope he's not too much trouble.”

Once he was back outside and told Porco that Dylas had the restaurant covered, he asked where he wanted to go. That led them to leaving town a short ways to take a walk in Yokmir Forest. It was a really good time to be out here, as all the trees were full of colorful autumn leaves. On the ground, mushrooms were prolific among some earthy late flowers like autumn grass and blue charms. The forest creatures were busily preparing for winter, either in eating all the food they could for fat stores or stashing it all away to find later.

“Ah, this is such a restful heart restoring place now that we can be sure of its safety,” Porco said, truly happy in saying it. “It reminds me very much of the elven kingdom and its gorgeous wilds.”

“Have you been there before?” Lest asked, both curious and wanting to keep him talking so time passed.

He nodded. “Yes, my family is actually quite involved with the diplomacy between elves and humans. It was on one of those trips that I met Meggy for the first time, playing beautiful music in the marketplace. When I heard that she had an interest in traveling outside her homeland, I had the marvelous idea of asking her to come back to Selphia with me to play in my restaurant. Fine food and finer music, it's a match made in heaven. But I didn't make my offer to her.”

“You didn't?”

“No, because there was a conductor visiting the marketplace at the same time and he wanted to have her join his orchestra as a star player. She could have had fame and fortune doing so, getting to travel all over Norad as she wanted. I could only offer her a small job in a small town, thus I let the conductor make his offer to give her a better chance.”

Caught up in the story, Lest said, “Makes sense, but she's here now.”

Porco smiled at that. “That's right! Other things happened that day and it turned out their personalities did not mesh well even on one meeting. On the other hand, I've grown to adore Meggy as my own daughter. Elves develop slower than humans, so she was still a child in some ways back then. I've seen her grow into the lovely young lady she is now and I'm thrilled to have gotten the chance. I hope she forgives me, or at least tells me what's going on later.”

“I'm sure she will, I've seen that she adores you just the same,” Lest said.

“That's good to hear from a guy like you,” he said. “Maybe she's just caught up in her pretty little romance with Wendy. Hah, that is fun to be witness to as well! I just hope the two of them can overcome their sorrows to find joy together. Although they are having such fun together that I'm not too worried about them. If anybody, I'm worried about how Forte and Arthur will fare as a couple.”

“Why them?” he asked, although he had some concerns about them himself.

Porco closed his eyes in thought. “Hmm, well it's an itsy bit tricky to say why without treading on what might be the grounds of secrets that aren't ready to be revealed yet. I'm not even sure what lies in those dark corners, although I have some suspicions. You can tell those two have real passion for each other! Well, of course you can, but even the rest of us can see that in them.”

“They have strong flames caught up in tight cages,” Lest said.

“Yes, that's exactly it! You're quite a poet at times.” He waved his hand around as if showing the image. “They have been trained in lives of formality and excel in it, but the flames of love aren't something that formality teaches how to handle well. They dated in a stable balance for quite some time. But in dealing with the curse Mr. Obsidian left on the Greenwind children, Forte has started breaking out of that cage to discover a softer balance to her life. It could turn her into quite the lady and knight, I'm sure of it. On the other hand, Arthur is still caught up in his cage and while he won't admit it right out, seeing her change intrigues and unsettles him. This could be a make or break time in their relationship.”

Lest nodded. “Right, but as much as we'd like to help them, it's something they have to start and work through together or it will break. I think there's still some time before they get tested, but I've seen Arthur's defenses growing weaker. But it's not defenses against what's outside, but something within him that I don't know a lot about. When he starts to wobble, I can feel a winter wind and icy painful touch. Once it starts snowing, I think he's going to start falling into trouble.”

“I'm not sure of what that trouble is, but rest assured that I will keep a good eye on him,” Porco said. “There have long been troubling rumors about the current generation of the royal family, but that's definitely something to be careful bringing up around him. And you know, I've come to realize that I've met him once long ago, when he was just a boy with his parents. But I'm not sure how far to go into that just yet.”

“I think you have a good shot at helping him too, once he can open up about things,” Lest said.

“Well he is also one of my kids now,” he said, happily thinking on it. “And Dylas too, I'm supremely blessed and joyful that they all came into my life. You know, that mess with Sally was a worrying thing and I'm glad that cleared up neatly. But I suspect that he does have someone special in his life, just that he hasn't told anybody else about it yet.”

He had to keep himself from smiling too much at that. “Really? What makes you think that?”

“When he showed up, he was still in a dark depressing place in his life. I could tell even before he told us about it, since there was a dullness to him like one weary with grief. But he's sharpened himself up and is leaving that darkness behind. There were still moments through the summer and early autumn where I'd catch him with a sad expression. Something's changed in him recently, though, one that seems to have vaporized that sadness away! I've even caught him humming for no reason while working, even with what Meggy plays. And it's so fun to make him completely embarrassed by pointing it out when it happens.”

Lest laughed at that. “I imagine so. He has been a lot brighter recently.”

Porco poked at the air in front of him. “I've prodded and poked trying to find out what's going on with him and who made him so happy, but he clams up on personal matters. I know he's shy, but I hope he lets us know soon who his special girl is. And I hope he's let her know, rather than just admiring her in silence and imagining things. He'll be a lot happier with real love at his side.”

“I'll see what I can weasel out of him, but I'm pretty sure it's not Sally this time,” Lest said, smiling like he was conspiring with Porco instead of against him.

“Do that, I'm just dying with curiosity these days,” he said. Then he turned to him. “Thank you for hearing me out, Lest. You're a wonderful man and you deserve a wonderful love as well.”

“Thanks,” he said, trying to decide if he should say something to divert suspicion or leave it at that.

Porco's eyes twinkled with mischief. “Family is a wonderful thing, and I love all my kids to bits. And I love you too! So, let's get married, Lest! Become part of my family for real!”

This was a joke, that was very clear to Lest. But that was good; it meant that Porco was his usual self again. “Sorry, but let's not.”

“Ooooh noooo, why must you dash my heart to little pieces so?” he said as if completely devastated, bringing his hands up to his chest and pleading to him with his eyes. “Why must I forever be Mr. Heartbreak instead of Mr. Right?”

Figuring that they'd be back around noon, Lest said, “I think we're best off as friends, and that we'd better get back into town. I didn't say anything to Volkanon before we left and he could get worried.”

“Ah, stuck in the dreaded friend zone,” Porco said, although his runes were showing strong signs of having fun. “Right, heading home would be for the best.”

Lest brought him back to the restaurant, on the excuse that he should walk him home after the date. The town was oddly quiet for being the middle of the day. On getting inside, they found that all of their neighbors had come in for the surprise party. “Happy birthday, Porcoline!” they called, more or less in unison.

“Whaaa, you all don't hate me?” he asked, wide-eyed and already acting like a little kid.

“Of course we don't Porco,” Meg said, waving him over to a table set up with a large lunch already. “Sorry if we seemed to be ignoring you, but we had to keep this a secret from you somehow.”

“Thank you, you're all wonderful people!” Porco said, smiling broadly at all of them. Then he stopped on facing Lest. “And I swear it, by my next birthday I will marry you Lest!”

This got some laughs and stares, to which Lest kept a stoic expression and shook his head. “I told you no once, I'll tell you no a thousand more times.”

“But after that thousand denials, I will win your heart,” he said. Then he immediately got distracted by the meal. “Wow, it all looks so delicious, I don't know where to start!”

Lest made sure to make eye contact with Dylas and smile at him. He broke into a grateful smile at that, then went to sit at Porco's table and talk with him about the food.

* * *

 

Autumn 51

Dylas had to go to Lest's office to find him, but it didn't look like a good day to get together. The desk was uncharacteristically messy when the butlers tended to tidy up the office daily, and Lest himself looked stressed out. “I'm sorry, I've got to check on things and write a letter back to General Teo, then study up on etiquette more because the high king is going to be visiting, and then there's helping out Forte and Kiel, and everything else going on... sorry, I don't have time right now.”

He felt disappointed, but there wasn't much to do about it. “It's alright. But, uh, don't go overdoing it now. Take a break sometime soon.”

While he smiled, he still looked worn down. “Thanks, I'll be sure to do that.”

As he left, Dylas felt like he should do something for him. Maybe cook a meal for him? The trouble was that Clorica and Vishnal usually worked through the dinner hours, coming into the restaurant late together with Sven and Dolce. Or some snacks, that'd be easier to sneak in and he knew Xiao was bringing snacks to Kiel in the clinic (because she'd come in asking for recipes to try the other night). So that could be appropriate. Or maybe arrange things with Volkanon to steal Lest off for a few hours of fishing to relax him. If he did that, he'd have to make sure there really wasn't something vital he'd be keeping him from.

There was also trying to smile for him. But, that wasn't going well. Lest smiled so easily and often, but there had been a long time where Dylas had no reason to smile. Now he did, but he found it hard to actually smile. He tried looking at himself in front of the mirror, but his smiles looked bad no matter how hard he tried. He tried making himself on occasion, but he'd managed to scare a customer one time doing so. Why did they think his smile was scary? He wasn't sure of why or how to fix it.

He ended up going into Dolce's shop while thinking of maybe getting him a gift. But it was hard to decide what. While looking over some bandannas, he noticed that Dolce had sewn most of them and she would know her own work if she saw someone wearing it. Would she question why Lest had one if he hadn't bought one himself? Or was that being too paranoid?

“What's the matter with you?” Dolce asked, coming to him after another customer had left the store.

“What makes you think something is?” he asked automatically. But he should be more considerate with her, being family.

“Your shirt isn't straight,” she said, starting to fix the ruffles on the shirt without asking permission.

“It's more like you've got a longer face than usual and your grouchiness is not quite the same,” Pico said.

“There's been a lot on my mind lately,” he said, holding still for Dolce. But where to start?

“Like what?”

He didn't think these two were the best place to start, but they (well Dolce) might be willing to try helping. “Like figuring out how to smile better,” he said.

She paused in fixing his jacket now to raise an eyebrow at him. “Smiling?”

“I heard that it was important for a waiter to have a nice smile,” he said, his tail twitching. “Even if I start working more as a chef, the kitchen in the restaurant is out in the open and I'd still be dealing with customers. So I thought I'd try practicing it, but it's not going well. Even scared somebody off yesterday by smiling at them.”

“Show me,” Dolce said.

“Well, all right,” he said, then smiled for her.

Pico squealed and dove behind Dolce. “Eek, that is scary!”

“Pico,” Dolce hissed, trying to snatch her.

“Is she just messing with me?” Dylas asked, afraid she wasn't entirely.

“Mostly,” Dolce said, glaring down at Pico before looking back at him more calmly. “That was much too forced. Try something more natural.”

“I don't know if I have a natural smile,” he said, then sighed. “Guess I'm really no good at it.”

“Well that's silly because everyone has a natural smile, even milady,” Pico said, coming back out from behind her. “But she doesn't need it to radiate warmth and beauty because she does that naturally.”

“Ignore her,” Dolce said. But then she did smile, something that seemed troublesome. “Have you tried watching others to see how they smile?”

“Not purposely, although that smile makes me worry,” he said.

“I just had an idea,” she said, putting her hands behind her back. “How about we go out and ask some others to see their smiles so you can study what you need to do?”

“You really think that would help?” he asked. Although it seemed like a sound idea... except for the fact that she had that troublesome smile on giving it.

“You would have to know good smiles to find ways to improve your own, I would think,” Dolce said. “I improve my sewing by looking at ways other people make clothing and items. We should go try; I don't mind closing up the shop early to help you out.”

“All right, thanks.” It couldn't hurt to try, he thought. Unless... “Oh, but, could we not talk to Porco or Lest about it?”

“Why not them?” Dolce asked. “I think they have good smiles.”

He knew that, as the thought of Lest's smile could cheer him up. “Yeah, but, uh, not right now. We'll try other people first.”

The first place they went was the flower shop nearby. Amber was tending the shop today. Sort of, since she was actually spinning rapidly in place in front of the checkout counter. “Amber?” Dolce asked.

“Oh, wel...come,” Amber said, stopping suddenly and nearly falling over in dizziness. Dylas went over quickly and caught her before she did. “Whoopsie-daisy, thanks.” She smiled brightly as she clung to him, trying to get her balance back. It was like her whole face was bright with joy, and dizziness.

“What the heck were you doing?” he asked.

“I wanted to see what it would be like if I was the one spinning the world,” she said. “Hee hee, it was fun, but I don't think I've got the stamina to do it forever.”

“Hey Amber, you smile all the time,” Dolce said.

“Yeah, what about it?” She tried to stand up straight, but leaned too far and had to keep clinging to his arm.

“We're helping Dylas study smiles so that he can smile better,” Pico said.

Amber laughed again at that. “That's a funny thing to study! You can smile, it's easy!”

“It's not easy for everyone,” he said.

She poked his face. “Come on, smile!”

“All right,” he said, then smiled.

“Ah-hahaha, you look mad!” she said, grinning in amusement.

“That was his smile,” Dolce said, smiling a little herself.

“Well how can you smile all the time?” Dylas asked, embarrassed.

By now, she was able to let him go and stand on her own. “Cause I like smiling and being happy. I used to think that I had to be happy and smiling always, cause that's how fairies live, but then I learned that's no good even for fairies. Even so, the world is a wonderful place and there's lots of great things all around, and fun people to talk to. There's tons of things to smile about every day, like the warm rays of the sun or the pretty colors of flowers or people being nice. You both should smile a lot more!”

“Some people smile more or less than others,” Dolce said.

“I'll try, but...” he wasn't sure he could smile as often as Amber.

“You should talk to Dougie, cause he smiles nice,” she said. “Oh, and what about Kiel? Cause he's in the clinic and visitors would make him happy.”

“Kiel would be good to see,” Dylas said, if only because being stuck in the clinic like he was had to be boring and dull.

“We'll see both of them,” Dolce said.

“I'm not sure about that,” he said.

Even so, she still led him over to the general store where Doug was working. “Hey there, what'd you bring the old nag in for?” Doug asked, smiling a bit.

“Don't call me a nag!” Dylas snapped. He should know better by now not to joke about that.

“Are you calling me or him an old nag?” Dolce said, a warning tone to her voice.

“Uh, never mind, I was just trying to joke around,” he said, nervously sweating.

“Oh dear, foot in mouth strikes again,” Pico said as if wearied by it.

“So, what do you guys want?” Doug asked, trying to keep calm.

“Smile,” Dylas said sharply.

“Uh, what?” he said, shrinking back.

“I said smile, dammit!” he snapped back, not in a mood to be nice to him after the old nag comment.

“D-dolce, what's up with Dylas?” Doug asked, keeping himself behind the counter. “He got mad horse disease or something?”

“You...” Dylas growled.

Dolce got his arm before he could do anything rash. “This doesn't seem as useful as I thought. Come on, let's go.”

“Yeah,” he said, leaving Doug wondering what that was about.

They did drop by the castle, but in order to talk to Vishnal and Clorica about smiles. They both had nice smiles, if very different from each other; she had a soft relaxed smile while his was bright and enthusiastic. Then, the smile should be like the person? That would make sense of why his smile seemed scary, although that wasn't what he wanted it to be like. But other than that, which Dylas noticed rather than being told, they weren't of much help. Smiles were important for their work, but they just did what came naturally to them too.

Then they went into the clinic, where they met up with Jones, Nancy, and Alice in the living room area. “Hello Dolly, and Dylas,” Nancy said with a friendly smile. It came so easily to her even though she met up with a lot of people in pain. “Did you need anything?”

“We're dropping in to say hi to Kiel, but also to help Dylas learn to smile better,” Dolce said, smiling when she looked down at the baby sitting up on her own.

“That's unusual,” Nancy said. “How would you go about learning that?”

“Seeing how other people smile, mostly,” Dylas said.

“I could see how that works,” she said. Then she smiled wider. “Alice can smile now! See, isn't she an adorable sweetie?” She reached down and wiggled her daughter's nose, which did make her smile adorably at getting attention from her mother. It even made Jones smile warmly; they could smile just at being together as a small family.

“I think you don't need to worry about it,” Jones said, much to his surprise. “Worrying about simple things like that will make them harder than they should be, but when you relax about it and think over the blessings in your life instead, then a smile will come naturally.”

That was what Kiel thought too, that he was only having problems because he was worrying about it and his smile was good as it was. Even Leon told him to give up and think about other things instead. Although, not after both he and Frey had poked fun at him for asking. She even made a really ridiculous face on being asked to smile, which Dylas got mad at but nearly laughed at as well.

“Well that was entertaining,” Dolce said as they got close to her shop again.

“Did you do this to help me or because you thought it was funny?” Dylas asked, not sure if he should feel insulted about it.

“It can be both, right?” she asked with that troublesome smile again. “What did you learn?”

“That people seem to think my smile is fine, but it isn't?” he answered. “I know I have a scary smile, but I don't want it to be like that.”

“No, it's more like your smile's fine when you're not thinking about it,” Pico said.

“But how am I supposed to not think about smiling when I'm supposed to have a nice smile when working?” Dylas said.

“That does sound infuriating to deal with, but you'll just have to think of something else,” Dolce said., opening up the door to her shop and letting him back inside. “Not much else you can do. Why didn't you want to talk to Porcoline about this issue?”

Well, she had tried to help and deserved to know that much. “He's the one who told me that a waiter needs to have a nice smile,” he said. “He's done so much for me, been treating me like his own son no matter how much of a sourpuss I am. I want to be doing the best I can for him “

“You sure he wasn't commenting on how you smile while you're working?” Dolce asked.

“But I don't?” At least he didn't think so, save the time he was actually trying and failed horribly.

“No, you do smile a lot like you're having a whole bucket of fun while working,” Pico said. “I've actually heard some girls saying that you were super cute and handsome while serving tables because of your smile.”

“I didn't think I was,” he said.

“Of course not, you weren't thinking about smiling at the time,” Dolce said. “Start thinking more positively instead of critically of yourself. It'll do you wonders, I know because I've felt a lot better making that change.”

“Guess I could try,” he said, although it didn't sound easy. There was a lot actually going right in his life, he realized. But it was all too easy to fall back into that rut of seeing everything that was wrong.

“And why not Lest?” Dolce asked.

“Th-that's not important,” he said, not wanting to admit why.

“Well if it's not important, then it's no problem to tell us, right?” Pico asked, drifting closer to him while giving him a cute curious look.

“He was busy when I saw him earlier, all right,” Dylas said, feeling his face get warm. No, keep it cool and calm.

“Most that we visited were at work too,” Dolce pointed out. “I'm sure Lest would have given us a couple of minutes to help out, like he always does.”

“Yeah, that's nothing to get embarrassed about,” Pico said, getting even closer. “Unless...”

“I know you're going to say something ridiculous, so don't say it,” Dolce told her.

That did give him just enough time to come up with an excuse. “Well we were talking about dating one time and he said I could be a real charmer with a good smile. Maybe he was just poking fun of me, so I don't want him to think I was taking him seriously.”

“Well he's right about that,” Pico said.

“Huh, and he's nosy so I could see why you wouldn't want him aware of that,” Dolce said. “But really, you've got lots of friends and family around you now, right? It doesn't take just romance to make a loving community and we're really blessed now to be in one.”

“That's true,” he said. Even not considering his relationship with Lest, there was a lot of love in his life now from the people he cared about. He had to keep that in mind to not forget it.

Before he could give that much more thought, Dolce touched his cheek. “That's a nice smile.”

“Wh-what?” he asked, stepping back. But she just laughed softly and left it at that.

When he went to check on his progress in the mirror that evening, his smile was still bad until he took a moment to think over the blessings in his life, including Lest. Then he was actually smiling before he even realized it.

* * *

 

Autumn 60

They were going to exchange cookies today, they had planned on it. Being that it was White Day, people would be walking all over town and trying to talk to them. That would make it hard to keep their exchange secret. As such, they had agree to give their actual gifts to each other late at night, after dark. Lest had taken a chance to give Dylas one of his regular cookies (coffee molasses, for the fun of people's reactions to the almost chocolate looking cookie) when they ran into each other in the restaurant that morning, and Dylas had given back one of his shortbread cookies. In that, nobody thought twice about it.

Lest brought a lantern out into the orchard. The leaves were still on the trees, but looking around him, he felt that they couldn't have many more meetings out here. Right now, he was wearing one of his heavier jackets against the cool air. It might be warmer during the day, but as the leaves fell, there was a bigger chance of others seeing them unless they were up in the twinkle tree. She had let him know earlier that her leaves wouldn't fall as it wasn't her way. Still, they'd have to take more of their meetings inside, like in the library upstairs.

A few minutes after he got out there, Dylas came into the orchard with one of the restaurant's delivery baskets. “Hey, sorry I'm late,” he said. “People kept talking to me and I finally had to say I'd promise to deliver you something cause you'd be doing some late work.”

“Maybe studying, depends on how long you want to stick together,” Lest said, smiling and giving him a hug as he got near.

Dylas patted his back. “We'll see.” Then he pulled away to open his basket. “Oh, but that means I brought over some hot milk first.”

He chuckled, but took the mug. “Thanks. But isn't this supposed to help people sleep? Not much good to help studying.”

“Maybe to slow your thoughts down after filling your mind with them,” Dylas said, then brought out a small wooden box. Its lid was painted with a sunny farmland scene. “Well, here. They're chocolate meringue cookies, hope you like them.”

“Meringue?” That seemed curious, so he opened the box to look at them. They were like little gray puffs, flecked with white, black, and every gray in between.

“Yeah, basically little blobs of meringue, but it sounded interesting and I wanted to practice working with egg whites more,” he said, not quite saying that he thought Lest might like the more unusual cookie better.

“They're cute, and they should be good being meringue,” he said, smiling and setting the box down so he could offer his own. It was longer and cold to the touch. “And here, these are what I mixed up for you, chocolate cayenne cookies."

“Chocolate cayenne?” he asked, although he was intrigued by the potential.

Lest nodded, getting his box of cookies open to try one. “Yeah, sometimes chocolate is made up to be spicy instead of sweet, so I wanted to make that for you.”

“But why's it cold?” Dylas asked, taking out one of the cookies and noticing what was under it. “That log, is that the dough?”

“Yup, that makes this one a handy recipe to know,” Lest said. “Once you mix the dough up, you have to freeze it for a few hours. And you can cut off however many cookies you want to bake, then leave the rest in the freezer. I figured that you'd be overloaded with cookies again when you weren't fond of a lot of them, so I'd give you one that you could store and make a few at a time later on.”

“It sounds a lot more interesting than a lot of cookies.” Dylas tried a bite, soon having a smile on his face. Once he swallowed, he said, “Yeah, that's a really good cookie.”

He had to keep himself from laughing hard, being reminded of hearing about Dolce's smiling lessons for him. “And that's a really good smile.” It embarrassed him for a bit, but made him happier far longer than that.


	113. Airship Blues

Autumn 62

Meg had mixed feelings as she departed Selphia early that morning. On the good side, she was going on a trip with Wendy. She was really excited about getting to see new places with her. Being together on a vacation of sorts could be the best part. In the middle, the reason for going on this trip was to keep an eye on Yang Fan and make sure that he wasn't trying to disappear to get out of paying for Xiao's wedding. That could be a chore just like trying to keep Porco from eating food he should be serving. For Xiao's sake, she felt it was important. On the truly bad side, they were going to be on an airship a lot and she was terrorized by heights.

And not just any airship. The one they were taking was small, without many places to escape looking over the sides. Her, Wendy, Yang, and the ship's owner could walk around without bumping into each other much, but another person would have made it feel crowded. While there was a cargo hold below deck, this was a merchant's ship and the main reason there was space down there was because the owner had made room for Yang to take some of his merchandise around. Meg took a bench that was as close to the center of the ship as she could manage and practiced on an elven flute to distract herself from the landscape.

Having once been a wind dragon, Wendy had no fear of heights. She leaned on the sides of the ship where the wind best blew through her hair and watched the landscape pass them by. It was a gorgeous sight, at least as long as Meg could keep her eyes from noticing the sky beyond her. After a while, Wendy sat down by Meg without warning. “You doing okay?” she asked when Meg put her flute down.

“I'm trying not to think about it,” she said with a weak smile. “Although you know, one time I wanted to travel all around the world and see many places. But the first time I rode an airship, well that put that plan out of mind immediately.”

“That's too bad,” she said, putting her hands on her knees. “When I was young, I was mostly focused on trying to manage my role in the world when I couldn't, so I didn't give much thought to seeing things beyond the cliffs where I hatched. But then Leon changed that when he kept talking about adventures he dreamed about as a kid and about his explorations of our land. He was a lot more focused on having fun than the priests before him.”

“Is that why you liked him more?” Meg asked. It was always interesting when she talked about old times, although she could get sad when reminiscing easily.

Wendy grinned. “Well of course. The others were all serious and encouraged me to be dignified, and then Leon would sometimes go, 'Hey, this round of pilgrims is dull, want to go spend a night in the woods instead?' And whenever some entertainers or pilgrims were making special foods in celebration but not for offering, he'd find a way to sneak some off to give me a taste.”

“Sounds like he spoiled you,” Meg said, amused at the idea.

“He says it was just to keep me from being stuffy,” she said. “Even so, I don't think any of the three before him would have been as willing to give up their lives for me as he had. He took his duty to serve me far more seriously than any of us expected in that way. Between him and Dolce, I told quite a few priests and priestesses that they may have had their duty in mind, but they didn't have it in heart. And then many royals in this town as well. Although in a way, I preferred it when they didn't since it meant they wouldn't go as far as he did.”

“But it was those with sincerity who are more memorable, it sounds like,” she said. “Because that makes them mean more.”

She nodded. “They're usually the ones who won't run or keep quiet when things go bad. Although I was often quiet when I could have done better to speak up. People still kept liking me for some reason.”

Wanting to keep her from getting down on this trip she'd been excited for, Meg said, “It's usually because you can't keep yourself quiet for long and your real personality is so fun.”

“Hey, how do you know that?” she asked, but then smiled when she laughed. “Hmph. Well, I don't mean to get caught up in the past, there's just so much of it that I have. What I can remember when I was paying attention, at least. But enough about that. What kind of flute is that?”

“It's a short forest flute,” she explained, holding it out in front of her. “It has to be made in a specific fashion, with a naturally fallen branch and a reed made of a wingapede wing. Actually, I made this one last week. I couldn't get a reed wing myself this year, but then Bado had a bunch for some reason and I bought a few from him. Since it's autumn, I managed to find a decent branch on one of the windy days.”

“That's neat, are you adding to your musical skills?”

“Sort of,” she said. “I've played forest flutes before, including other sizes. They're used in elven compositions to represent the voice of the winds or the woods, although this short one is usually exclusively for wind. But I had a special reason I wanted to make this one. Here, listen.” She paused a moment to get the melody she wanted in mind, then played it.

After a few seconds, Wendy swayed happily to the tune. “That's bright and optimistic,” she said.

Meg nodded and put the flute back down. “Yeah, a hopeful voice. That was a part of Julius' music for the guardians. In particular, he used a short forest flute for Amber's voice to capture the lighter touch her songs had.”

“That fits,” Wendy said. “What kind of instruments did he use for the other three?”

“Well Dylas is represented with an elven harp, so that's no trouble for me to play. Dolce gets a violin, which I do know how to play and I even have one that I got out to play a few on. And both of those instruments fit with the elemental themes. On the other hand, elven songs usually choose a drum or other deep percussion instrument for the earth element. But Julius decided that any drum he knew didn't fit Leon's voice, so he actually calls for a trumpet.”

“I could see a trumpet fitting him, loud and bold,” she said.

Meg smiled. “Yeah, and trumpets can have a softer tone sometimes, which he kind of does too. It was an instrument choice that surprised me. I mean, that an elf of an older era would pick a brass instrument for his compositions, or that he must have known the trumpet well enough to transcribe songs for. Not just any trumpet either, he wanted a rather specific trumpet. I've played a regular trumpet myself and could pick it back up again, but I don't own one now.”

“So you haven't played his parts yet?”

“I have, just on a piano. I learned how to make parts for other instruments work on a piano and elven harp, but I would like to hear what they're meant to sound like.” She paused. “Especially for when I let the four of them hear the songs to see what they want done with them. At least the songs that are single parts, or have a long enough section with one instrument to play as a test. I can't do a quartet on my own, after all.”

“What about with a phonograph record?” Wendy suggested. “Like if you could record each part separate, then play them all back at once.”

“I don't know if phonographs can record like that,” Meg said, although the idea was intriguing. “In fact, I'm not sure how they record records. That would be nice, although I still have to find the trumpet.”

“I've got some horns in my collection, but I don't think there's a trumpet,” she said, glancing at her ribboned bag. “Can you make one if you can make the flute?”

She shook her head. “It's a brass instrument, that's more the dwarves' realm in crafting than elves. Although Bado can make elvish harps. I wouldn't think a trumpet would be out of possibility from him if he had a recipe for it. Finding that specific kind, though...”

Wendy rubbed her chin. “Hey, you said it was a primitive kind of trumpet? Do you mean an Ahk brass horn?”

“Yeah, that sounds right,” Meg said. “How'd you guess?”

She giggled. “Julius knew his historical instruments well. Norad did exist in Leon's original era, but Selphia was not a part of Norad until after Amber's era, when the town agreed to be taken as part of the greater Norad nation rather than trying to be independent and constantly getting hit by Sechs raiders. Any time Sechs claimed our land, they weren't very fair in dealing with us. Anyhow, Selphia started out as part of the Ahk kingdom and Leon's family was very much a part of that nation. So it makes a lot of sense to pick an instrument from that culture to represent him.”

“Ah you're right, that does make sense,” Meg said. “What's it like, if you remember?”

“Well I could never play such a thing myself,” she said with a shrug. “But I think if you can play a trumpet, it shouldn't take long to pick up on the early version from Ahk. In the same way, a violin makes sense for Dolce since they were popular then. An elven harp is a little odd for Dylas, but Julius arrived not long after Dylas left and the sound of the harp is enough like water to overcome the cultural mismatch. And Amber lived among fairies, not elves, but any sort of flute can match a fairy's singing voice well. So I think he did well to match them even if I never heard them.”

“I do know some flute songs inspired by fairy chants,” she said. “Geez, it was looking tough enough just finding a design for any trumpet for Bado to work with, but a historical predecessor to a trumpet?”

Wendy shook her head. “It may not be that hard after all. Check in the library; a number of people through the centuries have tried to keep some part of the Ahk traditions alive, or at least recorded. I'm pretty sure somebody's made an Ahk brass horn from a design in the library at least once. Though I'm still curious to find out if you can make the records on your own.”

“I wouldn't know where to start looking for that, but thanks for letting me know about the horn,” Meg said. Hopefully the design gave some tips to playing it too.

* * *

 

Autumn 63

This trip was a lot of sitting around waiting on the airship, then hectic activity trying to get things done so they could fly off to the next stop. Yang may have called himself a bucket salesman, but for this effort, he'd pulled out a lot of different items to sell to specific customers. In watching him work a few deals, Wendy got a clear picture on the kind of person he was. Yang himself had no use for some of the collectibles and rarities he was storing. While he might excuse them as investments for a time like this, his stories revealed a different motive: when he had a large windfall of money, he liked to go to auctions and bid up items specifically to annoy or even aggravate collectors. If he actually got the winning bid, he would keep it stored away and tease such people about having them. Any price he gave on them was exorbitant to where only the most foolhardy would pay.

Except now he was under pressure to get the wedding funded. The collectors noticed that even if none of them mentioned what the money was going for. They might be happy that Yang was finally selling his rare items, but they seemed even happier to get a chance to insist on low prices. Like a vase that Wendy was sure she could sell for ten thousand gold by playing up cuteness, Yang was forced to hand over for six thousand gold. “I wouldn't so much mind the loss if they weren't so smug about it,” Yang muttered one time when they were lifting back off.

“Well you could be really smug yourself on snagging items someone else wanted when you didn't want the item itself,” the airship's owner said.

“A lot of them don't actually work for their money and goods, so my attitude is more deserved than theirs,” he said.

“Seems more like he's getting his just desserts,” Wendy whispered to Meg, making her chuckle.

Not having heard them, the airship owner said, “I have to say, I'm pretty surprised to see you really stepping up to the responsibility here. Usually you're the first to split when it comes to handling someone else's bill.”

“I have my reasons and I don't have to tell them,” Yang said.

“Just because it's your daughter's wedding isn't enough?” Meg asked, in a tone that wasn't quite scolding but warned that scolding could come if the answer she got wasn't satisfactory.

“As much as the current Selphia seems to be falling into liberal territory, I'm surprised they went for such an old-fashioned idea as making the bride's family pay,” Yang said.

“Well you did anger everyone in town with what you did,” Wendy said.

The airship owner shook his head. “Man, Yang, I always did tell you that you'd have to pay up for what you did sometime, but I didn't think you'd dig a hole that bad.”

“It's more like I've been throwing snake eyes too many times in a row,” Yang said. “Like I find out that one of the town's new knights is a **** scary grim reaper in training, and that came in the middle of the night. Then it turns out that my future son-in-law can blow up airships with magic. Polite fellow, but I sure don't want to find out what he's like when he's mad. Just got to slog through this point and my luck'll turn back to its normal state.”

“You really got to stop using luck as your crutch or this won't be the worst it gets,” the airship owner said. “Plan for the future better.”

“The future isn't reliable and there's nothing you can do about the past,” Yang said. “I still don't see any sense for living for anything but the present.”

“And I'd had such hope that you really were turning around,” the airship owner said, only getting a sigh out of Yang.

The next place they stopped was the Norad capitol. “We be staying here for the night, so take whatever inn you like,” Yang said. “There's a number of deals I'm going to check on around the city. If things go well, we go back to Se'pha at morning. Don't worry, I will be going back.”

Once they split up, Yang going one way and the airship owner staying on board, Meg and Wendy headed towards the marketplace. “Guess we'll have to rely on his word, if we can,” Meg said. “Oh, but I am so glad to have some time of solid ground.”

“Yeah, that was a lot of time on that ship,” Wendy said. “What do you want to do?”

“We should probably find a place to stay the night, then let one of the other two know where we'll be,” she said. “Other than that, I usually come here just for shopping. It'd be nice to do something else, like see one of the museums or find one of the live music venues.”

“That'd be fun,” she said. “Maybe one of the music places first. I'd feel a bit weird going into a museum and seeing historical things that I saw when they were contemporary.”

“True, then we'll ask around about the music,” Meg said.

They found a good-looking inn to rent a room for the night, even got a few recommendations to find places where musicians gathered from the innkeeper. There were a few bars and taverns, but wanting somewhere that could be less rowdy, they went to a cafe where the stage was always open for improv or any musician that happened to be coming by. Although late afternoon, it wasn't quite time for dinner guests to be coming in. There was still a good crowd in here, talking quietly so as not to disturb the music. They both decided to order some tea and appetizers from the menu in order to take in the atmosphere and listen to a violinist currently taking the stage.

After the violinist bowed out to get an early dinner, a girl who seemed to be fourteen came onto the stage, holding a wooden flute very much like the one Meg had been practicing. Her actions seemed like a novice taking the stage for the first time, not looking at the audience out of nervousness and fumbling with getting the sound extender in the right spot. One of the other patrons quietly came up to help her with that, to which she mumbled a thanks.

Once she began playing, her skill was definitely more than a novice. She was playing a song that originated in Norad in spite of the elven instrument. But even Wendy who didn't know the particulars of playing a flute could tell this was probably a hard one to play. The girl seemed to be playing from memory. Meg was especially dazzled by the performance, clapping along with the other patrons at the end of the song. On stage, the girl blushed and seemed like she might leave.

Then the cafe hushed, cued by someone leaving a side table to go to the stage. While Wendy wasn't sure who this was, he certainly seemed important to this place by the way the girl flutist looked over at him in awe. Wendy could tell that this was a special person otherwise; he had the signature silhouette of the elves, but had a single horn coming from his forehead. The univir were very unusual elves, only a few alive at a time.

“That was very good, miss,” the univir said, in a slow gentle voice.

“Oh, thank you Master Tolesse,” the girl said, finally smiling a little at the praise.

He was smiling at her as he entered the stage spotlight. “I would enjoy a full trio with the forest flutes, but a duo would be nice too.”

“Um,” the girl looked off at one of the tables.

“Go ahead, sweetie,” someone who was probably her father said.

Meanwhile, Wendy nudged Meg. She smiled a bit nervously, but then nodded and used a summons spell to get a forest flute that was longer than the one she had been playing yesterday. Meg then got up and went over to the stage too. “Um, excuse me, but if you would like a trio, I've got a short and medium flute myself.”

The girl seemed surprised to get another elf wanting to play with her, while Tolesse gave a serene nod. “Excellent, then it seems I'll be taking up the long flute.” He summoned up some sheet music and set it up for the girl. “Here, this is a good one, a song in reverence to the sacred dryads, who are the souls of the trees. What is your name and where are you from?”

“I'm Lindsey, and I live here in the city,” the young flutist said. “Um, I've seen you play here a lot lately.”

He nodded, then looked over at Meg. “And you?”

“I'm Margaret, I'm visiting from Selphia,” she said.

“That's quite some ways away,” the univir said, now with a longer version of the flute in his hands. “I'm Tolesse, a wandering storyteller and musician. Are you ready to play?”

The girls nodded and after a few seconds, the three started to play. While listening to them, Wendy wished that she could see their emotions better, like she used to as Venti. It would certainly be as lovely as the music: Meg a bit nervous but relaxed and happy now that she was playing with others, Lindsey in awe over playing with the man she took as a master of music (and maybe at getting to play with Meg too?). It was hard to tell what Tolesse might be feeling, since his words and presence were mellow. But he was clearly as passionate about music as Meg was, leading two others he'd never played with and shifting the sheets without losing his place in the song.

Things only got more interesting when the song ended and the three flutists talked for a bit on stage. Lindsey said that she'd played various flutes since she was little, but had been nervous to play in front of anyone but her family until she worked up the courage to play here this afternoon. Then Meg surprised her by saying, “I was a musician in the elven royal court when I was your age. Heh, but now I mostly play at a restaurant, although that suits me fine since I get to play for people I love every day.”

“But you could be playing for royalty still, I think so,” Lindsey said, now obviously awed at her too.

“Maybe, but I like what I'm doing now,” Meg said.

Tolesse gave a knowing chuckle. “That's true, getting to share your music with those you love can be a better experience than playing for important strangers. I've experienced that myself, which is why I keep the musical traditions going these days.”

Lindsey turned to him and asked, “Um, I knew that, but I wondered, what's the oldest instrument you have?”

“Hmm, that's a hard one to answer,” he said. “I've had to make replicas of some that grew too old and frail to play. Some of the originals, like those from the kingdom of Ahk that faded away over a thousand years ago, I have them but they might crumble or crack if I brought them out. The oldest instrument that I can still play would be, I believe, one of the pottery drums that's over eight hundred years old.”

“Wait, do you know how to play Ahk instruments?” Meg asked.

Tolesse nodded. “Yes, although they were before even my time. I definitely keep replicas of those, since there are few who play such historical pieces.”

“Would you happen to have a playable Ahk brass horn?”

“Of course, that's a particularity important instrument since it was used to announce important events or persons, as well as some use in military units.”

Meg smiled with a bit of wonder to her eyes. “Wow, if we had a violinist, we might be able to play some rare songs that I don't think have been really played in full form.”

“Now how would that be?” Tolesse asked, interested in this.

“Well, have you heard the stories about the music of Selphia's Guardians?” she asked. When he nodded, she said, “In the fourteen hundreds, an elf named Julius transcribed that music into playable forms. Some friends and I found his songbook in an old haunted mansion while we were trying to help his ghost.”

“Oh my, that would be quite a feat,” Tolesse said, putting his hand to his chin. “I've actually heard that music for myself, very otherworldly but the emotions were real.”

“So what exactly are you suggesting to play?” another man asked, coming into the stage's light. Or rather, back to the stage as it was the violinist who had been playing before Lindsey.

Tolesse smiled at him. “Ah, you are still here Matt. Well if we have the instruments, this isn't a chance to be missed.”

“Me too?” Lindsey asked.

Meg nodded, having sent back her flute to get her harp and Julius' songbook. “Yes, one of the parts is for a short forest flute. Some of them would be a challenge to play without practice, but if you know the hymn 'In Honor of the Native Dragons', I can think of one that plays very similar.”

“Since you're from Selphia, would you mind explaining about the guardians and their song?” Tolesse asked.

Fortunately, Meg wasn't nervous now. “Sure thing. You see, Selphia is home to one of the Native Dragons. The divine wind is now a young dragon named Doomgale, but up until just recently, it has long been Ventuswill. She was very kind, but due to a curse from the divine wind before her, she and our land has been weak for a long time. While many people worked to help her, four of the most important were the Guardians. They offered to put their lives on hold so that their bodies could be fused into the four rune springs and their souls could be sent into the ether sea.

“But the ether sea is a strange place, not like the world we know. They were kept in a state like being in a dream, with only each other for company. But they couldn't see each other, or even talk normally. All they had were songs that connected them. It used to be that if you got close to the rune springs, there was a chance that you might hear those songs too. Although, now the Guardians have all been freed from their duties and are back to living a normal life. So not only do these songs call for some specific instruments, but I only feel comfortable sharing a few of these songs until they can hear what's here and agree to let the songs be shared.”

“I see, so a song that is like one already in the world would be the considerate choice,” Tolesse said.

“Except it's a bit hard to test them out if you can't without all four instruments,” Matt said. But he already had pulled out something to help: a Melody Bottle. “We could record with this even if it's not perfect to let them hear it too.”

“Oh, are you sure about that?” Meg asked, pausing as she passed out copies of the sheet music she was making.

Matt nodded. “Sure. For the chance to play something as intended for the first time ever, well that's worth the cost of a bottle like this, don't you think?”

“Yes, it is quite an honor,” Tolesse said.

“Thanks, I hope they like it,” Meg said, giving Matt his copy. “All right then, this is the variation on 'In Honor of the Native Dragons'. Tolesse with the Ank brass horn, you have the part of Leon, the first guardian, of the earth rune spring. Lindsey with the short forest flute, you have the part of Amber, the second guardian, of the wind rune spring. Matt?” She glanced at him and he nodded. “With the violin, you have the part of Dolce, the third guardian, of the fire rune spring. And I with the elven harp have the part of Dylas, the fourth guardian, of the water rune spring.”

As the music started, Wendy had the thought that she should have nudged people into doing what they wanted more often. Great things often came from that, perhaps just a great moment like this that could trigger a great life. Maybe even for herself? The best things often came when she listened to her heart and took a risk on someone. The worst things could happen too. And yet, those old mistakes were being corrected. She didn't want to become as irresponsible as Yang was, but she should be focusing more on what she had now, making something great of the limited time she had left.

Then the song shifted from the traditional song into something more conversational. It was hard to tell what the conversation might have been about. While each of the four players settled into a softer shorter melody of the whole song, one or two of them would 'speak up' and cause exchanges between them. Knowing her four friends and listening closely, Wendy could imagine what it might have been. Storgane was unvoiced, but he seemed to have influenced Dolce to be doubtful and worried. Leon sang to ease her doubts and Amber tried to cheer her up. Then Dylas tried to help out in his shy awkward manner, getting worried himself. Leon encouraged him to keep encouraging Dolce, to which Dolce was amused and touched, with Amber cheering them all along. Then they went back to the traditional song in a powerful manner, united to keep each other strong against the darkness they dreamed of.

With the song done and recorded, the impromptu quartet got a hearty round of applause and left the stage for a duo to perform. Wendy decided it would be fun to keep the group talking, so she got up and pulled another table next to the one they had, then invited Lindsey's parents to move over there to share dinner. Matt and Tolesse were also happy to change their seats to talk together. While Meg was having the best time of them, Wendy was really happy to have helped in the background.

* * *

 

Autumn 65

“Dolce, congratulations,” Lest said, coming into the market booth.

Pausing in looking over some clothing patterns, she smiled. “Thank you. I figured Vishnal wouldn't be able to keep quiet on it for long.”

He chuckled. “Well he tried, but he couldn't hide how happy he was. It's probably going to be all over town by the evening, although maybe not entirely on his behalf.”

“I would so tell everyone right away, but she's letting me pick out a pattern of something to make, so I'm trying to keep it all inside,” Pico said, pausing from whirling around.

“Nancy won't be able to hide it for long either,” Lest said.

“I was just hoping to tell the other three before they heard second hand,” Dolce said. “Guess we better go find them soon.”

“Last I heard, Meg was trying to find all four of you,” he said. “So you might find her then call the other three over to wherever you meet.”

“I wonder if it's about those songs.” That was going to be strange to hear, someone's interpretation of their heart music.

“Might be... oh wow, those are nice.” Lest went to another part of the booth that was displaying shoes.

Wondering what had distracted him, Dolce glanced over to see him holding a tall boot. But it didn't look all that practical and definitely wasn't a man's boot. It had two inch heel, was dark rich green with a silver ivy pattern from the ankle up to the top near the knee, and was made to make the legs look taller and slimmer. Not practical, but they did look gorgeous. “That your kind of style?” she asked to tease him.

“Well I usually go for cute when dressing up, but I do like this pair,” he said. “And I don't have much practice with this kind of heel. Still, there's that promise I made to Venti...”

“What does that promise have to do with shoes?” Dolce asked.

He grinned. “She wants to see me as a glamorous drag queen rather than just a cute girl. I've got some accessories that could work, but I need to start planning that outfit. Though I don't have a time for it planned.”

“What about the winter ball that people have been talking about putting on?” Pico asked. “That be a great time for you to do that!”

“Well it is on the order tablet now, but there's several dates to pick from,” Lest said. “I heard a suggestion to bump the Harvest Festival to the 90th and then do the ball on the 1st right after. But it would be nice if there was snow around for the Winter Ball, plus if I did the drag queen act for the ball, Winter 1 is too soon for what all I need to pull together. Midwinter seemed like a good possibility as well, then there's the other festival I want for winter, mostly to break up the long stretches of not much happening.”

“What other festival are you talking about?” Dolce asked.

“Just a quiz contest, but that's something that can be put on inside or out depending on the weather,” he said, turning the boot in his hand. “Say, do you think an outfit built around these boots would look good on me?”

That made her examine him, wondering how a dress could be constructed for a man that would make him appear more feminine. It was something she would have not even touched before, but looking at him now... the fact that he was on the small side helped, plus it didn't seem like it would take a lot to soften up the appearance of his muscles from farming. “Your hair could be a bit longer,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Given it's a winter outfit, some fur or an overdress will help the illusion while seeming reasonable. The color scheme and gloss... well you're going for glamor, so sure, that could be nice. Do you mind if I worked on it for you? It seems like an interesting challenge, moreso than the patterns on display here.”

“Would you?” Lest asked, happy. “That'd be great, thanks. I need to make sure that these boots will fit me, so if I buy them, you can take them back to your shop to start the design work.”

Dolce nodded. “Sure, this will be fun.”

“Dolly!” Amber dropped down out of the sky, beaming. “There you are! Meg wants us to hear a recording of one of our songs, it's gonna be awesome, come on!”

“Patience,” Dolce said, amused. Once Lest bought his boots, she took them and headed over to Meg's house with Amber.

Wendy, Dylas, Leon, and Frey were already there. “Sheesh, what was taking you girls so long?” Leon asked with a smirk.

“Shoe shopping!” Amber said, still bouncing around.

“That is oddly stereotypical out of you two,” Wendy said.

“Going to take up cobbling as well?” Frey asked, waving to her.

“No, I'm going to use them to make Lest pretty,” Dolce said. Most in there laughed. “Well since we're all here, I did have something to tell you. I'm going to be having a baby too.”

That really brightened the mood in the room, enough to where even hearing some of the darker toned songs on the piano wasn't enough to keep them from being happy together as a family.


	114. The Road Ahead

'Dear Maria:

After a long and trying time, Frey finally says that she has some results from her studying spree that she wants to share in a town meeting. Ven said that your lot tended to do lots of sprints in research, although since this has been nearly a full season, it seems like an awful long sprint to me. The meeting's going to be about the road ahead in this battle against Storgane's ghost. Remember, he came back into our world through the crazy road that your grandfather built into the Forest of Beginnings. What bits I've gleaned from her suggest that she has a plan to pin Storgane somewhere in the Forest and seal him there so that he's dealt with as he should have been after death. But it has to wait until next year at least. More will come at the meeting, maybe I should have written this after that.

Anyhow, I'm mostly glad she's finally relaxed and is back to her goofy self. Though I do see that what she's been like the past season is more like her true self. She deals with people through goofiness the same way I do. Which is a nice bond to have, while I still worry about how she is when she's being honest. She really is tied to her work through blood, might even feel the exact same drive you had in your early years. I hope this does end with this generation, so she and her brother are freed from this burden. I'm not blaming you, mind. If anyone, I'd blame the old wizard Darryl since it's looking more and more like it's his mess you all have been cleaning up after and Storgane was just a part of that.

She also had another check-up with the midwife Nancy this morning, after the surprise we got in a previous one that we're going to have twins. As if preparing for one baby wasn't enough, nature decides, no, you're getting two instead. We're going to have to look into getting an actual house now since we were going to be snug on space as a family of three, but four will be crazy to figure out. But a lot of the houses around here are being taken up by the Sechs refugees. If things keep going well for General Teo, though, they might be picked up by airship soon to return to their homeland. We can hold off for now to see if that happens this winter, but we need to be ready by the time spring rolls around. Maybe sooner than that even.

To be honest, I'm getting scared in all this. I haven't told anyone else yet, not even Frey. But since I went to sleep one spring to wake up to spring twelve centuries later, I can consider the past year that I've actually lived through as one. From that, I have been yanked all over the place in life: defeating myself and being willing to subject myself to an ascetic life alone, being tormented by a mad god's ghost, marrying a girl I'd barely met in truth but was ridiculously happy with, holding down a normal respectable job, going back to being a priest and translator to an even younger Native Dragon, and now I'm planning out a home life for me, my wife, and two children who will be in the world before long if things go well. About the only things I was ready for was preparing to swear that vow of chastity and being an active Dragon Priest again. I've been rolling along with what life's thrown at me, sometimes badly so.

And now the thing that's threatening to wreck me again is taking on the role of a father. I don't know if I can do this. I've not been one for seriousness and I've run from responsibility before. Usually it was my own responsibility. And I've hurt people before who thought they could depend on me and I thought I could protect, you know that. Before long, I'm going to have two that will depend on me and Frey more than I've ever dealt with before, two children I'll need to protect and guide more than anyone else I've known. I get really scared sometimes that I'm going to fail miserably again. Then I start daydreaming about our days exploring the world and get seriously tempted to go do that. It'd be running away again, but I'd be responsible only for myself and I will be the only one to suffer if I do something wrong.

It can't be that way, though. I won't be the only one to suffer, Frey and our children will really suffer if I leave them. A while ago, I met an irresponsible father. Sadly, I thought Yang was a pretty cool guy, what with adventuring all over the world, doing what he wanted without respect to authority, and having a lovely family all the same. Then he thought he could be a good father to get his daughter married and spread some cruel rumors that could have ruined her and her boyfriend, even his own wife. Thinking about it, Xiao has a lot of anxieties and insecurities that might have happened because her father wasn't around a lot. Maybe, maybe not, I can't say for her. And Lin Fa is a real blithe spirit that would never get anywhere in life if she wasn't absurdly lucky. She too might do a lot better if Yang actually followed through on his wedding vows.

So yeah, I'm scared but writing this shows me that I can't be backing out now. I'm not sure if I can do things right, but I've got to try. Frey is my fortunate flower and I've got to keep her and our children as well as I can. I may never be able to repay the debt in my heart to her for freeing me from darkness and chains, but that's all the more reason to do the best that I can.

I just better not end up stiff and boring like my father was. Oh yeah, and Frey says now I have to name one of the kids instead of leaving it to her. She claims getting to name the first child and I'll name the second. Hmm, I would like to honor you as you did me, but I'll have to think about what to do if the second one is a boy.

Still wish we could have really exchanged letters, back then or even now. Maybe you'd have some parenting advice for me?

Sincerely, your big brother Leon'

* * *

 

Autumn 82

There had been unofficial town meetings, usually in the evenings when everyone was in Porcoline's Kitchen for dinner. There were also that emergency gathering before the large tea party in summer or when Ventuswill had called various people together about her end. This would be the first official town meeting that Lest had led as Selphia's prince. While not everyone was called on to be there, many still showed up. There were the regulars around town, Nem and Helena even delaying the latter half of their post run to be there, and many of the Sechs refugees. They gathered in the town plaza where Frey was going to speak.

Since it was a meeting, various chairs and benches had been brought out to give people places to sit. Desks and small tables were around, one for an official record to be written down (Leon having taken that job) and others in case people wanted to make notes or the like. Near the castle, a small post that was usually used to display a flower vase was brought out so Doomgale had a good place to perch and observe; Lest had a chair near her for when he wasn't speaking. A large chalkboard and a large corkboard had been brought out to be used, along with a long table. The three butlers were working to help Frey out, as she insisted on staying on her feet for most of it in spite of being noticeably pregnant now.

Lest started things off to bring everyone to an equal grounds. “My sister and I originally came to this town to complete a centuries long project that our family has carried on since the problems were realized long ago. A good number of you have been around for this or have been directly influenced by it. For those of you who aren't aware of the situation, I will try to simplify what has been going on.

“Thirteen hundred years ago, the Divine Wind Storgane was corrupted in insanity and kicked the rune springs in Selphia out of place. The rune springs regulate the world's magic and are a part of what allows us to perform magic. Measures were put into place at the time to keep the world and magic viable, but none were permanent solutions. While Storgane was defeated, his successor in Ventuswill was left with far less power than she should have had. She could not set the rune springs back in place.

“Our ancestors started to work on methods to replace the rune springs and help Ventuswill out. Unfortunately, one of the solutions they came up with was the creation of the four Guardians over a period of several centuries. It partially worked, but at the cost of what was essentially a sacrifice of Ventuswill's dearest friends. That became another problem we worked on, methods to undo the sacrifice and bring the Guardians back home safely.

“Eventually, we were able to create powerful artifacts to boost the power of the rune springs, the rune spheres. Frey was the last to work on the rune spheres and I was the one who came here to put them in place and release the Guardians from their duty. Still, that is not the end of our work as we have confirmed that Storgane was still an influence on the world and is the source of hate spirits that are rarely seen in Selphia. Storgane's ghost is still trying to bring ruin to our world and the means he came back through, the mystical road of Rune Prana, is still a danger of bringing other powerful demons into existence. We now have a plan for banishing Strogane from the world for good as well as destroying Rune Prana so it is no longer a gaping wound on our land.

“However, we can't do this with just the two of us, so we've called you together to inform you of the plan and get your assistance in the future so that this gets dealt with in a timely manner. For that, Frey will be taking over the explanations.” He gave her a slight bow before stepping back to Doomgale's side.

Frey looked over them all for a moment before saying, “All right, folks, I'm going to try to be clear about this, but I know this is pretty academical stuff. If you don't understand something I'm talking about, feel free to call out a question or ask for an explanation, although in some cases I might not be able to answer fully without giving an entirely different lecture. Then we might have to talk later so we can get through this plan reasonably in terms of time.

“So our family's research was on assisting Ventuswill, restoring the rune springs to their proper locations, resolving the remnants of Storgane's curse, bringing the guardians back, and solving the riddle around the final creation of our distant ancestor Darryl Zelphis, that being Rune Prana.” She headed back to the chalkboard, where a map of Selphia was already pinned. “We've got the guardians back, fixed the rune springs, and done all we can for Ventuswill. That leaves the curse and Rune Prana, but both are tough problems.

“First of all, the curse. Storgane wanted to bring the ether sea in our world to a standstill. He has been trying to manifest himself fully in the world to accomplish this goal. Being a ghost and fallen god, he doesn't have the power to do any of that on his own. But if he can make people despair and give him the power of their souls, he can gather power for his goals. The guardians were the most powerful souls he could easily reach, so he tried to reclaim them with the hell gates that were appearing back in spring.”

“Those were some pretty powerful gates, so how did he have the power to call those into being in the first place?” Kiel asked.

“That's a good point,” Frey said. “I wondered about that myself and I believe he may have drawn power from Obsidian Mansion. It was a place that trapped lost souls; their despair would have given him power, but not as much as living people. From the testimonies of the ghosts when Dolce was working on freeing them, the original owner Handel Obsidian went insane from studying a problematic form of magic and began worshiping Storgane. There are also records from various people who lived in Selphia that suggest Storgane was capable of speaking to people suffering from depression, despair, or insanity on occasion. They would describe him as a shadow of the night or a nocturnal visitor. Thus, he's been building power slowly all along.”

“Then stopping Handel Obsidian and destroying his mansion will have already cut into Storgane's power,” Dolce said.

She nodded. “Yes, and Lest and I have been doing some small things to cut into it more. He is still a threat, especially if he manages to get someone listening to him again. All of you, even if you don't think you have much to worry about right now, need to be cautious if you start hearing from some being who only shows up at night.

“There's another thing about the hell gates that has recently come to my attention. You see, not long after Storgane died, a strange monster gate appeared in a cavern deep inside the cliff the town now stands on. When it was first detected, it took quite some time before someone could navigate the Yokmir Caves in order to reach it. They did and discovered it to be an untouchable unbreakable gate. It remains to this day, only producing one type of monster: hate spirits, which are smaller shadows of Strogane himself. Ventuswill kept the hate spirits from overwhelming Selphia for a long time, then Sven was able to eliminate many in one shot earlier this year.

“In order to do something about that gate, I used my scout golem to map out the tunnels below Selphia, both the natural caverns and those that had been created by the Telliarc dwarves four hundred years ago. Previous records showed that the unbreakable gate showed signs of all elements in its runic composition. When my scout took readings, I could only find two elements in it: Light and Love. Other signs lead me to believe that Storgane created the hell gates in part by withdrawing parts of his unbreakable gate. This means that he could still produce two more hell gates and the easiest people to attach them to would be those with a matching alignment. That is, myself and Lest. Of course, that also means that the easiest way to finally get rid of that gate could be to pull those last two hell gates out through us and break them before they get attached.”

That idea didn't go over too well with the crowd. “You can't be doing that now,” Forte said.

“I know,” she said. “But we also have to be careful of those gates getting pulled out on us.”

“As long as we make sure to keep somebody else around us, the hell gates can be dismissed without breaking them if they appear without warning,” Lest said.

“Would you even need to go inside if you summon them up without them being attached to you?” Kiel asked. “The others had to go in because of the spirit chains.”

“We can't know that until we try summoning one, which will then make the hell gate active and able to appear in town,” Lest said. “We still have to hold off on summoning them until the risk comes down.”

The hell gates might not have the full magical force and density of the ether sea, but that was still an environment Frey didn't want to go in while pregnant. There was no telling what that would do to their kids. To reassure the others, Frey said, “If they do appear before then, I have a back-up plan to keep at least one of the gates contained in a gate bottle until we're ready for it. Once those two hell gates are found and dealt with, I can send in my scout to check on the state of the main one below town. But I theorize that it should be breakable with all elements withdrawn from it. That will be another part of Storgane's curse destroyed.

“After that, we will be in an excellent position to deal with Storgane's ghost as well. Lest tells me that when the other hell gates broke, special trees sprouted within the Forest of Beginnings. Readings based on some leaves he's brought back from them indicate that when there are seven of those trees, the space between them will be powerful enough to act as a prison to even Storgane. From there, the forest will undo him as it is meant to do. To get him there, Doomgale can perform a spiritual banishing. But he will fight such an effort and we don't want Doomgale to end up cursed as well.

“We can assist her, though. We have enough earthmates covering every rune element that we can perform our own banishing ceremony alongside Doomgale's. The two should overpower him, but I'd like to erase as much uncertainty about this as possible since this curse has gone on far longer than it should have. Therefore, when we're ready to perform the ceremonies, we are going to ask everyone in town to gather for prayer support. The bonds of a community strengthen each member and such support will empower both sides of the banishing to where Storgane will not stand a chance to resist his imprisonment. He was once a god, but he is one with no faith in others against all of us united in love and trust to bring about a peaceful happier future. Got it, everyone?”

The town agreed in a rousing round of cheers. Frey glanced over at Lest and Doomgale; he smiled back at her while Doomgale couldn't resist sending a nice breeze through the plaza as part of the excitement. That part at least was going to work. But then, Rune Prana itself...

Frey waved at the crowd to get them to calm down again. “Once we get that done, then a lot of the immediate danger to our community is negated. However, there is still the matter of how Storgane managed to get back into the world after he died. A fallen god like him should have been restricted from re-entering the world until his identity was fully renewed and he was given new life with no connection to his old. As I mentioned earlier, this problem goes all the way back to the one who should have defeated him: our ancestor Darryl Zelphis.

“While there are a great many records of our family's efforts, Darryl himself was long a mystery in all this. We knew that he created many spells after he defeated the old god, including Etherlink. He should have mostly studied how to replace the rune springs, but he hid all of his research even from those who helped him. After he died, nearly all of his writings got locked up within his tower to the west of here. Nobody was able to undo the seals and get into the tower until Lest was recognized by Sano and Uno here as Darryl's successor in being the master of the tower.

“Having studied the writings that had been locked away for so long, I was finally able to determine what else he had been studying: a way to circumvent many laws of the world to end death.” That caused some murmuring and gasps from the crowd, but Frey was working on making a simplified sketch of the structure of Rune Prana. “He died himself, so obviously his work was a failure. However, his death was not the only result of his experiments. Etherlink came about because of them, as did several other forbidden or highly restricted spells among earthmates. And there was the biggest project of all in his quest to live forever, this Rune Prana that I've been speaking of all along.

“To explain it basically, Rune Prana is a road that leaves our world and goes into the Forest of Beginnings. If it had worked as he wanted, anyone would be able to walk safely through the ether sea, which would completely consume any of us if entered directly. Anyone would be able to leave the Forest of Beginnings and come back into our world to continue a life that should have ended. Of course, anybody coming back can be a problematic thing, as Storgane was able to return to our world as a vengeful spirit by using Rune Prana.

“Now Rune Prana does not work as Darryl wanted. Part of the problem is that he never got to finish it. The final connection to the forest was something he got stuck on in the last year of his life. This makes it dangerous for anyone to go from our world to the forest, as the raw energy of the rune sea is still inside and can kill you. For the other way, it appears as though an exceptionally powerful ghost like Storgane can come back into our world. It's hard to say now how many other ghosts can slip back in the same fashion. It might be that those that tried ended up trapped in Obsidian Mansion.

“I have confirmed that the corrupt rune energy that has become visible around the tower now has been building up due to leaking through the door that Darryl left unsealed within the tower. Currently, the door to Rune Prana is sealed by my magic so nothing should be able to pass through without my knowledge. The restoration of the rune springs and the ascension of Doomgale has begun to drain the corrupt runes around the tower naturally, although it's going to be a slow process leaving it to its own. Other areas with corrupt runes were taken care of with summoning the hell gates. So that will soon cease to be a problem.

“Even with the seal on the door in this world, it's simply too dangerous to allow Rune Prana to exist. It must be brought down but to do that, some work must be done on the inside of it. Since no one can last more than a couple of minutes there now, we have to find a way to complete it first. Right now, that's still a problem to be solve. I hope that once we have the seven trees to imprison Storgane, they will also allow us to anchor the road to their location so we can at least seal off the inside of the road from the ether sea. With that done, we have this,” she rapped the chalkboard with her drawing, “to contend with.

“From Darryl's plans, Rune Prana depends upon thirteen pillars within it that keep it existing. The way to bring it down is going to be destroying those pillars, then breaking the door on our end to collapse it in on itself. From there, the ether sea will take the energy back into itself. Now it may look simple, but what I've drawn is a copy of Darryl's plans. In reality, my scout has not been able to map out the road. Lest stumbled in there once and it did not make sense to his mind. That may have been exposure to the ether sea and the road may become more regular once completed. Added onto that, we have the danger of entering a space carved out from the ether sea. It won't be like our world and may in fact be dangerous to us still even sealed off. So much of this plan is for the far future, when we know more about what the completed road's characteristics are. But I felt that I should explain that much alongside the plans to banish Storgane, since we may have to call on some of you to assist with Rune Prana when we're ready for it.”

* * *

 

After the long meeting about their future plans for Storgane and more future plans for Rune Prana, Lest returned to his office to get back to plans for a nearer future: planning the winter festivals, of which the ball was the most work. The weather was already turning cold, but Wendy and other older residents assured him that there should be snow around by the second week. With some equipment in the castle basements, they could turn the outdoors plaza into a covered pavilion. That, some anti-wind shields, and small furnaces should make that space as comfortable as any ballroom. Then other spaces needed to be arranged for a band, snack tables, a dance area, and a resting area with seats. There was a ballroom in the castle itself, but it was too small even if he only invited residents to attend. Plus it was on the second floor, a better spot for a private party than for a full ball.

Although there was the Harvest Festival and the national pumpkin contest before that. And the visit from the high king before even that. But those plans were done as much as he could at this point. Other preparations had to wait until closer to the actual time.

There was a knock at his office door, although Dylas came in without waiting to be invited. “Hey.”

Lest smiled. “Hi Dylas. What is it?”

“You're coming fishing with me today,” he said, like he wouldn't take no for an answer.

“Well...”

“Is it necessary to be forceful?” Sano asked, although he wasn't trying to be defensive.

“Possibly,” Dylas said. “Volkanon said there wasn't anything you had to get done and there's to be sashimi at the restaurant tonight. The meeting just now cut into the time I have to get the fish for it. Then you've been stressing yourself out lately, so you need to get away from work a bit.”

While he would have liked to get work done on these plans, it really didn't have to be done now. “Those are pretty strong arguments,” he said. “Sure, let me get my gear.”

“Good,” Dylas said, smiling before he left to wait out in the plaza for him.

Instead of going out the west gate, Dylas showed him a way to get to another part of Dragon Lake by leaving the south gate, following the outer moat around, then passing through some trees to a long section that led towards Keano Lake. The water currents were different here, mostly faster as they entered the stream. Dylas had to show him a different technique for casting and reeling here because methods that worked at the northern shore didn't work as well here at the southern shore. On the plus side, this side of the lake was quieter and it was less likely that someone would come over here to see them together.

The fish were biting well today, so Dylas might have been able to catch what he wanted for dinner on his own in good time. Sano and Uno even helped out, getting a couple fish by luring with their scarves and snatching them out with their teeth. However, Lest didn't mind it even if Dylas had gauged the fishing conditions before coming to get him. “Is that going to be a good amount?” he asked, passing over a masu trout he'd caught.

“That's a nice size on that fish,” Dylas said, taking it to add to his cool box. “Yeah, that should be plenty to cover dinner, with some margin in case Porco gets to it. Um, I've still got some time, so I guess we could hang out for a little while.”

“Sure,” Lest said. He didn't think this was quite as spontaneous as Dylas was trying to make it out to be. Perhaps he'd been looking for this opportunity. “You want to walk around somewhere or do what?”

“I'd rather stay here, if you don't mind,” he said, taking a seat on a fallen log.

“We will be within hearing,” Uno said, as she and Sano took off.

“Thank you,” Lest said to them. The log seemed solid, so Lest sat down with Dylas. “This place special?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly, although it is a good fishing spot most people miss. I feel a lot more clearheaded here by the water, with the more distracting thoughts being quieter.”

“You're in your element in a place like this,” he said, leaning closer. “Like I'm in my element just being with you.” Dylas started smiling bashfully. Ever since he'd heard about how Dolce tried to help him smile better, Lest had made it a point to poke him when he did and say, “Smile.” It had made him mad the first couple of times, then embarrassed. Now he almost laughed, but turned it into an awkward sneeze. Lest pouted. “Aw, that was so close to a nice laugh too.”

“Th-that wasn't funny enough f-for a laugh,” Dylas said, really trying not to.

“But are you happy enough to laugh anyways?” Lest said, poking him again. “Still smiling.”

“What's the point of trying to make me laugh?” he said, trying to be mad and failing utterly. “I thought you liked me for who I am, in spite of the surliness.”

Lest put on a pretend serious look. “I do, but everybody gets goofy sometime and I want to see what you're like in a goofy mood.”

“That's childish,” he said, starting to get a hold of himself.

“Well I'll give in for now, but someday, I'm gonna get the goofy out of you,” Lest said, smiling in delight at the idea.

“You're weird,” he said.

“And you're still smiling.” But he didn't get mad or embarrassed this time, more resigned to being teased. “Every time someone bugs me about being single, I really want to tell them that they don't know it, but I'm dating the sweetest person in town.”

“That'd be more true if I was saying it,” he said, starting to have fun with this.

That was good. If he could have fun, he might be ready to let others know before long. “I'll believe my statement is true and you can believe yours,” he said with a smile. “Hey, could you drop by the castle this evening? I've started wearing the shoes I'll be using to get used to them for the Winter Ball. We might even be able to bug Volkanon into teaching us some dances.”

“He would know how to dance?” Dylas asked, skeptical but liking the idea.

“Sure, I know he's taught Vishnal and Clorica for courtly occasions like this. I'm sure you could help keep me from falling over in those shoes.” While he nearly said yes, Lest said, “Still smiling,” first and then started to tickle him.

“S-St-stop it!” he said, putting his hands up but not really fighting it.

“Aw come on, you're supposed to laugh,” Lest said. Maybe somewhere else.

“N-no, I'd rather,” then he tickled him back, making Lest laugh so hard that he ended up slipping from the log. He tried to grab Dylas, but that just ended up pulling him over to so he landed on top of him. Dylas froze up there, his face turning red. “Uh...”

“Well this isn't what I thought would happen,” Lest said.

Dylas got up, shaking his head. “Sheesh. We should probably be getting back.”

“Aw, I guess,” he said, getting up as well. “But I will get you goofy sometime.”

* * *

 

Did he want to go help Lest with his practice for the dance? It might be fun. However, Dylas could think of a list of reasons why not. The biggest problem might be disappointing Lest if he went to this practice and then refused to go to the dance. He could just go with him. But, that was an intimidating idea.

“Something on your mind, Dylas?” Leon asked from the dining part of the counter.

He looked up from his cleaning. The day was winding down and the only customers left were Leon and Arthur. “Nothing for you to bother with,” Dylas said.

“Aw, come on,” Leon said, his ears playful. “It's just family here, we have every right to bother you about things.”

“For a certain meaning of family, I suppose so,” Arthur said.

“Don't sell it short, you guys are tight-knit around here,” Leon said.

“How are you doing preparing for your own family?” Arthur asked.

Maybe Leon would neglect to bother him. Dylas looked down at the counter he was washing, but what was said next got his attention again because Leon's tone shifted to something trying to cover something else. “It's getting real crazy, let me tell you. We have to get two of everything we thought we'd only need one of, including bigger attention spans.”

“That was quite a surprise,” Arthur said. “Almost as big as when it came out that you two were going to parents.”

When Dylas looked at him, he noted that Leon was trying to keep a bluff going, but his ears and eyes showed some uneasiness. Maybe fear? Dylas wondered about that, listening to Leon say, “Yeah, but that's how things have been for me lately. I think I've got it covered and life throws more obstacles at me. Could be extra fun with two kids, but like I said, twice of everything including space. We're going to have to be getting a house because the library apartment won't suffice when they come around and it's like ye gods, more responsibilities and all? Last autumn that I was aware of, I had been planning to do some hiking treks during winter to see the difference the seasons make to a week-long trail I loved and I didn't have to account for anybody but myself.”

Was it a fear of responsibility or a fear of being incapable of handling that responsibility? Or maybe even being afraid of losing freedom. Whichever it was, it really irked Dylas. Arthur didn't seem too concerned, maybe because he didn't realize the undertones. “I'm sure you can handle it,” Arthur said, then glanced back over at Dylas. “Sure nothing's bothering you?”

“Well there is something now,” he said. Leaning over the counter to get closer to Leon, he said, “Even if it is intimidating, you'd better not be thinking of ditching her.”

“Of course not,” Leon said, although not quite as angry as he was rebuked.

“Good, because if you even try, I will track you down and kick your ass,” Dylas said.

“That's good to know,” Leon said, still bluffing although Dylas was having a harder time figuring out how he might really feel. “Sounds personal to you, though. You jealous because I got Frey?”

“No,” he said. The two of them had got married too quick for Dylas to really get to like Frey. She had an intimidating amount of energy and intelligence. “It is personal because my father ditched us so fast that he never saw me and I never learned his name. Doesn't matter to me, he doesn't deserve to be remembered.”

“Certainly not,” Arthur said, frowning a bit. “But your stepfather had to be better.”

He shrugged. “I suppose in the sense that he had the guts to take us in, yeah, what with my mother working out her own depression and me being a complete troublemaker to anybody but her. I still didn't like him, though now I wish I had given him a better chance. He did make things better for us.”

“There's a lot of people who'd be nice to have one last talk with, even if that's all we can get,” Leon said. But later after Arthur had left, Leon stayed long enough to say, “Hey, thanks for snapping at me. I needed that.”

“Uh, sure, not something I usually get thanked on,” Dylas said.

Leon smiled, in a more serious way than normal. “I know. But any time this threatens to overwhelm me, I can just remember that you'd knock sense back into me and I'd better shape up so you don't.”


	115. Royal Blood

Autumn 85

An airship familiar to Arthur descended into the airfield. The unique profile, the colors on the balloon covers, the banners hanging from the support lines, all of that royal regalia... that was the airship that his father used when traveling. It was only brought out when the high king of Norad traveled. Seeing it again, Arthur felt tense. The critical eyes of the court almost had sight of him when he thought he'd escaped them.

“You know, you're more nervous than I am,” Lest said, from where he was leaning against one of the other anchor poles.

“You're not worried about meeting the high king when you're an accidental prince?” Arthur asked.

“Well I am,” he said. “I have to be remembering all those rules and manners among nobility when I'm used to just treating people as I like. But I think I've got it down enough for any errors to be forgivable. You feel like you're about to meet a critic who's got your career at the whim of their pen; I'm sure it's not that serious.”

Right, Lest would be feeling a portion of this. Arthur wondered briefly how much he did and mentally counted backwards from 100 to try calming down. “Sorry.” Once he was around 50, he added, “You're sharp in certain manners, so I think you might notice once they greet us. My relations with my family have always been strained, but please don't make a big deal of it.”

“Maybe the time apart will ease things this time around. I hope it doesn't keep troubling you.” He smiled, sincere about it.

“That would be nice,” Arthur said, especially if it ended with agreeing to let him keep being independent.

After the crew secured the ship, King Gregory, Prince Herman, and Princess Briana came down to meet them. Arthur briefly wondered where Lamar was, probably out playing the wandering swordsman as he had the least liking for responsibility out of the four of them. He didn't ask, simply introduced his family to Lest and visa versa. While Lest kept well-mannered, he was already slipping into some informality. Arthur quietly admired and even envied him a little for being that confident here.

“Was there anything you wanted to do other than meeting Lady Doomgale and our meeting after?” Lest asked.

“We plan to be here through tomorrow afternoon, so I would like to meet with the four guardians if they're willing,” Gregory said. “Possibly Lady Forte as well given that she's won over the House of Sword.”

That worried Arthur, since he hadn't told his father that he was courting Forte yet. At least Lest was kind enough not to mention it. “I'll send out messages to them to see what they think. Two of the guardians are currently serving Doomgale as a priest and priestess, so we'll run into one soon.”

When they got into the central chamber, Dolce was already there waiting for them. She was wearing a priestess' robe and hat that she had made herself, modified from what she remembered to a blue, green, and white color scheme to go with Doomgale. She curtsied upon being introduced. “Welcome, your majesty. I will be here translating for Lady Doomgale. She offers her greetings as well.”

Doomgale was perched on top of the short pillar that had been brought to the center of the room, mostly so her small stature was not a hindrance to looking people eye to eye. She did look adorable as she was keeping a dignified posture like Ventuswill used to hold during formal audiences. While she did her best to speak Norad with people around town, she didn't even try today and relied on Dolce to translate her natural speech. Perhaps she was self-conscious of her ability with the human language in the presence of strangers.

Gregory and Briana bowed to her in greeting, soon followed by Herman (although he didn't seem that thrilled to be so respectful with a small dragon). “We are glad to meet with thee, Lady Doomgale,” Gregory said. “I hope your reign as a Native Dragon is good.”

Tilting her head, Doomgale paused a bit before replying. Dolce said for her, “She has a great dragon to follow and she hopes that she can make things right quickly. She also hopes that you keep your reign peaceful.”

He nodded. “That would be excellent. What are your thoughts on the Sechs conflict?”

She asked something of Dolce, to which Dolce smiled and replied back in the dragon language. It was odd hearing that from a human, although not the first time Arthur had heard it that way since Leon, Lest, and Frey could all do the same. Once Doomgale came up with her answer, Dolce said, “She likes the Sechs people that she has met so far and thus would like to remain on good terms with them, save the Emperor. She's encountered him before and believes that he's gone too far to change for the better. He will have to be dealt with in great caution.”

“Is that going to be Selphia's policy towards them?” Gregory asked Lest.

He nodded. “Yes, precisely that.”

Doomgale added something. “Also, she says that it's mostly a human matter that she'll only deal with locally. She watches over the abyss of time and needs to address issues there that are beyond us. She hopes that you can deal with the Sechs people wisely and fairly.” They talked for a while, entirely serious.

Then came the meeting upstairs in the dining room, rearranged to better fit this purpose. Arthur had spent the past two weeks going over the topics that would be discussed with Lest, making sure that he knew the basics well enough to keep up. One thing that came up in the middle of today's discussions was something he didn't see coming, and it came from Lest. While they had finished one topic and Gregory was getting some papers for another, Lest said, “Hey, Herman?” This startled the blue-haired man as if he'd been dozing off. Lest smiled at him and asked, “I was just wondering, could you explain to me about how laws get made official? Cause I was just a farmer until I ended up in this government position because of my farming.”

Herman stared at him for a moment, then asked back, “What are you talking about? Shouldn't Arthur have gone over all that with you?”

Recognizing the way Lest was smiling, Arthur nodded. “We have, but I believe he's testing you right now.”

“You've got to be kidding me,” Herman said, shaking his head.

“Well why not?” Lest asked, like it wouldn't be trouble to answer. “I know you all are here to see how I am in person, so I can see how you are in person too, right?”

Thankfully, Gregory seemed to approve. “It's a simple enough question for a prince like you, go on.”

“Well, it gets formed by the council and sent out to the regional leaders for approval,” Herman said.

“How does that work?” Lest challenged him. “Like who decides what law to suggest and how many people have to be in approval? Or what I would be doing, like how would I know what the law would do, or what would I do if there's something about the law that wouldn't work well in this region and I want to disapprove or argue against it?”

“It'll be simple enough when you get the forms,” he said.

“Are you sure about that, with someone who was informally educated?” Lest asked.

“If you can't handle that kind of process, you couldn't handle being a prince,” Herman said, annoyed at the questions.

Lest kept pushing back with, “Since you are a prince, you should be able to explain it better since you were taught better, right?”

“Governmental processes are not his strong point,” Briana said while Herman scowled.

“Well how would you explain it?” Herman asked.

Briana smiled, probably knowing he was weaseling out of answering but doing so anyhow. “It's the royal council, headed by the high king, who takes in suggestions for laws and does preliminary research on them. Once the law is in a form that the majority of the council agrees to, arguments both for and against the law are written by members of council or select authorities if the law falls in their scope of knowledge and power. The law and both arguments are then sent to each of the regional leaders to assess in the manner that best suits them and their people. The leaders will send back a document stating if they are for or against the matter, as well as adding their own arguments, questions, or perceptions of how they will affect the local region. On getting all the responses, the royal council reassesses the law and determines if parts need to change. They then send back the law to the leaders, along with revised arguments for each side. At that point, the responses from the regional leaders are considered final and if eighty percent are in the positive, it will become an official law. The law can also be revised repeatedly, or even revoked if enough regional leaders are against it.”

“Okay, thanks, that answers the question nicely,” Lest said. “If it's all right with you, sire, I might ask another question like that if he starts falling asleep again.”

Gregory actually smiled at that. “Go right ahead.” Herman scowled at that, but he did pay better attention from that point on.

Later on, Briana asked, “We've been wondering if you plan to stay on as Selphia's leader.”

“I'll be staying as prince as long as people in town agree to it,” Lest said. “My family has long done work in service of the divine wind. That work is still on-going, so even if I now serve Lady Doomgale instead of Lady Ventuswill, bless her soul, I have much to do that requires me to stay here and work with her.”

“What are your plans for Selphia now?” Gregory asked, surprising Arthur a little in that they hadn't asked him if he was going to stick around too.

“I have my family's work, which involves destroying a dangerous structure in Selphia's lands,” Lest said. “The threat of that can become active very quickly, but that will take some caution and patience while it's inactive. Other than that, I'm looking into restarting a local school and bettering the services of our clinic. That will help attract new citizens, plus there's one infant in town and a number of young couples that might start families of their own, so we need to take care of them.”

“If you don't already have a certified head teacher, the education adviser on the royal council can work with you to find and hire one,” Gregory said. “Depending on the kind of school you're after.”

“A small local schoolhouse should suffice for our estimated needs,” Arthur said.

“What about your clinic?”

Arthur answered, “We currently have one doctor and one nurse, the latter of whom also serves as the town midwife. With our low permanent population, it would work out fine. However, we do have the Sechs refugees to support. They have a doctor among them, but he already plans to head back to his homeland when it's safe. Given the amount of vacancies, a shift towards a higher tourism count, and what our possible population could come to, it would help to bring in two or three more trained healers to open a secondary clinic and work with the first.”

“That you'd need to advertise for and prove you have the need for it to possible applicants,” Gregory said. “But it would be advisable to address that before your population grows too much. Anything else?”

Lest nodded. “A couple of things. I've got plans to make sure any empty shops are in good shape for potential buyers. Arthur's done great work in helping the existing shops get back to a self-sufficient state, so expanding the variety of businesses we have looks like a good way to grow.”

“The general store still needs to prove it can remain stable through winter, but I believe they will be able to leave government support next year,” Arthur said. “We still have to grow some more to make it possible to have competition among stores, but there's potential for more variety of goods and services to spur on that growth.”

When Gregory nodded and didn't have anything to say to that, Lest went on, “We also want to pull in a resident performance group, to make us more attractive to those interested in the arts. After all, we've got a lovely theater in town now. It was the old haunted house across from the lake, but its magic was nullified and the structure is safe and solid. We don't have enough musicians or actors right now to make good use of it.”

“As long as you can prove it's safe, I think a place with that kind of history would be intriguing to all kinds of visitors,” Briana said. “Once word gets around about it, I wouldn't think it'd be a problem to find people to use it.”

“Artists can be very picky about where they practice their art, but I hope it's no trouble,” Lest said.

* * *

 

With the high king in town, there were more guards than usual. Several had been brought from the capitol to prevent trouble. They had been surprised when Forte was the one giving orders and directing them to useful places to keep an eye on, but so far they hadn't refused to listen. While there was less likely to be trouble with so many watchful eyes, Forte still felt like she couldn't relax. Some of it was having so many other knights around, quietly watching her to see if she was worthy as a peer. Or maybe worthy to be dating one of the princes.

Would she be accepted for both?

“Don't let it get to you,” she said quietly to herself. She was on patrol so such thoughts could be dealt with later. Besides, did it really matter what they thought? They'd be gone tomorrow. Although it was a different matter with Arthur's father; it'd be best if she left a positive impression on him.

The hair's on Forte's neck prickled, warning her of potential danger. She glanced aside and caught a glimpse of someone with a short sword. Acting immediately, she drew her own sword and pointed it towards the offender. As she turned to have a stable poise, she saw that it was an unfamiliar man wearing a classy armored overcoat. It looked better aesthetically than the uniform armor of the royal knights, but she didn't think it was a good match to a quicker weapon like his.

“Holy shit, woman, watch it,” he said, taking a step back but not putting his sword away.

“You should be more careful of approaching a knight on duty,” Forte told him. “Certainly not keeping a weapon in your hand out in the town streets. Please put that away so that you're not perceived as a mannerless ruffian.”

“I was just going to joke with you a bit, no need to get fussy about it,” he said. Thankfully, he did put his sword away.

She did the same, but wasn't going to let him go with just that. “That would be a joke in very poor taste. Weapons are not toys, they're serious tools that should be treated with respect. If you end up in trouble, your weapon could save your life if you're serious rather than just a showman. And you're not going to make many friends when their first impression of you is of you approaching them with a weapon that could strike in a second.”

“You are taking this way too seriously,” he said.

“No, I believe she's got it right,” someone said, coming from the side. Arthur was with him, but even that hint wasn't as big as the fact that this older man had a suit jacket with the royal insignia of Norad. “One would think that with all the training you've had, you'd know as much.”

He grumbled, but only said, “Sure, if you think so. I'm bored of this, I'll be outside doing something useful.”

He was rude, but it was still her honor to warn him to danger. “Excuse me, but if you are heading out of town, please be mindful of the orcs as they're having territory disputes over their winter camps.” And since he seemed like the gung ho sort, she added, “Even so, please don't break up their camps. We've determined that they're in reasonable locations where travelers on the roads shouldn't be troubled.”

“You're just going to let a bunch of savage orcs stay put?” he asked skeptically.

Forte nodded. “It's better not to antagonize them and cause them to raid the town for food in the winter. Respecting their territory leaves them respectful of ours once a line is established.”

“That's a reasonable solution, so don't go messing up what they've got,” the king said.

“Fine, although I still think it's dumb,” he said, leaving them without a goodbye.

“Please excuse my brother, his behavior can be less than desirable,” Arthur said.

“I hope he doesn't go disturbing the orc camps, since they'll get desperate this late in the season if not settled,” Forte said.

“He usually keeps his word,” Arthur said, then introduced them to each other. Once they bowed to each other, Arthur shifted his glasses. “Father, I haven't really told you yet, but I've been dating Forte here for a while.”

Fortunately, Gregory smiled at that. “That's something I really wasn't expecting to hear. I already thought you must be quite a lady to get respect in swordsmanship from Marden, but getting Arthur's attention really cements that.”

“You don't have to exaggerate,” Arthur said, blushing at it.

“I've just been following my heart, and now I'm really glad I could do so,” Forte said, feeling a warm happiness at the thought.

* * *

 

After the meeting, Gregory and Arthur went to walk around town together while Briana asked Lest if he would show her the royal farms. He was happy to do that for anyone, but bringing her out into the flower garden showed that she had a real interest in it. The princess wanted to ask him about the mulch he was using, the songs he sang for them, and more about the ones she didn't recognize. “The leaves and thorns remind me of some heirloom roses from long ago,” Briana said, crouching by one and not heeding that her dress was in some of the mulch. “When does it bloom?”

“We think it's a spring and autumn bloomer,” he said. “This is a really old breed, the Rose of Ventuswill, and we've just now gotten the ones we had settled in. The ones here haven't bloomed, but if you go out to the lake, there's one that has bloomed earlier this season. Wasn't many, but if they winter well, even these ones should have flowers next spring.”

“I don't recognize the name,” she said, standing up. “Maybe I'll have to come back by to see how they are in bloom. Are flowers your specialty?”

Lest shook his head. “No, I got help with these from the ladies in the flower shop, one of them who is an earthmate focused on flowers. I do better with vegetables and trees; nearly everything in three of the other fields are vegetables, and the last field is an orchard.”

“Would you be participating in the giant pumpkin competition?” she asked with bright hopeful eyes.

Grinning he said, “Of course, I've got a great one going. Want to come see it? I've got the application sent in, so the judges should be coming by in a few days.”

“Yes, that would be lovely!”

She followed him over to the northeast field to find the giant pumpkin he had going. It wasn't easy for him to get giant crops. While other earthmates could use some enchantments to increase produce size, he would end up breaking down his own enchantments and the plants would be feebler out of confusion. There were some fertilizer and potion tricks to grow larger crops that he could use. Then some extra things like taking out all but one of the pumpkins from a vine when they were small, so the plant could focus on that one pumpkin.

On touching the pumpkin reverently, Briana giggled a little. “Oh my, your pumpkin actually smells appetizing! That's quite an achievement on its own, since most giant pumpkins I see barely smell and taste so bland.”

The lack of smell and taste was a cost of the enchantments that most farmers, even non-earthmates, would use for this competition. “That's due to my technique, which is partly a secret,” Lest said. “I can't get them quite as large as some others, but at least I can be sure that there'll be plenty of excellent pumpkin to preserve for dishes through winter. Still, I usually don't place high. I'm hoping this one is a good contender because it's the best I've gotten yet and these are really wonderful fields to work with.”

“Maybe you'll get a special mention for growing a giant that most people would want to try cooked,” she said. “This orange is certainly beautiful and it's got a really good shape. I think you can be proud of that.”

“Thanks.” Curious about her interest, he asked, “Do you have farmland with your castle? I've heard that your family used to be strong earthmates.”

She nodded. “We do, I actually grow some things myself there. I don't really have a specialty, unless you count wheat because the castle chef raves about the flour made from what I grow. Did pretty well with some oats this year too. Does it seem odd to you that I'd do well with grains? Because a lot of people expect a princess to be good at growing flowers if she does farming at all.”

“If that's what you love to grow and do well with, you should be honored more for what you grow rather than be bothered for what you don't,” Lest said.

“Thank you,” she said, although she had some sad thought in her. “And you're right, my family used to be earthmates at one time. Someone in the family would always be tending to that farmland, even the king or queen depending on who had a price in farming. But then the blessings stopped for some reason, about the same time care for the fields was given over to servants rather than the royal family. The last royal earthmate even abandoned the family. I started working the fields hoping that I might find that blessing again. There's been, well, a lot of troubles within the court and I thought maybe that having an earthmate around could help with that. Although I can see that was naive of me now, but I still hope it could help some.”

“It might help still,” he said, then gestured to the other crops he had growing. “A healthy productive field like this will produce many positive runes and quicken the chi of the surrounding area. On the days when runeys appear with their little blessings of happiness, more will come with a well-loved field. Being in that kind of environment will make people feel a little better and relaxed, which in turn will nudge them towards more positive interactions with others. It won't solve everything, and there might not be much improvement at first. But it can help other changes to better things.”

“But that kind of effect goes better with an earthmate farmer, doesn't it?” Briana asked. “I would like to do that for the castle, and I'm willing to put in the work for it. I'm just not sure how to earn that kind of blessing.”

Lest had to think about that a moment. “Well, you'd do better to ask my sister Frey about that; she's an earthmate sage, don't let her fool you that she's not. But I don't think anybody knows a guaranteed way to become an earthmate. Not even inheritance is enough. I do know that you can't just work for it. You have to truly love what will become your price, be really passionate and excited about it. Like I told Ventuswill when I came here, I didn't care where I lived here as long as I got some land to farm. I'd even tolerate being made to sleep in the barn back there with the monsters as long as I could work land like this.”

“So that is really a requirement,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and considering it.

“I certainly know that you can lose a blessing if you lose your passion for your price,” he said. “But as for how to get it, that's a mystery. You have to get the attention of the earth and get it to love you back. It could be the people around you, or the ground you farm, or even a deity if you do something that pleases them enough. Or it could be all that.”

“Would it be enough to live like an earthmate, with your philosophy?” Briana asked.

“It might help your chances,” Lest said. “We're having the Book of Guidance translated into Norad, so that could help you once it's published like that.”

She smiled. “That it would. Oh, but your sister is a sage then?” When he nodded, she added, “How many earthmates are living in Selphia right now?”

He counted off on his fingers. “There's me and her, the four guardians, one of our knights, and two old friends of mine who run the post route between local regions of Norad. Nine of us.”

“With that number and having a sage here, you could register Selphia as an earthmate community. It wouldn't be a lot, but it'd bump up your culture rating among the Norad regions.” Briana put a hand to her cheek, figuring it out. “That along with this town being historically significant and the home of a Native Dragon, then added to the theater if you get it active as you plan, that would give your region a boost to government funding for further cultural improvements. Being an official earthmate community wouldn't really bump your tourism interests unless Frey becomes a revered enough sage that people come looking for her for advice. But the overall rating would make your town more interesting to travelers.”

“That's interesting,” he said. “I thought the town had to be mostly earthmates like Grelin was to be considered an earthmate community.”

Briana shook her head. “No, earthmates are rare enough now that ten earthmates in one town, even in a city like the capitol, would be enough to consider it an earthmate community. The fact that you have a sage here helps out a great deal, enough that you might get by with fewer. It's not much to get that recognition either. Later this year, I can send you the form to turn in with your yearly census report. That report should be enough proof for the culture minister to accept it.”

“All right, thanks a lot for that,” Lest said. That would be a great thing, although part of the reason he liked it was because the people back in Grelin would be even more surprised to hear that he was the leader of another earthmate community.

She smiled back. “It's no problem, thank you for your thoughts on what makes an earthmate. I think we have enough time for me to ask a few questions of Frey. Do you know where I might find her?”

Lest explained about how she lived with Leon in the library, but then Doomgale flew out and landed on his giant pumpkin. While he wasn't worried about her being there (she was really cute sitting there on it), he did worry about the uncertainty she had. Doomgale had been worried about meeting the high king, but once she saw him face to face, she seemed to be puzzling something out. “Cuse, I ask princess strange question, maybe?”

“Oh, I'll try to answer what question you have,” Briana said, giving her a curtsy. “I'm surprised to hear that you can speak Norad.”

“ _Tell her I'm still learning it, please,”_ Doomgale asked, looking at him.

Lest nodded. “She's still learning how to speak it. Dragons aren't made for using our languages, so it can take them a long time.”

“I can imagine. What did you want to ask?”

Doomgale furrowed her eyebrows, still thinking about it. “W _ell I'm worried about being rude asking, but this doesn't seem right. The three children I've met of the royal family now, Arthur, Herman, and Briana here, they don't seem to have the same parents. Arthur feels like he has one parent the same with Briana, and Herman also feels like he has one parent the same of her, but neither man shares a parent. Are they okay with that?”_

He could understand her hesitation since he didn't know how to ask it politely either. “That's a tough one,” he said, then looked at Briana. “We don't want to be rude or pry about your family's private matters if you don't want us, but she's curious about something she sensed.”

From the way she recognized it, she seemed to have suspicions or knowledge of it already. “If you two don't mind keeping quiet about it, if it's what I think it is... go ahead, what's this matter about?”

Lest told her what Doomgale had told him. “She wants to know if you're okay with it. If this is true, then that explains some of the anxiety Arthur shows at times.”

“He must trust you well to show that if it's not something he's surprised with,” she said.

“I've got an alignment to the love element, which gives me a powerful empathy,” he said.

Briana looked him for a moment, then at Doomgale. “Well it's hard to answer. Actually, I'm rather surprised at how you put it. That would mean I'm the only legitimate royal child when I had suspicions that none of us were. Arthur's the only one who was obvious, given that he has a different mother from the rest of us. You haven't met my younger brother Lamar, but mother's been frank at a few points that he isn't legitimate either, although she insists Herman is. We do have to get along and pretend it isn't a problem. But, it does worry me. The tension that causes is terrible, one of the things I hoped I could address if I had more power and authority. It even leaks out to the rest of the court since there's people who will attempt to seduce one or the other to get an advantage. But mother and father married for political reasons, and it's almost certain those same reasons are why they stay together even though at times it seems they'd be better apart.”

“ _But that isn't nice, marriage is supposed to make people happy and bring them to support each other,”_ Doomgale said.

Lest translated in agreement, although he added, “It's my opinion, but if they can't keep love in their personal lives, it would be understandable that your family lost the blessings of the earth through things like that. The basis of the blessings and our powers is love, for the things we do and the people around us.”

“That could be,” Briana said. “I've read some diaries from the distant past of my family and those that were earthmates have a different tone than those who lost it. Everything became political to keep power, even forgetting what got us that power in the first place. And you know, my parents both want to arrange a marriage for me by those thoughts. I've managed to refuse what suggestions they have so far, but sometimes I just want to tell them that I don't want a political marriage because I've seen what it did to us as a family.”

“ _Well you can tell him that I don't think marriage should be political, do you think that would help?”_ She held her tail high with eagerness to be of help.

On being told that, she chuckled. “It might, it'd have less chance of starting an argument than saying it's my thoughts. Actually, that question you asked Herman about laws fits into that. Father doesn't know which of us is actually his child except Arthur, so he doesn't want to simply name Herman as his heir in being the oldest. People are asking frequently now that all of us are over twenty. As a result, just about all of his plans this year have been about testing the four of us to see who's best fit. Even sending Arthur out here, since he thought being in a leadership position would make him shine brighter. Although your prince here made other things happen.”

“ _Don't blame Lest, Venti said that it was a peaceful agreement between all three of them,”_ she said.

After telling her that, Lest added, “Well I think it's helping Arthur to be away from the castle. I don't know all of your and his situation, but if you met him on a different day, I'd think you'd see that he changed for the better.”

“I hope so, I always felt bad for him,” Briana said, feeling some guilt in it. “The court covered up that he was the courtesan's child, but they didn't let him forget it. We were friendly as small children, but then something awful happened and he would avoid me even when I was trying to help. On the other hand, mother really doted on Herman and Lamar. They're not horribly spoiled, but they tend to do idiotic things and neither of them are really fit to be rulers. They don't even like the work of a king when they would like the attention of it. So father's been doing his best to make them do the work and discourage them, or else let them screw up like Herman did today so that others agree when he decides not to honor them. It's already worked on Lamar, which you can see as he ran off to avoid this trip.”

“What about you?” Lest asked, getting Doomgale to crow in agreement.

She was worried about that. “Well, he was wary of choosing me as an heir, given that the nobility might raise a fuss over a high queen much like they were disgruntled about Forte as a lady knight. But Arthur and I both enjoy the work that comes with the position, if with different areas of expertise. I don't mind publicity as much as Arthur does, so while I know father would like to name him as heir, I wanted to show that I could fulfill a king's role too. In a way, working the farm and trying to earn a blessing as an earthmate is part of that. If I could show that I could follow our family's old traditions, maybe people would accept me better? But mostly I don't want to see what disasters would come of letting someone who can't handle it, like our other brothers, take the position of the ruler of all Norad.”

“I wouldn't know about being a king like that, but this experience has taught me that to be a leader as an earthmate, you need to be concerned about the people that you lead,” Lest said. “You need to have a love for them that makes their concerns your own. You'll want to make things better for them over yourself. I mean, that's going to be hard in a position like high queen like you hope for, since you'll be leading people that you might never meet in faraway places. But maybe you could do it. Small gestures can help, even your advice earlier that I get Selphia recognized as an earthmate community.”

“I've had people tell me that things like that are a waste of time, so it's nice to hear the opposite point of view,” Briana said, pleased with that. “And I'm really grateful to both of you for talking with me like this. There's more that I need to think over and that I could be doing. Maybe it won't matter if I can become an earthmate, but I'll keep working on it.”

After Lest and Doomgale walked her to the north exit of the farms, Doomgale nipped at his sleeve. “ _The earth already likes her, so she might succeed in her dreams. I'd like to help her, but the best way I could do that seems to be telling the high king that she's the only legitimate child by blood so he's sure that his heir is his heir. Would that be meddling in mortals affairs too much?”_

“Um, maybe if you told him to pick her, it would be?” Lest wondered, scratching his head. “Or if you tried to convince him. But just giving him that knowledge and letting him decide what to do about it... we'd have to be careful of making him mad, but it would leave the decision up to him. I wonder if he'd take it exactly as you said it, being asked if he thought it was okay. It'd be a moral challenge. But if it's affected his children as much as I suspect, he might deserve such a challenge.”

“ _The strain and tension in their bonds is powerfully negative right now,”_ Doomgale agreed.

* * *

 

Autumn 86

Arthur felt hungry, but he was putting off having breakfast in order to join his family and Lest for a meal at the castle. That was hard because he was used to having a light breakfast once he got up when Lest delayed his breakfast until after his early morning chores on his farm. When Arthur got into the royal dining room, he saw that Lest was also used to a larger breakfast. Although that was understandable, given he had to recuperate energy from his chores and keep that energy through the day.

Lest came in right after him. “Good morning,” he said cheerfully, looking like he'd just cleaned up after his work. “Hey, would you mind going down the hall to get your father? Briana and Herman were downstairs just now and they'll be coming up shortly.”

“All right, I'll get him,” Arthur said, only wondering why Lest had asked after he had left the room. After all, he had probably signaled the butlers that he was headed for breakfast and they could handle gathering the others.

But on approaching the room, he overheard Gregory in a way he'd never heard him before: vulnerable. “Art, please, I could really use you around again.”

“I don't recall all that I said before, but I believe it would remain true,” Art said. “Especially concerning the princess and princes. I know where Chantalle is.”

Arthur drew in his breath sharply on hearing that; it was almost a surprise to himself that he didn't do anything more dramatic. Gregory certainly didn't hide his surprise at that. “You found her?”

“Last I knew, she didn't want to be found by you,” Art said. “And I must keep my word to her just as much as I do to you. You know the conditions I gave when I quit. I would still honor that and consider returning to the capitol. However, Selphia did that first and they need me here right now. Perhaps once their business is put to rest, I may return if only as a master to train the recruits. Pardon me, but I must make the nightly patrol reports to Lady Forte.” He then left the room and just gave Arthur a nod before heading on to his business.

Left in shock, Arthur barely managed to nod back. Then his body reminded him that he needed to eat and he remembered what he'd come here to do. He took a moment to calm himself outwardly before going to knock on the door. “Excuse me, but Lest has come in for breakfast and wants us to join him.”

Gregory was still unsettled. “Oh, yes, right, I'll be over in a moment.” Arthur had an impulse just to leave him then, but then his father came up to the door. “Arthur, I'm sorry we really didn't get a chance to talk privately this visit, but, are you still looking for your mother?”

An uncharacteristic spike of anger nearly burst out of him, wanting to ask him why he brought it up now. Did he want to try to get back in contact with her by having Arthur act as a go-between when Art was keeping his lips tight on the subject? But no, that wouldn't do anything but cause problems and he had better self-control than that. “It doesn't matter to me anymore,” he said, even though that was a total lie.


	116. Doom Pumpkin and Apple Cider

Autumn 87

When Dylas went to see him, Lest was restless and excited. The judges for the national giant pumpkin growing competition were coming soon and he was ready to show of his work to them. “It's probably not the biggest in the nation this year, but I hope they see all the other qualities in it that are great for any pumpkin,” he said.

That excitement was infectious and made Dylas smile. Even be aware of it, which he tried to hold back because this was a small matter to him that wasn't worth a smile. But, it was a big matter to Lest and he was torn in wanting to smile because it was wonderful to see him in a great mood. “Seems like a prizewinner to me, and makes me glad that you're not in the harvest festival competition because that pumpkin would stomp anything else trying to win.”

Lest laughed at that. “Kind of like you are with fishing contests?”

“Fishing isn't my price, but maybe,” he said.

“Well, I wouldn't mind hanging out and talking with you, but I'd rather stay here near the castle for when the judges arrive,” Lest said.

“That's fine, I was just dropping by for a bit. I'm taking Leon out to do the fishing today because he's been having a rough time.”

“That's good, although you need to watch for him teasing you about being single if he's got you alone,” he said.

“What, has he been teasing you?” Dylas asked, although it was funny when he talked about that with Lest.

“Of course,” he said, amused by it. “I had to remind him that other than telling him why not to make me mad, I didn't trouble him too much about dating my sister. That made him act all indigent, saying,” Lest then tried to mimic Leon's voice but got it bad and whiny, “'Aw, why do you have to be so understanding?'”

He snorted a laugh. “He can be a big baby sometimes.”

“Right,” he said, although his eyes twinkled. “And you've got a real blue ribbon smile there.”

“Are you trying to make me out to be a horse again?” Dylas said, his tail swishing against his legs. He didn't want to show how pleased he felt at that compliment... although Lest would probably feel it anyhow.

From the way he smiled, he did. “No, but you can be my best in show unicorn any time.”

This time, Dylas had to fight to keep from laughing. “That wasn't funny,” he said, trying to be sharp but not managing.

“It wasn't, and the worst part is that I can't tickle you to get a laugh anyhow,” Lest said, which actually did get a laugh to escape Dylas. He smiled while Dylas tried to look mad at him. “Have fun with Leon... oh, but one serious thing. I could tell you about Arthur later, but it needs attention quickly.”

“What about him?” Dylas said, glad for the seriousness to keep him from acting silly.

“There's been a growing darkness to his emotions,” he said, worried about it. “It's always been hiding behind his polite friendly facade, but his emotional defenses are so strong that only a spark of it would escape at times. Shortly before his family arrived, those defenses started cracking. I had hoped that they could talk something out to weaken his dark emotions, but Arthur kept them bottled up again and now he's getting worse. It might start leaking into his outer behaviors and talk soon. He's going to need help, so keep an eye on him and try to help him out.”

“He seemed stressed out, but you make it sound worse,” he said, wondering what kind of dark emotions Lest was talking about.

He nodded. “It is, and given how pent up his emotions are, I'm almost certain that this could end in an emotional meltdown. There might be nothing we can do to avoid that without it delaying into a worse one later on.”

“Do you know what his problem is?”

“I can't really say,” Lest said, glancing off like he did know something. “But it's something that could be noticed when his family was here. Remember them? Gregory had a deep red hair color, while Briana had a dark purple and Herman had a dark blue. I got to see a picture of the queen too, she has dark blue hair like Herman's. Doesn't Arthur stand out with that golden blond hair of his? That's all I could tell you.”

Did that mean he was another bastard son? Although not the same situation Dylas was in, it still gave them something in common that others wouldn't have lived with. Maybe that could make things easier to start talking about. “I see.”

“I already mentioned something to Forte, but not to Porcoline,” Lest said. “Though I didn't point towards one of his issues like that with her. That's going to be a rough thing for her to deal with, but I still hope she can help him out. He could really use someone he can trust fully and if Forte can help, that'll help solidify their trust in each other.”

“When you put it that way, you're sticking your nose in someone else's business again,” Dylas said.

Lest shrugged. “True, but it's going to affect me even if I have a safety net with you keeping things in check. I'd rather be doing something, even if it's just asking you and Porco to watch over him. Anyhow, you'd better be going towards the library or Leon's sure to tease you about being late.”

“Yeah. I'll look after Arthur, don't worry.” They were in the public parlor where anyone could just walk in, so Dylas shook his hand before heading out.

Fishing with Leon was entertaining, although he nearly hit the truth when he joked that Dylas should date Lest for all the time they spent together. Thankfully, he seemed to expect an embarrassed and angry reaction, so the truth still wasn't found. Although this time, it was a bit thrilling, even making Dylas smile. They had kept their love a total secret with only two people in the know.

When he got back to work, Porcoline had to go run an errand. It turned out well as Corrin came in a short time later to get a snack and drink while on break. “How's it going for you?” she asked as she sat at the counter.

“Been a good day so far,” Dylas said as he minced up onions. He was getting better at avoiding the noxious runes in onions that irritated eyes, but he needed to be quick and even as well. “Got to fish with Leon, and earlier Lest was acting like a kid about his giant pumpkin contest.”

Corrin smiled after taking a sip of her coffee. “I hope he does well, since this is his best work yet towards that. Isn't he so adorable like that?”

Since there wasn't anyone else in the restaurant, he didn't hold back on that smile. “Yeah, he is. Although that put him in a mood to make some awful jokes about me and ribbons.” She laughed at that. Dylas glowered at her, although in jest. “Hey, don't you be encouraging him.”

Putting her hand to her lips, she kept laughing. “Sorry, I think he picked that up from me flirting with my wife. But it's so nice when someone loves you enough that they'll smile at even your terrible jokes. I'm sure he'd be really happy if you did that.”

“I don't have much of a sense of humor.” Since they were talking about Lest anyhow, Dylas asked, “Hey, um, how do you think people around here would react to finding out about the two of us being together?”

Corrin calmed down, her eyes drifting off in serious thought. “Hmm... it's going to be a shock to many, I'm sure. I don't think the possibility is on anyone's mind, that is, anyone who doesn't know. Doomgale has noticed, I know that much, but she's really happy about it. I think most people would be happy for you both too, once they got over the surprise.”

While she seemed sure of that, Dylas wasn't quite convinced. “Are you sure about that? Sometimes I think of telling certain people, but I always get afraid they'll reject us if they find out.”

“If someone would reject you immediately for something so important in your life, they weren't a good friend,” she said. “And you've got lots of friends here in Selphia, people who would try to understand if it's something new to them but important to you.”

“I'm not sure I have a lot of friends, I'm too much of a sourpuss for that,” he said. Lots of people were friendly, but that didn't make friends.

She smiled at him. “Don't be silly, lots of people here care about you. Maybe you are a sourpuss and a bit humorless, but even that can't hide the fact that you have a kind heart.” It made him blush, although he hoped more people saw him in a good light like that. Then Corrin asked, “Are you going to let others know?”

“I'm thinking about it,” he said, although his tail twitched in nervousness saying it. “It's, well, it's because he's excited for that winter ball and getting to dress up for it. I don't think it's my kind of thing, but he's put up with a lot from me, and done so much for everyone else in town. I thought it'd be nice to go with him then.”

“Yes, you should spoil him good then,” Corrin said enthusiastically. “He'd love that so much. Do you know how to dance?”

“No, but I'm pretty sure Meg will agree to teach me if I ask.” She might bug him about who he was going out with, or what he meant to do for Lest when she learned about them. But she meant well; she was motherly in that regards. Any of her children would be well-behaved and artistic, he thought.

She nodded. “You'd better get on that, then. I know the talk lately is holding the ball late winter, but you'll want to be good for it.”

“Guess so,” he agreed. An idea came to him on her mentioning the timing. “Hey, what do you think if we suggested to people in town that the ball should fall on his and Frey's birthday? Get enough people to agree on that and maybe he'd have to set it for then.”

“On the 81st?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “It'd be a Tuesday, unusual but still workable. And I'm sure plenty of people would like the idea. Right, we should do that! Just don't let them know it was our idea in the first place.” That made Dylas chuckle; he could think of a few people that would happy spread that idea around town so it got to everyone. Corrin winked at him. “I could gossip a bit about Lest now if you want to know more.”

“Sure, what've you got in mind?” he asked, curious and in a good mood now.

“Could you get me some water to drink first?” she asked, so he went to get her a water glass. “Well I don't know if he's told you yet, but you're the person he's dated the longest. Actually, you got there just by sticking with him to the end of summer.”

“Really? That's weird, he's so good with others.” And aside from the bad jokes, he was very charming.

“He is now, but he had to learn that from a lot of bad experiences,” Corrin said, looking off in thought. “Frey got lucky and can use her intelligence, reading, and general weirdness to make up for the years she spent studying. On the other hand, Lest has a lot of talents that aren't well understood and can make people suspicious. He was not liked in our hometown of Grelin, so he spent much of his teenage years going over to a nearby trade town to get out of it. He made friends, enemies, and sweethearts with a lot of people who traveled around, there one week and gone the next. But even when he loved someone who lived there, love never lasted for him. There were several incidents of him running into someone who lusted after him, you remember how that is.”

“When he was away from home and you couldn't help?” Dylas said. How much trouble had that gotten Lest into? That worried him now.

She nodded. “Yes, although I had some friends who ran a sort of tavern that catered to teenagers and other young people. I made sure they knew to help him out if he got in trouble and they came through for us. Still, I don't know all that he did over there. Oh, but there was one person that might better show the kind of trouble he had. The first person he dated was Helena.”

“Her? But she's married to a woman now and they live here.” All three of them seemed to have a good friendship, one you wouldn't suspect that Lest had been involved in dating either of the women.

“And Nem was a good friend to both him and Frey as kids,” Corrin said. “That was how they figured out that Lena had no romantic interest in boys; she'd gone out with him to placate her parents back home when she was falling for Nem instead. Lest dealt with them graciously by stepping out of their way, but it was hard on him all the same. Even so, he said later on that that was one of his better relationships.”

That gave Dylas a lot to think about. He was really lucky to have Lest's love as few others would have the patience or understanding to deal with him. Was Lest lucky somehow to have him too? Or at least a love that worked in his favor, if what Corrin was suggesting was true. It could be even better for both of them if he could pull this new idea off, to get the ball on Lest's birthday then do everything he could to make the day extraordinary. That would repay Lest for all that he had done for Dylas hopefully. At the same time, perhaps Dylas could have a time when he didn't have to be stage filler or the fool in life's theater. If he was going to overcome his weaknesses to do this, he would have to start preparing even if the ball would end up an entire season away.

Corrin soon left to go back on patrol, leaving Dylas to his work. As he was getting ready to take a break himself, Meg and Wendy came in, laughing and holding hands. Dylas found himself thinking that they were a cute happy couple. In fact, the glow of runes around them was really strong now. He wondered if they realized their feelings were like that. Porco had been teasing Meg about ending up married to a dragon just this morning and she had said it wasn't likely. But if they got any closer, that might end up happening sooner than she thought.

“Hi Dylas!” Wendy called, waving to him. “What're you up to?”

“Just about to take a break,” he said. “I did want to ask something of Meg.”

“Oh sure, what is it?” she asked, coming to the counter.

He might have been okay with telling Meg; he was pretty sure she could keep a secret. But Wendy was really making up for the time she kept her words in check by chatting about anything and everything. She might spill the truth even if he got a promise not to out of her. “Well, would you, um, teach me to dance? For the winter ball.”

“Are you taking somebody out to the ball?” Meg asked, gleeful at the thought. “Of course, I'd be happy to. But who are you going out with? It'd be easier if you could practice with her.”

“Oh yeah, tell us!” Wendy added, coming closer.

“I-I'd rather not talk about it,” he said, feeling his face get warm. “She, um... I meet her out fishing when I leave town. I haven't really asked her out, but I know where she usually is and I thought it might go over better if I said that I could dance.” That was close enough to the truth even if it wasn't.

“Is that what you're missing for most of the time, off stalking some wilderness girl?” Wendy asked with a grin.

“I'm not stalking, geez,” he said.

Meg then asked, “Have you told her that you like her? Or even talked to her?”

“We've talked, mostly about fishing.”

“That's good, but you should at least tell her you like her so that asking her to a ball doesn't come out of the blue,” Meg said. “It's not a lot of time, but I'll do what I can to help you. Evenings aren't a good time, but we could practice in the mornings or early afternoons when the restaurant isn't serving.”

“Either time works,” he said, but then thought of something else to ask. “But, do you mind not telling others about this? Since it's not certain and we don't even know when the ball will be.”

“Oh my gosh, you expect us to stay quiet on something as juicy as this?” Wendy asked, her eyes wide.

“Come on, you can do that at least for Dylas,” Meg said, nudging her. “I'll keep it quiet.”

“Fine, but I hope we get to meet her first then,” Wendy said, pouting but exaggerating it.

Meg then let her hand go to come into the kitchen and take his hand. “Well come on then, let's go over there and see where you start. Wendy, play something simple for us.”

“Okay!” She bounded over to the piano and thought over her song choice while tapping a key.

“I don't think I'd be that good,” Dylas said, letting himself be dragged over to a more open spot in the room. He ended up keeping his eyes down almost the whole time in trying not to step on Meg's toes. Still, she seemed to think that he had some grace to start with.

* * *

 

Autumn 89

Looking out the window in her room at the inn, Wendy found light patterns of frost and tiny slowflakes falling past. “Aw, this is supposed to be the Autumn Harvest Festival, not Winter,” she said. “It's going to be cold and my fingers get all nipped with the frost as bad as my wings did.” As she glanced down at her green and white pajamas, she started to smile. “Then again, this means that I can wear the cute winter clothes and Blossom's festival cider should be even better. All right!” She hurried over to her bag to open the clothes pocket and find a good outfit. “Hmph, I should get a proper storage trunk at some point.”

Since her body was so pale now, she liked to wear bright and bold colors. She picked out an orange and red sweater (that at least had autumn colors) as well as some white leggings to go under a long brown skirt. With a hat, gloves, and boots, hopefully she kept warm in spite of the early-arriving cold. Then she went to check on her harvest contest entry. Wendy had wanted to grow a golden pumpkin since golden vegetables were the best. However, the seeds were hard to come by and she didn't have a garden of her own. She had to make due with a flower box outside her room's window. She had grown some nice eggplants out there; the plant was gone, but she'd preserved the best looking one for this day. After carefully putting it into a smaller pocket of her bag on its own, she took the bag and headed out to meet up with Meg.

The light snow and chill wasn't bad with nice clothes keeping her warm. Wendy hummed and watched the snowflakes as she walked across town. Before long, she ended up thinking again about how she might do something that would make people happy to think about her after she passed away. She didn't know how much time she had left now, more than before but probably not as much as the young folk in town had. She especially wanted Meg to be happy.

What made one person forgettable but another person not? She'd been thinking over those she still remembered trying to find what. These memories used to cause her pain. Now that her guilt had been forgiven, she could remember a lot of them more fondly than before. Maybe it wasn't the person remembered, but the person remembering that made memories happy or sad? But then how to convince Meg that...

She heard a whistle on the wind and paused to see Doomgale flying towards her. Snowflakes whirled in the little dragon's wake. “Good morning, Doomgale!” Wendy said with a smile. “Are you doing okay? I used to get terribly cold on days such as these.”

“ _Good morning, Wendy,”_ she replied, with some worry in her words. She landed on the base of the wing statue outside the marketplace. Most of the booths were finishing their preparations for the busy day. “ _I'm okay. Flareson taught me a long time ago how to put some flame around me to keep warm, but it's not cold enough for that today.”_

“I would have loved to know that trick,” Wendy said, reaching over to pet her. “You seem worried.”

She closed her eyes. “ _Thanks. Yeah, I've been hearing some things on the wind that could be trouble. Not like monsters trying to come into town trouble, but still bad trouble. See, um...”_ she seemed to be thinking, so Wendy stopped petting her. “ _It's something someone is trying to keep secret, so I want to keep it secret for them. This person is planning a surprise for, um, the person they love. It's gonna be great if it works, make lots of people happy. But to make the surprise happen, things have to be done that are already starting to create rumors. Those rumors could hurt really badly if the one being surprised hears them wrong.”_

“Rumors can be hard to control once they get going,” she said. “But it's not good to fight against them as a native dragon. That can turn tyrannical if you police what people say, making them afraid to say what's on their mind.”

“ _That's what I thought. But I really want this to work right for them and not hurt anybody. I was trying to figure out a sneaky way to help all night, but I wasn't sure what was too much. What would you do?”_

Wendy didn't have to think long on that, remembering a few instances like this. “If the person being surprised starts hearing these rumors, you can tell them to trust their lover. Don't have to say anything more, just encourage them to be patient and trust them. Or, you could spin the rumors yourself so that they're so ridiculous that the person being surprised knows that they can't be true.”

“ _Does that really work?”_ Doomgale asked, tilting her head.

“Sometimes it can come back to bite you,” she admitted. “On the other hand, it can be really fun to see just how ridiculous and far from the truth rumors can get. Just be sure the reassure the person if you do try to spin it.”

“ _Maybe not with this matter, but I could try that with something that might not hurt so much,”_ Doomgale said. “ _Thanks, Wendy! What are you doing?”_

“The festival's not going to get into gear for another couple hours,” she said. “So I'm going over to Meg's place to practice ballroom dancing with Dylas until we can go hand over contest entries.”

Doomgale took off from her perch to hover nearby. “ _That sounds fun! Can I come watch?”_

She laughed. “Sure thing! Let's go!” Then she ran off down the street, making Doomgale hurry up to fly with her. But the little dragon could easily keep pace with a running human, so she crowed in joy.

Since Wendy had only watched dances as Venti, she quickly volunteered to act as Dylas' learning partner so that she could figure them out too. That way, she could dance with Meg at the ball. They were all dressed warmly to spend the day outside, so she had them practicing out on the walkway at the southeast part of town. Meg explained, “There's not a lot of space here, but you often have to deal with other dancers. Be aware of the space around you so that you don't bump into anyone or anything. Although, I do admit it can be hard when you're dancing with the person you love.”

Wendy had Dylas' hands as they were running through the steps to the dance Meg had taught them yesterday. “Well then Meg, I'll have to stare deeply into your eyes until we crash into somebody and make everyone topple over comically like dominoes.”

Meg laughed at that while Dylas just smiled a bit. “You troublemaker,” he said.

“We have to keep things interesting,” Wendy argued. Then she looked up at Dylas. “So have you asked your girl out yet? What's she like? I can't wait to meet her!”

“I said I didn't want to talk about it,” Dylas said, annoyed. “You'll meet her when you meet her.”

“I hope we're not taking up the time you get to meet her,” Meg said, worried about it.

“No, we're not,” he said.

Doomgale piped in with, “ _She's one with nature and really beautiful in that way. And her eyes are mystical.”_

“Really?” Wendy asked, glancing over at where she was perched on the railing. “Aw man, I wish I still had the wind to tell me things like that.”

Dylas looked nervous while Meg widened her eyes. “What, does she know something? What did she say?” she asked.

“She said his girl is one with nature with mystical eyes, and is really beautiful that way,” Wendy repeated.

“Well... that's true,” Dylas said reluctantly.

“I hope you can get her to come,” Meg said. “Now let's keep at the practice; you'll need to do a lot of repetitions so you know the few dances well.”

* * *

 

As Forte looked in the mirror, she couldn't help but think that two seasons ago, she would have not seen herself there. She had been so convinced that she had to fulfill a masculine role that it would feel awkward and wrong to be in a dress. But the world wasn't so simple that it could be neatly divided. While she followed the path of the knight, now it didn't matter if she was a woman as well. That meant all the pretty and cute things that she thought she had to deprive herself of could be hers. Within reason, of course.

And this wasn't even an elaborate outfit today, not like what she had started picking out of her family's attic storage for the winter ball. This was a harvest festival, a special occasion but not one calling for fancy attire. Since it was also going to be chilly today, she had picked the long green dress with a white coat, along with nice green earmuffs and hair bow so she could have her hair in a nice braid. It was a simple braid, but Forte thought she'd done well with it.

She nearly left the house like that, but it didn't feel quite right. She didn't need to serve as a knight today. But, what if there was trouble? She didn't have the magical ability that her brother had. After some thought, she retrieved a short sword with a belt scabbard that didn't stand out too much if she shifted the sword under the coat. Short swords weren't her preferred weapon, but she could still use them well in case of an emergency. She couldn't entirely cut out being a knight from her identity. However, that was fine. She could be both.

The first snowfall of the year always seemed magical; today's was no different even though they were celebrating the end of autumn today. Feeling happy with that thought, she caught herself humming as she approached the restaurant. That was a silly thing, but she could be silly too at times, right? Normally the gentleman went to pick up a lady for a day out, but Forte knew that Arthur would be trying to do some work. But that was like how she didn't feel right if she didn't have a sword with her. He wouldn't feel right if he hadn't done something productive. Since he could get distracted in work, she'd decided to go to him instead.

When she got inside, Arthur was looking over a few of his glasses display cases. He normally kept them in different parts of the room, but today had them next to each other. His back was to the door, so she called over, “Good morning, Arthur!”

“Oh, good morning Forte,” he said, turning to see her. Then he seemed to really notice her. “Wow, you're looking really elegant today. That's uh, amazing.”

She chuckled, a bit nervous. “It's not that amazing,” she said, walking over to him. “What are you doing?”

Arthur looked back down at the glasses, but soon looked back to her. “Just reading and writing some letters, to clear out the ones that weren't an immediate priority to work on. Some are social letters from clients, but I've written up a few advisory letters to various tea growers in Norad to let them know of market shifts they should be aware of to plan ahead. Then there was this one that didn't strike me immediately, but on reading it, I had to consider how to respond. One of the charities I like addresses medical needs of those who can't afford the care they need; they're going to run a drive this winter to collect eyeglasses.”

“Oh, so they can give them back to those who need them?” Forte asked. “Were you going to contribute?”

“I'd like to,” Arthur said, taking up one of the glasses and tilting it so the lenses were horizontal. “It's an ambitious project they have. People who need eyeglasses need the right kind or else they're of little help. Here, see the curvature on these lenses?” He carefully pointed out a slight curve, easiest seen right next to the frame. “These aren't that strong, so the curvature isn't as pronounced as this pair here; you can really see the curve on that one. They're for two different people, plus both of them are shaped for a near-sighted person. Someone who's far-sighted needs one like this one here, and then there's the lot in this case that are all straight glass that isn't a lens at all.”

“The charity wouldn't need those,” she said.

“They are going to sell fashion glasses like these to get money and awareness of their cause,” he explained. “I could donate any of these and they'd be useful. It's just...” he frowned, the sighed. “Well I got so used to collecting them that giving them away is hard. I don't even care about the monetary loss, but even just deciding on a small group to donate is like pulling teeth.”

“But you could be helping someone who needs them to get them,” Forte pointed out, as the first thing she thought of.

“True,” Arthur said. “I am going to send some, I just have to decide...”

“How about I keep asking you which ones you're donating until you've got them decided?” she said.

He chuckled. “That might help. Oh, but,” he set down the prescription pair and picked up a pair of silver-framed ones from the fashion case, “This is the pair that you tried on a while back. It's got some blue which isn't in your current outfit, but they do match your eyes and the silver is a nice touch. Do you want to wear these for the day?”

“Are they going to work out with the ear muffs I have?” she asked, taking them to try it out. Once she put the ear muffs back on after putting the glasses on, it didn't feel much different from having her helmet. “Doesn't feel that bad, although I still have to get used to them. Then are you done with your letters? The festival's going to get started and Blossom always makes this wonderful apple cider, you really should try it.”

“Yeah, I was just deciding on the glasses,” Arthur said, smiling warmly at her. “Uh, let me put the cases back, then we can head out.”

* * *

 

After practicing with Wendy and Meg, Dylas headed over to the castle to meet with Lest. It didn't take long to find him, setting up his display in the plaza. And it didn't take long to notice something potentially troublesome. “You're really going to wear those shoes in this weather?” Dylas asked.

Lest glanced over and smiled. “Hi Dylas! Yes I am. I'll have to be wearing them for a few hours for the ball, so I figured I might as well see how they did for the festival. Oh, and have you heard what the popular choice for the ball's date is now? The eighty-first.”

“Your birthday?” Dylas asked, although he was glad to hear that it was working.

“Yeah,” he said, annoyed but not a lot. “I didn't mean for it to be anything like that, just something fun and special. And why do you like it?”

“People like you enough to suggest your birthday for a fancy event,” he said. “I think it's a great idea for that.”

It made him blush, which made Dylas happy. “Aw, but... well it'd be close to the Winter Harvest Festival and the wassail I was going to hold then. Although given how this festival is, the winter one's going to be almost springlike. Didn't expect this snow today, but it's giving the town a lovely atmosphere.”

“Wouldn't expect you to like snow,” he said. Wouldn't that make his farm work harder?

“But it's the signature beauty of winter,” Lest said. “And it makes for a good insulator for fields I let rest over the season. Although I will have one of the fields still productive because there's some crops that only grow well in winter that are great to work with.”

“You'd know better than me. Have you heard about the giant pumpkin competition?”

Eagerly, Lest pointed out a box on the display table. “That's got the results of the judgment in it; it showed up as a special mailing overnight. I really want to get into it, but I know some people like you want to hear about it too, so I was going to wait until I could call people here. Oh right, would you mind helping us get the pumpkin out here? Volkanon said he had a cart that would hold it, but it's still going to be heavy and we've got to get it on the cart. And, uh, I can't do much other than some telekinesis if I've got these shoes today.”

“Sure thing,” Dylas said.

It was a lot of work. Clorica had decided to surprise Lest by decorating the low cart to be like a small parade float with balloons and crepe paper flowers, which he really loved. While Lest cut the pumpkin from the vine and used his telekinesis to get it on the cart, it took Dylas, Volkanon, and Vishnal working in turns to pull on the two handles to get it out of the farms, into the central chamber (which had the only doors big enough), and out to the plaza by Lest's display. This got a lot of attention from the moment they got outside with it, so people were already gathering to gawk at the enormous pumpkin. Lest asked for the others who wanted to know to be called over so it wasn't long until he could open the box up.

“You could carve an impressive throne out of that pumpkin,” Leon said as the last of them showed up for the reveal.

“Wouldn't that be squishy and gross?” Dolce asked.

“You could dry it out and make sure it's preserved to not rot,” Lest said, using a pocket knife to get through the tape.

“Yeah, last thing you want is a rotten throne,” Frey said.

“A rotten king is worse, but a rotten throne is pretty bad,” Illuminata said. Dylas glanced around and saw that all the people he thought of as his neighbors were there, eager to see the results. Maybe not as eager as Lest himself, having been working on this pumpkin through parts of summer into autumn. Dylas felt some of that excitement himself, although he was worried about if this wasn't good. Though that was a giant pumpkin, no doubt, and Lest had to have placed well in the rankings with it.

When Lest opened up the box, there was a hush in the plaza. Even those at other booths had either gone quiet or came over to see what was happening. It took his excited laugh as he pulled out a large ornate blue ribbon to break that silence. “Yes! It got best overall!”

Everyone broke out into cheers and applause for his accomplishment. For a moment, Dylas thought about hugging him. That was the kind of thing people dating did, right? But they were in front of everyone. For now, he just clapped and let himself smile. Maybe later, he could whip up a treat for him in celebration. The restaurant did have some pumpkin from smaller ones that Lest had donated. He could buy out a jar of that to make something, perhaps pumpkin flan. After all, pumpkins counted as squashes too, so Lest would surely love a dish like that.

“Wasn't this for biggest overall?” Vishnal asked.

Lest nodded. “Yes, but you still have to get to a certain size ranking to even qualify for this prize. The letter should explain it. Er, Volkanon, would you read it aloud? I don't know if I could get through the whole thing calmly.”

“Certainly,” he said, accepting the letter to read it out to everyone. According to the letter, Lest's pumpkin was the eleventh biggest out of one hundred and six entries. But the judges had been impressed by a lot of other factors, including the shape, color, aroma, quality, and lack of lingering enchantments. That gave him an especially big skill rating that helped boost his pumpkin's score far over the ten larger ones. The head judge would even be traveling with a group of nobles that toured harvest festivals through Norad later today to congratulate him in person.

Of course, everyone here wanted to congratulate him too and celebrate. Dylas felt for a moment like he was going to be nudged away to the background as usual. However, Lest would have none of that and soon came over to him. “Hey, where are you slinking off to? Weren't we going to hang out today?”

“Uh yeah,” he said, glancing aside and not sure how to put this. Not when there were still others in hearing or paying attention to where Lest was.

“Are you so uncomfortable with being the center of attention that you don't even like being near the center of attention?” Lest asked. Then he came a little closer and whispered, “You're still my blue ribbon guy, I would like to be near you.”

“Are you still going on about that?” he said, trying not to crack a laugh at it. “Fine. But, uh, I'm really happy that they recognized your skill with just the pumpkin.”

Lest laughed. “Thanks, Dylas.” It warmed his heart enough that even as Lest went to accept congratulations from others, he stayed nearby on the given excuse that he had no other plans for the day. How much happier would he feel when it came to being with him at the winter ball?

Instead of being nervous about putting his reputation on the line, Dylas started to really feel a bright excitement about what was to come. But how to let everyone else know and when?

* * *

 

Blossom was tending to a large cauldron full of the lovely amber drink to keep it nice and hot when Lest came over with Dylas. A tent canopy overhead kept the snowflakes from falling into the cauldron. Although, the cover was more important for the other large pot where Doug and Amber were making fresh kettle corn to go along with it as a snack. “I usually just make the cider, but having eager young helpers along made me think of when I used to make the kettle corn along with my other kids,” Blossom said as she poured the cider into two large mugs with a ladle.

“It's tasty and a good way to keep out of the cold,” Amber said, smiling although not as brightly as usual. “Having a coat to keep warm is great, but it weighs me down so much.”

“Heavier coats would be quite a load on you,” Dylas said. He still sounded gruff, but something was making him really happy today. Lest had to stop himself many times from flirting with him, even though he wanted to encourage his happiness as much as possible. Even better, their bond seemed to be growing stronger although Lest couldn't think of what would be causing it. Maybe time was working its magic, or Dylas' better mood was helping.

“I hope it doesn't get too cold this year, but this early snow and other signs in the forest means that it's going to be a long snowy winter,” Amber said, not liking that.

“Well you do have those flowers to be happy about,” Doug said.

That she smiled at. “Yeah, did I tell you guys yet? I finally got my emery seeds! They're actually happy with any weather and season, but I'm gonna grow them in the greenhouse first so I don't have to go out in the cold.”

“Congrats, they're a really nice flower,” Lest said. “Although I've never grown them myself, some of my neighbors did.”

They weren't the only ones stopping by here for a snack, so they went to a nearby picnic table where Arthur, Forte, Meg, and Wendy were. Dylas took a seat by Arthur once they were invited. “You should sit at the end because I don't think those shoes will let you climb over easily,” he said.

“Guess not,” Lest said, setting his mug and popcorn bowl down.

“What kind of shoes are you talking about?” Meg asked, looking at Lest. The way it was now, the girls were all on one side and the guys were now on the other.

Happy to show them off, he put a foot on the end of the bench and pulled up his pants leg a bit to let them see the green and silver boots. “These ones, aren't they fabulous?”

Meg laughed. “Ah yes, they are lovely.”

“Kind of a shame you're wearing your cloak so most people won't see them,” Arthur said with a smile.

“Oo, are you practicing for what I asked you for?” Wendy asked, her eyes bright and eager.

“Of course, got to make sure I can do this for a few hours,” he said, taking his foot off and making sure to wipe off the bench with a napkin before sitting with them. “Dolce's working on the dress, but I'm sure she'll make sure the boots can be seen.”

“They're nice-looking, but they don't seem very practical with those heels,” Forte said. Even though she was looking more ladylike now, she still had her limits.

“At least they're not stilettos,” Lest said. “They're actually pretty stable to balance on, just as long as I'm keeping on good ground and not trying to run or something like that. Your glasses are really nice too, they look great on you.”

She smiled. “I'm just borrowing them.”

As they joined in the conversations, with Dylas even doing well, Lest thought that these kinds of moments were what made all the work of a prince, of his family, and even of dealing with potential war worth it. Just peaceful carefree days spent with those he loved, that was heaven on earth. Now if he could just get his true love the courage to let others know...

He heard a familiar call before Doomgale descended down by the table. “ _May I join?”_ she asked.

“Oh sure,” Lest said. Since only one other at the table would know what she was saying, he added, “She wants to join us too.”

“Sure, we could always add another friend,” Meg said, offering Doomgale some of her popcorn.

A little while later, when Wendy was telling some tale from the past, Doomgale came closer to Lest. “ _Hey, I want to tell you a secret. There's been a little gossip today about Dylas that could stick around for a while, but you shouldn't believe it. Trust him, he won't let you down.”_

Lest nodded, but quietly told her, “ _Okay, we can talk about it later if it's trouble.”_

* * *

 

Blossom's annual festival cider was wonderful as always, made better with the addition of fresh kettle corn. And made even better in getting to share it and fun conversations with her friends. Although, the whole day seemed to be a beautiful glow in Meg's mind already. The dainty first snowfall, the warm sweet-spiced cider, the giant prize-winning pumpkin, the joyful crowd, it all combined into something like magic. It would take all of her skill as a musician to compose a song to encompass this feeling.

To make it even sweeter, there was getting to spend this magical day with Wendy. At the last festival, Meg had let her spend most of her time with the guardians as there was a chance she wasn't coming back. That had been a bittersweet day, only made wonderful when she came back having left Ventuswill to her memory to live as Wendy. But Meg got to spend all of this festival with her. They played carnival games, joined some traveling musicians for a few songs, admired the early snow, talked about the interesting items being sold, and looked over all the impressive produce and flowers from this season's harvest.

Such happiness could come to an end suddenly.

Just as Meg was thinking that she didn't want to be thinking about that today, Porcoline brought a stool over to the other end of the table across from where Doomgale had joined them. He had his own mug and bowl for the cider and popcorn, both of which were larger than the ones Blossom was using. “Sorry, but I couldn't resist joining a table with so many wonderful people at it.”

“You're fine, but I don't think we could squeeze in anyone else,” Meg said with a smile.

“Although it's a pity that it means Dylas is the only single one around, aside from our goddess,” Porco said.

“I'm not dating you,” Lest said immediately, clearing up the few puzzled looks.

“Someday, you'll realize that you are,” Porco teased him. “So what do you new folk in town think of our famous festival cider?”

“Is good,” Doomgale said, nosing the cup near her. “Corn good also.”

“Yes, but I'm afraid if you get any more of the kettle corn or other sugary treats, you're going to get really hyper,” Lest said, affectionately petting her. “There's a different kind of spice in the cider, but I like it a lot. Really great on a snowy day like today.”

“Right, it's one of those drinks that are worth keeping for a special occasion,” Arthur said. “Great quality, it's like, well...” he paused in thought.

Oddly, Dylas finished his statement with, “It's like autumn sunlight captured and warmed back up with the memory of summer.”

“Is this one of those foods that makes you eloquent?” Lest said, poking him in the shoulder.

“Any good food is worth the poetry,” he said.

“Now there's a statement worth a blue ribbon!” Porco said, raising his mug to it. “Same with the blue ribbon cider and I am so happy she decided to make the kettle corn again! It's been far too long, and just not the same as getting a bowl from other vendors.”

It made sense since Blossom hadn't made the kettle corn since her husband Bruce had died. Although, she was now happy again with new members of her family helping her. That was a hopeful thought to Meg. Trying to keep it to herself, she said, “Well if you really like the cider, she'll sell what's left in gallon jugs at the store. That doesn't last long.”

“It's not something that markets well because it's not easy to mass produce,” Arthur said, thinking about his work as usual. Meg was about to tease him about that when Dylas suddenly burst into laughter. Only Lest was chuckling with him, unless Doomgale's reaction was also a laugh. Arthur seemed amused once he got over the surprise. “I didn't think that was funny,” he said.

Dylas shook his head. “N-not...” but he was laughing too hard to speak straight.

“It's a joke between us, it'd be hard to explain,” Lest said, proud of it.

“Must be a pretty good joke to get him to laugh like that,” Meg said, wondering what it was. Even so, it was delightful even without knowing it.

“No it's not,” Lest said bluntly.

“I-it's your dumb j-joke,” Dylas said, although he didn't stop laughing.

Acting indignant, Lest said, “But I finally got you to laugh at it! Which means I win and you owe me a pumpkin pie.”

“Sure, sure,” he said.

Maybe enjoying the present was worth not being cautious because of that past? Because in many ways, this moment happened in spite of bad things in the past for some of them there... maybe all of them. And they certainly weren't forgetting it. Maybe that's what her past lover had meant, Meg thought, when he said that happiness is sweeter when you've seen the other side of life.

* * *

 

Since she had met him at the start of the day, Arthur walked Forte back to her home when it got dark. “There never seems to be enough hours for days like these,” he said.

“There doesn't,” Forte said with a smile. At the turn of her head, a glint from a nearby streetlight was reflected off the glasses she wore.

Something in his mind fretted that she was going to disappear if she went through the door. That was completely unreasonable and Arthur knew it. Tomorrow, she'd be back in her armor to keep the town safe. But even knowing that didn't stop the frets. “Oh, if you have some time tomorrow, could you come by my office? I've been wanting to share a nice blend of tea I've found recently with you.”

“Sure, I'll drop by on my break,” she said without hesitation.

That got rid of most of his worry. Not all, though. “That's great, I'll look forward to it. Good night, Forte.”

“Oh wait, I should return these,” Forte said, taking the glasses she was wearing off.

“It's okay, you can keep that pair if you want,” Arthur said, not even thinking it over. Maybe if she had them, she'd wear them more often.

“Are you sure?” she asked. When he nodded, she hugged him. “Thanks Arthur, I'll take good care of them.”

That made him a lot happier than it should have.


	117. Tanabata Wishes

Winter 25

“Looks like we're some of the last to tie wishes here,” Meg said.

“Sure does,” Wendy said. Someone had hopefully put up a bigger Tanabata tree in the castle parlor this year, with many curving colored wires drooping over so people could tie wishes written on paper strips there. That hope had been answered as there were many wishes there. Someone must have made sure the Sechs refugees knew they were welcomed to join. “Some years I liked sneaking peeks with the wind at what people I liked were wishing for. Can't do that now.”

“We can always guess with what's here,” she said, tying her wish to an empty 'branch'. After giving it a lot more thought than needed, Meg had written 'resolution' on hers. “Though without signatures, we'll have to guess which ones belong to our neighbors. Oh, like this is in my people's language too, so it has to be Ellie's.” She had to give it a second look, though. “Huh. Usually she wishes for another chance at love, but this year she's written 'inspiration'.”

“So you sneak peeks too,” Wendy said, snickering at her.

“Well it's out here in the open and it's fun to guess,” Meg said, a bit embarrassed. But she wanted to look too.

After a while, they thought they'd found everybody, with quite a range of wishes there:

 

'Grace and well-being' seemed to be from Xiao, what she often wished for.

'A good stew pot for the inn' had to be from Lin Fa, although she didn't sign it this year.

'Another alchemical riddle to solve' could only be from Kiel.

'Selphia's safety and that of Lady Doomgale' was Forte's from her handwriting.

'Wealth and challenge' was the predictable wish from Bado with a new addition.

'Happiness and good health for my family' was also what Nancy often wished for.

'No winter illness outbreaks' was most likely Jones.

'The future we hoped for' was Leon's in spite of the seriousness, according to Wendy.

'A good beginning for our family' was also serious and yet seemed to be from Frey.

'To reach a better me' was likely Clorica's from her drive for self-improvement this year.

'More time with my family' seemed the most like it could be from Sven.

'Even more chefs' with all kinds of smiley faces had to be Porco's.

'Prosperity and further insight' was probably Arthur's.

'To keep the happiness I've found' was from Dylas, both of them were sure of it.

'No wish, but gratitude for many blessings' was a new one from Blossom.

'Peaceful days for all' was surprisingly in Doug's handwriting.

'Flowers and sunshine for all' was unsurprisingly in Amber's handwriting.

'Blessings for those who've helped me' was a generous one from Dolce.

'To blunder less often' wasn't Vishnal's usual extreme enthusiasm, but it fit him best.

'Another prosperous and progressive year' looked like it was from Volkanon.

 

“But what one of the rest could be Lest's?” Wendy asked, looking at some others. “Unless he's late too. I figured he'd do something about his plants or farms. Or maybe the town.”

“This looks a bit like his hand,” Meg said, pulling one that was lower on the tree and further inside.

While not any bigger than the other wish papers, this person had taken the time and care to write, 'I wish a wish that can't be said, for one I dare not betray, to keep their light strong for the path will change and I will be the one to need the light of another for a dark question that keeps returning.'

“That seems like it could be a message to someone,” Wendy said, close to her so she could read it too. “But why stick it so far back in the tree if you wanted a particular person to notice it?”

Letting it go, Meg said, “Well he made sure the fill the whole strip of paper with writing, which is what made me curious to see what it was. Maybe he was counting on that? If it is his. But if it is, then who is he trying to reach? And what's he worried about if he says he'll 'need the light of another', whatever that means?”

“Is he running out of lantern oil?” Wendy asked, although the smile right after betrayed that she was saying it in jest.

“Who knows?” Meg said after a laugh. “And we could be wrong about any of them. There's a lot of nice ones this year, not as many silly ones.”

“Well Porco and I made up for the silly,” she said, pointing out that the wish she'd hung said 'a giant wooly'.

That made her laugh harder. “What do you want a giant wooly for?”

“Because,” Wendy said in a silly way, as if that explained everything. “Geez, do you got to question the dreams of a former dragon goddess? Oh, but I had a great idea!” She clapped her hands together. “If you don't mind a nighttime hike, we could get an even better view of the stars from Keano Lake! Some people try to find high vantage points, but it's better to find darker ones.”

“Leave town only to return after dark?” Meg asked, afraid but fascinated at the suggestion. “That sounds dangerous. But, a sky like that would be more beautiful away from the lights. Keano Lake is a beautiful place and I've never seen it at night.”

“Don't worry, I still have some power to me,” she said, clenching her fist to her chest like the knight salutes. “And the latest reports say that the main roads within a day's walk around town have been clear of monsters for a while, with few incidents around that lake over the past summer and autumn. We should be fine as long as we dress warm and bring a lantern to walk by.”

Meg still worried that it could be trouble. However, Wendy was really excited about the idea. Hearing her excitement made Meg start to miss days from her childhood when she and her sister snuck out of the house to look at stars and dream about them. “Okay, I hope there's no trouble.”

They left during sunset so the daylight was lingering long enough to get them on their way. The sky was clear and the air was crisp. According to Arthur, clouds would return around midnight so it would be snowing by morning. But the weather was rather good for their late hike. The ground wasn't icy and the stars should be well visible. Wendy wanted to talk, claiming that it would keep them from noticing the cold. Whether it was that or the walking, it didn't feel as cold as it should tonight.

Fed from a stream from Dragon Lake, Keano Lake was in a low spot in the mushroom forest. The giant mushrooms had grown sturdy enough through the year to withstand winter, giving an unusual canopy by the sides of the cliffs. But further from the waterfall and closer to the lake's edge, they had an open view to the sky. Not to every horizon as hills and rises blocked that off. Still, the darker area there made it so even the faintest of stars was easily seen. The lake was even still enough tonight to reflect them.

“Yes, it's better than what I hoped for!” Wendy said, going to the water's edge. “Oh, and there's an early shooting star. That's good, there could be lots this year.”

“I hope so,” Meg said, joining her but keeping further from the water. “It's so enchanting to watch them streak across the sky. They only last a second or two, but they can be more brilliant than the stars that last forever.” It was kind of like...

Wendy seemed to have the same thoughts. “Yeah. It's kind of like time, all spread out with the gods shining in divine brilliance. Mortals flash through the world in a blink but somehow they managed to shine brighter. The gods stay in one place; even the divine wind Native Dragon has stayed in place since its emergence although it has passed from dragon to dragon as time moves on. But mortals can never hold still, for time and the world are harsh on them. The gods stay in place to make the world more livable.”

“And because of that, the mortals can keep shining brighter than the gods in their time,” Meg said. But where did that put long lived races like the elves?

“Well that's how it is when you view time from far away, seeing a lot of it,” she said. “I ruled the abyss of time and I have seen it like that. The past is huge, the present small, and the future hardly visible. But, there's patterns. You can see where the future could head looking from time far out, but the particulars are not clear.” Wendy then put her hands on her hips and stomped a foot down. “Looking at time that way gets boring! I don't mind watching stars on a special night because they are pretty, especially when the meteor showers like this come around. But that would get boring if that's all you ever did. I preferred looking at time up close like the mortals did, so I could see the particulars even if it was just in Selphia. While you can still see the patterns when the present is big, it's more interesting and colorful that way.”

“Watching people is more colorful than watching stars,” she agreed. “But, um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but does it scare you that your time could be up soon?”

Wendy shook her head. “Not anymore. You see, this tradition of wishing on falling stars has been believed in my whole life. It wasn't quite the same in the age when I was hatched, but these ones have always fallen near the start of winter and people would wish on them. I did too, the years that I was aware of the night. At first, I wished for the wisdom and power to get my work done properly. But then, I always wished that my guardians would come back home to the happy lives they deserved. It never deviated from that; the wish was there all year long.”

“Well that's come true,” Meg said, although the thought of Ventuswill's one wish made her feel sad.

She was happy about it, even bowing to the sky now. “Yes it did! And it really came true. There's still some troubles, but now they're happy more than not. Dylas was even laughing the other day like he didn't have a care in the world, and at some bad joke at that. So I feel justified in wishing for something ridiculous this year.”

Meg laughed, trying to shrug off the sad thought. “I won't argue with that.”

“I have been thinking that I could have done more than just wish them home,” Wendy admitted. “I could have helped Misa and her descendants more so it didn't take clear up to Frey and Lest to get things done. But, I lost those chances to help more by looking into the past too much. At the same time, I don't want to be so enamored of the present that I don't care for either the past or future like a certain scoundrel.”

“You mean Yang Fan?” Meg asked, since that was the first person who came to mind.

“Exactly,” she said with a nod. “But then I remembered about one of my priestesses. She was an elf and one of the proverbs she really liked in the latter half of her life was 'Honor your past, live your present, hope in your future.' She was my servant and wasn't as old as me, but she understood that a lot better than me. You have to respect the past and future, learning from one and planning for the other. But your life is in the present. While I might not have a long future now, I want to enjoy my life in the present and make sure that when I'm in the past, people remember me with happiness. Loss hurts, I know that all too well, but that now makes me want to shine bright for everyone around me.”

“That's a wonderful thought,” she said. “Live your present and shine bright so your memory lasts well beyond yourself, that sounds like a great way to live. You know, I've been lost in the past too.”

“I remember that,” Wendy said, holding out her hand and showing that she still wore her beaded promise ring.

“Oh yeah, I have mine too,” she said, showing hers. “I could have just moved back to the elven kingdom, to be with others with lives like my own. But things were still very formal there last I knew and that kind of life is so confining and boring. In a place like this, there's lots of interesting things going on and interesting people to talk with. I always thought that I should stay a certain distance because others would die before me. But I'm not invincible or anything. I'm just another one of those shooting stars, if one that goes a little further.” She looked back up in the sky as a few stars flew by.

“We're both like that now,” she said. “So we've got to aim to be super bright!”

“Yeah!” Meg said, surprising herself in how enthusiastic she felt for that goal. “I wonder...”

“You wonder what?” she asked, leaning closer.

She started to smile. “Well, it's just occurred to me so I haven't really thought it through. But, nobody's made a claim to use that old theater yet. I'm just one musician, but I have experience managing a business from handling the restaurant's affairs for Porcoline. What if I took over as the theater's manager and gathered actors, musicians, and stage hands to put on plays and concerts?”

“Wow, could I do set designs?” Wendy asked, eager to help out. “And you could get Dolce to work on costumes!”

“That'd be great!” Meg said. Ideas seemed to be bubbling up all at once. “I'd have to study the construction of the place to see how to arrange things, also see to it that it keeps clean. Although, I don't think I could manage both the restaurant and theater at once. Arthur could take over easily, but he's got a lot on his plate already. But you know, maybe Dylas could handle things if we taught him?”

She rubbed her chin. “Well he won't be confident about it at first, but I know he's smarter than he gives himself credit for. And isn't the restaurant's business picking up because it's reliable now?”

“Oh yeah, there's that to think of.” There was a momentary doubt, but then another idea popped up. “Actually, we've been running a profit for a while now, but Dylas is running himself ragged trying to cover being a waiter and cook at once, and then keeping up with his fishing, the dance practice, and somehow finding time for his mystery girl. We can't go adding manager on top of that, even though my work on that doesn't take up as much time as either of his jobs. And he should be a chef to go along with his blessing price. If we could hire another waiter, probably two would be best, then that would free up him to take on the other responsibilities.”

“You know, I've heard talk from some of the refugees that they're thinking of staying here,” Wendy said. “The wives and young children of the soldiers will be leaving when it's safe for them to return to Sechs, as well as the scientists and engineers. But some of the young adults have said that they might stay in Norad. I know some of them have been doing requests for money, so if you put a posting for the job there, they might come asking about it.”

That was another piece to make this a plan rather than a wild dream. “That would be great! With other waiters, I can offer to teach Dylas about being a manager so I can ask Lest about being a manager to the theater. Then we'd have to find people. Maybe that univir musician we met in the capitol can help out. Although, that can wait until I know I can take over the theater on behalf of the town.”

Wendy jumped in place. “This is going to be awesome! I hope this works!”

“Me too!” Meg said, taking out her harp. “I should pray for the success of this venture. Um, but I mostly followed the elven goddess of music, so I'll offer her a song as well.” Wendy nodded and stepped back to give her some space so she could play the prayer melody with the new wish to lead a movement of music and theater in Selphia with all that she had learned. When it came to adding a song in offering, she ended up thinking of Julius' song 'For Marina'. She still most often played it just with the harp, but this time she sang along.

By the time she finished, something seemed positively sparkling about this night. The stars across the dark sky, the stars across the still lake, the joy in Wendy's eyes, the joy in her own heart, the excitement for this ambitious plan for the future that she would have never made before... this was a bright night, the kind of moment she should be striving for instead of worrying about what might come of the future. Loss would remain painful, but that pain could fade away to reveal that it had come because the person who was gone made her bright with happiness. That was the truth she found under the Tanabata stars.

Then Wendy's smile turned impish as she asked, “Were you proposing to me?'

“Huh, no! That was just the song that came to mind.” She felt embarrassed, but it was a nice joke. Or a nice thought.

“But that is a song of proposal, isn't it?” she asked.

“Well it was,” she admitted. “There is a line in it that would translate about to, 'your smile will illuminate my heart all my life, even if it is a smile remembered'.'

“I know that,” Wendy said.

Meg chuckled nervously. “Oh yeah, you would know the language if you had an elf as a priestess before. But I was thinking of you in singing that. The whole thing, actually. The days since I got to know you just seemed to fly on by with all the fun we've had.”

“I've felt it's gone slower, but that's because I wasn't sleeping for days at a time,” she said with a smile. “Do you want to get married? I'd be happy with you either way, but no matter how we think about it, you'll be the one most likely to live on.”

“I've got to take your words to heart and not get too lost looking into the past,” she said. “Sure, let's get married.” Then she laughed. “Wow, it's crazy to think that we'll be doing this, all of it together. If I had thought of it, it seemed like a distant dream.”

“Well it won't be long now,” Wendy said happily, giving her a hug. “We'll make the stars above jealous by outshining them down here.”

“I hope we do,” Meg said. She heard a splash in the lake, but figured it was just a fish up late. Perhaps watching the stars as well?

* * *

 

Winter 26

Wendy started smiling once she got up and it seemed it wouldn't quit. And why shouldn't she be happy? She'd gotten Meg to take on seeing things in a different light with great enthusiasm, they were going to get married, and they had big plans together. It was a different life than Wendy had led before, a mortal's life. But she was going to shine brighter than she had as a goddess.

Humming to herself and wondering who they should tell first (as they hadn't managed to agree on someone yet), she prepared for the day. Wendy wondered for a bit if she should do some drawing before going to their dance practice or head over early. As Arthur had predicted, it was snowing. Then Xiao knocked on the door. “Wendy? I have a message for you.”

“Good morning,” she said as she opened the door. “What is it?”

“Morning” Xiao replied, worried. “Oh, but I'm afraid I don't have good news for you. I had not heard everything yet, but something bad happened overnight and several people are in the clinic, including Meg. Jones wanted you to come over as soon as you could to help out.”

“No way, really?” Xiao didn't know any more, so Wendy hurried to grab her winter gear, then headed over to the clinic. As she said, there were more people here than usual, including Sven and Art on the beds in back. It was a tense worried atmosphere that she could feel even if she didn't have magic-based empathy anymore. She had come in at a lull in activity, so they must not be in grave danger. Jones was talking in back with Forte, Kiel, and Lest, but the curtains prevented Wendy from hearing them.

As for Meg, she was already up and moving around, helping Nancy prepare a large healthy breakfast. Meg smiled and waved at her, but she seemed lost and sad as well. There were bandages wrapped around her neck. Other than that, there was no immediate sign of why she was here.

“Oh, hello Wendy,” Nancy said, staying near Alice. The baby was cranky sitting in her high chair, perhaps in being woken up to this.

“Hi Nancy, and hi Meg,” she said, going over to the latter. She just nodded. “What's going on?”

Meg was making scrambled eggs. Briefly, she touched the bottom of her throat where the bandages stopped. Nancy explained, “She's had her voice stolen by a monster, like when you showed up.”

“Oh, well I was partly faking that since this body didn't have a voice until Leon's hell gate broke,” Wendy said. “But yours is for real? That's horrible, what happened?”

Nancy pointed towards the clinic. “They're figuring it out as best they can, but earlier this morning, something came into town and got Meg's voice before she could fully wake up. Then it left and got into a conflict with Art, cursing him really badly. At his age, he's going to have a hard time recovering even if Lest can get the curses off. But it wasn't done there, since it broke into the restaurant and wrecked things until Dylas came down and Sven came in to fight it. Sven got cursed too and as far as we can tell, the monster took off with Dylas outside of town. Forte wanted to go right after it, but thankfully Kiel got in and helped convince her to figure out the facts before jumping into things.”

“Right, it's a pretty dangerous monster if it can take out two of our knights and kidnap Dylas,” Wendy said, worried about all of them. “What was it?”

Meg shrugged while Nancy said, “Meg didn't see it well and Sven didn't know what it was. And as I said, Art was hit hard so he wasn't able to tell us. Why don't you join us for breakfast? They'll probably discuss it then.”

By the time they had breakfast done, the others came in with Sven to discuss about it. “Art needs more time to rest here, but you may go back home to rest Sven,” Jones said. “As for you, Meg, there's not anything more I can do since your voice can't be restored unless it's taken back from the monster that stole it. Banishing it to the forest should suffice. If you still have trouble speaking after that, we can try some things.”

“We do need to get it back so defeating it may be the best way, though,” Forte paused, not sure about it for some reason.

“What's the problem there?” Wendy asked.

“Something doesn't add up about this situation,” Kiel said. “We're missing some information. From Sven's description and what Art said while he was awake, it's clearly a siren we're dealing with. Sirens usually live on ocean or sea shores, but they can appear in large lakes.”

“It left heading south, so it's probably not in Dragon Lake,” Forte said. “Hopefully it's at Keano Lake.”

“Meg and I were at Keano just yesterday and we didn't encounter any monsters,” Wendy said. “Unless that's when it decided to steal her voice.”

“That might be it,” Forte said.

Kiel nodded. “But see, sirens are supposed to have incredibly beautiful voices of their own, although their songs are very dangerous to hear since they're filled with curses. Sirens don't usually steal other voices. If anything, a jealous one might try to kill someone with a voice they think is better than their own. It is possible for a siren to lose its voice. See, their voice is their weapon. If they lose their reason to attack others, they can lose their voice. So this one may have once been peaceful. We wouldn't have ever noticed it since it would stay underwater and have no voice. For it to suddenly go steal another's voice and act violently, that's really weird.”

“A peaceful siren? That sounds familiar.” Wendy tried to remember more about it.

“Do you know about it?” Kiel asked.

“I should,” she said, setting her fork down. “Selphia doesn't touch the ocean or sea on the surface, but there are underground rivers that reach an ocean. Through that, we do get some lost ocean dwellers like merfolk and sirens on occasion. Sirens are a rarer sighting, so they usually get talked about a lot. The last one... it had to be over fifty years ago, maybe more. It was a big deal because she did turn peaceful and there should be something more behind her.”

“Oh, you know, I think I learned about why they might lose their voice from Blossom,” Kiel said. “She tells me stories of local legends sometimes and one of them had to do with a peaceful siren named Audy.”

“That's her!” Wendy said, hitting the table. Meg seemed startled too. “She... gosh darn it, I can't remember it. It must not have seemed that important at the time and I've got a thirteen century long memory so that kind of thing always slips through.”

“I don't remember Audy's story exactly, but we could just ask Blossom to tell it again,” Kiel said. “But if the story is at least fifty years old, wouldn't that siren be really old?”

“Some monsters can live a long time, but she would be of the same relative age as Blossom by now,” Wendy said.

“Looks like we should find out more about Audy before heading out to find her, even with Dylas in trouble,” Lest said, sounding worried about doing that. “And I think you'd need Meg there to reclaim her voice more easily.”

Meanwhile, Meg had been writing a note with one of Wendy's old notebooks that she used to write in when she couldn't speak. She took it out and put it on the table. 'I have heard of Audy before. Me, Wendy, and Elly were cleaning up at the lake after the spring fishing contest when we found a melody bottle with a recorded message for someone named Audy. It's still in my house, since I wasn't able to figure out who it was meant for. That's probably something we need to deal with her peacefully.'

“Right, that would help,” Wendy said. “Blossom should be getting the store ready to open about now, so we should be able to catch her there.”

After thanking Nancy for the breakfast, Wendy, Meg, Forte, and Kiel headed over to the store while Sven went home with Clorica and Lest went to finish his morning chores. Doug was in the store too, but Amber had already gone off to help at the flower shop. “We're looking for information about a siren named Audy,” Forte said. “A siren attacking last night managed to steal Meg's voice and kidnap Dylas, so we need to track her down and possibly negotiate with her for his release.”

“That's a strange thing,” Blossom said, sitting down and taking some time to think about it. “Very strange if it is Audy again. It has been a long time since that happened; I was a young lady and Bruce and I had been running the store for his parents for a few years. Back then, it used to be popular to walk through the mushroom forest and take dates on the shore of Keano Lake. Then the siren appeared and began attacking people. Many came back with multiple curses and some never came back. While the dragon knight tried to dispatch her, she would always escape him by going under the lake.

“There was another newcomer in town at the time, a former gambler, drifter, and playboy named Lars. He had moved in saying that he was going to clean his life up and start over again, although he was older than Bruce and I. However, he still had a gambler's mind and when people couldn't fish from Keano, he thought he'd try to get some fish there that wouldn't be in Dragon Lake to get some money. That didn't work out as the siren attacked him. Sirens are supposed to seduce men into drowning, but Lars managed to seduce the siren into letting him live, even to fish there.

“Since he was there many days after to catch fish, he ended up talking with the siren a lot and gave her the name Audy as a sign of friendship. Lars was boastful that he'd managed to turn the tables, but something changed and he fell in love with her. He was embarrassed about it at first. In spite of that, it gave him the last push he needed to truly change and he became a good man. He was extremely worried when she lost her voice and couldn't speak anymore, but he stuck with her in spite of that.”

“That's sweet, but what happened to them?” Forte asked.

“I'm not sure,” Blossom said. “At least with Audy. She stopped attacking people which was how she lost her voice. Lars visited her daily for years, but then his past caught up to him. Because of his rougher way of life back then, he got very ill and couldn't make it out to the lake in the last year of his life. Nobody in town saw Audy after that, so we thought she'd returned to the forest from age or other means. But sirens are very powerful magical monsters, so she could have survived all this time waiting for him. I wouldn't know why she attacked the town; she never left Keano Lake back then.”

“Does Dylas happen to look like Lars?” Kiel asked. “She might have mistaken him for her old lover.”

Hearing that made Wendy remember what Doomgale had said about Dylas' mystery girl. She was one with nature, with mystical eyes. Dylas also said that he met her while fishing. Did he mean this siren? That could explain why he didn't want to talk about her beyond his just being untalkative. Wendy glanced over at Meg, who was looking back at her as if she might have realized the same possibility.

“I don't think so,” Blossom said, rubbing her chin. “Unless sirens are colorblind.”

“She did come after him at night,” Wendy said. “Actually, that bottled message was near Dragon Lake. I suppose he could have hoped that that currents would bring it to Keano Lake. If she could be peaceful, and patient to wait all these years, maybe we can help by bringing the Melody Bottle to Audy. It might not be the same siren, but it's worth a try.”

“Are you two alone going to be capable of taking on a siren?” Forte asked in concern. “One thing I know about them is that sirens resist a lot of magic.”

“Dylas will be there too if it comes to a fight,” she explained. “Besides, a siren's cursed song is a worry, but it's actually many regular curses like poison, antimagic, fatigue, knockout, and paralysis at once. Both Meg and I are capable of undoing curses like that with medi spells so if Dylas is cursed, we can take a great deal of it off there. And her magic should be weaker having a borrowed voice, and after all the effort she took to come into town.”

Meg had written down, 'We'll teleport out once we get Dylas if we have to.'

“Don't be ashamed of escaping out sooner if it turns bad,” Forte said. “But you both seem sure of yourselves, so I'll let you try on your own. If you do have to escape, though, I'm not letting you go out again without one of us with you. And I will come looking if you're not back in good time.”

“That's fine, thanks for that,” Wendy said. With that, she and Meg headed to the latter's house to pick up the bottle. She waited until they were a fair distance from the others before saying, “Hey, did you think, this could be the girl Dylas wanted to bring to the ball?”

Meg nodded, but waited until they were inside to write down a response. 'That fits what we've been told so far. But how'd she know where both he and I live? She didn't waste a lot of time while she was here. And if Lars never brought Audy into town, how did she come here from her lake? It might not be the same siren, but we may as well try the melody bottle first.'

“It's possible she never developed the magic to transform to walk on land until recently,” Wendy said. “Some merfolk can do so naturally and others never learn it. But you know if this is Dylas' girl, I feel really bad for him getting unlucky like this. I was hoping it'd work out for him like lots of other romances have worked out this year.”

Meg agreed with a nod. After they made sure the bottle still had the message, they headed out to Keano Lake again.


	118. The Sixth Wedding

Winter 26

Meg felt lost without her voice, but that feeling was already fading from her mind as they walked down to Keano Lake. Wendy had helped without hesitation and she could count on her. Now that it was a moon cycle into winter, there was an ankle-deep layer of white on the ground and a sky of gray clouds overhead. Trees were barren and icy. They got down to the lake and found that much of the lake was starting to be frozen over.

Thankfully, Dylas and the siren were still on land. Dylas did not look well, pale and caught out there in his pajamas and bedrobe; he didn't even have any shoes. But he hadn't been pulled into the water. The cold of that could be deadly if drowning alone didn't get him. In contrast, the siren wasn't bothered by the cold. Her ragged hair was a deep blue and her lower half was like that of a colorful fish with spiked fins.

“That's not me,” Dylas said.

“Why are you being so mean to me?” the siren said, using the stolen voice. It was a disorienting thing to Meg as she'd never heard her voice sound like that. “I've been waiting to talk to you again but you didn't call me when you came here last.”

“I don't know you,” he said. Then it couldn't be the girl he admired.

“Stop lying!” she said, curling her hands and showing dark claws.

“Hold on a minute, we don't need to get violent,” Wendy said, getting their attention.

“Who are you?” she hissed, squinting at them as if she couldn't see them clearly. “Are you trying to steal Lars from me? I'm not letting him go this time.”

“That isn't Lars, his name is Dylas,” she said. “I'm Wendy and this is Meg, the girl you stole that voice from. Are you Audy? We need to talk.”

“I am, but you can't have the voice back,” Audy said, clutching Dylas' arm possessively. “I have to make him remember. That's the only reason he could have for ignoring me.”

“I'm not, I just don't know who you are,” Dylas said, forcing himself to keep in the conversation.

“It's not true,” Audy said firmly.

“No, he's right,” Wendy said, offering the brown bottle. “Look, we found a message in a melody bottle in the town lake and we think it's meant for you.”

She had to squint again, but quickly reached for it. “Mine.” She loosened her grip on Dylas enough that he was able to stand back up and stumble backwards out of her reach. Meg went over to him to see about healing him. As Wendy had said, he had been cursed but all the layers seemed to be common ones: poison, seal, and fatigue had been the ones to stick on him, plus he had the start of a cold. She could at least take the poison and seal off him.

Audy pulled the cork on the bottle, letting it play. “Hello Audy. I was happy to have this reminder of your voice, but I wanted to leave you one last message before it got too late. Sorry, but I can't come see you any more. I haven't been able to go find you for a long while now; sorry about that too. But there's nothing I can do about it. I can't travel that distance, plus I couldn't bear to worry you like that any more. There's no way we'll be able to meet again. Please forgive me. Still, I treasure our times together and you'll always be my only love. I hope you keep the heart you have. Goodbye.”

Hearing that, the siren whimpered. “Lars... how could he not come?”

“He got really sick and passed away many years ago,” Wendy said.

“No, he always come to me,” Audy said fiercely, attacking Wendy with three beams of water. Although she managed to get a wind shield up in time, Audy managed to break through it after a few seconds and knock her over.

“Wait, don't attack,” Meg said. At first she thought she'd just thought it, but then her throat hurt at the words and everyone was looking at her now. Since Dylas seemed as good as she could make him, she went to Audy.

The siren squinted at her. “How do you speak when I have your voice?”

She didn't know, but since she could, she wanted to try something. “You must... have loved him... a lot...”

“Careful Meg, speaking now could make it worse,” Wendy said, getting herself up and trying to act like she hadn't been hurt just now.

Bowing her head to acknowledge that, she still tried. “How long have... you waited... here? He's gone to... Forest of Be...ginnings. Can't come back. But he tried... to say goodbye. You... can't re... return to... past.” Meg wasn't sure how much more she could say.

“He always comes,” Audy said, then whimpered. Gripping her hair in grief, she kept talking. “Lars was good. I tried to be good for him. But I can't be human, not all of me. I understand the water and song. I don't understand other things like time and fire. I try, but I can't. Lars is gone?”

“Yes, we're sorry, but many seasons have passed since he was last in the world,” Wendy said, a bit slowly as she tried to word it for the siren's understanding.

Audy lowered her head, giving up. “I have to leave too. I'm sorry girl. And I'm sorry boy, it's my mistake. Eyes no good now. But, I'll give back your voice. And, give you my treasure? You take good care of it since I can't give it to Lars?”

Meg nodded, not sure what the treasure was but hoping it might cover the cost of the restaurant being trashed. Dylas said, “All right, we'll forgive you.”

“Humans good,” Audy said, sliding across the ground with surprising speed as she returned to the water.

“But I hope she does come back,” Dylas said. “You two okay?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine once I get inside to warm up,” Wendy said, having already gotten herself dry with magic. “But what about you? You're not dressed for being out in the snow.”

“This is embarrassing, but the robe is warm enough,” he said.

“You're barefoot!” Wendy said, giving him a hard look. “You're still cursed and you've been out here a few hours, so you're worse off then we are.”

“Don't make a big fuss out of it,” Dylas said, trying not to sound weary.

“Well at least that wasn't your crush, that would make this more awkward,” Wendy said. Meg chuckled, but her throat still hurt badly after trying to talk.

He immediately got angry, so he wasn't that bad off. “What would make you think that? Of course she's not.”

“Well a siren fit what little we knew about her,” she explained.

Before they could continue, Audy returned with a locked box (with its key tied to its handle) and a white crystal. She gave the box to Dylas. “Here, I did you wrong. Those are things I like, I hope you like them too. And, this,” she offered the crystal to Meg. “I give you your voice soon, but will you take care of this? I don't know what to do with it.”

She nodded and accepted the crystal. Immediately, it emitted bright light and became something heavier. Meg just got hold of it when the light subsided and revealed that she was now holding a baby. He had an elegant fish tail without spikes and the start of vibrant blue hair.

“Huh, is that your baby?” Wendy asked, staring at them.

“It should swim and hunt on its own but it doesn't,” Audy said, caring but dumbfounded about it. “It has no siren voice and tried to walk out of water. I don't know what to do, so I froze it in crystal until I could ask Lars. But Lars is gone. Sorry, I hope you make it a good person with a good name.” She faded the whole time she spoke now, then disappeared into sparkles of life. A cluster of those sparkles flew back to her.

Meg didn't know if a child could live trapped in crystal for decades. However, the boy in her arms was breathing. His heart beat was slow and he felt cold. “We should...” her voice was back and smoother, but her throat still hurt and made her cough. “Sorry. We need to get back to town and to the clinic.”

“Come closer, I'll get us to right outside the door so we don't have to embarrass Dylas for long,” Wendy said. Once they were within reach, she took hold of their arms and used the wind to whisk them back to town.

Fortunately, Jones, Nancy, and now Dolce had prepared so they could take care of them quickly. They weren't prepared to take in a siren baby, but Nancy pulled out an exam table so he could be looked over. Wendy just needed a healing potion and some time to warm up, so Jones focused on checking over Dylas behind one of the screens. Once the baby had warmed up and dried off some, his body changed so that he had legs instead of a tail.

“I don't know what being frozen in time would do to an infant, so I'd like to keep him here for a while to watch over how he progresses,” Nancy said. “Can't say how long, it just depends on when he starts acting normal. From his physical development, I guess he'd be around a year old. That's hard to judge given that you said that his mother was a monster and she didn't know how to raise a half-human child.”

“I hope he can live normally soon,” Meg said.

“For however much a half-monster child can live normally,” Wendy said. “Still, he's going to be really cute when he gets some better color to him.

Nancy chuckled. “He does seem like he could be someone's darling child. Are you going to take him in, Meg?”

She nodded. “She did ask me. I think I can be a mother to him.”

“Well you've got the whole town to help you out just like we have,” Nancy said. “Sounds like you have a sore throat, so let me check on it since that might not be serious enough to involve Jones. Wendy, since you're fine now, would you go by the castle and pick up some adoption papers?”

She nodded. “Sure thing.”

“Oh, don't forget the other papers,” Meg said, smiling at Wendy.

“Of course not!” she said happily, then left to get them.

“What other papers do you mean?” Nancy said, raising an eyebrow.

“For a marriage license.”

* * *

 

Jones had nipped his cold in the bud, as he said, so Dylas was able to head back to the restaurant with Meg and Wendy. They had lent him some clothes, nothing impressive but enough that he didn't have to go walking through town in his bed clothes. “I hope it's not too much of a mess,” Meg said. “We've been doing so well this year and this could set us back.”

“It was dark when I got taken, so I didn't see it well,” he said, trying to remember. “I think she turned over at least one of the tables. Don't think she got back into the kitchen itself.”

“That would be good because that would be the most expensive equipment to replace,” Meg said.

“Not the chandeliers or piano?” Wendy asked.

“Well those would be expensive too,” she admitted.

No matter how they took the conversation, there was one thing that kept coming back into his mind. “So you two are really getting married?”

“Yes, and you're one of the first to hear about it!” Wendy said, excited at the reminder.

“Yeah, we just agreed on it last night, nothing planned but it felt right,” Meg said, also excited and happy. “Are you surprised?'

“Well, not really,” he said. “You two have had that certain glow together for a little while, so I guessed one of you would be thinking about it.” And Lest had agreed with him, although it seemed neither of them had been right about who'd be the one to propose.

“You could at least act surprised,” Wendy said, acting like it was a bigger deal than it was.

“Sorry, I'm not a good actor,” he said. He was having enough trouble trying to keep reins on his plan to surprise Lest. That just made Wendy sigh.

“Oh Wendy, give him a break,” Meg said, but then tugged at his borrowed coat. “Hey, but we made even bigger plans than just marriage. Not involving adopting a child already, but we'll adapt. How would you like to become the manager of the restaurant?”

That did surprise him, causing his ears to shift at it. “Wha, me? Manage the restaurant? What makes you think I can do that?”

“I'm sure you can,” she said. “You've got a good eye on the pantry and when things need to be restocked when the menus aren't planned far ahead. You know how to work around Porco, and we definitely don't want him to be running the business side of things.”

“That would be a disaster and a half,” Dylas agreed. Not only did he need constant watch around food, but both of them had to keep his wild ideas in check so that things ran smoothly.

Meg nodded. “I can't even imagine it. You seem good enough with numbers and organizing your workspace, plus I know you want to see the place thrive as well. And really, you should be able to work as a chef. It's hard on you trying to cook meals and serve them, I've been seeing that lately in how tired you are at the end of the day. But if you worked as a chef and manager, that would be an easier pair of jobs to balance as they'd intersect well.”

“But you're doing the job well already,” he said.

“It's been a good learning experience, but I want to do more,” she said, her excitement clear in her eyes and smile. “I want to take over the theater as its manager so we can put it to use. If I can hire a couple more waiters to take the load off you to train you as manager, then I can work towards finding the talent to build an acting and singing troupe. That could be just the thing to push Selphia into growing again. Plus I really want to see that stage used, by myself and others.”

“You can run the restaurant, I'm sure of it,” Wendy said, patting him on the shoulder. “And you've always got Arthur next door to ask for advice.”

“True, but he's got his own business in trading, so I didn't know if he'd take the offer of manager for ours,” Meg said. “We could ask, but I want to see how you can do first.”

How were they so sure of him? But the thought of running the restaurant made him wonder if he could. Dylas would always consider Porco as his master in cooking, that he was sure of. It did take a lot of work to serve tables and cook. Meanwhile, Meg did her work in small bursts between playing the piano there, assisting him at busy times, and the many other little things she did. Doing that and cooking would be less stressful. “Guess I could try,” he said. She was so enthused for her theater idea that he didn't want to let down.

“Great, but let's focus on cleaning things up today,” Meg said. “Although I also need to be thinking of a name for Audy's boy... heh, I wasn't prepared to be adopting a child already.”

“I think you'd be great at it,” Dylas said. It couldn't be easy to raise a half-monster child, but he thought Meg could be most capable of it as she was so organized and caring.

“Yeah, you already act like a worried mother hen to everyone else in town, especially Porco,” Wendy said teasingly.

“I do not!” she protested, which made Wendy laugh. But then she went over and hugged her to whisper something that made her blush. Maybe that was a way of showing affection, Dylas thought. Lest certainly acted that way.

When they got to the restaurant, it was in better shape than they expected. A lot of people were over helping Porcoline and Arthur get things set back straight. One of the tables and at least three of the chairs were missing. Coming in further showed that they'd been set in the hall and were damaged. There was some damage in the kitchen and the grill surface had been cracked into three pieces. “Ah, here's our missing three!” Porcoline said happily, coming over.

“Only Dylas was missing,” Meg said. “We're fine now.”

He had an impulse to do something silly and bold. If he didn't do it now, there'd be no chance to ever do it again. So Dylas made himself say, “Yeah, so these two are getting married and they've got a baby in the clinic now.”

“WHAT?!” Porcoline asked, looking floored by the announcement. Many others were surprised and shocked at it too.

“I can't believe you said that Dylas,” Meg said, shocked herself but slowly smiling at it. Meanwhile, Wendy just started giggling like crazy.

“Sorry, that's just how it is,” he said, smiling back at her.

“Well, it is true,” Meg admitted, now really smiling.

“Eeeeee, whaaaaa?” Porco asked again, still staring at them. By now, some of the others were chuckling at the scene. So he could be a fool in a good way.

Meg then went into explaining about how they'd confronted Audy and ended up agreeing to care for her child. When asked about them being engaged, Wendy said that their Tanabata wishes had collided just right. That made Meg start giggling and not explaining. By then, everyone was thrilled with the news and sharing in their joy. There quickly came talk of how to have a pre-wedding party for them each and how soon various people could get work done to make it happen.

Once people started plans for that event, Porcoline brought out an envelope. “Oh, Dylas, I nearly forgot. You got a note from a secret admirer! It was taped onto the front door while you were gone and nobody saw who did it. I brought it in so it didn't get snowy.”

“What?” Dylas said, taking the envelope while a few others chuckled at the thought. It was just an envelope with his name on it, nothing that hinted it was a secret admirer. When he undid the seal, he found a short letter and a bag with tea leaves in it. The tea blend felt like it was made to boost health to recover from colds and common curses like the siren used. One side of the paper gave instructions on brewing while the other had the note.

'Dylas, I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help when you got in trouble today. I wanted to, but it seemed better to let others handle it. I hope it works out for the best. Here, I hope this tea helps a little. You might have to rest today, but we can go out to talk alone at the last place we fished or at the usual place once you're well enough to be outside. You did say you were looking forward to ice fishing again. With love, from the tree's friend.'

That was definitely from Lest, he thought. He'd be the only one to sign a note as a tree's friend. Reading it, he realized that Lest would have been deeply worried about him. He might have been able to negotiate with the siren as well, but he'd held back because it was Meg's voice that was stolen and Wendy would have wanted to go with her. He also would have wanted to preserve their secrecy, which he was only going with to keep his word. Even with that, he felt worried and maybe guilty enough about not helping that he left this note in a place where it could easily be noticed by others.

And where people would question him about the source. “Is that from your wilderness girl?” Meg asked, a little too happy to think to be cautious in the question.

“Oh, do you have a girlfriend now?” Arthur asked. And he was far from the only curious one in hearing.

“No I don't,” he said, trying to recall what he'd said before. “I've just met her out fishing before. But, uh... somehow she found out and left this tea that would help recover from status aliments like a siren could inflict. And nobody saw her do it?”

Porco shook his head. “Nope, not a soul has said a word, very strange. Oh, but you should make it right away so you can go thank her in person!”

“Jones took care of that,” he said, although he flipped over the page to see the instructions again.

Wendy hit the counter where they were sitting and chatting. “Well you can't turn down a girl's offer, especially when it's so mysteriously on the nose when she's mysterious herself.”

“Certainly,” Porco said, already getting some water to boil. “If that girl does love you, then it's sure to have you fit as a fiddle in hours. Does it call for boiling water or near boiling?”

“Boiling,” Dylas said. “Wouldn't hurt to try it at least.”

“You are not that reluctant,” Dolce said, getting some laughs from others. Lest wasn't actually here, but Dylas still had to be careful of saying more.

On unlocking the siren's treasure box, he found pearls, coins, and a mess of jewelry. None of it was things he could use himself. However, Arthur pointed out that he could sell all of it, piece by piece, to get the money to repair the broken grill and table. Maybe even replace a few of the older appliances to make the restaurant better. He might become its manager and so he did have to think about how he could improve things.

* * *

 

Winter 30

Luckily, the siren's son had recovered enough that he could leave the clinic, although Nancy offered to watch over him one more night. That was good, as it meant Auden could be at their wedding. The infants were kept off to the side by one of the benches where people knew to keep an eye on the two. While Auden walked around to figure out his new surroundings, Alice tried to crawl to keep up with him in their little area.

Meg had Porcoline come with her to the center of the plaza from the east entrance. After some pestering, she managed to get Arthur to come as well. There had been some thought of having Wendy come from the castle as she was its former master, but she insisted on being treated as a normal person and came in from the west entrance. Dylas, Leon, and Amber accompanied her as Dolce was near the castle with Lest. With a change in the divine wind, the ceremony had been changed in a few ways.

With two brides at the wedding, Dolce had creatively made the dresses with the rose motif, but with silver petaled roses and details on Wendy's dress and gold petaled roses and details on Meg's dress. The sun was shining and it was not as chilly as it had been. Still, snow adorned the castle and the town walls. “I thought I might never get a wonderful moment like this,” Meg said quietly as they came closer to each other. “You look amazing.”

“You're beautiful and wonderful too,” Wendy said, trying to keep cool and collected today.

She blushed. “Aw, you're making me really self-conscious.”

“But you are, I swear it.” she nodded. “And I never thought I'd get to see a wedding from this vantage point. But we could talk forever and I know we would, so how about we go on ahead and talk more later?”

Meg laughed a little, some of her nervousness leaving her. “Yeah, we would just keep talking.” She took her hand and they walked over towards the castle.

As Lest was the ruler of Selphia, he started the ceremony after the four bowed to each other in respect. “We're all glad to be here with you on this momentous day. Many of us have watched you come together and we hope that you share many happy years with each other. Now, do you both have the rings you have made?”

Later, Wendy would say that she had been tempted to pretend to not be sure. But there were times for jokes and this wasn't one of them. “Yes,” they both said.

“And you both are ready to the commitment you will be making?” Lest asked, smiling for some reason then.

“Yes,” they said.

He then stepped aside, handing the ceremony off to the other two with “Good, then please proceed inside with Dolce to make your commitment before our beloved goddess, Lady Doomgale.”

It was one of those moments when Doomgale's self-chosen name was silly in context. But they wouldn't make fun of her for it. Inside, Doomgale was sitting on her post to be a little above eye level with them. Some white roses had been strung up around the post to make it fit the setting. Dolce smiled at them, but started the ceremony without comment. “Lady Doomgale, may I speak on your behalf for this holy ceremony?”

Doomgale gave another affirmative answer while looking at the priestess.

Turning to them, Dolce waved them a step closer. “For you who have decided to commit yourselves to one other and one alone, we honor your decision. Take the rings you have prepared and speak in full sincerity. Wendy, do you pledge to honor and love only Margaret for the rest of your life together?”

“I do,” Wendy said. It might not end up long, but she would be dedicated.

“Then place the ring you have on her.”

It was a ring of gold and a pearl, something they'd decided on when Dylas offered them a few of the loose pearls from Audy's collection. Pearls were from the sea, but Wendy wanted to see the sea again and Meg had crossed a sea to come here. For those reasons, they planned to someday travel to the sea, and beyond to see what was there. Wendy had made this ring with all the happy memories she had with Meg in mind. Because of her, she had the courage to make a risky move to reach the life of her dreams. Now that life was turning into something beyond her dreams.

Once the ring was on Meg's hand, Dolce asked, “Margaret, do you pledge to honor and love only Wendy for the rest of your life together?”

“I do,” she said. It might cause her pain in the future, but all that she had now and was about to have would be worth it. She'd remember to let the happiness last longer than the sorrow.

“Then place the ring you have on her.”

Before they could travel to the sea, there were many plans to be had here. They were going to work together on them, especially raising little Auden. They were both going to be mothers to him, to make sure he had a life full of love. With the ring Meg had made, she thought about how bright Wendy already was in her life, illuminating truths that she was afraid to look for. She also knew of her long lonely past as Ventuswill; Meg wanted to make sure Wendy's life was bright all around to make up for that time. Their family, unconventional as it might be, was going to keep them all from feeling alone.

“Clasp your hands together,” Dolce instructed. Once they did, she put her hands on top of theirs. “I now pronounce you Mrs Margaret Muse and Mrs. Wendy Muse.” Doomgale then called out a line; Dolce waited for her to finish to translate as the castle bells started ringing. “Let the bells ring out in honor of you both; may the native dragons bless this newlywed couple.” Then she stepped back and gave them a curtsy. “I am truly glad to have helped with such a momentous occasion.”

“Do you have to be so formal?” Wendy said, then laughed along with Meg.

“I'm in uniform, so yes,” she said. “But I do mean it.” She then moved towards the door to give them a moment to themselves again.

That kiss was a powerful spark that they remembered fondly long after.

* * *

 

Winter 40

Auden cried frequently. As he was so young, he would miss his mother but couldn't understand why she was gone. At the same time, when he got used to this place he might forget her entirely. That was a sad thought that went through Meg's mind as she picked him up. But there was a nice thing. Audy had manage to record a short song in her melody bottle before giving him over. It sounded like a distorted version of Meg's, since it had been her voice underwater. Still, they could tell him that she wanted to sing him one more song before she had to leave for the Forest of Beginnings.

“You'll be okay, Auden,” she said, starting to walk with him. He gripped her shirt and clung close, so she started singing to him. Before long, Wendy had snuck over to the piano and started playing along. But she didn't know the song Meg was singing. Chuckling at that, she changed to a song that she would know how to play. Auden quieted down as she started to twirl and dance a little with him.

After a couple of songs when he started to have fun with it, there was a knock at the door. It was time for the dance lessons with Dylas, so Meg went over to open the door for him. Wendy managed to dart over before her, which was probably better as it'd be hard to hold onto Auden with one arm. “Good morning, Dylas!” Wendy said, letting him in. “How's your new underlings doing?”

“My what?” he asked, but then looked over and nodded at her. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she added. “She means the new waiter and waitress.”

His tail twitched at that, but he didn't seem annoyed. “Ah. There was a fuss yesterday because the girl's parents tried to convince her not to keep the job and go back to Sechs with them when she wants to stay. Porco and I managed to give them some things to consider about letting her stay.”

“Are you for real, both of you did?” Wendy asked, acting like it was a total shock.

“Well, I just told them that she's been working hard this week and she's gonna leave them sooner or later,” Dylas said. “Nothing big, Porco did most of the talking.”

“But you helped out, that's what counts,” Meg said, smiling. Meanwhile, Auden looked over at him, then held an arm out. Meg laughed at that and offered to pass him over. “Oh, looks like you've got another fan. Want to go see your uncle?”

“I haven't been around him much,” Dylas said, but he did take the boy from her.

“Well he seems to like you about as much as he likes us,” Wendy said. “You really are good with kids.”

“People used to believe you were a saint to children,” Meg said.

“Hmph, well I wouldn't let a kid get hurt around me if I could help it,” he said. Auden was taking advantage of Dylas being taller to look around. “Probably likes me for my water magic.”

“Could be,” Meg admitted. “So have you asked her out yet? There isn't a lot of time yet.”

“Yeah, you don't want to miss out, not after all this practice,” Wendy added.

“Sheesh, you're both busybodies,” Dylas said, flicking his ears and getting Auden's attention on them. “I got to talk to her yesterday. She, um,” he smiled warmly, “she likes me too. I've got a date for the ball.”

They cheered for him, but then had to stop Auden from tugging at his ears.


	119. Intermission - The Most Excellent Chapter Filled With So Much S-Factor That Your Mind Will Implode, Being The Bounteous Chapter Starring The Great and Benevolent Porcoline Tulle de Sainte Coquille In The Amazupendous Quiz Contest!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that chapter title actually fits with 25 characters to spare! Note to self- need to invent even longer chapter title someday.

Winter 42

Another new morning, another fresh chance to make people smile and cook scrumptious foods. Porcoline woke up every morning to that thought and it remained delightful every time. Truly there was nothing better in the world than being the cause of another's smile and no better way that he had found to do that than to make delicious foods with an energetic flair. To prepare for the day, he brought out a hidden eclair from a wine rack that he had redone to store things warm or cool as needed. Preservation magic was a wonder indeed. While he snacked on it, he looked at the calender to remind himself of what the day might be.

The square of Winter 42 had a pink heart drawn on it, wrapped around the words 'Quiz contest!'

“Woohoo, glorious day ahead!” he shouted, punching a fist in the air. He'd been looking forward to this! “It's time for me to show them what I'm made of, so let's give it a hundred thousand and one percent today!” Porco licked his fingers clean from the eclair, then bounded out the door and downstairs to make a fitting breakfast.

Dylas was already in the kitchen as usual, chopping up some sweet peppers to go in with onions. “Morning,” he said.

“Glorious morning back at you, Dylas!” Porco said, joining him in the kitchen. “Oo, whatcha got prepping?”

“I was going to saute these to use in practicing omelets,” he said.

“That's going to be magnificent,” he said, excited to hear it. “We have a few of the hashbrowns left over, right? We could make those too!”

“Sure, there should be a few in the private part of the freezer,” Dylas called as Porco had already gone that way to check. It was a usual morning now, but so much more fun with another cook helping him make yummy breakfasts. In a little while, Meg, Wendy, and Auden would drop by to join them for breakfast, and they'd offer to send a plate over to Arthur although sometimes he'd made his own simple breakfast already. Porco had long wondered how well his other tenant would do in cooking if he dared do more than easy things. He already had quite a knack for pickles and onigiri.

Since the meals were simple and mostly prepared already, Porco left the restaurant after breakfast to check in with Volkanon at the castle. The quiz contest had been planned to put a bright spot in a long dull stretch of winter when not much of a holiday or festival went on. But it was such a delightful idea (like many that came out of Prince Lest) that Porco wanted to be involved as much as he could. Not only had he volunteered to act as a quiz host, but he had spent many days gathering and reviewing potential questions from residents and visitors alike. Since the former princess Frey couldn't participate this year, she had helped immensely in searching the public library for various pieces of trivia that made up a bulk of the questions. But there were some extra special ones that had come in from others.

The contest itself didn't start until thirteen hundred hours, to give everyone some time after an early lunch. People started milling about the plaza half an hour before, although Porco simply took his lunch there: a Cluckadoodle lunch meat and swiss sandwich on hearty bread, with some good reserved tomatoes, mayonnaise, and mustard, then followed up with a mug of squash soup and some zesty seasoned potato chips. To start the contest with, there was a pair of large squares of red tape set on the shoveled plaza, one with a large X and one with a large O. Frey took up a small table, a chair, a notepad, a sand timer, and a bullhorn to the side to act as a referee. She wore a long green dress and matching coat today, but being very pregnant with her twins, had to set her chair to the side to sit closer to the table.

As the bells of the castle tolled the thirteenth hour, Porco took up a position near the answer boxes and closer to the castle. The registered participants (many of them!) stood on the south end of the plaza while four waiting lines were set on the ground with more red tape. Volkanon stayed near Porco, setting a bin full of the question cards on a table near him. With all the pieces and parts in place, it was time for the show to begin!

“Welcome one and all to our first ever and hopefully not last ever Selphia Quiz Contest!” Porco called with as much energy as he could muster. The crowd applauded the statement. “I am the Chef Magnifique Porcoline here as your Selphian Idol, overflowing with the S-Factor!”

“The what factor?” Doug called among the general and lovely confusion.

“The Stew Factor, I presume,” Leon said.

“Yay, sounds delicious!” Lin Fa called to some laughter.

“I'll leave that little mystery up to you,” Porco said with a smug air. “And now, I am here as the day's host and emcee because, well, why not? The wondrous Volkanon and Lady Corrin will be assisting to keep things clean and our blessed Sage Frey will be the day's judge. Now that you know, please be most respectful of them. With the official matters out of the way, are you ready to compete and win?”

The crowd cheered and clapped again.

But they weren't fired up enough. “Are you ready to earn fame and fabulous prizes? Are you ready to win that beautiful trip overseas that you've always dreamed of?” That got them, making the cheers into a roar. “Well we've don't have any such trips or guarantees of fame, so sorry.”

“Then why'd you suggest it?” Dolce asked.

Ignoring her, Porcoline went on. “We do have some great prizes for the winners though, and free hot drinks and cookies for all participants! That's incentive enough, right?”

Someone in the crowd whistled eagerly, getting some laughs and more clapping.

“Then lets get things rolling rolling rolling!” Porco said, twirling about on the spot. “Now, there are three rounds to this contest. We will be starting with the tense race of quick wits and quicker feet in the first round! The questions here are simple. All of you participants need to line up in one of the four lanes marked out there. While it doesn't matter which one you go in, Lady Corrin will be keeping things even. I will take one of these community-submitted and panel-approved cards to read a statement aloud to the front four people in the queue. Frey will start the timer right after and sound her horn. If you think the statement is true, head to the box with the circle in it. If you think the statement is false, head to the box with the X in it. Once the horn sounds that time is up, you're stuck with the answer you choose. All clear so far?”

From the nods and signs of impatient waiting, it was clear.

“If you get three wrong answers, then you've struck out and are out of the game,” Porco said. “But for every answer you get right, you get one Porcoin!”

“What's a Porcoin?” Xiao asked.

“One point!” Frey called back.

But that was no fun. “A Porcoin is a specially shaped coin designed by me! It's far more valuable than any old regular coin and will keep track of all your right answers throughout to count towards a final total if you make it past into all three rounds! But this first round is an elimination round, continuing until we've got just eight participants that will move on to round two. That will be then, and round one begins... now!”

The first round was to move quickly with a large variety of questions. Almost every subject was in the bins, from if Jones named the Tiny Bandage Clinic (true, but he refrained from explaining) to if a cold would continually drain your rune points (also true) to if an eggplant would produce multiple harvests (unfortunately false). There was some about local history (it was true that Selphia was once an Ahk village a few miles away), geography (it was not true that the wind rune spring used to be at the aqueduct ruins), and magic (Wind Slash was not a spell, rather a longsword rune technique).

However, the most special questions were those about the townspeople. Often they got groans, laughs, embarrassment, and questions of who approved those questions. And the one Porco had just picked up looked especially delightful although he didn't recognize it. “Alrighty, your next question is about the townsfolk!” This already got some groans and some eager looks. “True or false! Our beautiful Prince Lest is single! Give your answers...”

“Wait, who the heck gave that one?” Frey asked, pausing on the timer. Lest was behind Dylas, who was participating in this round; the prince chuckled without any embarrassment. “All right, here goes.” She turned the timer.

“Now!” Porco called.

* * *

 

It had to be Volkanon's doing, that was the only way it could come up on his turn. But how? More importantly, how did he answer? There wasn't a lot of time given.

The others active for this question, Illuminata, Xiao, and Nancy, were all headed towards the 'true' square. A thought came to mind of something his step-father had said long ago. When you had a nasty medicine, it was best to take it all in one shot to get it over with; the same could be said of some actions. “Sorry,” Dylas said over his shoulder to Lest waiting in line behind him, then headed over to the 'false' square.

For those watching who thought they knew the obvious answer, this caused some chuckles or whispers. Dylas glanced back at the waiting lanes and saw Lest had his eyes wide. “Really?” he seemed to mouth.

Dylas gave a small smile back at him. That made Lest put his hands to his mouth, although it didn't disguise the large smile he had. In noticing others smile and trying to figure that out, he'd noticed that there was a big difference between a polite or fake smile and an honestly happy smile. It could be seen in the eyes which couldn't be faked as far as he could tell. The suddenness of this was enough to thrill Lest; that was good as he'd been feeling down lately. Whatever came of this decision, at least he was happy.

All of a sudden, Illuminata dashed over from the 'true' square to the 'false' square. She had a grin like she was discovering a mystery. She made it just before Frey sounded her bullhorn's horn. For that, someone in the audience cheered and the other two women looked at each other uncertainly as if suspecting some kind of trick to the question. Which there was.

“Are you suuuure about your answers?” Porco called, delighted. “You'd better be! Now then, the truth of the sentence, 'Our beautiful Prince Lest is single' is...”

“False!” Lest called out in a sing-song tone as he threw his hands down.

“Whaaaaaaaat?!” Porco and Frey called, the former double-checking the card. The audience had gone quiet. Dylas bit his lip, his stomach feeling fluttery as he hoped this went for the best.

“You're saying you're not beautiful?” Leon asked from one of the other lines.

“Hah, I knew something was up!” Illuminata said, snapping her fingers in triumph. “If the best friend of the subject in question gives an unexpected answer, he's most likely to be right.” Then she turned to him and pointed at his chest. “But who is he dating? That's the real question.”

“Me,” Dylas said, making sure to be loud enough that others would hear it.

Illuminata gave him a blank stare for a second, having not expected that answer. Neither had anyone else. Meanwhile, Lest laughed and came over; Corrin grinned and let him. “I didn't think we were telling anyone like this,” Lest said.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, but put an arm around his shoulder for a small hug when he got close. Then people were cheering, whistling, and clapping for them. There didn't seem to be any disagreement out there, although there was still disbelief.

“My word, such lovely drama!” Porco said, tossing the card with the other used ones. “I knew wonderful things would be happening today! Very well then, Dylas and Illuminata both get one Porcoin for this question! But let's keep things rolling, back in line everyone!”

Lest went back to the front of his line, getting a warm grin from Vishnal in the next line over. When Dylas walked over to the back of one of the lines, he ended up behind Amber. “Hee hee, you're so lucky Dylas!” she said, giving him a small hug too.

“Really, I think a lot of people are jealous of you now,” Wendy said teasingly, poking him.

“I can't believe I did that, but I'm glad it's done with,” Dylas said, still feeling the tension. Then his nightmares were false; it seemed no one was going to hate or disown them for being in love. It felt like a real blessing to be a part of this community.

* * *

 

For the second round, two more squares were taped out for multiple choice questions. A double-sided chalkboard had been brought out. While the current answers would be written on the front, Volkanon worked to quickly and clearly write out the answers to the next question on the other side. Entering the second round were Illuminata, Kiel, Arthur, Blossom, Nancy, Wendy, Vishnal, and Leon. They still had the rule of three wrong answers to strike out, with wrong answers from round one carrying over on that count.

The first two out of the second round were Nancy and Leon, both on the same question. Leon didn't mind and went over to where Frey was recording points. Once she flipped the timer over for the next question, she glanced back at him. “I thought you'd be able to answer that one.”

“I got it wrong intentionally,” Leon said, tapping his fan on his chin. “Since these answers are written down and Volks probably has a guide to the right answers, I can tell the difference between them without even reading them. I don't want to cheat my way to victory, so I cheated to defeat.”

She smiled at him. “Can't just ignore the signs, huh?”

“Course not. You holding up?”

“I'm doing okay now,” she said, turning back to watch the sand timer. Once it ran out, she buzzed the bullhorn and started marking who got the right answer before it was revealed. As it was a question about magic, she was right. “Could you grab me some of the fruit and nut bars over at the snack table? Those looked good but I haven't had a chance to try them.”

“Sure enough,” he said, patting her shoulder. Leon had teased her early on about eating, but after the scare of her getting dehydrated and at this late stage, the teasing would be out of place. He had to be taking care of his family, a thought that made him feel giddy briefly. While he picked up one of the bars to try himself, he got her two and a cup of hot cocoa.

“Thanks,” she said, taking a bite of the snack once she had it. She waved him to stay a moment while she chewed and watched the timer again. Once she was at a good point, she looked back up at him. “And could you go ask Lest and Dylas just how long they've been dating in secret? I've been dying to know but I have to pay attention this.”

He chuckled. “Sure thing, I was wondering that myself. I'll be back.”

Fortunately, the two of them were watching the rest of the event with Dolce and Amber. “You got far, but we've still got Wendy in the contest!” Amber said with a big grin as he came over.

“She's doing pretty well,” Leon agreed. “But there's three intellectual heavyweights over there. They're certain for the final round, with the only question being who's going to be the fourth.”

“Wendy could pull it off if she puts her mind to it,” Lest said. “Although any of them left could. The final round will be interesting. How's Frey doing over there?”

“She's fine, though she'd be a serious contender if she could move about freely,” he said. “She did want to know how long you two have been together, both of us do.”

“Since the Firefly Festival,” Lest answered, with Dylas nodding.

It was shocking enough to hear about them, even more when it came out of Dylas. Yet this managed to top the original revelation for how surprising it was, making Leon's eyes go wide. “Wha, seriously?”

“Isn't it amazing?” Amber asked while bouncing in place. “I couldn't keep a secret that big that long!”

“The story just keeps getting better and better,” Pico agreed.

“Well, I had to accept it was happening and I was still scared that somebody was going to react badly,” Dylas said. “But when that statement came up on the round I was in, I had a strong feeling that I should go for it anyhow.”

“I don't sense anybody against us,” Lest said. “That was fun revealing things that way, though also fun trying to bluff people who thought we were still single.”

“Even through all that mess with Sally and the latest with that siren?” Leon asked.

“Sally just wanted to study me, she never had a chance,” Dylas said, annoyed at the reminder.

“Right, and I did get away with leaving that note while he was kidnapped,” Lest said. “Felt really bad about it, but Meg and Wendy deserved a chance to confront her together.”

Leon had had many questions and doubts when it was rumors of Dylas being with some wilderness girl. After all, he was pretty sure Dylas would talk to them about someone that important to him and it was suspicious that he didn't want to. The reluctance made sense given he was dating a guy, especially Lest given the events of this year.  And it seemed natural to change his thoughts on them, enough so that it was odd that he never thought twice of how close they were as friends. Still, Leon had a lot of teasing he'd missed out on so far. “Well you'd better make up for all that secrecy now that you're out in the open,” he said.

“You better believe it,” Lest said, grinning at that.

“Good grief,” Dylas said. But he still couldn't resist a smile when Lest looked up at him and laughed.


	120. Winter Blues

Winter 2

When Dylas pulled the pumpkin pie out of the oven, its surface was cracked and the edge had a gap. That didn't look as nice as the picture in the recipe book with the uncracked surface. Sighing, he put it on the counter to cool. Hopefully it tasted good enough to excuse the presentation.

Meg was in the kitchen helping with the night's clean-up. There were a few customers left, but most had gone before it got too dark and cold outside. “Hey, is that a gift for your girl?” she asked with a smile.

“No,” he said.

Before he could explain further, Porcoline came over. “What, you mean Dylas has a girlfriend? Why haven't I heard of this?”

Dylas' ears twitched. Why did he have to be so loud that those left in here would overhear this? “I don't,” he said.

“Aw come on, you need to tell her how you feel,” Meg said.

“Yes, but pray tell, who are we talking about?” Porco said.

She explained, “There's a girl he likes that he meets fishing outside of town and he wants to invite her to the ball, so I've been teaching him to dance lately. But I don't know much more about her because he won't say anything.”

“We-well I don't want to get too hyped up about it when I don't know how things will work out,” he said. That was reasonable enough, something he should have done more of.

“Aw come on, won't you tell us?” Porco pleaded. “Pretty please with whipped cream on top?”

“Not right now,” Dylas said. “Besides, the pie's for Lest. It was made from part of his giant pumpkin and I owe him for that silly bet.”

Meg laughed. “Oh, you mean that one where he made you laugh at something? That's nice.”

“Wish it hadn't cracked like this,” he said.

“Mm, that is one of the tougher tricks in baking,” Porco said. “That and cheesecakes tend to crack on the surface. But as long as it's tasty, it shouldn't matter! Food is meant to be ate, not to be looked at.”

“That's not what you said about your cats on cookie mountain sculpture,” Dylas said. While he had split it up to be ate, he had insisted on it being looked at for one day.

As he might have guessed, Porco ignored that. “Anyhow, I hope you do have good luck with the one you admire, although you really should tell us about her sometime.”

“Maybe.” Was he ready to tell them?

When the pie was cool and the restaurant ready to be closed down, Dylas wrapped up the pie with some green paper they used when asked to send a gift. It was cold outside and snow was falling, but he didn't mind the winter weather. Warm glows came from the houses that people lived in, making him wonder what they were doing. But over here, there were still a number of dark houses as few of the refugees were making their home on the east side of town. Hopefully that changed with new residents next year as many people wanted.

The castle was large and could take some time to search. And usually Volkanon found him before long. Somehow, the old butler had an innate sense for when someone had come into the castle. But Dylas had a feeling that the kitchen was a likely place for Lest to be. He was right, as both the prince and the old butler were in there. The room smelled like pumpkin and spices. “Oh, good evening Dylas!” Lest said, leaving off his current task to come see him.

“Good evening,” he said, smiling at his bright smile. He offered the wrapped pie. “Here, it's a congratulations gift on your award, made with some of that giant pumpkin of yours.”

“Great, thank you!” he said, even happier at that. Lest set it on the table to unwrap. “It smells wonderful, it'll be a great snack tonight.”

“I didn't get it quite right because of the cracks, but I only had the picture and recipe to know what I was going for,” Dylas said, although he was pleased that Lest seemed happy with it.

And he didn't even care about the look of it. “That's fine, you should try some of it then. Oh, would you help us finish up this canning? We might get done a bit faster with an extra hand.”

“Sure,” he said, curious about how the canning process worked and glad to be working with him in the kitchen.

* * *

 

Winter 8

Was it bad that Darryl was starting to make sense? Lest thought over that while standing in his orchard. The fruit trees had all lost their leaves and were slumbering for this season. However, the twinkle tree was content as long as he knocked ice off her branches. She even still had her leaves, eking out a bit of energy when the sun came through the clouds. That was nice, but not enough to fully distract him today.

Ever since his dream of speaking to his ancestor in an unfinished part of Rune Prana, Darryl had been visiting him on occasion. It was getting more frequent; he'd shown up three times last week, then early this morning as Lest had been waking up. Since Darryl was no longer being aggressive towards him, Lest hadn't asked for assistance in getting rid of him. If he could get rid of him, since not even Leon's banishment spell nor Frey's sealing of Rune Prana's door behind him had worked. Although the latter could be why he was a spirit only able to talk now.

Darryl would not stop with asking him to complete Rune Prana. It might not be so bad since Lest wanted it completed so they could destroy it. However, Darryl was convinced that it was necessary to use Etherlink to loosen the connection between his body and soul to do it. Rune Prana needed to be given order so the human mind could comprehend it better and the last section of the road needed to be sealed off. For the latter, Darryl thought Lest would need to leave his own body to complete the structure. It was the human body that could not withstand being in the ether sea long enough to set up some walls. He said such separation would be needed to manipulate the thirteen pillars that made the road possible, which would be needed to give order to the place. It might also be needed in order to destroy the pillars as they were not entirely physical in nature.

No, he couldn't be thinking that. Lest shook his head, knowing that using Etherlink in that way could be a mistake. It was forbidden to cast on people. Plus, the whole reason that Darryl had died was that he had left his body using Etherlink and someone had found him in that state. Thinking he was dead, the village had decided to cremate him in honor of his deeds as a hero. Then there was the fact that after a few years, all of the Guardian's bodies had transformed into monsters. He might not be out of his body constantly, but that was a risk. Using Etherlink on himself was sure to get Storgane's attention and trigger him to activate the last two hell gates. And if...

“Hey,” Dylas said, coming up on him.

“Huh, oh, hey Dylas,” Lest said, startled at hearing him.

“Something up?” he asked. “I usually don't surprise you.”

“I was just thinking over something,” he said. Not wanting to tell him what was on his mind, as Dylas would be very against it, Lest looked up at the twinkle tree. “She's slowed down, but not as much as the other trees. She is more alert than them, like the evergreens in the tree line over there. Still, this place has got that snowy quiet.”

* * *

 

Winter 11

Arthur often carried a special notebook with him, one that was shaped like a six-pointed star. He rarely wrote in it, though. If a day was to be packed with activity, he might make a quick copy of his schedule to keep himself reminded. Or sometimes he might make notes when someone was talking to him if doing so made them more comfortable. He didn't really need the notes himself. For the most part, his memory sufficed.

In this storage cave, he examined the glassware and ceramics he had. One of the traveling traders in the market today wanted some extra stock for a special market event in another town. The trader's current stock included an excess of items that could be sold for more if Arthur offered them to another client or held onto them for other seasons. As it was early winter, heavier ceramic bowls, pots, and such would be more desired. And a quick check of the other town's current preferences and fads suggested that certain drink glasses and pitchers would also be of more worth there.

The trader knew him well enough to heed his word on such things, so Arthur picked out some sturdy cookware in ceramic and the rose pink glassware to offer. Since the things could break, he set them in an enchanted bag carefully to bring up to the marketplace. His mind outlined the paths of this exchange as he left, locked up the cave, and headed to the elevator. If he got a particular item from this trader, he would want to write a note to another client that he'd gotten a preferred product... that client often paid in cash but could offer other trades for which Arthur had in mind something to ask about for someone else... Arthur rarely thought about where such paths would end at. It was a more interesting process to keep it going.

Arthur then made the mistake of letting his eyes take in the landscape through the rising elevator walls. There was some vivid blue in the sky and evergreen in the forests. However, much of it lacked color: the rolling hills of white snow, the swaying branches of dark brown and black, the thinly stretched gray clouds. The sunlight reflected harshly, emphasizing the cold barrenness out there. Why didn't the sun try to be warmer and kinder with the fewer hours it had to be out this season?

There was a rational explanation for that, which Arthur knew some of. But the question still lingered in his mind. As it stayed, it brought out other thoughts of cold things and barren things. Irrational things, painful things.

Arthur looked over his star notebook, which currently had nothing written on the top page. But the lines were enough to bring him back to the trade paths so he could effectively barter with the trader currently in town. His personal matters could be put off.

* * *

 

Winter 16

“You know, a lot of people get winter blues. Everything is at rest, the sun doesn't shine as much, and the power of life is at a lull. It's a hard time of the year even when modern living cuts down on the dangerous aspects.” Lest looked over the town, setting his gloved hands on the railing of the windmill observatory. There wasn't a lot of color out there as snow coated almost everything and floated through the air.

“Arthur's certainly got that bad,” Dylas said, thinking over how often he went into the office lately to find him just staring out the window.

Lest nodded. “And Amber, Ellie, Doug, Nancy, Xiao, Sven, and a good many of the Sechs people. They're not all the same, but winter has brought them tones of sadness or lethargy. Frey too, it's not going to be easy on her to get through her last season when it's winter.”

“What about you?” he asked. It was something he worried about, mostly in that Lest and Arthur were meeting up almost daily to keep Selphia running.

“Well they all tug me downward, as well as,” he stopped himself, staring off down below them.

Not seeing anything in particular, Dylas checked on the runes around them. There was no one else in the windmill or at the bottom. With the area clear, he put his arm around Lest. “What's bothering you?”

“Lots of things to be doing amid the winter blues,” Lest said, then turned and hugged him. Dylas tensed for a moment, but Lest has his head on his chest and looked like he needed the comfort. So he wrapped his other arm around him and kept him close. “You can be so hot and cold with your affections,” Lest said.

“Sorry.” But how did he fix that?

* * *

 

Winter 26

“Do you really have to wait so long?” Darryl asked him. “We've got a plan that could work quickly and this task has been left too long. Don't you know to strike when the iron is hot?”

“I do,” Lest said. After all, when he'd gotten around to freeing the guardians, he did that in eight days. “But this plan is insane.”

“We've got a problem that anyone would see as insane to tackle, of course the solution would be a little insane to match.”

“It's not just a little insane,” he said. “You want me to link Arthur to the light gate when he's having a hard enough time as it is, among other things.”

“That is the most sensible solution possible,” Darryl said. “You could force that fellow to solve his issues instead of continuing to deny them while saving your sister from getting drawn into the hell gates when she's carrying an unborn life within her. And you'd be prepared to do the work needed to finish Rune Prana and overcome death.”

To his dismay, Lest could see the sense of that. Arthur was extremely good at denying what pained him and there was a great risk that Storgane would activate the hell gates on his own and aim for the two obvious targets. “I don't want to make Arthur suffer. If we can wait until Frey is more able, her hell gate should be weaker since she doesn't have a fraction of the emotional issues he does.”

“But you left your loved one to suffer while sending off a pair that is not as certain to solve the problem,” Darryl said.

Lest felt a deep twist in his gut on hearing that. Sure, it had ended well. Everyone was back home, better and happier than before. But there had been a couple of hours where Dylas was in danger and Lest had to keep tight control over himself in order to not slip up about their secret relationship. He had to leave rescuing him up to others because their relationship was known and they were directly affected as well.

“You couldn't even keep yourself quiet and had to leave that note in an open place,” Darryl said. Then he shifted his head before fading out of sight. Someone was coming up to the second floor of the castle where they were. From the bonds, he knew immediately that it was Dylas.

All the worry, fear, helplessness, and struggle to keep calm in spite of everything came back to him. Lest left the library and saw him coming down the hallway. “Dylas!” He ran over and hugged him, crying now that he didn't have to hide it.

That startled him. “Huh, Lest?” But it didn't take him long to hold him tight and rub his back. “I'm sorry. It must have been hard on you to keep quiet today.”

He might have cried a bit longer, but then the wind outside made the windows rattle enough to be heard even though they were in a hallway surrounded by rooms. “Oh, it's not your fault,” he said, working to calm himself down. Being near him helped. “I am glad you got out without lasting problems.”

For some reason, this was making Dylas sad. “If you're still upset about it, you shouldn't have to stop yourself from crying,” he said.

If he could be sweet like this more often, their time together would be wonderful even if it had to stay secret. Still, Lest made himself smile and pull back some. “It's fine, I've lived with this for years. I wouldn't want to make everyone else wake up to a whole pile of fallen snow and wind damage because of me. And, I hope I didn't embarrass you too much with that note.”

“No, and your tea did help,” he said, although he was still sad on looking at him. He even put a hand on the side of Lest's face. “Although I'd hoped that I would counter your weather influence more.”

“Well you've got it taken care of for me feeling the emotions of others,” Lest said. “Otherwise this winter would be a lot more icy.”

* * *

 

Winter 34

He was getting dragged down by the winter blues more. Dylas thought on that as he watched Lest sitting quietly in the twinkle tree, his legs swinging slowly from the branch. Was it because others were pulling at his empathy unwittingly or was it because of his own feelings? A rattle from the trees made Lest tense and look over, then quietly sigh and look back down once he was sure it wasn't his power doing that.

“You sure you're okay?” Dylas asked. “We haven't said anything in a while.” Lest closed his eyes and his legs stopped swinging. It was odd for him not to reply immediately. “Lest?”

“I, I had a nightmare last night,” he said, swinging his feet again. “Or maybe this morning, I was too foggy to check the time I woke up from it. You remember telling me that the ether sea is lit up now when you four go there?”

“Yeah, but it's still weird,” he said. It was warmer too, not so hostile.

Lest nodded. “It started like the dream when I first spoke to all four of you, in a place where the ether sea was still dim. I was aware enough that I remembered that and wasn't sure what was going on. Then, I heard Storgane talking. It wasn't the hateful bile he'd given before, more of a crazed rant of someone who's gone far beyond being able to reason. I thought that might be the reason he had yet to attack us again, that losing the five of you broke what little of his mind is left. When I tried to leave, he roared and I became aware of another being aware of me. It was... something about it terrified me, it had a chaos of natural runes like a typhoon. Then it started chasing me through the ether sea. I tried to find the lit areas, but it kept gaining until it almost had me in its claws. That's when I woke up.”

“Was it a vision like before or just a nightmare?” Dylas asked.

“I don't know,” he said. “It reminds me of dark things.”

And that reminded him of some dark things too, something he'd put off asking. Maybe it wasn't the best time to ask, but Dylas felt like he had to know. “You mentioned something about dark wishes in your Tanabata wish.”

“How did you know about that?” Lest asked, finally looking at him.

“I suspected it from the runes and Leon confirmed that it was your writing,” he said. If Leon had realized more about the both of them, he hadn't said anything. “What do you need from me? I'll help however I can.”

“Well that is kind of what I meant back then,” he said, looking up. “It's about the last two hell gates. If Storgane is too insane to be capable of splitting that gate, then there should be no trouble waiting until spring so Frey and I can call them to us. But maybe he was aware of me and called the other being on me. That would mean he can focus his mind and hate enough to split the gate. We could split the gate ourselves if I could get someone else willing to face their own darkness in a hell gate. But, whoever I ask, it's going to be painful for them to do and they'll have a link for Storgane to torment them through. Frey at least has had a blessed life, so I don't think a hell gate attached to her will be very strong. It's still a threat to her and her children at this time.”

“It's going to hurt anyone it gets attached to,” Dylas said. “Including you.” Maybe that was what he meant in the wish. Dylas would need extra strength to support him when the love hell gate became active.

“I know, but I'm already willing to do this,” he said, deciding to drop down to the ground. “I suppose I am letting it get to me. There's still good things to look forward to, like the ball. Hey, you want me to show you some of the dances Volkanon has been teaching me?”

“You got him to teach you?” Dylas asked, coming out of the tree with him.

He nodded, smiling now. But how much of that was a real smile? “Yeah, in case someone asks for a dance there. I'll only take one from others, don't worry.”

“I trust you,” Dylas said, although he was very tempted to ask him on a date to the ball. That would certainly cheer him up. But he'd made Lest keep this secret so long, so it seemed more worth it to wait for a spectacular scene. “I haven't really danced much myself...”

“It's some simple ones,” Lest said, taking one of his hands. “Come on, please?”

He smiled at that. “All right.”

* * *

 

Winter 42

While Lest was helping to set up for the quiz contest, he felt someone's eyes lingering on him. There were plenty of people there, though. His neighbors knew that his empathy could be bad, so if they saw that he was having trouble, they'd help out. And if he went to see Dylas, maybe he'd only sense the lust and not get messed up with it. Thankfully, whoever it was was sensible enough to pass on those feelings and direct their thoughts elsewhere. This was one of the lucky times.

It could be a completely different story if he got Dylas strongly attracted to him that way. That had been something Lest felt was lacking. Sometimes, he was tempted to do something to get him more passionate. If Lest playfully flirted with him some more, perhaps Dylas wouldn't want to keep things a secret any longer. But if the restrained nature of their relationship had been what made it last this long, should they really try to change it that much? They hardly kissed, although Lest was getting Dylas more comfortable in being hugged. Maybe he should be more selfish in this to pressure Dylas out of his back and forth uncertainty. Sometime, he could show him what they could be and act cold if he was going to be cold.

“Wait, that isn't right,” Lest said to himself. Sure, sometimes he did have thoughts like that. But that was too selfish and mean. Dylas had a lot of reasons to be wary and uncertain; it wouldn't help to be manipulative with his emotions. Lest used his empathy to help others, not to control or harm them.

Unless using his empathy like that was manipulating them already. He didn't want people to hate him; he didn't want to live in a town that despised him again. Sure, the people in Grelin had apologized, but not until he was leaving town for good. Here, he helped people and did things that made them like him. That was good in anyone else. For him, it was making them happy so that he would feel happy. His role as the region's prince just gave him the excuse to involve himself in things that did not need to involve him.

Anyone would feel happy to know that they had helped others. But was it because he was happy, or because they were happy which made him feel happy? How much did his own feelings matter? He often fell in love with others because they were desperate for help and affection, making him willing to do just about anything to ease that pain on both sides. But so many of those people had left him, sometimes without him knowing if he'd made a difference at all. Perhaps even Dylas would fall out of love with him.

The sudden conflict in his mind was unsettling, especially the crueler half that wanted him to abuse his powers. Lest couldn't say that the temptation had never been there, but it had never been so vocal as this morning. What had changed?

“Are you okay Sir Lest?” Volkanon asked quietly as he came by to look over the taped off answer boxes.

Feeling really embarrassed at getting caught up in these thoughts in public, he glanced around. It didn't seem like anyone else was in hearing range. “I'll be okay, I was just,” what did he say? “Thinking on some things.”

“You haven't been yourself lately,” Volkanon said, worried about him more than usual. “Don't forget that I'm willing to help you with anything.”

“Thanks, but a big part of it is how many people in town have the winter blues and I just end up making the weather grayer from that,” he said, though he still tried to smile as if it wasn't a big deal.

At least there was this contest today, with Porcoline free to cheer everyone up with his hammy acting and large smiles. It worked, even for Lest. But even more than Porco, something wonderful happened. It came at a time when he'd slipped in behind Dylas to wait for his next turn. Feeling impulsive, he fiddled with Dylas' hair and got him to smile back at him. It would look innocent if anyone wondered why Lest was poking at him. Although that made Lest wonder... stroking his ears made Dylas relax, even feel a bit sleepy. What would happen if he touched his tail? They were out in public with a lot of people nearby, but the impulse was strong.

He didn't get a chance to do that as Dylas' turn came up and, somehow, the statement was if Lest was single. Dylas hesitated for a second, then quietly said “Sorry,” before heading off. While he felt disappointed, Lest wouldn't raise a fuss if he'd gone to the 'true' square. But then Dylas went over to the 'false' square.

Did he mean to let everyone know like this, all at once? Lest's heart beat faster and once he saw Dylas looking back towards him, he mouthed, “Really?” Dylas smiled and nodded at that, making Lest momentarily forget about all his troubles. Now they could actually go out on dates in public, and Lest wouldn't have to hold back on flirting with him so much. Maybe he'd even be more willing on other things.

Like help him with the hell gate?

No, Lest didn't want to be thinking on that now. After his next turn was over, he made sure to get behind Dylas again and tugged at his sleeve. “Hey, now you have to go to the ball with me.”

“Of course, I've been preparing for that,” Dylas said, turning back to take his hand for a moment.

“Well aren't you two adorable together?” Illuminata said, winking at them.

* * *

 

Winter 46

Arthur really could get gloomy during winter; he was always serious and talked about how much work he had to get done. However, he was even less likely to schedule time for himself. That really didn't seem healthy, so Forte decided to plan a date for them to try and take his mind off work at least. She had to make him schedule a time in his book and promise that he would show up on time to make it work. Fortunately, he met her terms.

It didn't seem to be working, though. She wanted to take him on a walk around Dragon Lake, enough to get out of town but not far enough that she'd worry about monsters. Maybe they could have fun with the drifts of snow and icicles everywhere. Like a snowball fight. While it was a childish thing, she loved snowball fights. But Arthur didn't seem too happy out walking in the snow. Sure he smiled, but he was forcing himself to.

Forte got a handful of snow from a drift near someone's snowman. Whoever had made it tried to stick icicles in for a nose and... rabbit ears? Or maybe horns, it was hard to tell what this snowman was supposed to be. “I haven't made a snowman yet this year, even though there's plenty of snow to go around,” she said, packing the snow together. Maybe he'd agree to that?

“I haven't since I was young,” Arthur said, not enthusiastic to try again. “I just remember it being cold and wet, not a great combination.”

“Well you don't noticing the cold much when you're doing something,” she said, looking at the snowball she had now. Then she looked at Arthur; he was lost in thought, not looking at her. So Forte got another handful of snow. “Getting wet is troublesome, but that just gives you an excuse to go in for hot chocolate. I used to play outside in the snow a lot, with Clorica, Meg, and Xiao. Kiel too on his better days, there were a few other boys in town at the time, but he usually hung out with us.” By then, she was finishing up a third with the other two in her arm.

“There weren't many children in the castle, mostly me and my siblings,” he said, then sighed.

It probably wouldn't help to start a snowball fight with him, Forte thought. But maybe something else. “What's the matter?”

“Sorry, I just got lost on some thoughts,” Arthur said, looking over at her.

“It happens,” she said, then tossed one of the snowballs up, quickly followed by a second. She'd not really tried to juggle in a while, but maybe something amusing would cheer him up. Forte almost got the pattern of it right, but then one of the snowballs broke apart on hitting her hand. “Ack! Here, catch.” She tossed one towards Arthur to get the last snowball caught.

He reacted too slowly and missed it before it went splat on the ground. “Nearly had it,” he said, smiling a little. Even that didn't last long.

This should be going better, Forte thought sadly. She patted the last snowball with the remains of the one that had broke. “I was just playing around,” she said, turning back and hurling the snowball at the snowman's horn-ears. They both got knocked off, making it a more normal snowman. “Want to go inside?”

“Sure,” he said.

Bringing him to her home for some hot chocolate, Forte figured they could at least play some kind of board game to make sure he wasn't stuck on whatever thoughts were in his mind. She wanted to know what he was gloomy about, but he kept saying that it wasn't important or he didn't want to talk about it. Some part of her complained that he was being unfair. She'd been open with him during the music box incident and he'd helped her out. Why wouldn't he let her do the same for him? Then she'd recall what he said on Valentine's Day about how trusting someone scared him and Forte didn't want to push him away from her.

Then Arthur picked up the silver-framed glasses that were sitting on one of the tables in the living room. “Ah, you still have these?”

“Well they were a gift, I'm not about to get rid of them,” Forte said with a smile. It made her think about what she'd brought them in here for. “It's just, I was doing some reading the other night and it felt kind of right to be wearing them for reading. Not that I need glasses of any sort, but it was a bit of fun.”

“Could you put them on again? Please?” He offered them to her.

“Sure, I don't see why not,” she said, taking them to put on.

He smiled warmly at that and his entire demeanor changed. Forte didn't know why that would be enough, but he finally opened up and started enjoying the date. He was even chatty, being silly and watching her affectionately. Not caring why and happy that he was happy, Forte didn't mind being silly around him too, nor when he came in to kiss her. Then he got her bra undone.

She thought it be easy to draw the line somewhere and say no, let's not go this way. Simple as that. But, she would have put the line before now. It felt really good the way he was touching her chest and she couldn't talk himself into making it stop. But, maybe even those old rules were no good and she should respond to him in some way. Be more assertive, although this was really unknown territory now.

On her cheek a hot tear seemed really out of place. It wasn't hers. “Arthur?” She shifted his glasses and he was crying. “Arthur, why… ow...”

“Oh, sorry, sorry,” he apologized frantically, taking his hand out of her shirt. “I wasn't thinking.”

“It's okay. But why are you crying?”

He started to deny it, “No, I'm...” but looking back at her made him tremble. “You're not going to leave me, are you?”

“No,” she said, wondering why he'd jump to that conclusion. It wasn't that bad, she'd gotten hurt much worse doing her work. It'd just been unexpected.

Even with her answer, he held her tight again and pleaded, “Don't leave me, please don't leave.”

“I won't,” she tried to reassure him, eventually taking off the glasses and setting them aside.

Arthur did eventually calm down. He apologized again, less passionately but just as sincere. Even worse, he still wouldn't explain. Forte felt guilty for several days over the awful date, not knowing what had been wrong about it.


	121. Halo and Haze

Winter 55

There was grilled fish planned on the menu since the large grill surface was replaced, with Dylas deciding how exactly to prepare it once he had the fish. While he could plan for a few specific kinds of fish, he was finding it easier to get the fish and let the runes show him what could work. Sometimes he had to ask Porco about if something could be done, which usually was possible as long as they had the ingredients. He invited Lest to come fishing with him, saying that he would teach him more about fishing in an iced over lake.

Although, the main reason Dylas wanted to bring him along was that Lest was being gloomy again. The quiz contest had cheered him up for a few days, but now he wasn't smiling or talking much. Lest was paying attention to his fishing, but didn't have much enthusiasm for it. While he didn't love it as much as Dylas did, he usually liked it as long as others were around. It reminded Dylas unnervingly of some of his darker times. “What's been eating at you lately?” he asked.

If Lest had been in one of his normal moods, he might've made a joke about that with them fishing. Now he shook his head. “I can't say exactly. There's a lot of things buzzing around in my head and it makes it hard to think sometimes. But, I need to make a decision.”

“What about?” He probably wouldn't understand, but on the off-chance that he did or more likely chance that Lest just needed to talk about it, it was better to ask.

“You'd think I was crazy or something,” he said, looking down at his line.

“I already think you're weird and crazy for a lot of things you do,” Dylas said before his mind checked himself. As his face got warm, he added, “I mean, it's not bad crazy and you make a lot of things happen that seem like they shouldn't work. And, I, I wouldn't be as interested in you if you weren't so weird and persistent, I kind of like that in you.”

That was embarrassing, but it did make him laugh. So, maybe worth it? “I guess I am pretty weird for what you knew. But this is making me feel crazy sometimes.” He paused for a while, then said, “You remember the meeting when we were talking about my ancestor Darryl being the most likely person to mess everything up even though he was the one who killed Storgane? His ghost has been haunting me for a while even though he's been cast out of this world twice. He's still working towards finishing Rune Prana and keeps asking me to follow a plan of his. But every choice around it seems terrible.”

“What about just not choosing, since he's a ghost of a madman?” Dylas asked. That seemed like the obvious thing to do.

“Well he is no longer able to possess me, so that's possible,” Lest said. “But if he does finish the road, he can break Frey's seal on the door into this world so he can come back with more power. Not only that, but he wants the hell gates dealt with now. I doubt his ability to finish the road on his own, but I'm sure that he can split the last of the main gate and will connect the light one to Frey to spite me for not going along with him. If I go along with him, well it's going to be bad too. I only see it ending well in the future if things go right now, but I don't know which way is right and it's all go to be terrible to deal with.”

While he had been talking, Dylas felt a fish nibbling at his bait. Paying attention to both wasn't easy, but he managed to hook the fish and start to see that Lest might be worried about his hell gate. Maybe enough to overthink things when they still had time to wait until Frey was ready to help. “Are you worried about going into your own hell gate? Your heart's stronger than mine and you got me out of mine. I'm sure you won't have much trouble. Besides, I'll be there for you, even if all I can do is not let you get distracted in the illusions it shows.”

“You certainly care enough to talk even when you've got a fish on the line,” Lest said.

“Well, it's important.” They didn't talk for a minute while Dylas finished reeling in the fish. It was a masu trout, which he had learned was a very common fish in Selphia now due to an over-successful attempt to farm them in one of the lakes for profit a couple of decades ago. However, they were tasty enough grilled or sliced into sashimi, plus simple to catch so it was good for restaurant meals.

“Thanks, I just hope whatever's in that gate doesn't bother you too much,” Lest said as Dylas started taking the hook out of the fish.

“Why would you worry about that? It's more likely to bother you so you get drawn to the dragon.” He wondered for a moment if he should bait the line again or wait a bit to see if talking this out helped. Also why Lest didn't tease him; it could have been easy as he hadn't specified what was important. Maybe he was that troubled over this.

“There's a lot that could be there, so I don't know what to expect,” he said. Keeping his line in the water, he moved closer so he could talk quieter. “Some of it could really bother you, plus I would think that whatever we'd face in there would try to be rid of you first. People here see me as a leader because I was named one, but I depend on others a lot. Helping others with their problems and keeping them calm and happy feels necessary to keep myself happy and calm.”

“But you went to rescue Leon alone and I hear you would have gone after the rest of us alone if others hadn't talked you out of it,” Dylas said, able to watch him better since he had the fish in the cool box now.

Lest shook his head. “That was for the will of my ancestors, plus I was helping you four at a lot of risk to myself. Farming is about the only thing I do for myself, but even then I usually go with what would make others happy too. Like with the flower garden behind the castle, I did that a lot for the enjoyment of residents and visitors. Otherwise it'd be more vegetables or trees.”

Or maybe he didn't do things for himself like they were fishing now. Dylas had never seen or heard of Lest fishing on his own, it was always with him. “You could do some more for yourself, maybe decorate your part of the castle with what would make you happy.”

“I have to be careful because my feelings can be dangerous,” Lest said.

It unnerved Dylas with how he said it. “You shouldn't have to deny yourself too much.” Then he noticed something in the water near the hook of Lest's line. There was a strong fish there, one that he would like to take on for the challenge. Or possibly...

“I'm really not,” he insisted, even though it sounded like he was worried about it. Dylas remembered being like that, thoughts all jumbled up and seeming dark. “I like making others happy and I've got control over my powers now. But then, I don't know if it's too much so.”

“Don't know if I could live like that,” Dylas said, feeling certain that he had to do something to help. “Hey, draw your line in a little bit. Not much, maybe a quarter turn on the reel.” He could tell much better if he had the fishing rod. But now that he had this idea, he wanted to try.

“Okay,” Lest said, not sure of what he meant but turning back to his line. Once he pulled in, the fish lunged for the bait and hooked itself deep. The jerk of the bite nearly tore the pole out of Lest's hands. “Whoa!” He secured his grip and was fighting the reel to keep the fish from tearing off with it.

“Brace yourself, this one's a fighter even in the cold,” Dylas said, putting a hand on Lest's shoulder. “Let it wear itself down before you try to reel it above the ice.”

Lest nodded and had to put all his strength into keeping the battle at a draw. While the pole bent impressively, this fish wasn't the monster that the giant catfish was. It might be able to snap the pole if it and Lest came at odds too much. Lest didn't have the sense for water Dylas had, but he could see the runes well enough to keep the line at a safe tension. Once the fish stopped to rest, Dylas told him to reel carefully, stopping twice as it went into a frenzy of trying to get away. That wore it out even more so that he could pull the tuna through the thick ice on Dragon Lake without bruising it.

“Wow, what is that?” Lest asked, wide-eyed at his own catch. “I know some small ones can fight like crazy so they seem bigger, but this one is really huge.”

Smiling as he helped Lest put it out over the ice, Dylas said, “It's a tuna; somehow they come all the way here during winter.” As he ran his fingers over its scales, he felt that this would make for a far more delicious meal than the masu trouts. “They were considered a gourmet fish in my time because they are difficult to catch, and this is a really excellent one.”

“I certainly wouldn't have gotten it without your guidance,” Lest said. “Don't think I could cook it half as well either, so would this be plenty for the restaurant's dinner?”

Dylas shrugged. “Possibly by itself, but it depends on if we'd charge more for being a higher quality fish. Then again, it's also one best eaten today while it's at its freshest. There's certainly enough of the masu trouts we caught for backup, possibly fish stock for soup tomorrow.”

“Sounds like something to look forward to,” he said, smiling now.

Good, so this had helped. “I'll send you a portion free since you caught it,” he said.

“You don't have to do that,” Lest said.

No, he did have to. It wasn't right otherwise. “Well think of it as payment for letting us take what you caught, like before,” Dylas said, but then another idea came to him. There was a doubting voice... no, they were out in the open now and it really was foolish to worry anymore, especially when he needed the help. He put a hand on Lest's shoulder. “Although I'm going to think of it as a gift for my beautiful angel. I want you to be happy for yourself, and not have to grapple with your darkness like I have. You mean so much to me.”

Now Lest was blushing and smiling all at once. Dylas could see why he liked to flirt embarrassingly because the reaction was adorable and made him feel joyful to see it. And the runes were really shining around them, dazzling in reflection of happiness. “Dylas, how'd you get to be such a charmer?”

The answer to that was obvious, making him feel happy that this was working. “Learned it from you. Say, um, I have a couple of hours before I have to get back still, so we should seal this fish up and then, how about we go walk in the woods a bit?”

“Sounds great,” Lest said.

After getting the tuna sealed up and delivered over to the restaurant to be kept in the walk in cooler, they headed back out to the wooded area around the lake. Thinking that maybe being happy around him could be enough to pull Lest out of his negative slump, Dylas tried to think about and talk on all the positive things around them. This area in winter was beautiful, not quite Yokmir Woods but still enjoyable to walk through. The snow seemed pure and sunlight made all the ice on the trees sparkle. While it was cold, it felt invigorating to be outside.

Dylas got an idea and nearly dismissed it as childish and silly. But then, he was trying to keep Lest cheerful today. So he went to put an arm around him as if to hug him, snatching his wool hat instead. “Got it!”

“Hey Dylas!” he said, but soon broke into a smile when he laughed. Then Dylas took off further into the woods and Lest was laughing while chasing him down. Since this was just messing with him, Dylas let him tackle him and grab the hat back. “Where'd that come from? You're really being silly today.”

“Well you said you wanted to see me silly,” he said, turning around and putting a finger on Lest's lips. “But only for you, okay? Nobody else gets to see me like this.”

Lest laughed softer but his spirit was vibrant now. It was like Dylas had missed this all winter but didn't fully realize it until he saw Lest being bright again. “Well if you're only going to share your silliness like that, I have no argument...” a flicker of light came from the corner of their eyes and they both jumped aside and narrowly missed getting hit by a falling icicle. “Whoa, that was close.”

“There's been a lot of icicles this year,” Dylas said. Hopefully that was the only one that was going to fall like that.

“It has been really wet and snowy,” Lest said, noticing a particularly long one in a tree ahead. He went over and took hold of the bottom of it. “I bet Eliza would be happy if she got an icicle this big to admire. They are pretty, but when they get this big, they're a big burden on the trees. Although, this one...”

“What about it?” Dylas asked. He didn't care what they talked about, but it'd be nice if they got back to that moment they'd nearly had.

He looked up, then shook his head. “The branch it's attached to is weakened and old already. If that branch makes it to spring, it'll be a drain on the tree's resources because it won't produce many leaves. Any it will have will be small and weak. In that case,” Lest tugged at the icicle, then brought down the old branch, a shower of snow, and some smaller icicles with it. “Winter's a good time to trim trees, you don't have to heal them as much when taking out deadwood. And without that burden, it'll do better through the rest of the year. I've been doing trims on the orchard trees to make sure they're at their best for leaf and fruit production. Although when you get to a wild bunch like his, I just take out branches on occasion when I notice. The ice will bring down most of the troublesome branches naturally, especially in a heavy year like this.”

“Doesn't seem like it'd be very useful to be a tree-focused earthmate if that's so.”

“Not really,” he said with a shrug, holding out a hand to him. Dylas took it, tugging him out from under the tree where other icicles might fall. “That's why when any kid farmer in an earthmate community shows a lot of interest in trees, their teachers will try to encourage them to have passion for other plants as well. You'd have to be tending to a whole forest to focus on trees. Although you know, sometimes I think that kind of life wouldn't be so bad. Have a huge swath of nature to be your territory, make your own living out in the wilderness, and know all the trees in great detail to where you're never lost.”

“As long as there was some river or lake in the forest to go fishing in, yeah, that might not be so bad,” Dylas said.

It did make him laugh. “Yeah, that would help. I hope I'm not boring you, but, you know how it is.”

“I don't think I could get bored listening to you talk about your passions,” Dylas said, looking over at him. Lest was smiling brightly again, beaming with the kind of glow he got when immersed in the welfare of his trees or vegetables. And mixed in with their glow of love, it was that angelic halo that made him seem breathtaking, like the world was lucky to have someone like him living on it. And he was lucky to have someone like that beside him, holding hands.

“I know how that is,” Lest said. “There's a way you get when talking about fishing or cooking that is so enticing just to watch you and listen to you light up like there's nothing better in the world to you. Or how your emotions hold more depth than most people would guess. Where others might only see anger, I see a blend of emotions that sometimes makes me worry even as it's rich and vibrant, even cute sometimes with what you try to cover up. Although I think there's not a better guy in the world than you.”

And there it was, something he'd dreamed of since before hearing that he loved him. “Oh please, you're exaggerating now,” Dylas said, smiling.

“No, you really are so wonderful that I want to treasure you always,” Lest said. Their icy surroundings became just a sparkling place where the main focus could only be here, between them. “I want everyone to see how wonderful you are although at the same time, it would be so wonderful to let them know that you are mine and mine alone at the same time.”

He was beautiful. Dylas put an arm around Lest but felt a yearning like he wanted something more. It didn't make sense, but if it were possible… “You're the one that's an angel on earth, I want to keep you as my precious secret that no one else can know.”

Lest put an arm on his shoulder and brought himself up a little. “I love you Dylas… but you're just a bit too tall for me to kiss whenever I want.”

Basking in that glow of runs, Dylas chuckled and leaned down to kiss him. It didn't seem to matter then and there if it was wrong or not; it felt right. A kiss was just a touch of the lips, but the feelings it provoked were so rich and warm. Then Lest showed him that kissing could be more than that and Dylas wasn't sure for a moment what to think of that. Then he just didn't think and followed along. He wanted to know if there was more.

Then he felt Lest undo a few of his shirt buttons and touch his collarbone. That hit on a forbidden fire. Forbidden enough that his conscious jolted back into awareness and ordered him to stop right now. This wasn't right, it wasn't natural. He could forgive himself of being in love with Lest on a mental and spiritual level, where it was just a kind of elevated friendship. But letting it go physical? That was where the line had to be drawn and he was wrong to even want to cross it.

But he wanted…

Dylas grabbed Lest's wandering hand and pushed it away, straightening back up where he couldn't reach. “Sorry, I, I don't feel right. Going that far, I mean. I know it's probably hardly anything to you and others around here, but I just can't...” he looked down at Lest.

It was a very strange look on his face, like he was caught in some trance and wasn't able to look away from him. Lest watched him, his eyes wavering back and forth between blank and baffled. Pulling his restraining hand close, he licked his fingers and it was a pleasing thing, trying to pull him back into that fire even though it didn't seem to make sense.

“No, we shoul...” Lest then put his other hand on his hip, and not in a modest way. “No, stop that!” Dylas swatted his hand away and pushed him back. Then he worried about hurting Lest's feeling like that, even if this had to stop. But Lest was just oddly confused, not crying and not saying anything. Not even moving, just looking up at him with a silent question of what he was doing wrong. “Lest, what's the matter?” Dylas asked, although wary of getting close to him.

He didn't respond and there was an awkward minute where they were just looking at each other. It made Dylas feel uncomfortable again. Feeling a chill on the damp spot on his hand, he sighed and carefully took one of Lest's wrists. And Lest immediately reached out to him again.

Dylas blocked him. “No,” he said calmly. “Let's… go see your father. I can't think of anyone else who might know what's up with you.”

Although he didn't even nod, Lest quietly walked alongside him out of the woods and back into town. Dylas felt really self-conscious as they got close to the gate. There wasn't anyone out in the lake right now, luckily, but someone was sure to be out on the streets. If they saw him walking this close to Lest and holding onto him like this, what would they think? People knew about them, but he'd have to try and explain what was the matter with Lest when he didn't have a clue, and it'd be so embarrassing. Especially if they got to assuming things.

“L-let's try walking along the wall, quietly,” Dylas said, more to himself than Lest as he still hadn't said anything. He gave a glance through the gate and on not seeing anyone, hurried Lest along to get out of sight of the streets and get back to Corrin's residence.

As he approached the small home, Dylas wondered for a moment if she was even home at this time. If she was out on patrol, she could be anywhere in town. Seeing a light on through the front window was a relief and he knocked on the door. Dylas glanced around in case anyone was coming onto this street, then considered, what if Corrin had somebody over now?

At least she opened up the door quickly. “Hello there,” she said, taking this for a nice surprise until she looked over and saw the expression on Lest's face. “Oh dear. Come inside.”

“Thanks,” Dylas said, bringing Lest into the living room while Corrin shut the door behind them. “I didn't know what to do other than bring him to you, he just, um,” his face got warm as he tried to figure out how to tell her about this. She was Lest's father and it was all so weird, beyond what he knew.

“He's doing whatever you're saying or thinking, right?” Corrin asked.

He nearly argued that he hadn't been thinking of having his hand licked, but then there was that shameful side of him that wanted to know more. “Uh, yeah.”

“Take him into the guest room and tell him to go to sleep. Oh, and take off his shoes, he won't think of that when he's like this.” She pointed him out to one of the doors down a short hallway.

Lest did obediently take off his shoes and went to sleep in the bed there when Dylas told him to do it. It was creepy, especially when Dylas wondered what might happen if someone who didn't really care about him got to him in a state like this. Closing the door behind him, he went back to the living room. “Is he going to get back to normal when he wakes up?”

“He should, he usually is,” Corrin said. “Although there's no telling how long he'll be asleep since he won't wake back up until his mind resets.”

“All right, I'll guess I'll leave him to you then,” Dylas said, figuring he'd best get back to the restaurant even if he'd be early. There'd be something to do.

However, Corrin caught his hand before he made it to the door. “Don't you want to know more about it?”

In some ways, yes. But he had a suspicion that he knew already and it was something he did not want to admit to. “No, leave me be,” he said, angered at her trespassing on his privacy.

“If you don't want to be involved in things like this, you have the right to not be,” she said, letting him go but sounding disappointed in him. “It's not something you'd have to deal with in anyone else and it is a large burden if you share it with him. But if you really don't want to be involved, you're best off breaking up with him.”

“That'd ridiculous, it can't be that serious,” Dylas said, yet that thought came back to mind of who might take advantage of Lest. And then to the point just before things went weird, the brilliance and beauty that led him to kiss him and feel that growing desire.

“It's only going to happen more often now,” Corrin said. “Even if you control yourself better, you must have gotten a taste for how things could be and you'll want more of it. Then you might get caught in a moment where a simple touch sets you both off when others might be around to notice, and you'll have to take care of him when you can't tell the others what's happening to him. So if you don't want to deal with that, cut it off and deal with that fallout because it will be a lot worse if you let it grow into a messier breakup.”

“But you were the one who encouraged us together in the first place,” he said.

She nodded. “I know. But I know you got interested in him in part because his empathy made it easier on you trying to figure out how to express yourself. Well you've hit on the uglier side of his empathy again and if you have, you're going to have to face it head on if you want to continue as his boyfriend.”

It was a tugging match in his mind for a bit. But in the end, he wanted to keep that light with him longer. “Fine, what's this all about?”

Corrin smiled and pointed to a chair nearby. “Well sit down, this could take a while. Do you want a drink? I haven't got much, but I could get some hot milk, cocoa, or tea if you want.”

“Hot milk's fine,” he said, taking a seat. He wondered on and off if this was a good idea. His own troubles had been bad enough to work through, so trying to work through another person's? But then, that was how love was, wasn't it? He couldn't take the beauty without taking the ugliness too. Although, that made him wonder again if he was being completely wrong in having a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend.

Corrin came back a couple minutes later with hot milk for both of them. “Well honestly, this isn't the first time you've run into this issue,” she said as she sat down. “It's just the first time you've been the trigger of it, I would figure. You remember that he doesn't handle lust well.”

“Yeah, I remember both of you telling me about that,” Dylas said, feeling embarrassed at saying it. At least the hot milk helped soothe him some.

She sighed. “We've been lucky that he hasn't really gotten messed up with in that. He gets in this weird state, sure, but he's always been in a situation where someone who knew about his powers was around and could intervene to get him away from whoever was unwittingly causing him problems. Although one time, it got really close as Art caught him by luck when the woman Lest was with got him into a dangerous situation. He'll get hooked on someone's emotions and be dragged along in a way he can't control.”

“So it was me doing that to him?” That gave him an unpleasant feeling of guilt. And this could happen more? He could understand as it'd happened so quickly.

“Don't feel too bad, you cared about him enough to get him help rather than take advantage of him like others tried,” Corrin said. “As he explains it, his mind gets into an addictive haze and all he can think about is doing whatever the other person wants in order to keep the emotions he's hooked on coming. While he follows spoken commands, he is led more by their emotions which in turn encourages them to give into their lustful feelings. The confusion he had was because you were able to stop and he wasn't sure what to do anymore. Making his mind shut down briefly in sleep is enough to bring him back to himself because it shuts off his empathy for sleep.”

“So I just have to be care to not kiss him anymore?” Dylas asked. But while he expected some relief from that, knowing that he could keep this clean and somewhat right, instead he felt that yearning again and it very nearly hurt to think of not getting to kiss him again.

“Not exactly, because emotions are deeper than that,” she said. “Just about everyone goes through things like you feel now, realizing your natural desires and being pulled to follow them.”

That really made him hot with shame. “But it isn't natural! I'm not trying to be a pervert or anything, but I really shouldn't be feeling like this for another man and yet I can't help it.”

She gave him a look, stern and yet sympathetic to his struggle. “It wouldn't be so persistent if it wasn't natural. I know, it doesn't follow in the model that society has presented to you before. But you've got to listen to your body too. You can't deny these feelings any more than you can deny having thumbs. You could try, but things will feel awkward for you and your body will always be quietly telling you that you've got this and it would make you a lot happier to go along with it.”

“But it shouldn't work, I can't see how it would. If it was just like it's been, if I just liked being around him and being close without being, sexual or anything like that, I was getting to be okay with that. Things seemed okay like that and I was happy. But I'd finally got him smiling after he's been all down and out all winter, and then I just...” he stopped, wondering why he was even telling this to her. It should be a shame. But just like that kiss earlier today, the words were just coming out of him.

Corrin reached over and squeezed his hand. When Dylas looked like her, there was something motherly or fatherly to the way she smiled at him. “You're doing nothing wrong,” she reassured him.

He really wanted to believe that and almost could. That's when he realized, she was not giving him any shame and that was why he didn't feel it as bad. “I don't want people to hate us,” he said, his voice trembling. “But I don't want to be hurting him either. Is this really going to be happening any time I start feeling… about him?”

“Well, we can't be sure. He hasn't been with someone who loved him quite like you do. But, his mother did some research into how severe the empathy could get and from that, she once told me that if he was with someone he truly loved and he was truly loved back, he will become accustomed to that person's emotions over time, even become guarded by that person's emotions. You will have to keep control and deal with it at first, but he should keep control of himself longer and longer until you both won't have to worry about it with each other.” She shrugged. “Maybe not even anyone else messing him up eventually.”

“I hope that happens,” Dylas said.

* * *

 

The storm rains pounded down on the dirt paths and lightning lit up the buildings of... Grelin? Lest clung to an old oak that grew close to his small field; it seemed the only way to stay on his feet in the cold winds. In the darkness, he saw a demon's eyes glowing on a dark figure. But, lavender eyes on a demon?

It pointed a dark clawed hand at him and spoke in an oddly familiar voice. “Love does that to you? Is it amusing to hurt yourself so or are you that weak? I don't think that boy can handle you, or that you can handle him as you are.”

“Who are you?” Lest called, struggling to speak somehow.

Chuckling, it came forward as a lightning strike illuminated not a demon, but himself. Only the demon radiated cruelty as it smirked. “Who do I appear to be? If you're that weak, then I'll fully take your life for my own and draw my power from those who foolishly love you.”

“Don't,” Lest wanted to speak but had trouble finding his voice. The demon that looked like him summoned a thorny black spear and hurled it at him. When he went to counter the spear out of existence, his power made the whole scene waver and turn fuzzy. “Don't...”

His body jerked as he realized that he'd been asleep and the dream was over. But this wasn't his bed at the castle. It was small, just a single person bed in a guest room that held a familiar storage chest. At one time, it had been in his parents' bedroom. That told him he must be at his father's house. But why? Lest sat up and soon spotted his shoes on the floor. He got them to put back on and tried to remember what he'd been doing.

Earlier, Dylas had come get him for another afternoon of fishing. It hadn't been a very good day up until that point. Specifically, Dylas had helped him catch a tuna and promised him a free meal of it for dinner. Then the day took on a beautiful glow as he had successfully got him to smile and laugh. There had been real joy in Dylas as he said he'd only be silly for Lest and he loved listening to him for the things he was passionate for. And after so long, they finally kissed again.

That was when the haze started creeping into his mind. His own desires made Lest not notice until he had no way to escape it. But even as he felt it clouding his mind, this one time, he hadn't felt bothered or worried about it. All he could think of was what Dylas was feeling. Even in that, Lest had felt safe. Dylas wouldn't hurt him. Even in the confusion over why he suddenly didn't want him, Lest felt safe and knew that he'd be taken care of.

Where was Dylas? There were a pair of voices past the closed door, but neither seemed like him. And why had that nightmare been so vivid? It had felt like that nightmare he kept having, of the stormy demon chasing him through the darkness. He just hadn't noticed it had looked almost like himself.

Not wanting to be alone, Lest left the guest room to come into the living room. Corrin was there, along with Vishnal. “Ah, you're awake again,” Vishnal said, standing up and smiling even though he was pretty worried. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” he said, not wanting to worry them over the nightmare. It might not mean anything (although a voice in his mind insisted that it did).

“That's good,” Corrin said, setting down a mug she had. “I had a good long talk about this with Dylas, so you should probably give him time to think over things. Also said a few things to Vishnal here, not as much but enough that he's aware this won't be isolated.”

That was right. “It's all right, I know I'm safe with Dylas,” Lest said. “And Mom thought I should get past it in time; that'd be nice, I'm sure he'll adjust and accept it better if we have to take things slow.”

Corrin nodded, but Vishnal seemed to be a bit confused. “What are you talking about?” the butler asked.

“What did you tell him Dad?” Lest asked, making Corrin chuckle.

“Um, it was that this was related to a weakness in your empathy,” Vishnal said, trying to figure it out.

“Well it is,” she said. “Powerful emotions affect him more, and differently depending on what the other person is feeling.”

“Yeah, and Dylas has been really cautious so far,” Lest said. “But having everyone know and accept us is making him less cautious. It was only a kiss, but he's never dated before and that was enough to put my mind in a haze. But this is just between us, mind you.”

Realizing what he meant, Vishnal smiled a bit. “Ah, all right. Of course, I won't betray your trust.”

“Right, so if Dylas brings him in all quiet and hazy, just let him sleep it off and don't trouble either of them about it,” Corrin said.


	122. Heaven's Gate

Winter 60

The morning chill was so powerful that if it was any colder, the moisture in the air would freeze right up. Even so, Lest went out to take care of the few plants he had and trim another tree's branches. The hot-hot fruit was grown enough to keep ice off itself, although he had to stimulate that to keep the plants around them warm. But it was hard to sing for them today, as it had other days this winter. Some of it was just the chill making it painful to sing, especially as the warmth spells he tried to use kept breaking. Some of it was a heaviness in his mind and a persisting tiredness. More than that, there were things weighing down his spirits.

Like just before dawn, he'd woken up suddenly from another dream with Storgane. Biting winter winds to crush what life was sleeping through the darkest season, wanting this lull to become an eternity if that's what it took to wipe out the weak beings of the world. The ancient wind had been having a moment of clarity. Or, maybe not even a moment. In town, there was a despair growing ever sharper; someone was drawing his attention and could potentially give him a chance to awaken.

Or maybe not even just one person. This cold that threatened life and made his work painful. Lest paused by the last of the hot-hots he was tending, trying to lose himself in his farming hymn. There were good things that were still happening. Like, nearly a week back on that sparkling afternoon with Dylas. He was growing into someone warm and charming.

But then, they hadn't spoken since. Corrin had talked with Dylas about such problems with his empathy, then told Lest to give him a few days to think it over. Which made sense. His powers were a blessing and a burden, especially to those who cared about him. Perhaps Dylas might decide that it was too much for him to handle. He had a choice, he ought to be able to decide. Lest had no choice. There was no way to be rid of it.

Unless... Lest finished off his hymn, gently touching the nub that would turn into a fruit. If he lost his blessings as an earthmate, then he'd be a normal person. No more having to worry about handling things that might be enchanted, no more worries about being responsible for strange weather patterns when he couldn't control it, no more getting absurd requests from his ancestors. No more having to bear the burdens of everyone around him because he couldn’t escape their feelings. He'd have to leave this place and start anew somewhere else where no one knew about him. Maybe change his name, or even try to follow his father more. He didn't feel the same way, but it'd be a lot harder for people to find him if he lived as a woman instead.

But to do that, he'd have to go completely against the price of his blessing and be cruel to plants. “I can't do that,” he said softly, patting the hot-hot fruit plant gently. When his vision blurred with tears, he rubbed his coat sleeve against his eyes to keep from crying.

When he put his arm down, a shape like a person stood out to him in the fog. It was like his own silhouette until it sprouted horns, wings, and a tail, all like a demon's. Then Lest blinked and it was gone. Or maybe it was just the trees in the fog all along. But that was a desperate kind of explanation. He'd seen that demon in his dreams, telling him that either they'd be too much of a burden for Dylas and he'd leave them like everyone else, or Dylas would somehow find the compassion to stay and the demon would kill him horribly. Either way, their relationship would end painfully.

Tiny patters starting hitting his hat and coat, near invisible bits of ice falling down. Unlike the snow, those were clearly influenced by his magic. Lest heard his plants starting to get fearful of the tiny bites of pain; he wanted to help them. But his tears distracted him from putting a defense enchantment together and it unraveled itself before he got far in making it. At that, he wept and couldn't find it in him to move from the spot, even as the fog closed in and the ice continued to fall.

The whispers crowded in, sharper and colder than the ice. The world deserves to be frozen in death if it will not bend to the rule of dragons again. No, death needed to be removed from the world, that would undo all of this. Lest! You're suffering because the world is wrong. It must die, it must be conquered, it must be changed. You're key to everything, to putting an end to everything. Isn't that terrible that the world put that burden on you? Why not make it suffer with the power it gave you? Lest? You love the conflict of emotions in others, so stop constraining yourself with what's right or wrong and cultivate that internal conflict in others like you do your plants. Aren't you the evil one for wanting to do that? Wipe it all clean.

At a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, he realized that one of those voices hadn't been in his head. “Lest, come on back inside,” Vishnal said, a gentle concern in his words. There was a painful worry in his heart, seeing him crying like this, but he held any outward show of it back with a firm sense of duty and friendship. Nodding, Lest got up and went inside with him.

Uno had been waiting just outside the door as usual. When they got in, Jones was in Lest's room. “Looks like it was good that I stayed,” the doctor said, coming over to them while Lest got his coat off. His concern changed as he did. “Lest? What's wrong?”

“Dark spirits are trying to claim control over me,” Lest said, not able to think well enough to come up with something else to tell him. “It's got me exhausted already.”

Jones put his hand on Lest's neck, shifting his headband to look at runes better. “Feverish too, like Volkanon is. Probably didn't help that you went outside in this weather, but then with what you need to do,” he sighed. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Not really, not until I took some medicine for a headache I had.” Then he'd had nightmares.

After doing a check over his chest, Jones looked back at his eyes where something made him frown, then cast a different scanning spell. “Hmm... you do have a cold too, so you should take some more medicine with breakfast and go back to bed. But given your element, you should have someone visit you this afternoon. Just don't leave this part of the castle, okay? You'll also need a facemask so you don't go passing the cold along too.”

And Sano wasn't back yet. “Okay,” Lest said.

* * *

 

Dylas had considered doing some fishing that morning, but it was far too cold even for him. Instead, he went to visit Leon and Frey. But when he got to the library, he found that even as early as it was, he wasn't the only one with the idea. A number of people had gathered in the sitting area with Frey. Dolce, Pico, Amber, Xiao, Kiel, and even Blossom were there working on their sewing circle projects. Close to them, there were a pair of baby quilts that looked to be complete as far as Dylas could tell.

Before he got far in, Leon waved him closer to the counter. “You'd better have an excuse for me to get out of that,” he said, half-joking. “I think they're planning on being here all day.”

“I might,” Dylas said, coming over. “What brought them over? I thought they were meeting in the evenings.”

His ears shifted sadly for a moment. “Frey hasn't been doing too well this week. She not sick yet, but she's getting worn down. Since it's so quiet and cold out today, apparently they decided to spend the day here for her. I'm glad for that, but at the same time, that kind of crafting bores me.”

“She's got a strong spirit, I'm sure she'll tough this out,” Dylas said.

It did cheer him up some. “Yeah, and I’ve got her back.”

“As long as she's got company, I did have something I wanted to talk with you about,” he said, trying not to draw attention from anyone over in the sewing circle. “Just between us, though. I thought about talking to Porco, but you're the only person I feel comfortable figuring this out with.”

“Serious, huh?” Leon asked, attentive and taking this serious. He nodded, then called over, “Hey Frey, I'm gonna be back in the apartment with Dylas if you gals need anything.”

“Sure, think you two can figure up something for lunch?” Frey asked.

“Oh, I could help with that,” Kiel said, only held back from getting up in that he was helping Xiao doing something with yarn.

“We can handle it,” Dylas said.

“Yeah, and our kitchen's barely big enough for two to work in,” Leon added, further discouraging the help. As they walked past the desk, he said, “Well that gives us a few hours at least, although I don't know what to get together for lunch now.”

“Let me see what you've got,” he said.

Their kitchen was also not as well stocked as Dylas was used to, but they had the time and the ingredients to put together a clucks and dumplings soup. While they worked on getting the dough for the dumplings made, he told Leon about what was going on with him and Lest. About that date the past Sunday, the uglier side of Lest's empathy, how Lest seemed to be struggling but not being clear on what was troubling him. Even how Corrin had suggested that if Dylas didn't think he could handle this, he better leave the relationship or else it'd turn out worse.

“Seems like it'd be rough,” Leon said. “He's depending on you and if Corrin's saying that, he could grow to depend on you more.”

“Yeah, and I'm not sure I'm up to that,” he said. “I mean, I want to help him. But he was the one who helped me when I had given up on myself, so I don't see how I can help him.”

Leon paused at that. When he spoke again, he was quiet and serious. “But you owe him a lot for what he's done for you, for not letting you give up on your life. I've felt that way about Frey myself, for when she got me through dealing with my hell gate.” He sighed. “Those two...”

“What about them?” Dylas asked, stopping his work on the dough. It was pretty much done anyhow.

Folding his fan up, he tapped his chin with it. “We had a choice, you know. About becoming guardians, even if you got cornered into it in a bad way. Any of us could have decided against it and our lives would have been vastly different. Frey and Lest, they didn't have a choice. She talks sometimes about the weight of her bloodline trying to make sins of their distant ancestors right. It got ingrained into each generation, and then as more of you became guardians, the heavier the sins of that family became. From the moment they were born, the path of their lives were set to come here and fix things from over a thousand years ago. Even their powers seem to be entirely geared towards it, Frey in finishing the rune sphere and Lest in freeing us. What you're facing is because of his fate, not his choice.”

“That sucks,” he said, although he didn't see how that helped any.

“Especially with what you were saying about how he reacts to lust, how people could take advantage of him or seriously hurt him.” Leon tapped him with the fan. “He needs someone who can protect him and care about him. And you don't have to know exactly what to say because he can be reassured simply by you being concerned about him.”

“But if I'm the one causing him problems,” Dylas stopped himself as he felt his cheeks get warm in embarrassment. But then, that was why he wanted to speak to Leon, wasn't it? Because it was too embarrassing around anyone else and he'd know to keep quiet on something like that.

Unfortunately, someone knocked at the door from the library. Leon went to answer it while Dylas set the dough in a bowl to wait until they had the soup ready. For some reason, Doug was there. “Sorry, I was just wondering if you could help me find something,” he said.

“Depends,” Leon said. “I was talking to Dylas to get out of the sewing chat over there.”

Doug chuckled. “Ah, I know how that is. What're you guys talking about?”

“Well now,” he paused and immediately worry Dylas about that. “We were talking about him and Lest having sex.”

“Huh?” Doug asked in shock.

Checking what was on the countertop in front of him, Dylas hurled an oven mitt at him. “Leon!”

“Uh, how 'bout I pretend I didn't hear that and go ask Kiel about it?” Doug offered.

“That should work, thanks,” Leon said. “Hope you find it.” Then he shut the door.

“Why'd you have to say that?” Dylas said, even more embarrassed and angry.

Leon tossed the oven mitt back on the counter. “It got rid of him, didn't it? And I'm very sure he won't say anything about that to anyone, he'd be too embarrassed. Might even realize I did it that way later, but that'll just make him think I was kidding.”

Dylas swore under his breath, thinking that he didn't have to do that.

“But it is part of what this is about, isn't it?” Leon asked.

“Not exactly,” Dylas said. It was hard enough to talk about. But, he didn't think he could get more embarrassed now.

He came back into the kitchen and leaned on a counter. “I read some stuff from your era and it was really prude in all kinds of matters, making all kinds of normal things out of be sinful. Even the most reserved people from my era would have thought some of those things ridiculous. So I can see where you're coming from, that it's making you really uncomfortable to experience. You'd have trouble even if you were dating a modern girl, much less a guy like Lest.”

“It has been a fight in my mind this whole time,” Dylas said. As he kept talking, he started calming down. “That time he first said he loved me was horrifying and wonderful. I couldn't believe I was hearing it and wanted to punch him, but instead, I asked him to keep quiet about us because he was beautiful and I didn't want to let the moment go. It took until Valentine's Day for me to straight out say that I loved him, and then all the way to a couple weeks ago to have the courage to tell the rest of you. But it was all, well, clean and simple. I thought I could keep it that way and it'd be okay, not really sinful. Then things went and changed again on me and now I’m causing both of us trouble with something I feel is wrong.”

“Well the people I learned from said it would be wrong too,” Leon said. “But people still did it on occasion in my era. I met a pair that made me think, who were they hurting being together? Now stuff that hurts others or yourself badly I can agree on being sinful. But who are you and Lest hurting in being together if it makes you both happy? Maybe some other people who might want to date you or him instead, but that also goes me and Frey too, and any couple. It's more of a problem that it's worrying you so much over if it's right or not. You need to repay the debts of your heart to him, he needs someone to protect him from what got fated to him, and you both are happy with each other once all this moral debate is out of mind. What's so wrong in you staying with him for those reasons?”

He tried to think of how to say it, but couldn't come up with the words. “I don't know how to say it.”

“Then perhaps it's an imaginary trouble more than real,” he said. Then someone knocked on the front door, making Leon's ears shift in annoyance. “Looks like nobody wants to leave us alone today,” he grumbled as he went to go see.

“I'll get started on this soup,” Dylas said, running through what Leon had said in his mind.

But it didn't take long for Leon to call over, “Hey Dylas? Sorry, but this is important; stay here though.”

“All right,” he said.

Maybe Leon did have a point. They weren't really hurting others in dating each other. Aside from him causing Lest trouble, but that he might get accustomed to if Corrin was right. And really, it was better him than someone else. Compared to what could happen, Dylas might be one of the safest people for Lest to be with. He could control himself and if someone else caused him trouble like that playboy jerk a long while ago, he could protect him. Dylas had also gotten him cheered up, so maybe it wasn't that hard to help him out.

When Leon came back in, he didn't say anything at first. His expression almost seemed grim and he thought for a while, tapping his fan on his cheek. Then he finally said, “How's that soup coming along?”

“It needs to simmer to cook the dumplings through, which will take some time,” he said. “What's gotten into you?”

He waved him closer with his fan. Once Dylas was closer, he said, “That was Clorica who was asking for me. Lest is pretty sick and made himself worse in being out in this awful weather. While he's supposed to be sleeping this morning, they'd like you to go over and at least keep him company in the afternoon.”

“Sure, but what'd you have to go over there for?”

“Well the weather is this bad because he was really upset too,” Leon said, indicating the window with his fan. “I got called over when Jones noticed signs that he was being haunted. They thought he was just delirious from fever, but no, his very spirit is under attack. Since Dolce shouldn't be handling that kind of thing now, they wanted me over to see about increasing the wards to protect him.”

“Is that why he's been so moody this winter?” he asked. That would explain why he wasn't able to keep happy for long, but, “What kind of spirit is after him?”

“At first, I recognized some signs of it being Storgane. Makes sense and I could set up wards to keep the hateful wind from reaching him.” That made Leon look grim again. “But that wasn't the only spirit I detected. Once outer spirits were cut off from him, I realized that another spirit has gotten into his mind and I don't know how to block that one. Remember what I was saying about his and Frey's fate? The old wizard Darryl has a link to him through blood and has made it past my banishment and Frey's sealing magic to trouble Lest. And Darryl is seriously insane about his quest to destroy death itself. Lest has probably had to put up with his shit for a while now, maybe all winter, maybe longer than that.”

“Why hasn't he said anything about it?” Dylas said, angered but really concerned about Lest.

“Some hauntings are so crazy that the victims are worried that they'll be seen as crazy themselves if they try to explain it,” Leon said.

That reminded him of something. “No wait, I think he's been trying to tell me about it. But he said it was because other people were feeling down due to it being winter and I didn't think there was much more to it. Although, he keeps saying something about having to make a choice when every choice looks bad. But not saying what, just that it's there bothering him.”

Leon then put a hand on Dylas' shoulder. “On hearing that he is troubled like this, you're thinking of nothing else but how to help him now. Perhaps to make it so he has carefree smiles again.”

“Yeah,” Dylas said without hesitating.

“I think it's more of a sin to deny that what you feel for him is love,” Leon said, then tugged him to come into the table just outside the kitchen. “Come here and sit down; I'd like to pray that you have the inner strength and gentleness to help Lest, and potentially stop him from doing something stupid until we figure out how to keep the dark spirits away from him.”

* * *

 

Sano work him up around noon. “I've found what you sent me for,” he said.

“Good, finally,” Lest said, getting up and refocusing his thoughts on that.

What Sano had been investigating was the unbreakable gate below the town. “It bears the name Heaven's Gate. Without all elements supporting it, the gate will split into two to form the last two hell gates. Once those are dealt with, Heaven's Gate will no longer exist until a being on the level of a deity resummons it. Storgane is greatly weakened and is currently incapable of doing so. He may become capable again if he can claim the two tied to the last two hell gates. It would be difficult for you to break in a physical form since there may be backlash and powerful monsters summoned. In a spiritual form, the monsters shouldn't notice you and backlash should be lessened.”

“Then this is going to be the best way to handle this,” Lest said. While he should feel disappointed or dissatisfied in that, he felt relieved instead. It wasn't all madness. He got up in spite of feeling tired and warm, going over to a chair near the fireplace. “Okay, keep an eye on things here.”

“Yes, master,” they both said.

Thankfully his mind came clear so that he could focus on the spell far more complex than anything he'd attempted before. He would have to fight his breaking power to set it, but once in place, it should stay until he focused on undoing it. There seemed to be someone near him briefly, helping him focus on this work. Even putting a hand on his shoulder, supporting him. When a chance came, he cast Etherlink to form a new bond between his body and soul, then split the natural bonds so that he could leave his body in spiritual form safely.

Darryl had said that he'd designed this form of Etherlink by using his original forms as well as the modern form of Etherlink. Frey had accidentally given it to him when she'd tried to open the large sealed doors on the fox tower with it. While Lest didn't know what made it different from any other version of the spell, he knew that it was important that no one run across his body while he was out of it. Looking at himself was odd, since he appeared dead with only magic sustaining his life until his spirit returned. If his body got destroyed, he'd be a lost spirit just like Darryl.

But he could trust Sano and Uno to guard him. Closing his eyes, Lest focused entirely on sensing runes around him until he could drop through the floor into the earth. Heaven's Gate was a powerful spot below that was easy to find. He felt shifts in temperature, warming up as he went deeper. Thankfully, he didn't feel much else as he was passing through the earth and stones. There were a few runes indicating hate spirits, but there weren't many of them. They should be simple to deal with once Storgane was gone.

Once he knew he was in the chamber with the ancient gate, Lest looked around again. The enormous sphere radiated runes of light and love, illuminating the cavern in an eerie fashion. Storgane was not here, but Lest could sense the corrupt cluster of wind runes that was the remains of his spirit in another cavern not far from this one. While the dragon didn't seem aware of him, he didn't want to remain long and be sensed. Lest went right to Heaven's Gate and focused his rune breaking powers on it.

_This gate of heaven will lead you to the world you desire. Bring the almighty power upon all to eliminate what troubles you and remake them into more pleasing prospects. Take care that Heaven's Gate does not fall into the hands of others, for their wishes will be granted rather than yours. Do not underestimate anyone as any who reaches inside to claim the power will be as almighty as the divine._

The knowledge seemed to echo in his head. This was a way for divine beings to alter the world itself? Or anyone if they could claim the power. He could do anything...

Lest looked into the gate and saw a vision of a world where he wasn't cursed.

* * *

 

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of the soup Dylas and Leon had made to bring over a portion to Lest. Dylas didn't take a bowl for himself and instead walked over to the castle. It was actually worse than what he'd gone through to get to the library. This time, he could feel Lest's influence on it too. It was unsettling in how familiar it was; he really must be depressed from whatever the spirits of Storgane and Darryl were tormenting him with.

Vishnal was waiting in the hallway outside Lest's bedroom. “He was asleep last I checked on him, when I let Sano into the room,” the butler said. “We were holding off on lunch until either he or Volkanon woke up.”

“The old guy's sick too?” Dylas asked.

Vishnal nodded. “Yeah, but Clorica and I have got things managed. Have you had lunch yet? Clorica made some fish soup and there should be enough to share with you.”

“Thanks, I could use that,” he said. “Um, do you mind if I'm in there to wait on him?”

“Go ahead,” Vishnal said with a smile. “Just let me know when he's awake enough to eat, I'll be around here.”

The first thing that Dylas noticed was that Lest wasn't in bed. He was in his pajamas apparently asleep in one of the chairs by the fireplace. Next to him, Sano and Uno were watching quietly. Maybe he wasn't entirely asleep. But as Dylas got closer, things did not look right. The chi around Lest was low in power, something that happened around those who were ill. It didn't look right even accounting for illness. And Lest was far too still in sitting there.

When Dylas touched him, Lest's skin was warm with fever. But he didn't react at all. Almost like... was he dead? It took a while before Dylas could even feel his pulse or notice him breathing. “Damn, why isn't he in the clinic?” Dylas grumbled, a painful fear in him. What if he was dying? What was he supposed to do then?

“It's not severe enough and Jones wanted to keep him here when he sensed the malicious spirits,” Uno said. Her monotone voice was not helping Dylas' nerves at all.

“This isn't severe enough?” Dylas asked, about to go ask Vishnal to get Jones for a second look.

But that was stopped when Sano said, “Any unusual conditions you notice at this time are either due to the illness or Etherlink.”

“Etherlink? He doesn't...” but then he noticed a peculiar pattern within Lest's runes that hadn't been there before, at least not one that he'd noticed. It was like three cords wrapped into one, exactly how Lest had said it appeared to him when he went to break the enchantment in him.

“He does, he just cast it on himself to leave his body,” Uno said.

“What the hell is he doing casting something like Etherlink when he's sick?” Dylas asked. “And on himself? Why? There's no need for a guardian now.”

“That's not what he did,” Uno said.

“He had assistance,” Sano said, but it wasn't any better when he added, “From Darryl.”

Dylas had half a mind to yell at them, but he wasn't sure about alerting Vishnal to this yet. “How could you let that happen? You two are supposed to protect your master, not let him work with someone who's been trying to hurt him.”

“Lest wanted to do this and Darryl was not malicious at this time,” Sano said.

“It is unfortunate that we cannot protect against spiritual threats like we can physical, but we shall do all we can,” Uno added.

Apparently, their judgment wasn't that good. Then again, they were golems made of stone, made to be unquestioning servants. Dylas made a mental note to warn the butlers not to let only the foxes be with Lest if he was in trouble. He swore again. What now?

Then Lest's runes and chi built back up, not quite to normal due to his illness. There was a clatter like chains being dragged on the floor, then metal bands materialized on his wrists. Only one link was visible before they turned spiritual and barely visible even to rune sight. With a brief grumble like he was only coming awake, Lest lifted his head and saw him there. “Oh...”

“What the hell is going on?” Dylas asked him, holding back on his anger about this simply because of how miserable Lest looked. “Just tell me this time.”

“Th-hey want to kill you,” he said, looking down. “They want to hurt Frey too, but they want to kill you because you're close to me. I just want this all to stop, the whispers from those who would ruin Selphia if it furthered their goals; I want to keep people safe from them. When Sano told me I could get down to Heaven's Gate below town without physically going there, I thought they'd stop pressuring me, but one of them just made it clear that they will kill you if you stay close to me. But then when I looked in Heaven's Gate...” Lest was crying and shaking now, still trying to talk.

Already crouched in front of the chair, Dylas clasped his hand. The chains on Lest's wrists shifted and clattered, barely audible. “You mean that unbreakable gate that has the last two hell gates in it?”

Lest nodded. “It was created from Storgane's desire to change the world back to its original state. It still held the power to change the very rules of the world. When I was near it, it gave me that power. I have that possibility, to dismiss magic or end death. Or even undo my own powers. Just this morning, the spirits that have been trying to control me, Storgane, Darryl, and that demon from the deep ether sea, one or all of them gave me the thought that I didn't have to put up with all this if I didn't have the powers I did. But I’d have to be cruel to my plants to be rid of that and I just can't...”

“That's too cruel to suggest to you,” Dylas said, although he wondered if that wasn't some temporary wish in Lest like he'd wanted to find that river of the dead. Lest's heart must already be badly cracked to do that, making Dylas feel guilty in being indecisive in this.

“I can't do that,” Lest said, pulling closer to him. Since that armchair was only big enough for one person, Dylas moved back towards the couch and brought Lest with him. “When I saw Heaven's Gate and its power to change anything even that which is set in stone, I saw that it could change someone's whole life. Like make it so I was born an ordinary person instead of an earthmate. I, I could farm just as well not fighting my power. I wouldn't have to deal with all that, or have to, to... but...”

“Shh, Lest,” he said. He could see how rough it would be on him to resist that after Leon's talk of his and his sister's fate. “That might be nice, but it might've been some illusion.”

“It could be real, if I wanted,” Lest said. He was still feverish, that couldn't be denied. Dylas figured they could talk about it better when he recovered. For now, he'd have to be watched. But then Lest went on to say, “But if I made that wish come true, you wouldn't be here. I'd never be able to meet you. And if I gave up my powers now, even this Etherlink, all these dark spirits trying to get me to listen to them would have an easier time winning. They would kill you. You should get away from me so they don't. But I don't want you to leave!” He clenched onto his shirt tightly and sobbed.

“I won't leave you,” Dylas said. It was far more of a sin to do that. “I love you Lest, and I'll protect you. Put them out of mind as best you can, you need to recover.”

He wasn't quite sure how he'd protect Lest from spirits that Leon couldn't protect him from with his priestly powers. But he'd find a way, somehow.


	123. Newspaper Gossip

Winter 63

“Did I do the right thing?” Lest asked, rubbing his hands together. His sleeve nearly slipped down, so he pushed it back into place. While his fever was gone, he still didn't feel well and thus was spending the morning in his office trying to do some work. But his mind was distracted.

He definitely wanted to put an end to this whole mess with Darryl and Rune Prana. And Darryl would not rest until he knew his work was going to be finished. Never mind if Lest intended to destroy it all, Darryl only cared that it got finished. The ghost was still pestering him even though he'd used Etherlink. Had that been a mistake? At least Dylas agreed to keep quiet about it.

But we can't tell anyone, they'll think I'm crazy.

Maybe he was crazy now. But he wanted the people around him to continue on in a peaceful life. He wanted Doomgale to be safe to do what she needed to do as a goddess, and for Wendy to keep enjoying her retirement from divine duties. He wanted Frey and her children to be able to choose their path in life rather than kept strictly to the one their family was bound to. He wanted the guardians to enjoy their lives and freedom. In fact, he wanted all of his neighbors to enjoy life without worry. This was going to eliminate a lot of obstacles in much less time than it would take without it.

This is a power that could change the world, I could end death for them too.

“No, that is against the will of the world, against its laws,” Lest told himself. “He said he wants to put an end to everything in a different way. But he ruined just as much... I'm sorry, Arthur. But I'm counting on you to get this over with swiftly. It will be better in the end.”

But wasn't that just like what Darryl had believed?

* * *

 

A steady reoccurring light snow through the season had made sure snow remained all around Selphia. Sunlight was scarce and the sky always seemed gray. Seeing that it was the same way today, Arthur sighed as he looked out the north window of his office. This was the kind of weather that made him more reflective than usual and that never went well. He had gone to fill some orders and get them ready for shipping, but that only took up so much time. Since watching the weather wasn't helping, he had to turn back to the dilemma waiting on his desk.

On one edge, there was a progression of newspaper articles. The first couple were similar articles from two papers on Winter 6; one tended to conservative views and the other to liberal views. Both announced that the High King Gregory had officially named Briana as his heir to the throne. While the liberal paper was happy to have a woman ascend to that powerful position, the conservative paper was suspicious that he'd skipped over his older son Herman to so. Not only that, but the next in line after Briana was Arthur, with a cousin of theirs following. The conservative paper mostly worried about losing tradition and strength. The liberal paper did better to report some of Gregory's statements that Briana and Arthur had the potential to be highly capable of being a ruler from their intellect and personality. While Arthur didn't agree, he hoped that Briana would take the throne so it wouldn't fall on him.

He knew from the moment he saw both articles that there was going to be trouble and the following articles trailed it. Queen Saria wrote an editorial for the conservative paper that was a ruthless attack on Gregory's decision. In it, she claimed that it was Herman's birthright to be the heir to the throne as the eldest prince. However, her points in support of him were weak. She said that he was the strongest of the princes, but physical ability meant little to the position of high king. She even said that Briana was not capable of being such a powerful ruler because she was a woman, never mind that she was her own daughter. At the end, she suggested that Herman should be the heir with Lamar as next in line, followed by a different cousin belonging to her family and not even considering Arthur.

The liberal paper quickly retaliated with a deconstruction of Saria's editorial that satirized her into an ignorant jealous woman who spoiled her sons (although focused on the older two sons). While it went too far in its satire, Arthur could agree that she was jealous and spoiled her children (and she'd never acknowledged him unless she couldn't avoid it). More surprisingly, Gregory wrote a counter-article of his own in the conservative paper. He explained his reasons more thoroughly there, mentioning that Lamar had skipped out on the regional visits and government meetings on his own accord. While Herman had gone on the visits, his actions in Selphia hadn't been his only flubs that proved him to be lacking as a political leader. But he ended it with the barbed statement that Saria herself wasn't suitable for a position of real power due to her irresponsible love of leisure and luxury.

Of course, that turned it into a bigger firestorm. There was even a reproach to Gregory for being so harsh on his wife on the same page in the newspaper as his editorial. The last group of articles talked about a high level of tension in the royal court and many arguments. Not just from the king and queen, but the whole castle was splintered into those who supported the king and Briana, those who supported the queen and Herman, and those who said they were trying to keep out of the conflict as best they could. There was even an article claiming that Herman had said that he didn't want to take on the role of high king because it was too much boring work. It also said that he had been drunk at the time, but Arthur didn't think it was too out of character to immediately dismiss as empty gossip.

Then there was the last article, cut carefully out of today's newspaper. Arthur picked it up and still felt the deep disappointment it made him feel on reading it for the first time. While there were passionate responses later on in both papers, this main one was a cold detached reporting. Gregory and Saria were looking to end their marriage after nearly thirty years together. Gregory was keeping his position, but Saria was going to start a legal fight to keep some authority, status, and wealth. While the article didn't name Arthur directly, it did have one explosive fact in it: several unnamed sources had confirmed that the only legitimate child of their marriage was Briana. Therefore, she was the only legitimate heir from their marriage.

It also meant that once the divorce happened, Arthur would be bumped up to a legitimate heir to the throne instead of being a secretly illegitimate heir before. Was his father going to change things and name him the heir with Briana as second in line? That worried Arthur. He had been trained in order to take over the throne should events fall right. However, he never expected that to happen with three older siblings who were easier to claim as legitimate because they had been born of the queen. The events of the past summer still lingered in his mind and Arthur felt like he'd be incapable of leading the entire nation. He would have proven incapable of leading one region if things hadn't happened to send Lest here at the same time he arrived. If he just stayed as a small trader where his talents were of more use, everyone would be better off.

On the other side of his desk, he had a letter from his father that had arrived today. It didn't address the question of if Briana was going to stay the official heir or not. In fact, it was hardly about the inheritance issues.

'I'm sure you've seen newspaper gossip all about it, but things have been a lot worse here than they can imagine. Saria's been impossible to deal with, making business about the castle slow to a crawl with her fits and demands. She's claiming that she deserves more respect and compliance because of her position as queen. However, she's done so little to help as queen that I'm at the end of my rope and I can't oblige her any longer. I'm going to kick her out of the castle and out of my life

'Still, it's been very stressful and will keep being so until I can remove her and her manic supporters. The guards have been ordered to keep her from me. I would tell them to get her out, but I can't do so until she is legally cut from me and the castle. Since she still manages to interfere with my work, I've had a lot to time to think of things and my mind keeps returning to you and Chantelle.

'I've been feeling like I haven't done enough for you. Our letters always seem impersonal and I can't think of the last time we really talked like family. When I was visiting Selphia, we were in a rush and there were so many people to talk to. But I should have talked with you more. Do you really not care to talk to Chantalle again? I'm glad to hear that she is still alive, but I've been thinking that it might have been less messy to split up with Saria years ago to marry Chantalle instead even if it would have been controversial.

'I'm just not sure what to do or say now. I thought I was doing everything right, but then everything devolved into this chaos. Just about the only person in the castle now that's being sensible and sure is Briana. She has been talking lately about getting back to the roots of the royal family and following the ways of the earthmates. If she wasn't here, I think the whole system would fall apart. Thankfully, that is getting notice and even those who had been uncertain of her eligibility to the throne are turning to her side. She may be onto something, but it might be too late for me to change enough.

'By the way, I've heard talk about how Prince Lest had taken a man for a lover. I know he's too popular there to remove from power, but would you please tell him to be more mindful of the impression he's leaving on others in doing such things?'

While the articles disappointed him, the letter angered him. He'd been trying to compose a mental reply when he looked out the window. But even before Arthur made a pencil draft, he was having trouble putting together a response that didn't erupt into rage. His father shouldn't be surprised that his marriage had collapsed like that. It had been long in the making, before Arthur was born. Perhaps it was even doomed from the start being made for political reasons rather than personal. Although it seemed ill-advised, he really wanted to tell him that Lest and Dylas had an admirable relationship. Gregory and Saria looked incredibly immoral in comparison to them. They didn't even need a comparison to look that way and he was being wrong in trying to make Lest look bad.

Arthur was worried about Lest and Dylas too, though any time he thought of it, it was just a brief distraction from all this. While Arthur wasn't sure of the details, the two of them had some problem recently, plus Lest was ill and hadn't been able to do a lot of work this week. Dylas had been very serious this whole time, solemn in his thoughts instead of cheerful in a reserved kind of way. Arthur hoped whatever was wrong got worked out well between them, yet he found himself thinking that he did not want Gregory and Saria to have a similar resolution.

Hearing the door to the restaurant open up led Arthur to fold the letter closed. It was a good thing as it was Dylas coming in. This week, there was a transition between Meg and Dylas in who was managing the restaurant. While they had been preparing him for that, Dylas was still looking for help on some tasks. “Hey, could you check over the budget I made?” he asked.

“Of course, let me see.” It was numbers. Numbers were more reliable than people and a suitable distraction from these problems. While this was a basic business budget, it still calmed Arthur's nerves down. “Your estimates on meal costs seem a little low.”

“It's because I don't mean to buy fish if I can help it,” he explained.

Arthur smiled. “Ah, that should have been obvious. You're certain of your skill at fishing in winter?”

Dylas nodded. “Sure, there's a few fish better caught now than in other seasons.”

“With that in mind, everything looks fine,” Arthur said. “They're certainly more impressive numbers than what I saw back in spring. You've really helped the restaurant turn its fortunes around and it looks like you'll help it stay that way.”

“It's not because I'm good or anything, Meg just needed more help with Porco.” He looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

“Even if that's true, I'm sure you've been a great boon to them,” he said.

Declining to reply to that, he asked, “You okay? You've been different lately and then there was that article Meg read this morning about the king and queen getting a divorce.”

“I'm glad I'm not in the middle of all that,” Arthur said, trying to keep detached. “This has been a long time in coming, enough that I'm more surprised it took so long. I was planning on how to respond should a reporter come out to talk to me, although I'd prefer to stay out of it.”

“I asked if you were okay,” Dylas said. “Sheesh, you can be as evasive as Lest in that.”

“Sorry,” Arthur said. “I'd rather not think about it and focus on what I have here.”

“You're not doing too well having all these articles on your desk,” he pointed out, flicking one over.

“I guess not,” he said, setting the overturned one straight before stacking them in sequence. “Why are you concerned? You're not one to talk about such things usually.”

He grumbled for a moment, his tail flicking. “We're friends, right? Cause it's hard to live in the same place as somebody and not worry about them. Plus you're worrying Lest and he ends up talking about you a lot.”

“I hope that doesn't make you jealous,” Arthur said, trying to make it a joke. Although it seemed like a thing that would make a person jealous.

Dylas narrowed his eyes at him. “No, I'm worried about both of you. I've seen you pacing or staring out the window more often and it's not good to keep avoiding a problem. You've complained that there seems to be a lot more work for you lately, but I think it's because you're not working as quickly as you normally do and your crazy workload is finally piling up on you.”

“That might be,” Arthur said, feeling unnerved that he was noticing these things. And at realizing that he could be right.

“Lest's been really stressed out lately in part because of you,” he said, although any potential anger was turning into honest concern now. “Other people's issues become his issues and I don't think there's a lot he can do to avoid it. But it isn't just that this time. He's worried about the last two hell gates and Storgane deciding to retaliate. There isn't a lot more I can do to help him on that right now, but I can try to help both of you by hearing you out.” He shrugged. “Or you could ask to talk to Leon as a priest. He's more helpful than he seems.”

“Perhaps, but trying to get involved with my family's issues is just going to be a headache,” Arthur said, pausing as someone opened the front door.

It was Leon, carrying a box under one arm. From the tenseness in his face, he seemed to be in pain. “Sorry to barge in, but you wouldn't happen to have any pain medicine here?”

“Some, what's the matter?” Arthur said, opening a drawer in his desk to take out a bottle of pills.

He set the box on his desk without asking. “Splitting headache out of nowhere, like someone shot lightning through my skull.”

Arthur handed over a large dose since it looked necessary. “Make sure to drink a full glass of water with this, I...” then Dylas showed up with the pitcher of water he usually kept in here and a glass he kept for guests. “Oh, thank you Dylas.”

“Yeah, thanks both of you,” Leon said, swallowing the pills and following them up with a long drink.

“Hope it's not anything serious,” Dylas said.

“Did you mean to come in here?” Arthur asked. He didn't mind visitors, but he should actually get some work done since Dylas had pointed out that he'd been losing focus.

“Sure, this,” he slapped the box he'd set down, “is my finished work on translating the Book of Guidance. All typed up just like the publisher wanted.”

That was a bright spot on this dreary day. “Wonderful! It's amazing that it didn't take you an entire year or longer to get it done.”

“It was a great thing to read, but I am so glad that's finally done,” Leon said. “It's even got translation notes and Frey wrote an introduction for it.”

“What're you going to work on now?” Dylas asked.

“Still deciding on that,” he said. “Kiel gave me a book in Ath that's interesting, plus I've been curious if there's any small books in the library's foreign language section that don't have...” he paused, his ears twisting down. “Sorry, something just isn't right today.”

“Maybe you should see Jones,” Arthur said, worried about him. But then he felt that something wasn't right either. It was like a brief wobble before the whole building was shaken around them. While it only lasted a few seconds, it was frightening and he wasn't sure what to do.

“That explain your headache?” Dylas asked, his hand on Arthur's desk now trying to find some stability.

“Probably,” Leon said with a frown. Then he grimaced and rubbed his head. “If it is, that's not going to be the last of it. You might want to secure loose things around here, the worst is yet to come. I'm gonna go check on Frey.”

“Wait, could you go by the castle and let one of them know there'll be more to this earthquake?” Arthur asked, taking Leon's box. Being filled with papers, it was heavy for its size. “Lest needs to alert the town and we have to make things safer here.”

“Sure,” Leon said, hurrying out.

The platform that the mansion stood on had been built to resist earthquake damage; they were possibly in one of the safer spots. However, there were a lot of items that could be damaged in further quakes, especially in the kitchen. Not to mention that they'd want to stop the gas lines in case of damage. There were fireplaces around to keep a few rooms warm, but the restaurant's menu needed changing around to account for having fewer appliances running.

In his office, Arthur replaced some fallen books and set a shield on the bookcase in hopes that it would keep them from falling out. He set the manuscript box on the floor, since he didn't want that to fall on anything. It irked his sense of organization to do so, but he could put it in a proper spot tomorrow before shipping it off. After that, he had to consider his glasses. They were in display cases that, as long as the displays didn't fall out of place, they should be safe. He had to make sure they and the ones up in his room were secured to where they were placed.

Coming back downstairs, he found Forte in his office. “Ah, did you get the warning that there will be further shocks?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, Leon was here in the initial one. How's the town prepared?'

“Everyone has been warned and is taking precautions to reduce damage,” she said. “There was some damage in the initial quake, and I suspect some of the houses will take damage in further quakes. However, the large platforms are in good condition and are unlikely to come down.”

“I hope none of the inhabited houses are the ones that take damage,” Arthur said. The uninhabited ones could be repaired over time as long as measures were taken to keep snow and moisture out.

“No injuries so far, so I hope that continues,” Forte said. She paused, her expression uneasy for a moment. “Arthur? Sorry to change the subject, but how are you holding up with all the gossip in the newspapers lately?”

“I'm fine, glad I can keep out of it when things finally blew up,” he said.

“But it's your family in trouble,” she said, coming to his side.

Unlike with Dylas, Arthur didn't feel like he could resist as well when it was her being concerned about him. The thought of it all still made him angry and bitter. “They're not my family.”

“Huh?” she asked, shocked at it.

“It's something I didn't expect to learn when I came out here,” he explained. “Porco, Dylas, and Meg, they're more my family in how family should treat each other. They worry over me and make sure I remember to eat and such, and I end up worrying about them and being happy at their triumphs. Back at the castle, things weren't that way. My father was always too busy to talk to me and the queen and her sons tried to deny my presence. I never really interacted with my sister much and my real mother, she hated me.”

“That's terrible.” She tried to reach out to him.

Not wanting to get pulled into telling further details, Arthur quietly stepped away as if he hadn't noticed and was going to work on something else. “Perhaps, but it really doesn't matter to me since I'm away from them.” It took more convincing, but he got her to take his word for it.

Shortly after Forte left to continue her patrol, there was an hour with a much larger quake and a few smaller ones. They trailed off after that, getting weaker and more apart until things seemed to settle down in the evening. Arthur joined Lest for an initial survey of the damage. With Doomgale using the air currents to keep an eye on the platform's stability, they found several houses and old shops that had taken damage. The front window of Dolce's shop had cracked, but Bado had already come over with Doug to talk about how to fix the glass.

One building had collapsed almost fully on the west side of town in the residential area. One corner stood with some of the flooring support and a fireplace stack was precariously leaning over when they checked on it. In the debris, Lest pulled out a damaged bell. “Yup, this was the old schoolhouse,” he said, setting the bell aside. “I'd never gone in there, but it seemed like a nice building from the outside.”

“That's a slight setback, but might turn out well,” Arthur said. “With Alice and Auden both being around a year old, then Frey expecting soon and Dolce later on, we are going to need a schoolhouse for the children's education. We don't absolutely need it yet, but four or five years would give us some good time to build a new one for them.”

“We could always hold sessions in the library if things get delayed or more families with children move in,” Lest said. “But we still have to find a teacher or two for that. This is as good an excuse as any to start raising money for the school. I wonder if Bado can fix this bell. It'd be nice to carry part of the old schoolhouse into the new.”

“That'd be something to ask him,” he said.

He nodded. “I'll,” he coughed, “I'll do that.”

“Maybe you should go back in, you seem pale,” Arthur said.

Lest shifted his scarf. “I'm getting better. By the way, have you thought about writing a letter to Briana?”

While he knew from Dylas that Lest was worried about him, this caught him by surprise. “Not really, I don't have much contact with her,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

“That's surprising,” Lest said, although his look suggested that he knew something more. “She's written me a couple of times, asking questions about farming and earthmates. Also about you, the runes showed that she's concerned about you lately. It'd be nice of you to write her when the capitol is in turmoil.”

“I'll consider it,” Arthur said.

As night fell, he had managed to write a short letter to Briana. Arthur couldn't think of much to write her about, so he stuck to asking how she was, how her quest to become an earthmate was going, and how things were in the castle. It made sense to keep her as a good contact, he considered, what with her now being the heir to the throne. While he had other contacts in the royal court still, he might not mind doing some favors for his sister so that she might return some favors in the future.

He could not write the return letter to his father. Every time he tried, he got angry again and couldn't keep that irrational passion out of it. Arthur decided that he'd rather not reply. Instead, he worked on a brief letter to the publisher he was sending Leon's work to. While he wanted to see this published, he did have to warn them that it could be controversial as other earthmate sages might not agree with Frey's decision to sponsor this. He included the counterpoint that it was an important book to publish in hopes that they could slow or even reverse the decline of earthmates if this ancient wisdom was more easily accessible.

Arthur was making sure the manuscript's box was ready to send tomorrow when one of his glasses display cases caught his eye. In spite of the quakes, the case and its contents had not taken damage because he had tied them down securely. That was good. But as he opened it up and took one pair out, he wondered for a moment why he was keeping them all.

Feeling a chill up his spine, he then wondered what brought that wondering on. He liked collecting eyeglasses and it was exciting to get a new one to record data about, sort into its proper case, and enjoy it. They were cute accessories and could make others look cuter as well. Looking at them now, he could recall where he had found them and how he had acquired them. Some of them were simply purchases in markets, but others had taken negotiations and work. Some were even gifts.

And there was that one that started it all, the old battered brown-framed pair that weren't worth selling because one of the lenses was cracked. That had been his mother's glasses. Without even going up to get them, Arthur could close his eyes and remember when he'd gotten them. A cold winter day where the castle's iron gates were coated in glistening ice, they had fallen on the other side of the black bars when she had left in a hurry after one of the court ladies had argued with her. Before they could call him inside, he had reached through the lowest gap of the gate to retrieve them. The ice stung his arm with cold and the one lens had cracked from being thrown down. Then she'd never returned so he could give them back.

Why had he wanted to give them back? Arthur had hoped she might not hate him, maybe that she'd come back if he did this nice thing? But she'd never come back no matter how long he waited. Of course she didn't come back, she hated him and only came to see him because... well, probably because someone had thought it was a good idea and made her do it. Sometimes he wanted to throw those old ones away, or even destroy them. But, what if she came back and he could return them?

Not only that, but the first dozen eyeglasses he had gotten all had brown frames. He even asked for his own initial pair of glasses to have brown frames. Eventually he liked any kind of eyeglasses. But each one in his collection made him secretly wonder, had it been in her hands? Could it also have been hers?

If that's so, then why don't you hate the eyeglasses as well?

Arthur felt that for a moment. Why did he like them when he should hate them for possibly being connected to her? They were always there, a constant reminder of how screwed up his family was. They weren't anything like the caring people he had here. Although most of the royal family wanted nothing to do with him, they still insisted that he be a proper and respectable prince. At least on the outside, like they were most proper in their outer appearance. Arthur might say that he wasn't fond of being a prince when he actually hated the whole charade. They deserved to take the brunt of this meltdown and he should crush these glasses like his mother had crushed him.

“What is going on?” Arthur murmured, some parts of his mind confused by this sudden anger and want for violence. Violence wasn't his way of solving things. Maybe he'd made a mistake skipping two nights in a row of sleep? He knew he could work sleeping every other night when there was a lot to do. He set the glasses back in place and shut the lid to the case, hoping that would quiet these outbursts in his mind.

But his mind wondered back to the question of why he was keeping all of these glasses. Collecting things was a normal activity, even if his collection was a bit odd. If it was founded on an erroneous idea that was starting to cause trouble, would it be better to not have them?

* * *

 

Winter 65

Something wasn't right. Forte could feel it, but couldn't pin down what was wrong. If this was a battlefield or outside of town, she'd know what was wrong. But this was Arthur's office so it wasn't what she was used to picking out as wrong. Maybe it was this quiet between her and Arthur when they had sat down to share some tea and conversation over a break. While that was making her worried, it didn't seem to be the whole problem.

“Oh, have you seen the quilts that Dolce's sewing circle have been putting together?” she asked, partly to fill the quiet. “They've got some really pretty ones. When I dropped by to see how they were doing last, they had finished the baby blanket quilts for Frey's twins. Some of the fabric patches were really adorable, like a fuzzy yellow with daisies on it, or the green one with woolies. Although she was saying that she didn't want to go overboard cute or she thought Leon would be pouty about having to deal with it.”

“He might,” Arthur said, although he was looking into his tea cup.

“Sorry, am I boring you?” Forte asked. “I know I'm usually not chatty, but I feel like that around you.”

Somehow, that startled him. “Oh, no, no! You're fine, I like listening to you.” He looked over at her and smiled. But even the smile didn't seem right. “I really don't mind.”

“That's good,” she said, glancing around as that feeling that something wasn't right persisted. In that, she finally got a hint in an empty surface. “Hey, didn't you used to have a display case here for your eyeglasses? The fashion ones, if I remember right.”

His smile briefly seemed more authentic. “Yes, they were there.”

“Did they get damaged in the earthquakes?” That might be why he wasn't the same as usual.

“No, I got them all tied down in time,” Arthur said. “But I got to thinking over things and decided to donate the collection to the charity that wanted the eyeglasses.”

She briefly thought that that was good of him, but then some of his wording played back in mind and gave her the chills. “Wait a moment, you mean you turned over your whole collection over to them?”

He nodded. “Yes, they were needed more elsewhere. I've got three of my own prescription left, as well as a pair of rune sight glasses and the really old ones that wouldn't be useful to them anyhow. That's all I really need.”

“But all of the rest of them?” Forte asked, not quite believing it. But now that she looked for them, the other display cases were no longer in the room either. “You were so proud of them and even said that you didn't mind paying some extra to get them. And you just donated all of them?”

“Is that really so strange?” Arthur asked.

“Yes, that isn't like you. Is something wrong? I can't imagine you changing something like that so abruptly.” How many eyeglasses was that to give away? The charity might be grateful for the surprise, but, “You'd said that picking a small set to donate was like pulling teeth.”

He shrugged. “That conversation and others made me reconsider why I was treasuring them so much and I simply decided that I didn't need them. That's it, nothing wrong with it.”

“There is a lot wrong with it,” Forte said sharply. “You're avoiding telling me something, aren't you? You aren't talking with me like we usually do and you're acting like you're fine when you obviously aren't. Do you even remember what we were talking about before I noticed the glasses were gone?”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of it?” Arthur snapped. “I said that there's nothing wrong and there's nothing wrong.”

That shook her, reminding her of some of her arguments with her brother in the past. She was trying to make things right only to do it all wrong. “I'm just trying to help you like you helped me before,” she said, holding back on a want to cry. “It hurts me to see you in pain when you deny it so hard, but I can tell something's not right with you.”

“Why do you care so much?” he asked, right as something that sounded like chains being pulled taunt tore through the room. They both tensed at that, but weren't prepared for the chains to materialize from Arthur's wrists. Quickly, the chains grew wrapped around his head, snapping the glasses he was wearing into two. The chains loosened and dropped to around his shoulders, but he had cuts on his face now.

“Arthur!” Forte leaned over the table and used a curative spell on the cuts. But the chains had already shifted into a state where they could be seen and not touched. “I love you Arthur, that's why I want to know,” she said.

“You're lying, that's never the truth,” he said, hysterical now. But he didn't push her away when she came around the table to hug him.

* * *

 

“There was damage here reported from the earthquake, but Bado says it's easily fixed,” Lest said, showing Leon and Frey around one of the uninhabited houses near the library that wasn't currently housing some of the Sechs refugees. There weren't many of those, but Nancy believed that their children could be born as early as Winter 75 now. That didn't leave them much time to see if the refugees would be called back home.

“What kind of damage are we talking about?” Leon asked, right before the sound of chains broke through the air. Leon immediately put his arm on Frey and looked around warily.

Knowing that she would be fine, Lest looked down at his hand and saw ethereal chains grow so fast from his wrists that they seemed to lash around him and wrap around his neck. It didn't choke him, soon falling loosely there. So it was starting... a brief laugh that didn't even feel like himself came from his lips, so he closed his eyes. No, he had to keep control or this risk would accomplish nothing.

“Lest, what's going on?” Frey asked, coming over and taking his left arm.

He looked at her. “Are you okay? I had a feeling this was going to happen soon.”

“I'm fine, but the love hell gate must be active now,” she said, worried.

“What about the other one?” Leon asked.

Lest put his right hand on the binding on his left arm. “If it's not attached to you... we should really check on Arthur, he's the most vulnerable one in town right now. I'll be fine waiting, but he could be in trouble.” He knew Arthur was in trouble; he could only hope that they could pull him out of it quickly.


	124. Transient Vision

Winter 65

There was a calming presence trying to touch him. Watching it, Arthur felt a little like he did when he was tracking marketplace data. There was certainty out there, he just had to find the right connection and causation. Where was he? He had been having tea with Forte, listening to her although it became her voice he heard rather than her words. Now, he found himself on a couch in his bedroom, feeling tired and drained. Forte was sitting next to him, with Porcoline, Dylas, Frey, Leon, and Lest also in the room. Lest had to be the calming presence. Although, Lest wasn't talking with the others. He was leaning against a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room, chains coming from his wrists to hang around his chest.

Chains? There were some on Arthur too, not heavy physically but they had some kind of presence just like what Lest was doing. Spiritual weight? These weren't matters that Arthur dealt with. But how did he get from there to here? Reviewing his memory, he found that something had gone haywire. He still felt like things were haywire, still all kinds of thoughts trying to get his attention even though some kind of stuffy dullness like being sick was in his head. Was this an emotional meltdown? It didn't seem like himself, at least who he tried to be. The thoughts he kept to himself, all of those had broken out at once.

“It needs earthmate magic and now that they both are linked to the gates, we should have a means of getting them out,” Frey said.

“I still don't like this,” Leon said, taking her hand.

“Don't like what?” Arthur said, looking up at them.

“Arthur, you're back with us!” Porco said, smiling but still really concerned about him.

“I'm sorry if I caused you trouble,” Forte said, squeezing his hand. Had she been holding that all along?

“No, I...” what did he want to say? He wasn't even sure how he felt. Afraid, angry, ashamed, alone... “it's, uh, hard to say, especially when my head feels stuffy.” Arthur rubbed his head, wondering if he was getting sick.

“It's been coming for some time,” Lest said, still across the room. “Have you been having thoughts that don't seem like yourself and would be very hurtful if someone said them to you?”

Now that it had been said, Arthur felt like there was no point denying it. “Yes, at times when I was alone. But this whole mess with my family and the newspaper articles was making me so angry that I thought it was just rash ideas. I was trying to keep rational and reasonable.”

“Was it at night?” Frey asked. “That's when people say they hear Storgane.”

“I think so,” he said, although something was occurring to him. “That's right, I,” he put his hand on the glasses he was wearing. Hadn't they broke? No, this was a different pair; the shape of the frame was different. “It was one of those ideas that led me to giving my collection away. I'm sorry, Forte, you were right, I just didn't see it because it seemed like my own idea at the time.”

“What, you gave your glasses away?” Porco asked, shocked but not as melodramatic as he tended to be. This was making him more serious than usual. “Why? You loved them.”

That made him feel guilty and somehow defenseless, which unnerved Arthur more. Only Lest's presence might have been keeping him from breaking down again. “I can't explain it. But what were you talking about?”

“But,” Forte said.

“Don't push the issue now, please,” Lest said, starting to sound tired.

“Should we leave?” Dylas asked him, going over to him. Lest just shook his head and kept concentrating on what he was doing.

“Well, all right,” Frey said, although she didn't seem to like it. “This is surprising that when Storgane decided to take out the last two hell gates, he linked one to you rather than me.”

That was right, things could have turned really tragic if the two gates became active with Frey linked to one so late into her pregnancy. “I suppose it is better he took me,” Arthur said, although he wasn't sure he would have offered himself if given the choice.

“Well it's bad any way and I would have rather taken it myself later in spring,” she said. “Since you two are linked to active gates, we need to alter our plans. We don't want to send you into your hell gate without someone who can get you out. I can't do that now and Lest shouldn't unless he can break his gate first. Similarly, we don't want to send Lest into his gate alone. That at least has the simple answer of sending Dylas with him due to the gate's element, but then Lest might have some troubles getting them both out depending on what happens.”

“Basically, we want a back up means of getting everyone home,” Forte said. “But the spell Lest knows, he was forbidden to teach. Frey says she knows of an item that can return a person home from anywhere, even the Forest of Beginnings as long as the person is actually alive, but two of them would have to be made and that's where we were stuck.”

Frey nodded, seeming regretful. “The Returning Ring is a high level craft that requires an earthmate to make it, with the exception of divine inspiration or stupidly high amounts of luck. And I'd have to refine all the materials to make it in the first place with alchemy. I could have Kiel take care of some of the alchemy processes, but I'm pretty sure one of the materials also requires earthmate magic. We were trying to figure out how to manage this since none of the others have a high enough crafting level to do this and if I make them, I have to be really cautious.”

High level crafting when the crafter might not be entirely capable... something almost clicked in Arthur's mind, even as it seemed like he was in a daze. Looking over at Lest, he remembered that Lest had a means of calming others through his love magic. That was probably the main reason Arthur felt in a daze rather than out of control again. Friendship was a form of love and... that made the connection clear. He was in control, even just a little bit. “Wasn't there something you were telling me about in the Book of Guidance?” Arthur asked Leon. “Joint crafting?”

His eyes widened at that. “Oh... right, I remember! I told you about it because I wasn't sure if it was a real thing or part of that particular story. If it does work, that would let us get the returning rings quickly.”

“I've heard of that being done but I never thought to try it for myself,” Frey said, looking up at Leon. “Never had a reason to. But that would pull the cost crafting off me, and onto you. Though that might wipe you out, I'd have to check the recipe to know.”

“Better me than you and the kids,” he said. “Let's go find that passage and the recipe; I hope you have the materials.”

“I should,” she said as she took his hand and they started out.

“Wait a sec,” Dylas said, turning to them. “I'll stick with Lest, but you should ask Volkanon to make some relax tea for both of you before doing this. I've noticed that it has an effect of boosting the rune energy for magic far better than anything else, so that should help.”

“I usually make smoothies, but if that's what you notice, we'll do that, thanks,” Frey said, waving to them before heading out.

“I-I came in to try getting you calmed enough to think clearly again,” Lest said, putting a hand on the bookshelf and finally looking over at him. “But I... don't think...”

“Sorry, I'll take him back home,” Dylas said, going over to take Lest's arm to support him.

“Take good care of Lest now,” Porco said as the two of them left as well. Then he turned to them. “Well that's one problem solved, but I don't think any of us want to see you two go through such a personal challenge in this state.”

“I'm sorry,” Arthur said, not sure what else to say. “Especially about snapping at you, Forte. I just haven't felt like myself for a while, but I didn't think I was being influenced by other beings.”

“It's okay, I should be the one to apologize for not handling it well,” she said. “I can handle monsters and physical enemies just fine, but I'm not sure what to do to help you. But I will listen if you'll talk about what's bothering you.”

“It's really not healthy to keep painful things secured that tightly,” Porcoline said. “Because eventually they'll erupt out like an overstuffed pie in the oven.”

It should be an amusing analogy, but Arthur didn't feel like he could be amused right now. “I guess. It's complicated, although you've seen a part of it in the newspapers already. I wasn't ever a legitimate prince and the whole court knew it. Even so, they told me to act like one and keep up the appearance everyone wanted for the royal family.” Something else came into mind while he was trying to figure out how to talk about this. “Oh, but Porco, I seem to remember meeting you once years ago, when the restaurant had a different name.”

“You know, I remembered that myself a while ago but never found a good chance to talk with you about it,” he said. “That would be back when I still worked with my father.”

“Do you remember what happened?” he asked.

“Some of it, at least when your family visited our restaurant,” he said. “We certainly didn't recognize that the high king had paid us a visit at the time, though I recognized him the second time around this year. It was you as a boy although you didn't have glasses at the time, but it was the name I ended up remembering because Arthur Lest is an unusual pair. And your father Greg being very jovial and exchanging some good puns with us, and then your mother Chantalle as just a sweet little lady who was smiling all the time; she told us that you'd been out to the cave near town to write your names in there. You all seemed like the very image of a happy family.”

“That is my mother's name, Chantalle,” Arthur said, feeling like his heart was breaking again. Some part of him wanted to get angry or cold, or something to get the others away. But the thought of being alone, especially with Forte leaving, hurt even more and he couldn't keep himself from crying. Forte put her arm around him to pull him closer.

Porcoline must have excused himself for some reason, although Arthur forgot what he said about it as soon as he left because his mind was still a haze. “Arthur?” Forte said. “Would you tell me about your family now?”

He thought for a moment that he couldn't trust anyone with that story. Not even his father. Yet he really wanted to talk about it. That is, if... “When you go home tonight, will you come see me tomorrow? And all the tomorrows after that?”

“Yes, I will,” she said, brushing her fingers across his hair.

“I keep being afraid that I won't see you some tomorrow,” he admitted. “But to explain that, I do have to tell you. Over my life, I've heard a lot of conflicting stories about my real mother. The traditions of the court do allow a king to take a lover or two outside of marriage as a courtesan, not a wife. But that's meant for times when the queen is incapable of producing an heir, which was clearly not the case when Saria had three children already when my father brought her into the court. Everyone overlooked the matter, just keeping people outside the castle from knowing.”

“It keeps sounding like to me that the king and queen had no love for each other at all,” Fore said.

He nodded. “I only ever saw them together when they had to appear together in public; they avoided each other in private. I did hear that Saria got jealous of how much attention he paid to Chantalle. Some people said that my mother was a floozy that had worked in a bar and that Gregory only loved for her looks. Others said that she was a gentle and sweet woman who couldn't hurt anyone, and that they had a very romantic relationship they didn't try to hide. Then others said that she might have loved the king, but she was easily bullied and cried a lot.”

“What do you remember about her?”

That was one problem. “I could never be sure,” he admitted. “I remember sometimes when I was very young that I was happy with her and she taught me to be kind. But then our trip to Selphia, it was a moment that seems like a dream. If I take it for a dream, then it seems okay as a nice fantasy. But if I take it for real, it's really painful to remember and I keep wanting to ask one of them why we did that. It was supposed to keep us as a happy family, that's what the folk tales say. But they took me out here for my eighth birthday and sometime before that autumn came, she disappeared from the castle.”

“What happened to her?” Forte sounded unsettled at this.

Since she was, the story was easier for Arthur to tell. “I didn't know. I'm still not sure of it. Maybe it was because I was a child who didn't see the whole picture, but one day she was there talking to me about my lessons and the next day she was nowhere to be found. That's when I remember getting told to treat Saria as my mother, only she told me to keep quiet, take care of myself, and never bother her. I only ever saw her smiling at me when at a public event and I picked up quickly that she didn't mean what she did or said to me in front of others. Whenever I asked what happened to my real mother, nobody would answer me, not even my father. He would just sigh and tell me to attend to my duties as a prince, including not crying about things or throwing a tantrum. I had to keep quiet, polite, and well-mannered.

“Then in the following winter, I finally got told that Chantalle had come to visit me. I went right to see her and I can remember a lot of that: it was so cold that my breath turned white right by my face and the castle gates had a shiny coating of ice. They didn't open the gates, so it was me inside the castle grounds and her outside by the snowy road. But even with her there, I still didn't get answers to my questions. She had taken her glasses off and reached through the gate to take hold of my chin. But, she looked at me like she hated me.”

“But that doesn't make sense,” she said.

“It never did to me either, but that's what happened,” he said. “She came back for a few days and kept doing the same thing; I kept asking her to come back, or what was happening, or what was wrong. She told me that we couldn't be together because we didn't belong to the same places. And the last time, she told me that people are not to be trusted. Shortly after that, one of the ladies of the court yelled at her and there was a brief argument where mother threw her glasses down in anger. Some days I got to the gate ahead of her and she would come out of the carriage with her glasses, but then take them right off when she met with me like she couldn't even stand the sight of me. She hurried off after the argument, but left her glasses behind.”

“Then that old pair is really your mother's?” Forte asked.

He nodded. “Right, they're hers. Sorry I lied about it earlier, but I could never make up my mind about them. I never saw her after that day and there were many times when I wanted to throw those glasses away like she did me. But, I couldn't bear to part with them at the same time. I kept having this thought of if she came back, I could give them back and she'd forgive me and everything would be okay again. Or if I got a better pair to return, she'd love me again. Or maybe any of the others in my collection had been hers at one point. Even my work as a trader, I have to talk to many people and find many things. There's always a thought in back of my mind that maybe with this deal, or maybe if I do better, I'll find her again. She hated me and yet I was still looking for her. I must seem really ridiculous about that.”

Forte didn't seem sure of herself. “Well I went to some ridiculous lengths trying to impress my parents even after they died. And, did you ever get your answers about why she left or what was actually going on in all this? Porco at least thought she was sweet and they brought you out here to celebrate one of your birthdays. There must be something you don't know still, so I could see why you'd still be hoping to find her.”

“I would like to know finally, but,” the chains on him shifted, like the ones near his neck might try to choke him. While trying to tug at one, Arthur said, “Back this autumn when my father visited on business, I briefly overheard him speaking to Art. At first he seemed like he was just trying to convince Art to return to duty at the capitol, but then Art said that he knew where my mother is.”

“He knows?” she said, surprised.

“That was the first I heard of it,” he said. “He didn't even say anything to me when he left the room and found me in the hallway, or anything since then. But he did say that Chantalle does not want to speak to my father right now. I haven't tried to talk to Art since and any time I think of asking him, I feel afraid. Of what he could tell me or what my mother might say, or even what I'd say to her. But then my father has been trying to get me to be more personal in our letters ever since that visit. I can't reply to him because I get angry just looking at those letters, like he's trying to use me to find out where my mother is when Art won't tell him but he might tell me.

“Then I started having those thoughts that were just a bit off but not enough for me to suspect them until Lest mentioned it.” He almost laughed at himself, but ended up sobbing. “Th-this isn't the first time I've felt how badly screwed up my life is, when I really hate how people think I'm lucky to be born a prince. But I usually get myself out of it. Never thought about how, I just went to my normal routine and got back to normal. This time those thoughts made me question why I was keeping all the glasses when I hate the person who started it all for hating me, so I got rid of them. But I couldn't let my mother's glasses go even at those dark thoughts and once the rest were gone, things started unraveling in my mind. I don't know what to do.”

After a moment where she was just holding him, Forte said, “I'm really not sure myself. It's going to be hard, but couldn't you talk to Art about this? Even if you don't end up talking to your mother, he must know something more that could clear things up.” She squeezed him tighter. “I could go with you to talk to him, like tomorrow, when you've had some time to calm down.”

“You will come see me tomorrow?” he asked.

“I will, I promise,” she said.

* * *

 

“I nearly was made to throw these away too,” Arthur said, holding onto his mother's glasses now. “That was where I was most suspicious of those thoughts. But no, it wasn't a voice outside me, it was in my mind.”

“That's different from what my father wrote,” Forte said. But as she did, she noticed something about the glasses. “Wait, those... you told me they were prescription?”

“Yes, she could hardly see without them,” he said. He started to shift them to the side, but then looked at the back part instead.

She had to shift his hand so they weren't. “But those are straight lenses, aren't they? The ones you see in the fashion glasses.”

“What?” While Forte thought it was a strange thing for him to miss, Arthur did seem confused. “But... some can be slight. No, those would be reading glasses and wouldn't be needed for everything. That doesn't make sense now, why would anyone fake needing them?”

A lot of his story didn't make sense to her. Like how a mother could suddenly hate her own child. Forte's own mother wasn't happy with her life as a housewife, but she still loved her and Kiel. “Maybe that was the only way she could get you close enough to touch you?” she suggested. “If people in the palace didn't like her, then they might have only let her come see you from a distance. But if she made them think she couldn't see well, they would have had to bring you over to prove it was you.”

“But then she would have wanted to see me, but I thought...” he grimaced and for a moment, the chains shifted on their own. That made Arthur stand up. “We're not going to get answers just trying to think about it. Art would be the one most likely to know the truth. I, I need to know it, before this gate tries to find me.”

She got up from the couch and nodded. “He should have the evening patrol now, so we're most likely to find him somewhere outside. Get a warmer cloak, you're going to need it.”

As they were headed down the stairs into Arthur's office, Kiel and Xiao came in the front door. “Oh, hi guys!” Kiel said. “We were just looking for you.”

“Oh yes, this is good timing,” Xiao said.

“What is it?” Forte asked. “We were going out to find Art.”

“Um, I think I saw him out on the eastern walkway by the airfield stairs,” Kiel said, taking something out of his pocket. It was a simple black ring at first glance, but a flash in the black showed that it had a barely visible inscription. “But here you go, a Returning Ring! Me and Frey could just manage to get two of them together. You should hold onto it Forte.”

“That's good, thank you.” She felt glad they were going to let her accompany Arthur into the hell gate. She'd be able to protect him from whatever he needed to do in there. “How does it work?”

“You need to wear the ring and be holding onto Arthur as you say the activation word, 'aria',” he explained. “Just be careful, because there's a good chance that it will break upon use; not even a recharging spell will work on it then.”

“Oh, but Frey has a request, yes?” Xiao said. “When Lest was working with the earlier gates, he came back with strange leaves from magical trees. The gates would break from within and they would be pulled to the trees. She would like you to bring back a leaf from the new tree.”

“How will we know which one is the new one?” Forte asked.

“It'd be the light element one, since that's the hell gate you're going in,” Kiel said. “The best thing is if you feel prepared to break it, Arthur, because Leon is learning the gate summoning spell and can bring it up intentionally. But you should have the ring on hand just in case.”

“I know, we're working on that,” Arthur said. “Thanks for helping get it together so quickly.”

“No problem, we're all cheering for you to succeed,” Kiel said.

“Yes, yes, good luck,” Xiao added.

As they headed south along the snowy roads, Forte kept Arthur's hand so they were close. “I'm glad you're keeping your head clear after this troubling day.”

“Well I don't feel all that clear,” he said, then squeezed her hand. “But there's something about having these chains that makes it clear that I must do something. It helps that you're here; I feel like I can finally face this instead of standing back and never being sure.”

Then he did trust her, in spite of how he thought he couldn't trust anyone. Forte smiled at him, then went back to looking for Art. While the other two had seen him on the eastern walkway at the edge of town, they found him outside of the general store heading towards the plaza. “Art!” she called, tugging at Arthur to walk quicker to meet with him. “Would you speak with us?”

The old knight looked back at then, then nodded. “Yes. What is it?”

After being nudged to talk, Arthur said, “Well, I overheard you and father speaking when he was visiting here, that you knew where my mother was and she didn't want to be found. Why is that?”

“She didn't want to speak to Gregory because she knew he'd try to talk her into returning to the castle,” he said. “She doesn't want that. She did want to contact you, but only if you wanted to contact her.”

“Then where is she?” Arthur asked.

“At a home for the mentally ill,” Art said. “If you want the story behind that, we had best go to the knight's office. It's too long to be out here on a snowy night.”

Forte felt worried for a moment given how he'd spoken of hating her before. But on hearing this, he did look concerned and nodded without hesitation. Entering the servant's part of the castle, they went up to the second floor where a small meeting room and office for the knights was. Volkanon appeared in the hall before they even got there, offering to bring them some hot tea. Art asked for it to be in mugs they could take outside, then went into the office.

Tidy as always, the office had a desk and cabinet in one corner as a workspace. The rest of the room had a green carpet with the sign of the Dragon Knight in the center, as well as tables, chairs, and a chalkboard that could be moved around as needed for a discussion. They brought three chairs over to the large window overlooking the town plaza. On the window, frost patterns were starting to build up on foggy glass. The room itself was warm with no cool drafts slipping in.

“I had left service a couple years before you were born, but had been a close friend to Gregory before then,” Art said. “As such, he wrote for some time even on personal matters. One time he asked me to rescue a young woman named Chantalle from some thugs who had kidnapped her to a forest near the capitol. Corrin was with me at the time, so we got her freed. On questioning the thugs, we found that they'd been hired by Queen Saria to get rid of her.”

“The queen is really that vindictive?” Forte asked, shocked to hear this.

Art nodded. “She can be a powerful ally, but a dangerous woman to cross. Corrin and I had already left the court, so we brought Chantalle back to the castle and told Saria that if we heard she was involved in any more kidnappings, we would bring her crimes to light. Because we had rescued Chantalle and stood up for her, she really liked us and said that she might name her child after us. It also meant that when I found her years later as a patient at the home, she trusted me enough to ask if I would listen to the rest of her story. Arthur, I'm sure you know how much pressure there is on people living and working in the castle of the high king.”

“Yes, there are a lot of people who only look for ways to increase their own influence,” he said. “They'll flatter whoever might help, trod on those who might get in their way, and criticize those who'd compete with them. Mistakes will get caught and ridiculed no matter how minor they may be. There's a lot of pressure to be perfect.”

“You have to be tough to work in that kind of environment, much less live there,” Art said. “Even the toughest of characters can break with all the pressure that court currently has. It's not healthy. Unfortunately, Chantalle was not prepared to deal with it when Gregory invited her there as a courtesan. She thought she was going to find a better life. But while there may be little actual love in Gregory and Saria's marriage, the queen is easily made jealous by any woman who might be a threat to her position. She never minded it if he had lovers outside the castle; neither of them minded that and sometimes Greg tolerated her lovers being inside. Saria would not and made sure that Chantalle was pressured and bullied.”

“Wouldn't he have protected her?” Forte asked. The situation wasn't right, but if Gregory had loved Chantalle, he should have protected her.

“He may have tried, but he couldn't protect her from the gossip and verbal abuse that Saria and her followers used most often,” he said. “Chantalle is a kindhearted woman that doesn't like to hurt another's feelings even if they're hurting her. She endured the best she could, especially after you were born. However, she couldn't take the pressure and her mental and physical health deteriorated. Greg had hoped that taking her and you out of the castle for a few days to visit Selphia would help. She did say that being here was one of the happiest times of her life.”

“Then that was real,” Arthur said quietly. Forte clasped his hand again, for which he did smile a little at.

Art went on with an unfortunate turn. “Even so, that break was not nearly enough as she had to go right back into that mess. It only took a couple of weeks until she ran to Greg's office one evening and told him that she was going to kill you and herself.”

“She wanted to do that?” Arthur said, his face paling at the news. Forte felt a chill herself at the thought.

The old knight shook his head. “No, she didn't want to. But that was why she told him. She was thinking about it, by that point many times a day, in order to escape the cruelty of so many in the court towards her. While she did feel desperate, she was afraid that she'd actually do it and the only way she saw to get out of it was to go into hysterics and threaten to do so that the knights would arrest her. She'd already lost rational thought at that point, but she loved you enough that she was either going to take you with her or put herself to execution so that you would live.”

As Arthur trembled and couldn't say something more, Forte asked, “How did she get out of being imprisoned or executed for that?”

“Because Greg got her to a doctor and judge who both declared her unfit for trial before Saria heard what happened,” he said. “Chantalle was placed in a hospital in the capitol at first, in mid summer. By mid-winter, she had improved enough that she was allowed to visit you. She wanted to apologize and try to explain things, but just the sight of the castle made her unstable again and she had trouble talking to you. She told me that she wasn't even sure what she had said at that time but was afraid it was something hurtful because her own thoughts were turning back to dark places. After one of Saria's friends saw her and yelled at her for coming close to you, Chantalle had another breakdown at the hospital and was restricted to her room. Greg tried to visit her, but that only made her request to be transferred to another hospital as soon as she could without his knowledge.”

“How's she doing now?” Forte asked.

“I last saw her early autumn last year,” Art said. “She's stable enough that she's allowed to cook food and help feed more troubled patients, as well as have some independence in being on her own in the town she lives in. But she still has to live there and may always be at risk for depression and psychotic episodes. She shouldn't return to the castle since things sound like they haven't changed and it's probably for the best if we keep this between ourselves for the time being.”

The story told, Art soon left them to resume his patrol. The two of them stayed in the knights office for a couple of hours discussing it and what was to come. Things seemed promising for Arthur being ready to have his hell gate summoned intentionally tomorrow. But as Forte headed back home from walking him back to the restaurant, she wondered if the night would help or hinder him. Storgane might try to talk with him again.


	125. Hell Gate of Light

Winter 66

As Forte was eating her breakfast, she thought again at how quiet and empty this place seemed living in it alone. This was a place for a large family, multiple generations living here together. It had been like that for a brief while, when her grandmother had still been alive. But she had passed away shortly after Kiel was born. Since Forte lived here alone, she didn't have the time to tend to all the rooms, just the ones she used most. How had Kiel kept up this whole place on his own after their mother had died? Forte wondered if he had felt lonely being here when she and their father were out training. He probably had, even though he'd always had a smile on his face. Now, he did have many reasons to smile, living and working at his own business with Xiao there at his side.

For herself, she had to make sure to drop by Arthur's office as soon as it was reasonable. She had promised to come, plus she was worried about him. After cleaning up from breakfast, she prepared to go out on patrol today. A note slipped into her room as she was adjusting her armor over her winter clothes. From the mark on it, it was a notice from the order tablet Lest had. 'A blizzard warning is in effect for at least two days, expected to arrive early afternoon. Please make sure all residents have gotten the warning and are prepared for storm. Visitors are to be advised to leave town by noon to avoid the airfield being locked down for the duration of the storm.'

That was troubling. They'd been doing good lately with keeping ahead of bad storms, not getting the warning out this close. Then again, it had been Arthur who had been predicting the storms with his scrying glass and he had not been himself for a while. Forte finished up her preparation, including making sure she was wearing the Returning Ring, then hurried out to check on everyone.

The inn did not have many guests due to it being winter, but what ones were there were hurrying to catch the last few airships flying out of town. In the restaurant, Porcoline and Dylas were already drilling the two new waiters on how they handled service during a bad storm. They had several pots cooking so that they could deliver hot meals in case power was lost in town. Both the inn and restaurant were close to being prepared for the storm already, in part because they had notice boards inside that would be checked first thing in the morning.

Down the hall, she found Arthur already in his office. “Hello, Arthur,” she said, smiling at him. “Quite a morning we're having.”

He still had the chains on him, but he smiled back at her. “Hello Forte. I'm sorry I didn't pick up on this storm building sooner. I seem to think that there weren't many signs of it, but I probably missed something.”

“It's okay, at least we didn't wake up to it already going,” she said, stopping by his desk. “How are you doing? Did you manage to sleep last night?”

“I slept just fine, although that's partly because I asked Dylas to help me out,” he said. “I figured if the old dragon is most likely to speak to me alone and at night, I was better off sleeping as much as I could until dawn. Although I had some unsettling dreams that I'm trying not to remember.”

“That's probably for the best,” she said.

Right then, the front door to Arthur's office opened as Lest came in. “Good morning,” he said, to which his chains shifted audibly. “At least relatively so. Sorry to barge in, but there's something I wanted to tell you about Arthur.”

“I should be going since I need to make sure everyone's getting ready,” Forte said, but something she'd been thinking of came back to her. “Um, Arthur? I can't imagine you can get much of your work done in a blizzard, so if you want, you could come stay at my place for a while.”

“Going for a romantic shut-in since you'd be in that old place alone otherwise?” Lest asked in a teasing way.

“No, I just figured it'd be hard to get around once the storm gets going,” she said, embarrassed but trying not to show it.

Arthur smiled again at that. “I'll give it some thought,” he said, then invited Lest to take a seat so they could talk. As Forte left, she thought to herself that she knew they'd stay honorable; it certainly wasn't the right time to be getting up to intimate matters with Arthur having a lot on his mind and chains on his spirit. Although, what would they be talking about?

For the time being, Forte headed down to the shops, the lab the Sechs scientists used, and Meg and Wendy's home to make sure they were getting prepared. Lest had sent out the alert, so Forte simply made sure from Vishnal that they had things handled at the castle. They'd already pulled the ceiling cover to the central room closed. Then she had to check on many people in the residential area, from the clinic to all the refugees there.

As she was doing so, she came across Sven. “Isn't it a bit late for you to be up in the day?” she asked.

“Usually, but there's no way I can sleep today,” he said. “I've been having the feeling for a couple hours now that Lest is in danger. Not immediate or I'd be with him. But I'm checking over the town and trying to find what feels out of place before the blizzard strikes. I'll be staying over in the castle with Clorica and the others after that.”

“Good luck in that,” she said. “I saw Lest earlier today. Both he and Arthur didn't seem too out of sorts in spite of having those chains. What are you finding?”

Sven shrugged. “Something doesn't seem right with the wind. Doomgale and Amber agree with me, but none of us are sure what. And whenever I look at these clouds, I feel even more like something's not right. It might just be the blizzard itself, but I don't remember feeling like this during the typhoon earlier this year.”

“Have you asked Wendy yet? She has more experience than them from her time as Ventuswill, so she might know.”

“Not yet, but I'll be sure to do that.”

Knowing that Sven was alert to keeping an eye on Lest made Forte worry more about Arthur. It probably would be best if she could get him to come to her home for the storm. After parting with Sven, Forte checked on the last of the refugees, on Kiel (he was shutting down his lab and apartment to stay at the inn with Xiao and Lin Fa), and the library. There, Leon and Frey asked her to use an enchanted map of the underground tunnels and make sure it was possible for them to reach the clinic without going outside. They didn't think the time was right, but it was best to make sure for them.

Once Forte arrived in the basement of the clinic and let Jones know, he then asked her how many of the buildings could be reached through the tunnels from there. While several of the occupied homes didn't have a direct connection, the map showed passages to other buildings that could access the clinic. That would be important in case of emergencies, so Forte quickly returned to the library to give them the okay to use them and ask to keep the map in case she had to act as a guide. Then she decided to head to the castle to let them know that she'd made her rounds and had the map.

She'd found Volkanon and Lest in the former's office. “In case anyone has trouble during the storm, I can accompany them to get help and find a safer location. I ran into no monsters while traveling them so far today, but there might be some.”

“That's good, I should make sure people know,” Lest said, rubbing his chin. “Later on, we might want to find a way to put in some lights, make sure it's usable.”

“It would be a handy resource,” Volkanon agreed. “If there's other copies of the map, then we should see to getting them to people who could use them now, like the restaurant crew.”

“You'd have to ask Leon, he can make copies,” Forte said. “Oh, and Lest, I was just wondering, what were you talking about with Arthur earlier?”

“What do you mean?” Lest asked, raising an eyebrow. “I haven't seen Arthur today.”

Startled, she began to feel really worried now. “But I saw you in his office myself when I went to check on them. That was, a little before eight hundred hours.”

“That can't be,” Volkanon said. “I was out helping Lest with making sure his fields were protected since dawn, then we came in to finish off the preparations inside.”

“We should figure out where Arthur is, I have a bad feeling about this,” Lest said.

Agreeing with him, Forte hurried off to the Sainte Coquille manor. Arthur was no longer there.

* * *

 

After Forte left, Lest did indeed tell him something interesting. “It's nothing that big, but something Dylas and I noticed yesterday,” he said. “I was restless after we were talking up in your room, so we went out on a walk at the edges of Yokmir Woods. We found that old cave entrance that used to be the focus of that love superstition years ago.” He smiled. “It might have been some time, but the runes there were still unusually dense with the love element.”

“It's a short ways past the main path people use to get into the woods, right?” Arthur asked. In spite of what had gone on yesterday, just the mention of the place stirred up old feelings. “Though I suppose you would recognize it from the runes.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that's the place. It was supposed to be inaccessible due to the collapse last year. But when we were there, there was a decent sized entrance into the place. Not too big, Dylas had to duck to get in there. The earthquakes a few days ago probably shook a lot of the rubble out of place.”

“You could get back in there?” he asked, those feelings getting stronger. It reminded him of the whole reason he'd gone on that assessment trip when it didn't have much to do with his trade business: he'd been planning on going to check the back wall to see what of his memories had been right, if their names were there. But he'd not been far in when the collapse happened.

“We don't know how far in you can get since we had to get back into town in decent time,” Lest said. “But that was a big attraction around here with tourists even during the worse parts of the former rulers, right? It'd be nice if we could assess how stable it is and if it can be traversed again.”

There were some good reasons to put off such an assessment, the most immediate being the building blizzard. But a powerful need to be sure was louder than anything else in his heart. With Lest offering to come along in case of monsters (he'd scaled Darryl's tower alone, he would be able to handle anything in the Yokmir Caves), Arthur got his winter cloak and boots to head out with him. They took the elevator down to the airfield, then followed the slope upward towards the road alongside the forest. Lest talked along the way, but Arthur found it hard to keep up with his conversation. Although he felt something wasn't quite right, he kept wondering what he'd find inside the cave instead.

When they got there, it turned out to be true. When he'd come out here early this past spring, this place had been little more than a small hill with a thick pack of rock and mud. Grasses and moss had already been growing there. Now, there was still a lump of rocky earth, but a narrow short passage into the hill was back. The slope down was rough with fallen rubble and the initial entrance tunnel was narrower. But they'd gotten back in.

“Got a light spell?” Lest asked.

“Oh, yes,” Arthur said, snapping his fingers to summon an orb of bright light. It was usually slightly yellow, but today had come out an icy blue.

“Good, I thought so,” he said, going a bit further in. “Doesn't seem too bad so far, at least by the runes. Want to go see what it's like further in?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. But, that did give him a momentary pause. “I've been wanting to come in here for a while now. Now that I'm here, I have this uncanny feeling like it's a dream.”

“It's not a dream,” he said, reaching over and giving him a small pinch on his left hand. Arthur felt it, but from the overly long sleeved cloak Lest was wearing, he got a quick glimpse of a dark colored hand with sharp black fingernails. That wasn't just dirt from his farm work, that was black like coal. Or was that his imagination? Lest waved to him, but the sleeves obscured his hands again. “Come on, let's go see.”

The feeling of being in a dream wasn't helped any by the patches of ice within the tunnel. Then snow appeared even though no sunlight came through to them. The old support structures were still standing this far in, although rubble from the quakes was littered about. While the entrance would need a lot of work, this portion looked safe enough.

After a few minutes, they arrived at what seemed to be a dead end, with a wide sweeping wall where families would carve out their names for good fortune. Given that it had been in use for a few centuries, there were many names all around them. But Arthur knew where his and his parents' names should be. It was off on the right side, where he had to kneel down to find where he could reach as an eight-year-old. There were many names even there, some even scratched out if others were rude enough to do so for their own space. Due to the earthquake, there were cracks and fallen portions of the wall.

But on a portion still there, he found 'Gregory', 'Chantalle', and 'Arthur' in a small group. The cracks had split Gregory off from the group, nearly took the last part of his name off. While that was mildly satisfying, he felt a pang from yesterday's revelations. Why had they done this? They had already been falling apart, just he had been too young to realize it. Was it a last ditch effort to save what they had? But what did they have? Not even the image of family because they could not acknowledge it openly without pretending to be who they were not.

His chains felt tighter, then came sharply around his shoulders to make it hard to move his arms. Arthur was pulled back from the wall; Lest was smiling at him, holding onto a portion of the spirit chains somehow. Since he'd been kneeling, Arthur saw that who he thought was Lest did have dark hands. “Who are you?” he asked, trying to recall his lessons with Corrin and the real Lest.

“Who do I appear to be?” he asked. “Sorry, but I've got somebody down here who would love to meet you; he won't come above the surface. You will be coming with me, one way or another.”

“Would you explain what's going on at least?” Arthur asked, hoping to get some time to figure out a way to escape. Would the Escape spell be enough?

The false Lest gave it a moment's thought, then shook his head. “No, not right now. Good night.” He then threw Arthur into the wall where things went black.

* * *

 

Arthur was nowhere to be found in town. Forte asked around, but no one remembered seeing him aside from Dylas who had checked on him much earlier. However, someone else had seen the other Lest. Illuminata said that she thought she'd seen Lest passing in front of the flower shop as if coming from the southeast entrance to the plaza. While she admitted it was an odd time to be seeing him there, she had just noticed the blizzard warning on her store's notice board and set off to check on her greenhouse. The waitress at the restaurant had heard Lest and Arthur leaving his office, but had not overheard where they were headed.

Thankfully, Frey was able to give her a crafting blueprint to give to Kiel. Forte had to bring him to Arthur's room in order to locate a hair from him. With that, Kiel enchanted a compass for her. “Here, this should lead you straight to him now. It's only a temporary enchantment, but it should stay accurate for three days.”

“I hope it doesn't take that long,” she said, accepting the compass from him. “Thank you.”

“Be careful out there,” he said.

The weather had driven all the monsters into hiding and the wind was picking up. Hoping the storm wouldn't fully arrive until she found him, Forte hurried along the compass' lead. It brought her out of town before changing directions from south to east. That would be part of its magic, she thought. At times, she saw tracks in the snow. But the falling flakes were filling those up and they had to be a few hours old by now. Even so, she kept running.

Then the compass brought her to an unexpected sight. It was the old Cave of Bonding that had collapsed last year. However, there was now a narrow entrance. Her footing was rougher, but she still ran to follow the compass underground. It seemed that only the entrance had collapsed as the tunnel could still be navigated. While she was surprised to see snow further along where it shouldn't be, she was more surprised at the pair of tracks revealed there. One had a boot pattern that matched what Arthur used for winter. The other had not been made by any shoe, or by any human foot. From the fusion of human and raptor features, it looked to be a demon class monster. But it would have to be a powerful and intelligent one to be able to mimic a human.

Back at the wall of names, the snow revealed signs of a struggle by the right wall. Forte felt some fear but she knew she couldn't panic. Arthur's life would be at stake and she needed to take this situation as a knight. Over by the struggle, she found a trace of blood that led her eye towards the names of Arthur and his parents. His glasses had fallen off here, one of the side pieces snapped off and both lenses cracked. Still, she picked it up before following the compass to a hidden passage in the left wall. There were two sets of tracks in the misplaced snow, neither human. The demon's were not as light as before, indicating that it had probably carried Arthur from this point. Accompanying it was the tracks of a large feline, not one she was familiar with.

There was a long trail through winding passages she had to run down. Even if she hadn't had the compass, the trail of the monsters was clear in the misplaced snow. This brought her to an open cavern that, at first glance, was full of ice and snow. Forte stayed back in the tunnel for a moment to gauge the situation. According to the map, this cavern was several stories below the southeast part of town. It wasn't where Storgane or the unbreakable gate were, as those were further down. When she glanced in, she saw a frozen pond and waterfall. There were a few old staircases carved into the walls that led upwards to other levels. The room was mostly open space, with some stalactites and stalagmites around.

On the frozen pond, she spotted Arthur and the feline monster. Arthur was now in a cage of ice, lying on the ground and possibly unconscious. Watching the cage, the feline monster was large, possibly as tall as she was while it was sitting on its hind legs. It was covered in an icy white armor, complete with a huge mane around its neck and chest. Looking at it, Forte felt like it would help if Arthur was awake. He was studying magic with Corrin and Lest and hopefully knew some form of fire magic. Sometimes a strong curative spell was enough to bring someone conscious again. But she couldn't cast magic reliably that far.

“My lady Doomgale, please bless me so I may save one of our people,” she prayed quietly, then used a rune skill to send a magical copy of her blade flying at the ice lion before running into the room.

The wind blade chipped at its ice armor a bit, but not enough to do noticeable damage. The lion growled as it got up, then roared loud enough to rattle her armor and the ice cage. Right after, shards from its mane were fired at her. Forte stepped out of most of them, but hung back. The monster was still near the cage and she wanted it to get away before she went there. It was content for a brief time to throw more ice shards at her. As she kept getting away from them, it growled and rushed her way to tackle her.

Instead of trying to hit it, she ran forward to get to Arthur's cage and cast her best recovery spell on him. He started to stir but Forte couldn't keep her eyes on him long as the ice lion turned back to face her. It stalked around; perhaps it had some reason to keep Arthur alive? Behind her, Arthur said, “My glasses...”

“They're broken, you'll have to do without them,” Forte told him. Meanwhile, she cast the Gale Blade enchantment she'd learned during the fight against Marden Sword. She could use the speed and power.

“Forte?”

Right then, the ice lion rushed at her again. She got out of the way in time for it to crash into Arthur's cage and break it. “Either get away or use fire!” she called to him, then lunged into attack. The ice armor was solid, like it was coating rock. Hopefully that drew its attention to her if it didn't care if Arthur survived or not.

Arthur gasped, but then got his wits together and summoned a silver staff decorated with rubies. While the ice lion turned to swipe at Forte, he used Fireburst. The close range, while worrisome, was enough that his poor eyesight was not an issue. The ice armor and mane immediately shattered, hissing as parts of it turned to steam. Beneath it, there was a white leopard with gray spots and a shining crystal on its forehead. It darted to the side, summoning light orbs in front of it. Forte chased after it, using the extended range of Gale Blade to keep away from its orbs while attacking it. After a flash from the leopard's crystal, something heavy and cold slammed into Forte and knocked her to the ground. It shattered to pieces around her, perhaps some kind of ice block.

As she was getting back up, the leopard stalked around, wary of her but wanting to be rid of her. She took a moment to try finding Arthur without taking her eyes off the leopard. From her right side, she heard him call, “Attack it with some ranged attack, it doesn't matter what.”

“Got it.”

She didn't know what he was planning, but gathered the wind power around her sword and used a skill to throw it in one shot at the leopard. Without its lion armor, it got knocked back easily. Then Arthur used another Fireburst, managing to hit the leopard from fifteen feet away in spite of his missing glasses. That made it howl in pain as it turned into light.

Instead of being drawn to the Forest of Beginnings, the light gathered in one spot to summon a sparkling silver monster gate. Forte moved herself between it and Arthur, although no monsters came out yet. There was a clatter of chains as his tried to pull him into it. Before long, he had his hand on her shoulder. “Do you have the Returning Ring on you?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes, I made sure of it.”

“Let's take care of it then,” he said, offering to take her hand. “We'll get separated once we go in.”

Forte put her weapon away to take his hand. “I'll find you as quickly as I can.”

Arthur smiled at her. “I know.” He certainly sounded confident enough, so they walked into the gate together. On passing through, Forte found herself in a disorienting space where no surfaces could be defined. Black and gray leaves fluttered through a white void. But she felt a floor beneath her feet and still heard the chains on Arthur. Ignoring the strangeness around her, Forte ran for him.

Eventually, snow crunched below her feet and everything seemed white. Maybe a touch of color like blue or gray, but it was all still white. Following the sound brought her to more color, an imposing red brick wall that she recognized as the one keeping the high king's castle separated from the rest of the capitol city. The gated entrance was not far from there, closed shut with Arthur and the leopard in lion armor inside. “Arthur!” she called, looking for a way to destroy the gate if need be.

It wasn't needed because Arthur waved his hands to the gate. “Let her in!” he called in a commanding voice.

And the gate promptly replied. The ice on it cracked and crumbled as the gate was pulled open. Inside, the leopard hissed. “You are making a mistake,” it said in Arthur's voice. “It can lead to your ruin.”

“It won't, I'm sure of it now,” he said, ignoring the leopard and coming to her. “I've found the answers to questions that haunted me for years and anything left uncertain can be found if I just ask a few more. But more importantly, I've found someone I can trust without question, to always be around and help me even if I do make dumb mistakes. I need to move past this nightmare. And thanks to you, Forte, I know that I can.” The hell gate shattered around them.

Forte came forward quickly to take his hand again, and make sure she didn't lose him in the strange space. “You helped me past my nightmare, I'm glad I could do the same for you,” she said.

Arthur hugged her as soon as he could, the chains falling away from him to nothing. “I'm sorry, that really was dumb of me to run off with just Lest so close to an approaching storm. Even so, I should have gotten away as soon as I realized something wasn't right with him.”

“That wasn't Lest, it was some kind of demon-type monster,” she told him. The strange non-space was shifting again, this time to a strange island where they were surrounded by six unnaturally colored trees. A silver leaf fluttered close by them. “What happened?”

When he stepped back holding onto her hands, she noticed a faint white flicker across his face. “He told me that the earthquake had jarred the entrance to the Cave of Bonding open again and offered to take me there to check it out. I went with him more to find my family's names, but past him telling me about it, things are a dreamy haze up until I woke up to ice shattering and that monster's lion head glaring down at me. That made me wake up to a lot of things at once,” he closed his eyes and seemed woozy, the flickers turning to lines. “Almost like a new person?” he murmured.

“Arthur.” The masculine voice seemed to come from all around them, intense but even Forte had a feeling this being was on their side. “You have returned to the honor of our family that was lost to fear, greed, and jealousy. Keep that honor and reawaken to the blessings we should have. Recite the pledge with me.”

Letting her go, Arthur clasped his hands to his chest. “I see, one of the old kings of my bloodline. I will have to strive to follow the ways of the earthmates I've admired.”

He then sang the same strange song that Forte had heard from Amber when she had become an earthmate. But what would this miracle do, being performed in the Forest of Beginnings itself? The chi moved through the trees like a sudden gust, but the single silver leaf still floated in one place near them. Forte took hold of it to place securely in her pocket. Then, a thundering din sounded in the distance. It was like a mass of stone and metal blocks being slammed into place, that was the best she could describe it as.

When Arthur finished his recitation, the white lines faded from his skin and he collapsed to his knees. Forte was soon kneeling by him, but he looked at her with a smile. He seemed to simply be exhausted. “What was that?” she asked, not sure where to address it.

His ancestor replied, “He gave his reason to a place without logic; he gave order to the chaos of Rune Prana. Those souls who have been lost there can now find their way here to find the peace that eludes them. But it is still too dangerous for the living to walk that road. You two should be leaving here soon as well. Arthur, blessed by the element of light, your price is in cooking. Your sister has been blessed recently as well for finding true honor; ask her about the books of our specific traditions. Keep your honor and your way will be clear.”

Once the voice seemed to be done, Forte asked, “Are you okay?”

“I mostly feel worn out, though it wouldn't hurt to check in at the clinic,” he said, trying to get back on his feet. She had to grab his arm and support him. “Thank you again. Let's go home.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said, then touched the ring she wore. “Aria.”

The ring immediately shattered into a silver glow, causing the trees on this strange island to swirl around them. They were returned to the cavern beneath the plaza, now filled with the low roar of an unleashed waterfall. While she planned on using Escape to get them above ground, someone caught her eye. Lest seemed to be floating over the river rushing through the cave. He wore clothes that Lest would typically wear, albeit without his winter gear. And without shoes. Instead, he had dark pointed feet like a demon monster.

“Well now, Lienhart didn't last long, did he?” the false Lest said, somehow amused at it.

“Who are you, demon?” Forte asked, torn between using Escape magic or waiting a little to get some answers.

“What I appear to be,” he said.

“That's like what he told me,” Arthur said, glancing around.

The demon shrugged. “You'd better be getting back aboveground or you'll miss out on my latest work of art. Lienhart was around long enough to help me with that, at least.”

“You and your master will be defeated,” Forte said. If Arthur had been better (and better prepared), she'd be willing to fight off this demon. It was likely connected to Lest's hell gate like Lienhart was to Arthur's. While defeating it without Lest wouldn't accomplish much, she might be able to buy him some more time and control. But with Arthur exhausted from his miracle, it wasn't a good time to be fighting.

“It's looking that way, isn't it?” the demon said with a smirk that looked strange with him using Lest's face. “But you know what they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Like myself, for one.” It bowed to them, then vanished from sight. There was no need to stick around, so Forte cast Escape to get them out of the caves.

As the south gate of Selphia appeared close by them, a sharp wind with thick white snowflakes assaulted them. Forte gripped Arthur so that he wouldn't get knocked over. The sky was dark and ominous. With her supporting him, they hurried over to the clinic. Jones was surprised to hear that he was an earthmate now, but happy for him all the same. He found that Arthur was not so much exhausted as drained of nearly all of his rune points. Since he hadn't cast magic often until recently, his pool for them was so low that even a miracle's support couldn't keep him from being drained. Thankfully that meant that a good meal or drink would restore his energy.

They used the map of the tunnels to get to the restaurant without dealing with the blizzard. Still, Forte had to keep hold of Arthur's hand as he was still without eyeglasses. But that made her wonder, “Arthur? How did you hit that leopard with Fireburst from a distance? There was so much snow in the room and it blended in well.”

“That it did,” he said. “At first I used an enchantment to find it, but it didn't work as I wanted. There was so much ice, snow, and light runes in the room that Lienhart blended in even to rune sight. But I could find you as wind runes were strong around you. Telling you to target it was mostly instinct. Thankfully, that worked out as I could see where you were targeting so that I could target the same monster. Still, I had to trust myself to something I couldn't see clearly with my eyes.”

“You did really well, although I'd rather you have more training and some glasses before trying to battle with you again,” she said.

Arthur chuckled. “I'll keep that in mind. I should have one last whole pair of my prescription upstairs, so I won't have to go like this for long. Oh, but before we get there, Forte,” he tugged at her arm.

She stopped since the tunnel they were in was clear. “What is it?”

Pulling her closer until their foreheads were nearly touching, Arthur said, “Without my glasses, this is the only way I can see your face clearly.”

That made her giggle. “But you can't see my whole face this close.”

“That's true,” he admitted; she could see his smile in his eyes. “But I feel like I can see with my mind a lot clearer now. I was so caught up in old lies trying to explain something I couldn't understand as a child that my mind couldn't see things clearly. While I still have a lot to reconsider now, I just realized that I spoke the truth of my heart when we were inside the hell gate. And just now, actually. So I have nothing more to give you right now but that truth, but I want to know, Forte, would you marry me?”

Having hoped to hear that from him, she didn't care that this was informal and he didn't have a ring for her yet. She had an honest declaration of his love and that was enough. “Yes, I feel like we could face any challenge in life together.”


	126. The Seventh Wedding

'Dear Father

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but a lot has happened to me and around me lately. Now that things have calmed down and I can write with a clear head, I must ask that you don't ask me to gather information from someone who has a good reason to keep it from you. Chantalle has stated that she does not wish to return to the castle and she will not speak to you while that is a possibility. I may forward a letter to her if you wish to make contact. However, she is still living under care and her caretakers will have to review the letter to make sure it will not upset her.

As for writing informally, I could try but formal manners and behaviors have been ingrained enough in me to make it troublesome to be informal. But I will consent to tell you something personal. The first time I got my own eyeglasses, I was amazed to see how much clearer the world looked. I thought I was seeing everything as it really was. But even with my sight cleared, I wasn't seeing things as they were. The sight of my mind was still clouded by false ideas and skewed perceptions. I believed the thing I could trust most was numbers because they were clear and beautiful, unaffected by emotion.

I did come back to Selphia because of those false ideas, focused on our visit here in the past since that was one of the truly happy memories of my childhood. In being here, I found true sight of people and even the world. It wasn't with a revered wise mentor or with an intellectual noble. No, it was with the ordinary people here who become much more extraordinary when you come close and pay attention to them. Amazing things happen when we work together, even though what news you get out there will miss what makes them amazing. They showed me what friendship, family, love, trust, and more really mean. In trying to explain things to them that I find ordinary, I keep finding new facets of what I know, even flaws I would have missed before.

Most of all, they make me feel like I am a part of their community and their lives. I can relax with them as I trust them and I do not feel pressured to be anything more than what I am. Because of that, I do not wish to return to the capitol at this time either. I may have found a better sight, but I had to demolish a lot of what I was to do so. I came here to find my mother and now I feel the need to find myself. Here in Selphia, I can count on support and understanding from the people around me. Thus I will stay here until I feel more sure of myself. Then I may consider returning, but there is a lot to keep me here yet.

I do not wish to write to you in anger, part of the reason I have delayed writing this. But you never explained to me why my mother left us, only gave me cold comfort in studies. You also did nothing that I saw to protect me or my mother from those who treated us poorly. Thus it was very agitating for you to offer a less detached relationship when you clearly want to find Chantelle as well. If it is a honest caring, I wouldn't deny writing you more casually. That could take time. And please do not deny Briana's hard work and excellent studies for my sake. I believe she is quite capable of being a great leader.

One last note, about Prince Lest and his boyfriend Dylas. They're both good friends of mine and their relationship is admirable in its warmth and mutual respect. I will support them against any critics because I do not want to deny the happiness they have in each other. As there would be no question of their moral qualities if one of them was a woman, they deserve as much respect as any other loving couple. Perhaps you may not understand those like them, but please do not trouble them further.

Sincerely, Arthur'

* * *

 

Winter 67

The blizzard hit strong late the previous day and through the entire night. This morning, it was still snowing and the winds were still howling, but it was running out of momentum. According to a check on the scrying glass, it would fully be over by the next morning. It was another day where not much could be done officially.

But there was something Arthur needed to do. For that, he and Forte went through the underground tunnels to reach the restaurant. Porcoline was in the kitchen, along with Dylas and surprisingly Lest. Arthur looked over at him and smiled at the same time he did in a feeling of kinship. While they had grown into a good partnership and friendship over the year, having faced their hell gates at the same time made Arthur feel an extra connection to him. He didn't know much about what Lest had faced, nor about how much Lest knew about his own troubles. But they had both faced a challenge directed at their very hearts and selves, overcoming it with the one they each loved.

Now they both just wanted something light and up-lifting to put that heaviness behind them.

“Good morning,” Arthur said as they came in, soon echoed by Forte and the others.

Except of course Porco said, “Snowflaky sugar good morning to you all! Have you been having a hot evening to counter the chilly night?”

“Wha, no!” Forte said, blushing and startled at getting asked that question. Arthur felt embarrassed himself.

“I'll believe ya, though it is quite a time for things to heat up in love,” Porco said, having fun himself.

“You don't have to give them a hard time, they're not that sort,” Lest said. “You bored too?”

“Somewhat, but we did have a reason to come over here,” Forte said.

Arthur nodded. “Yes, I told you yesterday that I got blessed as an earthmate after breaking the gate, but there was something else that I forgot to mention at the time. My price for it is in cooking.”

“Really, cooking?!” Porco asked, turning right to him. When he confirmed that, Porco grinned and twirled around. “Ah-ha-ha, brilliant! This is such a great blessing to me, now I can have two earthmates to teach cooking to! We're going to have so much fun and we can make all sorts of things to make people happy...” He stopped abruptly, seeming like a thought occurred to him. “Hang on, I know just what we need! Let me go grab something upstairs first.” He then bounded out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Dylas was smiling. “This'll be fun. Could you make time to cook over here?”

“I'll try since I have to be cooking on a daily basis now,” Arthur said. “I never thought I'd have time to learn to cook further, but with everything that's changed, I have to really reconsider my schedule and business to better suit this new life. It will be fun to get to work with you both.”

“Yeah, though you're probably gonna have to take more direct instruction from Porco,” Dylas said. “Unless you got the same kind of rune sight the two of us have.”

He shook his head. “No, I don't. I'm not entirely sure what my blessing is even if I know the price.”

“That happens sometimes, so you just need to work your price and try some magic to figure it out,” Lest said.

“I will,” Arthur said. “And you're right too Dylas, I'm not sure I could learn your style of cooking by runes. I do use rune sight glasses that are probably around your level, but it's such an information overload unless I really focus my attention that sometimes I'm not sure how you two handle it every day.”

Dylas shrugged at that. “I guess if I tried to read everything I could see, it would be too much. But it's just,” he waved a hand in front of him, “just there, really.”

“It's kind of like how the piano over there is black,” Lest said. “You know it's black and so you don't think about its color when you look at it. You probably wouldn't notice unless it suddenly changed over to pink. In the same way, we get used to the feel of runes around something and don't really notice unless there's a major change in them.”

“Or if you were constantly surrounded by books but could choose to read them or not,” Dylas added. “The information's there, just not always important.”

“A person would get used to that kind of thing, like we get used to sight,” Forte said. “My father said that people get used to sight and ignore a lot, but we have to train to see what's there and pick out an important difference or change instantly.”

“I tried some training like that, but with my empathy,” Lest said. “But emotions change so much even in one person that I thought it wouldn't help. Though now that I've had it pointed out that I could do better still with it, that might be worth looking into again.”

“Right,” Arthur said. “Like if you could learn a person's general personality and put it out of mind unless they had some emotion outside their normal range. That's something I do with an item's market value, only giving it a glance if it stays in its usual range and pattern.” To himself, he found it intriguing that they were all speaking of different skills, but the skills had methods and means that were similar.

Then Porco came back down, bringing a few books with him. “I know you're well-read, so I've got some books about cooking methods rather than about a list of recipes. Dylas is doing fantastically taking it for an art, but in your case Arthur, you may do better taking cooking by numbers and theories. And here, we can make a lesson for today off one of these books and make some goodies that will make the others cuddled in from the snow happy! This is the key!” He took the top book off the pile and set it on the counter while the others were set aside on a cart.

Arthur and Dylas came over as they were the students here now, but Lest and Forte joined in out of curiosity. They could learn something too. On seeing the circle chart on the book cover, Arthur felt intrigued without even seeing the title. “Formulas rather than recipes,” he said, things quickly snapping together in his mind.

“It's one way of looking at cooking that's especially helpful in baking,” Porcoline said. “When you read a lot of recipes, you start to notice patterns. Eggs, milk, and flour are common ingredients. Altering their ratios and methods will produce different results.”

“Like you could mix them and sugar one way to get pancakes, or another to make cookies,” Lest said.

“Righto!” Porco then pointed to the chart on front. “Or look at this. Since you're so good at pancakes, see them here? Pancakes and crepes seem similar; they're done using similar methods and they look alike. But in ingredient portions, crepes have more in common with fritters and pancakes have more in common with muffins. Then again, the methods make pancakes and crepes related when fritters and muffins don't share that kind of similarity. So if you get the hang of the ratios and how additional ingredients apply, suddenly learning how to cook something new is not so intimidating.”

Arthur closed his eyes and found that he could still picture that circle chart. He'd seen it once and somehow he knew it just as precisely as marketplace formulas. Perhaps his skill with numbers had been a latent talent that could be related to magic all along? He realized that learning the recipes would be easy, especially if he read this book and found more charts like this. He still had to figure out the methods. Once he had them and these numbers, perhaps he could simply glance at a recipe and know in his mind what it should end up like.

“Makes sense,” Dylas said. “So what're we doing?”

“Dinner rolls!” Porco said, snapping his fingers. “Since we've got a hot hearty stew working for tonight, rolls are an excellent match. But we're going to do two different types, a yeast bread roll and a quick bread roll. The recipes may look similar, but the yeast adds a different element that requires a different method that produces a different result. It's best to see this kind of thing in action!”

Arthur had long thought that any challenge in cooking was an unnecessary complication and elaboration when simpler foods could be just as satisfying. Two different rolls when just the quicker one would suffice was an example of that. However, there was a great deal of fun in cooking with everyone there. The time spent with those he loved was something he needed to embrace more, especially in such an enjoyable way. And he felt a deep sense of satisfaction in the finished products, in both rolls and in the stew which he got pulled into helping with as well. It got even better when they went out to deliver the meals and people were eagerly happy to accept them.

Cooking could easily become a passion he threw himself into as much as he did trading.

* * *

 

Winter 73

There was never a true ending in the middle of life. Some books might end with a wedding, but in reality, a couple's life was never frozen there. They might develop on, growing happier and closer through troubled times and peaceful times. Or perhaps some trouble would be too much and they couldn't stay together. It was one union, but two people. If one neglected their love or assumed it would work out against all odds with little work, the other might feel too burdened and pained. There were times when you had to cut off a love that did more harm than good, when it became a habit rather than a love.

But there was always hope, she thought as she watched the town below them grow closer as the airship landed. A wedding was a ceremony of hope, believing that this couple could make a life lived together work. She'd never had a wedding, although she had still been promised love and care. What if she had gotten the wedding, though? Things would be very different. And yet, she knew that unless he could change further, perhaps even marriage would not have worked in their case. He still needed to change.

Perhaps this wedding would work out; there was always hope.

“Are you doing well?” her friend said. She was also a nurse, here to watch over and help her.

“Yes, I was just thinking about hope,” she said with a smile. “I had hoped to come back here, although I never thought it could be for these reasons.”

The nurse smiled warmly and patted her arm. “It's wonderful, isn't it? Do you want to check into the inn first or see if we can find him?”

There was no option for them to split up, but that was okay. She wasn't comfortable being left alone in an unfamiliar place. “We should check into the inn first.” Just to make sure things were fine there.

Once the ship landed, they went to take the northern stairs to get to the inn. There was a new elevator here, but she wanted to go that way to look over things again. The woman at the inn was friendly, happy to let them know where things were in town. But while they were able to find the office they were directed to, Arthur wasn't there. Her friend helped keep her from worrying immediately on it as they went over to the restaurant in the other half of the building. It was a place bright in her memory, not quite the same and busier than before. Still, the chef was quickly able to tell them that Arthur was doing some work with the local prince today so their best bet was to check with the castle.

They didn't find him at the castle either, but two young butlers there were also helpful to point them in the right direction. Seeing them, she felt a reassuring sense of familiarity; the butler she had known was a good man. Her friend ended up doing much of the talking as usual while she looked over their armbands. That was familiar too, something that the general public wouldn't be fully aware of. While the most visible part floated off their arm, there was a smaller band underneath. New markings on one part of it noted that the young woman was a fully certified butler, while the young man was an apprentice. When she congratulated her on the recent certification, the young woman was surprised but thanked her for noticing.

On their walk over, her friend joked with her about getting sent all over town trying to find somebody. At least it was a modest sized town, with friendly people living here. But they did finally find Arthur over in the residential district. He was with a young man who seemed like the prince people had been gossiping about lately; they were discussing plans for an empty lot while others pulled some debris from whatever had been there before.

Strangely enough, Prince Lest noticed them first even though he had to turn a bit to see them approaching. He immediately gave them a warm smile as if he knew why they were there. It might have been unnerving since they'd not told anyone aside from the innkeeper that they were coming. But something about him put into mind a storybook kind of prince, a charming young man who would be all elegance and honor. Turning to Arthur, he said, “Hey, I think these ladies are here to see you.”

“Hmm?” Arthur responded, looking over. For this, she was glad that they'd thought to exchange pictures with recent letters. They'd both changed greatly since they'd last seen each other; he had grown up while she had grown older. “M-Mother?”

There was a twinge of sadness and guilt on seeing him again, old memories that still hurt. But there was so much happiness too, relief at her son actually being there in reach. “Arthur, I'm so glad to see you again,” Chantalle said, smiling and her voice breaking some as she went over to hug him.

He had written a couple of wonderful letters to her, a glimpse of happiness in finding her again and his approaching wedding. While Lest assured them he had things covered so they could spend time together, she could see a reflection of her own pain in his eyes at times. She'd seen enough of other people's scars to recognize them even when they tried to hide them. But she'd also seen and felt the change that came over a person when they became determined to take initiative of their healing, to change their life. That was in him too; he could heal, there was a great deal of hope in and around him.

“I didn't expect you to come so soon,” Arthur said, clearly feeling like it was a blessing that she did.

“Well I was thinking that I might come in the spring,” she admitted. “But when you told me that you were getting married, I really wanted to be here for that. Though it wasn't easy convincing the others that I could go; I haven't traveled far for years.”

“It was hectic but we worked it out to come in time,” her friend said.

“Maybe it's an unexpected blessing of the blizzard which delayed when we could hold it,” Arthur said, happy at the thought. “Um, did you want to participate? I have some people here that have been a good family to me this year, but you're welcome to join us.”

That would be wonderful, but she felt unsure of it. “I'd like to, but I don't have any formal clothing any more and what I brought isn't quite nice enough.”

“We could go by the clothing store and see if we can find something good for you to wear,” Arthur said. “I'll buy it for you.”

“Are you sure?” Chantalle said, feeling a little embarrassed at the thought of being noticed tomorrow. But still, a new dress... she hadn't indulged in anything like that in years either. “It is short notice.”

“We have a great tailor in town, I'm sure she could adapt something in time,” he said. After her friend encouraged her, she agreed to go over and see what could be done.

It required another walk across town that brought them to a charming little store with some colorful yarn hats, woolen sweaters, and a fire-themed small quilt on display in the window. The owner of the shop had a gothic flair in her old-fashioned brown and yellow dress, but the clothing she had would appeal to a variety of styles. While they looked over what was in stock, she asked Chantelle several questions about what she liked, including colors and flowers.

After magically calling for a sketchbook, the shop owner showed her a drawing. “I'm still learning the trade, but from what you say and how you look, I think this would be a good match for you. What do you think?”

“Oh, that's pretty,” Chantalle said. It had a modest neck line and skirt hem like she preferred. It wasn't gong to stand out at a wedding, but it was nice enough to be worn on special days. On the top, it had a small checkered pattern to keep it from being plain. “But it's a bit late to be starting something new.”

“I'm an earthmate and this style wouldn't take long with magical techniques,” she said. She told them what the price would be and offered to bring them in back to see what fabrics she had on hand. Chantalle hadn't wanted to cause a fuss when she came. Even so, Arthur was happy to get it for her if she wanted it and it was nice to be treated as special again. Especially by her son; he didn't hate her and wanted her to share in this happiness.

Once they had the dress ordered, they left to see about finding his fiance. That took about as long as it had taken to find Arthur as Forte was geared up to watch over town. While others might have been surprised to meet her, Chantalle was happy to meet her as a soon to be daughter-in-law. She had once been saved by an old knight and a swordswoman; having a lady knight marry her son felt like a great thing. Forte even formally saluted her when they were introduced (apparently out of habit), which made Chantalle laugh and remember how to curtsy before hugging her.

These two had great hope together; she hoped they made a happy life together.

* * *

 

Winter 74

Due to several factors, including the aftermath of the blizzard, their wedding took longer to prepare than usual. It did not include making it a wedding for royalty. “I'm not the prince of Selphia and I would much rather not go back to the capitol for a full formal ceremony,” Arthur said to anyone who asked. “I'm a citizen of the town like anyone else, so we'd prefer her rank as Doomgale's Dragon Knight to be accounted for over mine.”

Forte had not been sure of how exactly that was going to work out. In the wedding portraits of her parents and other members of the Greenwind family, a Dragon Knight was recognized by wearing their armor to their wedding with some formal touches: extra decorations, extra cleaning, a formal cape. That was simple enough for the men. But even back when she'd been denying her feminine side, she'd thought that when she got married, she wanted to wear a wedding dress.

Dolce came through in an admirable fashion, even coming in to help her that morning. While Forte usually kept her underskirt in dark colors, today it was white with extra lace fringe. Some decorations in the traditional blue roses and more lace were placed over the armor plates not to hide them but to enhance them. A pale blue belt with clasps of her family crest and Doomgale's sign replaced the usual cape. Lastly, the rose adorned wedding veil was clipped onto the bottom of her helmet with a matching ribbon going over her head. It would not be practical in a fight now. For the ceremony, though, it was a wedding dress that suited Forte more than the traditional design would.

Once she had a look at herself in the mirror, she took Dolce's hand out of eagerness. “Thank you so much! This is so wonderful and I would have never thought to make it work like this.”

Dolce smiled at her. “It was the only way I could think of to express who you are in totality, not just in part.”

Pico laughed from where she'd been watching nearby. “My lady kicked ass in her wedding dress and you look like you could do just the same!”

“I hope you don't have to, but you could,” Dolce agreed.

“I already rescued him once, anybody who tries to kidnap him again will not be given mercy,” Forte said, although her heart seemed to be singing in joy. She couldn't bring herself to worry about something like that for long.

Her part done, Dolce and Pico excused themselves to let her spend some time with her family. Bado and Kiel were there to spend the morning with her; even Xiao was there, an extra bit of joy for the day. “Oh wow, she really did make a wedding dress around your armor!” Xiao said, wide-eyed at the sight. “You seem to be so amazing today!”

“Yeah, that's like you entirely!” Kiel said.

“It's great, she did a wonderful job,” Forte said.

Bado chuckled. “Never thought I'd see my work in someone's wedding attire, but it does look good. Man, this has been one crazy year, seen you both married and more.” He rubbed his hand through his hair.

Forte nodded. “It's the year everyone's lives changed for the better. Even yours.”

“Can't deny that,” Bado agreed. “Even I didn't see it coming.”

Kiel smiled at him. “Guess you have to change your thoughts on if old folks can change, huh?”

“Hey, I ain't that old,” he said, making them laugh.

As the morning came close to noon, they headed out to the ceremony in the town plaza. Things were handled with a little more formality than the regular ceremony. After a quick but silent encouragement for Xiao to keep with Forte's family group, the two groups approached each other and bowed or curtsied before the bride and groom entered the circle in the center of the plaza. There would also be some extra lines when they would be presented to the town after their vows were made to recognize Arthur marrying the Dragon Knight. And also to recognize that Forte was now going to be a princess of Central Norad as she was marrying a prince. While they could turn down the full formal ceremony meant for royalty, that still had to be done.

Forte glanced a moment at Chantalle, part of Arthur's wedding party along with Porcoline, Meg, and Dylas. She really was a delicate lady, pretty but she looked like a good wind could knock her over. More importantly, she was a sweet compassionate woman who loved Arthur a great deal even though her circumstances forced them apart. Her nurse friend had said that she'd grown noticeably happier and less anxious once she heard from Arthur again.

In the same way, Arthur was relaxing more and more, showing his polite formal smile less. He still smiled a lot, more authentic as it came from deeper in his heart. He was wearing silver-framed glasses today, not the brown ones that had been the last ones left after all the others had been donated or broken. After wondering for a second if he was collecting glasses again, Forte noticed that it was an illusion, just a visual color change to match his suit better. He even let himself look nervous as they approached each other, looking over her as if in surprise.

“Is something the matter?” Forte asked quietly when they got in range to take each other's hand.

“N-no,” he said, trying to regain his calm. “I just had something I planned on saying, but you look so amazing that, uh,” he blushed some, “it completely left me.”

Forte very nearly giggled, finding it hard to keep composed as she should be. Even when Arthur forgot how to be charming, he ended up being very charming. “That still makes me really happy,” she said. “I'm glad we'll get to be together always now.”

“I'm glad for that too,” Arthur said softly.


	127. Intermission - Existential Questions of a Box

“So what's life like as a box?” Lest then leaned against the wall near the red request box.

“I'd have to think about that one,” Eliza the request box replied. “Haven't been anything but a box, at least as far as I can remember. There's several people who talk with me sometimes, so I can't really complain. Well, except maybe for...”

“For what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“This icicle. People keep knocking it off and it grows back nearly every night. I think it's really pretty. Just look at that shine and sparkle, the way it warps what's around it to reflect a different view of the world. At both dawn and dusk, there's a time when it positively gleams. I see the dawn version a lot, but rarely the dusk. Could you see to it that they're more careful and don't break it all the time?”

Lest nodded and got up from leaning on the wall. “Yeah. You don't really ask for much, just some conversation occasionally, so this is no big deal. Let's see...” he went to the discard bin and picked out a card that didn't seem too messy to write on the back of.

“Thanks,” Eliza said, still considering his first question. “Well, my first memory is thinking that, 'My name is Eliza'. Dunno why, it is weird for a box to think things, much less remember thinking things. I only really noticed when others thought it was weird for me to talk to them. I do have a purpose: I'm to help people get things done. Although when I started thinking about why I have that purpose, I could only come up with that it was because I was a request box.”

“There is a special quality to your wood,” Lest said. “I've seen it on rare occasion, an object made from an enchanted tree where only fallen branches were used. Never met one that could talk before you.”

Eliza recognized that; it was one of those things that was certain, but she didn't know when she'd learned it. “Sounds right. Some kind of Shara tree or something.”

“Sharance?” Lest asked.

“I guess.”

He looked impressed at that. “Well that is a sacred tree which has been treated as a holy guardian of its homeland. Here, how's this?” He turned the card around so its back faced her front. It stated, 'Please leave the icicle alone. -Eliza, Lest'

“Looks good! I hope it works.”

“Me too,” Lest said, setting the card on her top. “Might need to get something to fasten it in place better.”

“Thank you,” Eliza said, pleased to have a little something done for her. “You seem to be in a much better mood today.”

He smiled immediately at it, a sunny smile rather like in past seasons. “That's because yesterday was so great! It happened right here in front of you. Didn't you see it?”

“That was a jolly time,” she agreed. “I laughed the whole time.”

“Well there was that one part where Dylas revealed that we were dating in front of everybody,” Lest said. “That's what's making everything so great.”

“I thought that was a secret you two were working to keep quiet about.”

Now that the sign was done, he went back to leaning on the wall. “Yeah, but that's because he was uncertain about us for a long time. I had to hold back on so much, worrying all the time about if things would fall apart. If he was afraid to acknowledge our love in public, maybe he'd want to quit one day so that fear wasn't always there. But he's not afraid now and I'm really happy that I can talk to him freely anywhere, at any time. He's going to come pick me up on a date in a little bit.”

“What are you doing for a date?” Eliza didn't really click on this idea of love and dating and marriage. Being right in front of the castle, though, she'd seen a lot of it and knew it made people happy. She was happiest when requests were completed and people talked to her, so it didn't trouble her to only be an observer to romance.

It was nice enough to get to listen to people talk about it, full of emotions like excitement, being flustered, anticipation, and most of all happiness. “We're taking a walk through Yokmir Forest, see how it is with all the snow. When we get back, we're going to get dinner at the restaurant. It's a bit weird since he lives and works there, but we used to take a lot of almost dates up in the castle library when we were hiding. Today, though, I can hold his hand all the way through town and flirt-tease him until he gets so embarrassed that he yells at me.” Lest laughed, sparkling like the dawn's rays through her icicle. “I really shouldn't do that to him, but when he gets embarrassed at things that make him happy, it's so hard to resist.”

“It must be nice to be in love,” Eliza said.

“It is,” he said, then looked over at her. “I hope you don't end up upset or sad about that in the future. You don't seem to mind now.”

She didn't see how it could. “Well I'm a box so that kind of love doesn't make sense for me. I'm only really sad on days when nobody does anything with requests or talks with me. I don't even care if it's just you asking how things are. As long as my purpose is fulfilled, that's what counts.”

“What would a box like you even fall in love with?” Lest wondered aloud. “A radio, maybe?”

“Only if the radio could actually talk with me rather than just play what it captures in the air,” Eliza pointed out.

He nodded. “True, it would need to be another item that could talk. If I ever hear from one, maybe I'll set you up on a blind date.”

“That might be interesting,” she said. “At least for a friend like me. But, you'll stay and be a friend with me, right? You talk to me the most and I'd miss you so much.”

“Aw, Eliza.” Lest smiled, although his attention went to Dylas coming into the plaza now. “Yeah, I'm your friend and I'll be around.”

“There's not much I can do, but I'll always be here to talk,” Eliza said.

“I wonder if there's some way to amplify your voice so normal people can hear you,” Lest said, then left the wall. “Hey Dylas!”

“Sorry I'm late, I just, wasn't sure what to wear,” Dylas said, although he seemed to be wearing his usual winter coat and things. “It didn't seem to matter before, but, ah, it's a real date, huh?”

“I know it's your first formal one and all, but just relax,” Lest said, taking his hand quickly.

“Dates seem like they should be fun, so have fun!” Eliza said to them.

“Thanks,” Dylas said, although he still seemed nervous. “Um, what's with the sign?”

“It's so people don't mess with her icicle,” Lest said.

“I like it,” she said.

“I think that kind of thing would be heavy hanging off your he...” Dylas caught himself, then scratched his head, “Ah, your lid.”

“It grows drip by drip, so I don't notice it so much,” Eliza said. “Don't let me keep you, but tell me what the forest is like later on.”

“Sure Eliza, talk to you later,” Lest said.

Eliza thought on that discussion, eventually noticing something. The people going to and from the plaza would talk about time as continually flowing or about thinking alone. For her, neither seemed quite right. There was a knowledge in her that time flowed, day night day night; sap flowed and the self grew. That seemed to be the knowledge of a tree, but it didn't entirely work for her. When she was alone, mostly at night, time flowed like she was a tree and she didn't do much thinking.

When people were around her, things were different. Time flowed like it must for them, measured in minutes and hours. Eliza found it easier to think when people were around. For that reason, it was disappointing when they couldn't hear or didn't talk to her. The only way she could think on what life was like as a box was when when they were around. Although, she could admire the icicle at any time.

The next day, Lest had briefly said hello to her, saying he might talk later when he wasn't busy. Dylas came up to her too, in order to check the requests. He did better with requests for fish or fighting some monsters, so Eliza sorted out one monster request and two fishing requests for him. “How was the forest yesterday?” she asked him.

“It was nice, the cold was invigorating,” Dylas said. “I got him to race me along some of the paths, although he really needs to get more running in if he's going to be a challenge for me.”

“Forte can run really fast if you want a challenge,” Eliza suggested. “I've seen her run across the plaza quicker than others.”

“I'll think about that,” he said, thinking over the fish requests.

Him being here reminded her of another conundrum. “Hey, I was just wondering, but what's the point of expressing one emotion when you're actually feeling another?”

“What do you mean about that?” Dylas asked, his ears twitching.

“I guess it doesn't make much sense to me because I'm just a box,” Eliza said. “But sometimes you'll yell about something and take off when Lest says you were happy about it. What's the point?”

For a moment, he just grumbled in a way she couldn't understand. Then he said, “I guess your life is simple since you don't have to deal with how complex dealing with other people can be. You have to be a certain way to be seen as acceptable. If you're not that way, others look down on you, make fun of you, or don't want you around. Although some people can get away with it. Like guys aren't supposed to like cute things or sweets, but Arthur adores cute things without restraint and nobody gives him trouble for it. And Kiel really loves sweets and makes them a lot. I guess making them excuses him.”

“If there's no repercussions for them, what's the point of having only one way be acceptable at all?” Eliza asked. “Seems better to me just to be and act what you are. I mean, I can't go around acting like a clock, can I? Doesn't matter what anybody says, I don't have the right guts for clocks and so I'm not going to be giving anybody the time.”

“I don't really know,” Dylas said. “I mean, you're right in that you can't be a clock unless someone makes you the clockwork parts, and I'm still kind of mixed up on being acceptable and all. I get embarrassed at messing up and I don't like being embarrassed, which is usually why I end up being angry.”

“But why would you be embarrassed about something that makes you happy?” she asked.

“Did Lest put you up to this?” he asked, getting embarrassed now.

“No, he asked me what life was like as a box and I've been thinking about that,” Eliza said. “But it's a hard thing to answer when I'm not sure how life is like for you people. I figured I'd ask about some things that didn't make sense to me.”

“You're weird,” Dylas said. “But, uh, you are a box so I guess that's just how you are. I just, sometimes I can't be sure if what I'm happy about is, well, appropriate? Like there's just some things you don't talk about. Only Lest likes to tease me so much.”

“Then you like being teased?”

“No I don't!” he snapped, startling some some visitors who were coming out of the public parlor and saw him yelling at a red box. Dylas looked away from them, his face red. “Don't judge me,” he grumbled.

“Hey, the only thing I'll judge you on is if you complete the requests or not,” Eliza said. “Or if you cheat on them, I really hate people who try to scam others using me. I'd like to know some things, though.”

“Ask someone else,” Dylas said, leaving with the two request cards to work on.

That at least demonstrated that others did find social interactions complex. Perhaps she was lucky in that only the requests mattered to her. It was her purpose. In thinking on that, Eliza started wondering about the people who didn't take requests or were unnecessarily slow about completing them. She heard sometimes that they were being lazy. Lazy was not doing what you were supposed to be doing. What was being lazy like?

She decided to try one night, just for the experience. However, it was night and so almost no one was around. When someone did come around, it was Sven filling out a request for someone to identify a plant and determine if it was a nuisance where it was. He put the card in her storage, which she automatically stored to display to those she knew were good with plants (Lest, Illuminata, or Amber). She also brought up some requests when he checked, on monster drops and one foraging request that would expire shortly. Realizing what she was doing, Eliza sighed.

Sven raised an eyebrow at that. “What's the matter, Eliza?” he asked.

“I've been thinking on life and people lately,” she said. “It came to wondering what the purpose behind laziness was and I felt I needed to experience that. But it seems like I simply can't be lazy.”

Smiling at that, he said, “I don't know if there is a purpose behind being lazy. It's avoiding a purpose if anything.”

“I only have one purpose, so that would mean me being lazy is denying my whole being,” she thought out loud.

“Does that bother you?” he asked.

“I don't think it does. I haven't been considering it long enough to bother me. Don't know what any alternatives would be, at least not without totally altering what I am.” And she didn't fancy becoming a clock. Maybe a radio if it helped her talk to more people.

“I can understand that some,” Sven said. “I'm a knight because that makes the best use of who I am. I suppose I could become something else if I changed who I was, but I'm comfortable where I am for now. Do you have any dreams?”

“I don't sleep, not really, so I don't dream,” Eliza said. “Unless you count that sometimes I think like a tree again.”

He thought about it. “No, I mean, is there anything you want to do or be other than what you are?” He paused. “Although that is a weird question to ask a magical box now that I've said it.”

She could only think of one thing right away. “I want to keep and admire this icicle. Does that count as a dream?”

“Maybe? It'll melt away once spring comes.”

“I know, but I want to admire it while I have it,” she said.

“That sounds like a dream, something you can only do when it's winter,” Sven said. “It's got nothing to do with your purpose but you want it there anyhow.”

“That makes me happy, thank you,” Eliza said.

Although, his talk made her wonder about dreams. Could she be something other than what she was? It seemed like an uncomfortable thought to be changed. But other people talked about dreams, seeming wistful they couldn't attain it. Or excited that they might get their dreams, like Margaret was about the theater. She put in quite a variety of requests and was nice to Eliza, saying hello while patting her lid. However, she could barely hear her. They couldn't talk like she could with the earthmates. Perhaps that was a dream of Eliza's too, being able to talk to anybody.

Time passed while she considered the dream of talking. She noticed that Lest was getting busy again, a disappointing thing. But she did get some time to talk to Leon one day. “Are people respecting your icicle?” he asked while checking requests.

“For the most part,” she said. “It's only an accident now that it breaks. Although it makes me wonder what kind of purpose there is in doing things outside my purpose like keeping an icicle or talking to people.”

Leon's ears shifted around, seemingly taking note of others in the plaza. “Well it makes you happy, doesn't it? That's a good purpose to doing things.”

“Does being lazy make people happy? I have yet to determine what kind of purpose laziness has, although I don't see how not doing something would make someone happy.”

“If it's something they don't want to do, they'll be happier not doing it than doing it,” Leon said. “Although there's some chores that simply must be done or they'll become an obstacle to what you need to be doing. Like me putting books back in place in the library is dull and doing other things would make me happier. But the library needs to be organized and I'm the head librarian with only a catalog golem to help out.”

“Well that would be your purpose as a librarian to keep things organized, so it must be done or you deny your purpose,” Eliza said.

“Right, so I can't be lazy and not put them back,” he agreed. “What are you thinking about the purpose of things for?”

“I'm considering how my life is and why things are. It's been tough at points because when I talk to people about it, they have a lot of different experience when I just am what I am.”

Leon rubbed his chin. “Experience is a good teacher, though people can learn good and bad things from it. Why don't you try a new experience? We could move you somewhere else in town.”

“I don't like the idea of that,” Eliza said.

“Why not?” he asked, tilting his head at her. “You'd get a different view.”

“I was born from a tree and trees are rooted to the spot. Moving somewhere else would be horribly disorienting and I'd have to relearn all of my surroundings. I know where everything is here and what the schedule of this place is. Elsewhere, I wouldn't know.”

“What about to the other end of the plaza?”

“That'd be worse, having a different view over this place. All the left would become right and it'd all be a mess.” One of the visitors approached them; she'd taken a request from Eliza earlier without hearing her.

Leon's ears twitched, but if that was him noticing the woman, he didn't react outwardly. “I guess a lot of people are like that, if not so extreme as you feel. You get used to where you are and change isn't a comfortable experience. But if you remain in one place never changing, you'll never grow. You learn a lot when things change too.”

“Well all of you have legs so you're used to moving,” Eliza said. “You get used to what's around you changing, but it would be unnatural for me to move.”

“Aren't you a touch unnatural already?” Leon asked. The woman waiting behind him had a puzzled expression on her face. “You're thinking, for one thing. And you've never had a major change before in your life. You should consider trying a move and see if it brings you wisdom; we could always move you back if it's too disorienting for you.”

“I'll think over it,” she said, although she really didn't like the idea. “There's someone waiting to deal with me here.”

“Huh, oh, sorry,” Leon said, turning to the woman and nodding his head.

“Um, what were you doing?” the woman asked.

“Having an existential discussion with this box,” Leon said, pointing to Eliza. “Don't mess with her icicle.”

“All right,” the woman said, trying not to stare at him.

Leon grinned in amusement when she couldn't see him. “Good. Nice talking to you Eliza, I'll be back.”

“Thank you,” Eliza said.

She considered about getting a different point of view to see if it would gain her some wisdom and insight. But the thought of moving or even just being moved was so uncomfortable. She didn't even like the day when there were a series of earthquakes; it made her unsettled and worried about branches breaking even though she didn't have branches anymore. It did break her icicle, making her sad for the rest of that day. Maybe she liked the icicle in part because it reminded her of branches.

Another day, Dolce and Pico came up to her. This was unusual since Dolce didn't talk to her a lot and Pico thought she was either boring or bossy depending on the day. Hoping to get them to talk to her more, Eliza greeted them with, “Good morning! Did you need something?”

“Morning,” Dolce said. “Not really, I was just wondering...” she flexed her fingers, “this is weird.”

“Aw come on, she is a spirit of sorts,” Pico said, drifting right up next to her. “Do you get cold?”

“I have a kind of winter feeling if that's what you mean,” Eliza said. “That's more about the smaller amounts of sunshine available than the temperature.”

“Are you uncomfortable with that?” Dolce asked. “See, there's a blizzard approaching in a few hours. For some reason, we started talking about you and wondering if you'd get too cold being out in the weather.”

“Oh, I don't like blizzards,” Eliza said. “I don't remember one, but I remember, like in my sap. Though I don't have sap anymore, nor branches which is the main problem in blizzards because they get heavy with ice and break. I guess as a box, it wouldn't matter much to me now. I'm still not looking forward to this in case I can break in some way.”

Dolce looked at her, then pulled out a long scarf. “I don't really know much about wood,” she admitted as she started wrapping the scarf around her. “Although I think that in a storm like this, moisture could get into you and freeze. That would cause cracks. So here, I brought this in case you'd want to keep warm, but I can use it to repel moisture instead.”

That made Eliza happy. “That's kind of you, thank you. That gives me some warmth in being happy, so I'm sure I'll be fine with your gift.”

“See, I told you it'd be appreciated!” Pico said with a big smile.

“Well, good luck,” Dolce said, setting the moisture repelling spell in place while skillfully avoiding the corner where her icicle hung.

Time passed. The scarf did keep her comfortable as the wind picked up and sharpened. But as a result, her icicle got snapped off. “Hey, give that back!” Eliza called into the wind angrily. Then she realized, no one else was around. Everyone else was inside so she shouldn't be able to think, much less talk. Unless someone was out here? She looked around at the white filling the air around her, some newly fallen from the sky, some plucked up from the ground's store.

No, there were two others here. They were spirits without a physical presence. But they were here. Was there some way to see them better?

As Eliza thought it, her senses sharpened and she could see them better. One of them had control over the storm; he was the one that had snapped off her icicle. Strangely enough, he had a presence like Lest that she couldn't explain. He had the form of a demon but the element of love. Demons were supposed to be hateful beings with an innate desire to destroy or corrupt all other beings. Unlike him, the other spirit was a manifestation of nature. She was the soul of a tree, a dryad that chose the form of a strange human child with brown bark-like skin and leaf-strewn green hair. She had to be a powerful tree to manifest like that, although not as powerful as the Sharence tree.

The dryad was afraid and disoriented, finding herself in the stony plaza where no trees were. The demon looked dissatisfied. “Hmph, you have feelings but even this is just a bit of fluff compared to what humans feel. I know he's aware of you; he talks to you every day. Do this for me or I will break your branches one by one.”

She pleaded in the language of trees, something Eliza felt clearly and could just about put words to, like, _“Outsider-demon-typhoon, please not hurt me, not hurt him.”_

“You think you can get pity from one like me?” the demon said, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Hey, leave her alone jerk!” Eliza called out. This might end up destroying her. But there was a feeling inside her; the language of trees stirred it up, _living tree in danger_ , and she had to do something to help.

The demon vanished, in order to reappear next to her. “What do you think you can do, dead tree?” he mocked her. “I command the blizzard, I can crush you far more easily than...” he raised a clawed hand up and started to clench it.

At his movement, the wind concentrated around her, trying to pierce her with ice crystals. Dolce's enchantment reacted, causing a shower of pink sparks around them. The demon cursed, clutching his hand close. “I don't like bullies, I've decided that,” Eliza said. He could still crush her, so she took one of the blank cards she stored inside to write 'outsider demon Typhoon' on it. “They're like the cheats who try to turn in bad items for requests. I know a name for you and I can get it posted on bulletin boards all over town until everyone knows it.”

Typhoon shrieked. Names were important, it was knowledge in her sap. If she gave this name to the humans, the demon would lose some power over them. Not all, but it could be enough. He moved to punch his hand through her, but then vines wrapped around him and pulled him back. The dryad was still afraid, but she was trying. “ _No hurt no hurt.”_

“Damn you both!” Typhoon struggled against the vine, but Eliza had already sent off the message to Lest. It was a priority request of sorts, she reflected. The demon had some connection to the prince. Against an outsider demon, even humans would need some help like the name to start with. She was simply anticipating what was needed.

After a few minutes of Typhoon trying to get free and the dryad keeping her vines on him, the demon got summoned away. “Phew, that could have been bad,” Eliza said. “You okay sweetie?”

“ _Winter storm scared where am I?”_ she replied.

Recalling her discussion with Leon over how just moving to the other side of the plaza would be disorienting, Eliza said, “Well I'm going out on a limb here, but I believe you're _away-here to cold-earth-magnet-pull sun-midmorning past roots_ except I don't know how big your roots are. Pretty sure you're well past if you can't find yourself.”

The dryad disappeared, letting Eliza think that she'd submerge back into tree thought for the rest of the blizzard. But then the dryad came back, closer to her. On seeing that she got the right location, she smiled. “ _Good friend. We safe.”_

“That's good to know,” Eliza said, happy that she'd returned. “I'm glad to talk to you. I'm Eliza, though that's not easy to translate to tree speak. Something like, _sap-know-sharance-branch_.”

“ _Sap-know-sharance-branch friend_ ,” the dryad said happily. “ _I dawn-light-cobweb-dew. Fruit tree caretaker.”_ Then she seemed sad. “ _Outsider-demon-typhoon want-hurt love-shine-human-caretaker and water-shine-human-warm. Hold-hurt me want-me away-to friends hold-hurt-them. Love-shine-human-caretaker wilt-heart, me wilt-heart. Outside-know.”_

Typhoon had tried to threaten her as a way of bullying someone into giving in to him, but what was going on was outside of the dryad's knowledge aside from the demon wanting to hurt them all and making them sad. “From the sound of it, I think you're worried over Lest and Dylas with this guy,” Eliza said. She wouldn't know for sure unless she saw the dryad address one of them in her view. “I've been worried about them too. But I've heard some talk between,” she considered if the dryad would understand who Frey, Leon, and Kiel were, “other humans, that there is a plan for defeating the demon.”

_Dawn-light-cobweb-dew_ looked at her, puzzled and worried.

Thinking it through, Eliza repeated, “ _Humans future-grow idea demon away-to outside-world. Know-heart humans grow-well.”_ That brightened the dyrad's mood, but Eliza also had to relate that sadness wasn't easy to break out of. _“Human heart-wilt slow heart-grow to heart-shine. Give-love-to and give-thought-to love-shine-human-caretaker and water-shine-human-warm. Good, all glad.'_

“ _I give-love-to and give-thought-to friends away-here-storm. I rest under-storm. Away-here-storm, give-thought-to-from sap-know-sharance-branch friend? Know here._ ”

“I'd be happy to talk to you, good friends!” Eliza said, momentarily forgetting her English structures after all the tree talk. The dryad laughed sweetly before vanishing to her tree self. “And I hope Lest and Dylas come out of being sad. I'm pretty sure they can deal with that demon. I still have to tell him what life is like as a box... and maybe a dream... of being a radio.”

Eliza fell back into her tree thoughts, only able to notice that her icicle was growing back in an interesting form due to the whipping freezing blizzard wind.


	128. Hell Gate of Love

Winter 66

It had been a hard couple of days, Lest thought. Yesterday, Arthur had been pressured into an emotional breakdown that made both hell gates fully active. Going into the hell gate in that state would make things immensely tougher, so Lest had tried to calm Arthur down through empathy. He wasn't sure if it would work; Arthur's outburst was full of powerful and painful emotions that Lest could feel physical effects from in spite of Dylas being there. His calming technique had not yet worked on someone like this before, but something had to be done. Then he felt his demon self nudge him into sapping Arthur's emotional energy out of him, draining his rune points at the same time.

That had been unnerving. Arthur had gone from an uncontrolled outburst to a still numbness in seconds. While it worked, Lest felt guilty for it. And pained because he had taken on all those emotions. Thankfully, talking to Dylas helped Lest keep himself calm until he could go back to the calming technique and reverse the drain just enough to stir Arthur back to awareness. Arthur nearly panicked, but Lest kept him calm until he had a better handle on himself. But that turned to a burden far too heavy for Lest to handle. Once Frey and Leon had left, Dylas insisted on taking Lest back to the castle too. He had to agree to it or he would lose control.

From what others had said, it seemed to have helped Arthur. At least until early this morning when apparently he had met with Arthur and took off with him somewhere. Lest was worried about that. He knew it couldn't have been himself because he'd been eating breakfast in the castle about the time Forte said she'd seen him in Arthur's office. Was it his demon? But the other monsters from the hell gates hadn't worked together. Perhaps it had been right to suggest it wasn't like the others.

There was a blizzard quickly building into a threat. Reports were in from everyone in town assuring Lest that they were as prepared as they could be, plus Leon had made some copies of the upper levels of Frey's map underneath the town. That gave them many options in case of emergencies. For now, they had closed the castle tight and stayed in the central chamber where the large fireplace was going strong. There was more people than normal here. Vishnal had brought Dolce and Pico here so they weren't alone in the shop, while Sven had come over with Clorica mostly because he felt Lest was in danger (which could be true). Once things had been arranged at the restaurant, Dylas even came over to be with him, offering to help with the cooking when needed.

But the crowd was welcome. As Dylas had said the other day, being around everyone made it hard for Lest to listen to the various spirits trying to control him. He did have to watch what he was saying more than usual, but even that helped. To pass the time, Volkanon had brought out some games. Even Doomgale played along, thrilled to have so much company today.

As it was getting close to 1230, Forte and Arthur came up from the basement levels. That was clearly a great thing as Arthur no longer had chains on him; one more hell gate was destroyed and they seemed perfectly fine and happy. Everyone wanted to congratulate them, especially when Arthur announced that they were planning on getting married whenever the town was clear from the blizzard. On hearing that, Lest had the thought that this made seven couples formed and married this year. Seven was a number of great power and since it had to do with love, the balance between love and hate was strongly in love's favor. That should help him against Storgane and this demon; it certainly made him feel more confident to sense the clarity and companionship that had blossomed between these two today.

“There is something more troubling that we came in to report,” Forte said once the initial excitement quieted down. “Before the light hell gate appeared, we had to fight off a powerful leopard monster that returned inside the hell gate trying to torment him. It seems to be similar to the monsters the guardians turned into.”

“Which means that the person we thought was Lest was actually a demon monster of the same fashion,” Arthur said seriously, looking over at him.

“But if it's Lest's monster, why would it kidnap you first?” Clorica asked.

“We can't be sure of that,” Forte said. “It was far more intelligent than the leopard, perhaps on level of or even more so than Marionetta. It conversed with us and seemed to have some purpose behind its actions, even implied that it had summoned this blizzard. When we broke the gate, it didn't seem concerned at all about losing ground.”

“It shares my powers much as the guardians share their monster's powers,” Lest said. “Although if I had conscious control over the weather, I'd be doing my best not to do it. Did you get a name from it?” Having it named would give them a little control over it; unidentified demons were rumored to alter their powers at will. Once named, they could pin down what it was capable of and what it was like.

“No, sorry,” Forte said. “It would help if we decided on that, less mystery for it to use.”

“What would you call it, Lest?” Vishnal asked.

“I don't know,” he said, unsure if he could come up with a name. They were bound with Etherlink. In the moment they all tried to think of something, a card twirled itself into existence near him. It had Eliza's symbol as the town request box in the corner, but all it had was three words on it. “Oh... Outsider Demon Typhoon.”

“ _Makes sense when it made this storm,”_ Doomgale pointed out. “ _How long has it been talking to you?”_

“Right, so we'll call it Typhoon,” Lest said, making a mental note to ask Eliza about this when the blizzard was over. “As for how long, well, it's been most of winter.”

“I figured it was already messing with you like mine was with me the past few weeks,” Arthur said. “Typhoon is definitely up to something, so I don't think it's going to wait long before pulling you into the gate. But if you're up to it, I got Frey and Leon to teach me Omnigate.”

“You can cast that spell?” Lest asked, surprised.

Arthur smiled and nodded. “Yes, I've found the legacy that my family lost in prior generations. I'm even of the light element so the banishment of Storgane can be held even with Frey unable to cast major spells. But first, we need to get your gate taken care of.”

“Right, I should be able to do this,” he said, although some parts of his mind needed to be convinced.

“Hang on,” Dylas said, coming over and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Um, could we talk in private for a minute, before we go do this?”

No. But that thought clearly wasn't from himself. Lest made himself nod. “Sure, let's go to the hall.” As they walked out of the room, there was a muffled squeal from Pico as Dolce grabbed hold of her. Volkanon immediately started scolding the ghost about leaving them alone, which was just funny enough to make Lest smile.

“Are you sure you're ready or are you just saying that because you don't want to worry everyone else there more?” Dylas asked him once they got into the hall and started past a corner.

“I do have to fight to say what's on my mind,” he said, since the demon wanted him to just say he was ready. “This has to be done so even though I am worried in some ways, better that we get it done today. Otherwise this blizzard might last much longer.”

“All right, I just had to be sure,” Dylas said, coming closer. It seemed like he'd hug him. But instead, he kissed his forehead. “Good luck.”

“You might need that more than me,” Lest said, although it did make him feel better about going into the gate. “Aren't you supposed to kiss on the lips for good luck? Or am I just too short for you?”

“N-no more kisses until those chains are gone,” he said, trying to be stern with it.

“Then trying to give me more incentive?” he asked. Although being put in a good mood like this certainly was helping.

“Not quite what I meant, but if it works for you,” he said, glancing aside bashfully. “Let's get this over with.”

* * *

 

While Dylas walked with Lest back into the central chamber of the castle to get the hell gate called out, he wondered if he would need luck. Lest had talked before like it wasn't too hard except for Leon, as long as he could hear the chains to find the person. Of course, he was better at being encouraging. Dylas was going to have to watch his temper and try to think before speaking. Lest would have it worse, although, what would his hell look like?

“Okay, we're going to go for it,” Lest said to those there. “I just hope letting a gate in here won't mess things up too much.”

“Got many strong people, we fine,” Doomgale said. “Don't give up!”

“All right, then I make sure to cast with these chains in mind?” Arthur asked, coming over to Lest.

“Yeah, it'll be at the other end,” he said.

“It's good you're going for it, but something still bothers me,” Sven said. “If the monster from your hell gate is active and about, why hasn't it attacked directly yet?”

“Typhoon seems like it won't attack unless it has an advantage,” Forte said. “Perhaps it's smart enough not to come after Lest with all of you with him.”

“Right, I haven't really been alone since Sano and Uno stick with me at nights and others are also nearby during the days,” Lest said. “But it should come when the gate is called, so be ready.”

Once the others agreed that they were ready too (including Arthur agreeing to drop back quickly with Forte), Arthur took hold of one of Lest's wrist bindings and cast Omnigate using the chains as a guide. There weren't many corrupt runes left around; Lest could feel them being pulled clear from Darryl's tower to have enough to summon the hell gate. Typhoon appeared as expected, looking much like Lest except that he was hovering over the gate and had strange clawed hands and feet. “I could have had them,” it said, sounding annoyed. “Anyhow, couldn't we just enjoy this blizzard more? It's growing splendidly, I'd like to see it through.”

“That's not your call,” Dylas said, clenching his fist. Would defeating the demon out here make things easier in the hell gate?

Almost immediately, he regretted speaking since it drew Typhoon's attention to him. The look in the demon's eyes was like it noticed him as a potentially tasty meal when it hadn't eaten in a long time. “Perhaps not, although I'm finding emotional storms about as satisfying to craft,” it said with a wicked hungry grin. “See you.” It faded into sparkles that flew into the hell gate to wait for them.

“We'll be praying for you out here,” Dolce said, although she was looking at him rather than Lest.

“Let's go,” Lest said, taking his hand and squeezing it. “Try to get to me as quickly as you can.”

“I will,” Dylas said. They walked into the hell gate. It was like walking through a curtain of magic, except slightly disorienting once they got through to the other side and he found himself alone. Hearing the sound of the chains easily, he hurried towards them.

Once his surroundings became more solid, he found himself in his old bedroom from when his family had been alive. There were a lot of familiar things he hadn't seen since: the blue and purple quilt on his bed, his old diary on the windowsill, some of his sisters' toys on the floor, the patterned rug he'd often stared into when he didn't have the will to do anything more, one of his mother's flower vases with a clump of toyherbs in it, and a dirty plate from when he'd eaten in here rather than be with his family. Even the view out his window was the old Selphia rather than the new.

“What the hell am I doing here?” Dylas wondered. “Lest wouldn't know this place.”

He opened up the door to leave, but stopped before he did. Straight ahead, there was a familiar dream hall, the one that never ended, where doors would disappear before he got to them. He shut the door again, confused about how his nightmare ended up in Lest's hell gate. Maybe it had to do with him and Typhoon having magical empathy? Dylas checked around his room just in case and found a note under the flower vase.

'Dylas – Before you leave this gate, go home.'

“But I am home?” he wondered aloud. “Or does it mean Porco's place? I'd have to get out of this house first.”

Since he knew the hall would be trouble, Dylas went to the window beside his bed and pulled it open. He tried to leave that way, but found himself coming right back into his room as if he'd come in from outside. He went back out the door into the hall to see how that worked. Hadn't he already solved this? Just as he thought that, he managed to come to one of the doors and was able to open it. He let out a sigh of relief before realizing it. He was past that nightmare.

It still didn't explain what that place was doing here. Finding himself outside on a bright sunny day, Dylas headed to the town plaza to cut across town and get to the restaurant. He ended up stopping there as another thing of the past was here: the shining fountain. Sort of here. He would see it, take a step forward, and it'd be gone. Then it'd be back again. More importantly, Lest was also sort of there. His jacket was white and gold now, worn over a gown rather like an angel's. A glow of light surrounded him as he turned and smiled on seeing him. Lest spoke, but it was in a weird chiming language that Dylas couldn't make heads or tails out of.

His ears twitched at the sound. “But, that's also like my dreams. Are you really Lest?”

“Are you seeing right?” he asked cheerfully, drifting over to him. “I am who you see. I am Lest. I'm so glad you found me quickly.”

“Wait, this can't be right,” Dylas said, stepping back before this dream image could hug him. “You don't have any chains, I'm seeing stuff from my dreams, and, and this weather is far too perfect! You're not Lest, who are you?!”

The image of Lest pouted. “I am Lest.” Then the image flickered, like a reflection in a lake disturbed by a pebble. “I am Lest as you see him,” it said, its voice also distorted. Then the image was clear again, the dream Lest smiling and reaching out to him. “Come on, I know what to do. It won't take long and we can leave.”

“I don't know how much you can do when you're not actually Lest,” he said. “I need to go back to the restaurant.”

“No, you can't be doing that,” the image said, its eyes wide in worry. “Please don't, you have to stick with me or Typhoon will try to kill you. Storgane wants us to despair and that would be the quickest way to push me over that edge.”

Dylas felt bad for a moment. But no, there was something weird going on and he felt he had to follow the note's instructions. “I guess, but you could come over there with me. I feel like it could be important.”

“If you want a more intimate moment, we could go to my room instead,” it said, looking up to him hopefully.

“I said not until we're done here and I'm going to my place,” Dylas said, heading over.

Lest's image followed after him, pleading and pestering him not to go there. But once they got to the front door, it distorted again. When Dylas paused to look back at it, it reappeared with a more solemn expression. “You're right,” it said in the more even tones of seriousness. “But this won't be Typhoon's last effort to get you out of the way.”

“Are we even in Lest's hell gate?” he asked, looking up at the clear blue sky. “I would've expected it to be stormy.”

“No, you were drawn into your own dream world,” Lest's image said. “But this is the way back into his hell gate. I know you can find the real me, I just hope you can do so safely.”

“Thanks, I'll find him,” Dylas said.

The image smiled then, more authentic to the real Lest. “And I'll always be in your dreams.”

He smiled at that, then went into the restaurant. But the happiness vanished when he heard a snort and impatient hoof stomp. Right in the dining area, Thunderbolt was waiting for him. Even if it was a dream, he found himself hoping that the dream Lest got out of Typhoon's hold and away from Thunderbolt here. Dylas shut the door. “What are you doing here? I defeated you already.”

Thunderbolt snorted again. “I was created from the darkness in your heart. I will always remain in your heart even if I cannot exist anywhere else. I am your fear, anxiety, anger, and self-hatred. As you change, so will I. You will never be rid of me.”

For a moment, he felt angry and ready to prove it wrong. Then his fingers brushed against the Returning Ring he was wearing. He couldn't be picking useless fights; he couldn't break this ring before he needed to use it. “Maybe, but I don't have time to deal with you now.”

That made Thunderbolt angry enough to charge him. Dylas dashed for the stairs, hurrying up them two at a time to get away. Without even seeing if the monster had followed him up, he went into his bedroom and shut the door behind him. It was just as he had left it this morning. Except, he was already in there, sitting on his bed.

No, it had to be an image of him like the image of Lest outside. The Dylas looking back at him smiled in a handsome way. While they looked alike, somehow the image seemed warm and noble. He seemed like the kind of person that wouldn't be laughed at for courting a princess (or prince for that matter). And there was a rich fascinating music around him, not music like Meg played but the music of the heart. His own heart, Dylas realized, as the melody told of a love like a flower of light trying to bloom in the darkness to illuminate the soul it was in.

“Are you how he sees me like the one outside was how I saw him?” Dylas asked, awed that Lest hadn't been kidding with some of his words.

“Yes, that's it,” the image of himself said. “He wanted to help you, so I came here. I can lead you into the hell gate itself, although not straight to him. Sorry, but all I can give you there is a hint to tell Typhoon from Lest: ask him how he signed the note with the healing tea.”

“Doesn't Typhoon have those demon hands and feet?” That shouldn't be hard to pick out.

His image shook its head. “Not in here, it can appear how it wants here. It tried to take over your image of Lest, but coming near me stopped that. You need to reach Lest, as he can't break the gate without you next to him. Since Typhoon knows that, he's put obstacles in your path. Past here, it will be obstacles from Lest's imagination, save for Thunderbolt who might follow you over. No matter how disturbing that might get, you need to keep going inward to find him.”

“I get it, so Typhoon's called Thunderbolt back into my mind to help slow me down,” Dylas said. That was one good reason to ignore the dark unicorn.

“Partly that,” it said. “But think about it. Thunderbolt can follow you over there because Lest can see everyone's emotions. He can see everyone's light and dark sides, being unable to stop himself from doing so. As such, it won't be only your monster over there.”

“Damn, that's going to make it hard to avoid fighting,” he said, looking at the Returning Ring.

Fortunately, his image said, “This is a dream world and the hell gate is more akin to this place than reality. If you have the will, you won't have to fight. Still, remember that your goal is to reach Lest as soon as you can. Don't let yourself get distracted by monsters, especially not your own.”

“Right, thanks,” Dylas said. Then it'd be quicker to run, or not get noticed at all. “Would you know where he is other than a vague inwards? Seems like you could help.”

The image got off the bed and headed to the door. “The two of us dream beings are how you see each other and what you want. Sometimes fears and anxiety gets in the way, but we are wishes. Thus in a dream, I want very much to be near Lest because he wants very much to be near you. So I also want to bring you right to him. But once we go through the door, I'll be affected by the hell gate and turn into what he fears. You can't trust me then; I might even try to kill you.”

“Will you return to normal after this?” Dylas asked. It made him wonder, what did Lest fear in him? “And Lest too?”

“I will, but he may need some time to recover from this,” the image said, opening the door. It seemed like the endless hall was out there instead of what was actually in the mansion. “We can't waste time, come on.”

Dylas nodded and walked through the door after his image. There was a change in the runes, much like entering the hell gate had felt like. While they ended up back in his bedroom, things were different. There was a storm raging outside, for one. That was more like what he'd expected.

As for his image, strangely it seemed more confident. It turned back to him. “On second thought, you don't really need him anymore. You should just leave, it'll be easier.”

“He needs me,” Dylas said, meaning to go back through the door to get outside.

His image grabbed his arm. “And what are you going to get out of it? He's so clingy and touchy-feely, and emotional, nothing like a man should be. Sure he's cute, but he'll keep teasing you and whining about dumb things. You've got a future to be looking forward to now. You've got plenty of friends and if the rumors are right, you can find a better lover easily. Maybe even another man if you have to, although there's plenty of girls who seem interested. And isn't his empathy intimidating? You can't hide anything from him, so it's best to keep away so he's not prodding right at weak spots. You don't need him to be happy.”

Pulling his arm away, Dylas stepped back through the door. “I need him because I love him. But thanks for telling me what he's worried about.”

The image growled in anger, clenching his fists. Dylas tried to hurry out the door, but then Thunderbolt shot a bolt of lightning down the hall that barely missed him. Once it was past, he rushed out and down the stairs again. The bottom steps were slimy, making him slip and stumble against the wall to keep on his feet. Looking out in the dining area, he saw... well he wasn't quite sure what it was. Like a bloated slug or a huge land squid that oozed thick slime. It hardly took notice of him as it was focused on devouring the tables and chairs. A monstrous emptiness and hunger radiated from it, something that could never be satiated and would take anything trying to fill itself.

He felt a chill of further horror realizing that this must be like Thunderbolt and Typhoon, if Porcoline's darkness was given a monster form. Seeing it made ideas connect in Dylas' mind: what Porco's behavior was like now was with this entity under tight control. His mentor seemed jovial and carefree; this was what he didn't let others see entirely, except for Lest who couldn't help knowing these monsters in other people.

In spite of that, Lest still cared about people. He had to see the better side of people too, Dylas told himself. But in this hell gate, only the monsters would be present. An icy lion crashed in from the other half of the building. Was that what Arthur and Forte had recently defeated? Whether it was or not, it would waste his time when he needed to get to Lest. Dylas hurried outside.

He was instantly battered by cold rain and sharp winds. Lightning was the only illumination. However, it wasn't lightning that made the din filling the air. It was whispers he couldn't quite hear and feelings flitting around a crowd. Trying to ignore it, he hurried to the entrance to the royal farms. But he stopped as a flash of lightning revealed a tall tightly woven fence of vines blocking it off. They were thick thorny vines that had a greasy corrupted feel to their runes. The vines extended all around the farms.

And around the castle as Dylas found when he ran along the streets to the town plaza. The castle seemed like it would be the logical place to go to find Lest. Through the whispers, storm, and thunder, he heard occasional challenges from monsters, trying to get him to come find them. But those wouldn't be important ones. At the entrance to the parlor in the royal wing, he tried using a wind spell to cut through the vines. It worked, but he had to hurry inside as the vines grew back closed.

Inside, he found what seemed to be Lest again. He was wearing chains, coming from his wrists and wrapping loosely around his upper chest like they could be pulled to choke him silent. “Oh good, you're safe,” he said. “It's been oddly quiet in here, so I was worried Typhoon was attacking you rather than me.”

“There's a lot of monsters out there, but I ignored them,” Dylas said. “What now?”

“Well there's a puzzle here that I started working out while waiting on you,” Lest said. “While I haven't been able to get out of the castle, I can't get into my room either. I think the latter's more important and I've got a lead on it, so would you give me the Returning Ring?”

He nearly took the ring off his hand, but a thought caught him in time. Lest was serious here, but his emotions didn't seem right. Not only that, but Typhoon would be trying anything to keep him from reaching Lest. “This is our way back home, so can I ask you something first?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“How did you sign the note with the healing tea?”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “Really, that's your question? It doesn't really matter at this point.”

Dylas shook his head. “It does, just answer it.”

“I don't really remember that one, but it had to be 'from your sweet prince,' right?” He smiled in trying to look innocent.

“You're not Lest,” Dylas said, especially since Lest hadn't given him any note signed with that yet.

“I suppose I have to kill you then,” the false Lest said, with the smile remaining. He fired a dark bolt of energy at him.

It only hit his hand, partly because Dylas was already closing the last few feet between them to punch the false Lest in the face. The fake tried to stun him, but it didn't set and he was able to attack a few more times. As he pulled back a step to make sure he didn't lose his footing, the fake suddenly lunged for him and kissed him. That caught him in confusion, especially when the demon also tried to strangle him. The last part was something he knew better, letting him yank the fake's clawed hand away and throw him into the couch.

Laughing, Typhoon turn the couch to ashes instantly as he grew leathery black wings and flew back. Now it seemed like much of his body was that of a reddish-black demon although his head still looked like Lest's. Only the long-sleeve jacket remained intact as his other clothes turned to tatters. Dylas kept a defensive stance. “What the hell was that for?”

“Sometimes I just can't help myself,” he said, summoning a thorny black spear as he did. “Don't you realize how magnificent and rich your emotions are to an empath? All that anger, embarrassment, desire, and shame just from a kiss; it'll be sad when that grows dull as you get used to things. Even Lest might get bored of you then.”

“No he won't,” Dylas said, trying to hit him with a lightning bolt.

Typhoon got out of the way easily, but he didn't come in for an attack. “Are you so sure? Try this.” He snapped his fingers and pointed a dark claw at him.

All of a sudden, Dylas' mind felt foggy and exhausted. It was like the pits of depression again, smothered in anxiety and loneliness. “Ugh...” He tried to get angry again and threw a nearby chair at Typhoon. But the emotional weight was enough to make it a sloppy throw.

The demon smirked at him and the weight lessened a little. “You don't like that, do you? Feeling depressed just because someone else shared it with you. You want it to stop. Lest would want it to stop too, but he tries to help the person who was actually depressed. It takes an awful lot of caring to do that. In his nightmares, I see that you aren't the only person who was depressed that he fell in love with trying to help. But you're going to end up leaving him just like all the rest.”

“No.” But that gave him a thought. Typhoon had an evil mind, but he was an empath just like Lest. He might become overwhelmed in the right circumstances. While he was of the love element, perhaps love itself would still harm him like it supposedly did to other demons. Dylas fought back against the inflicted depression by thinking about this past year and all the good things that had been in it, especially Lest.

Meanwhile, Typhoon kept talking. “He doesn't really love anybody, he just uses all of you to feel good. The empathy lets us know what buttons to push and pressures to chase to get others to do what we want. If you don't leave him, then all you'll be to him is a wine of emotions to get drunk off of. And he'll have you wrapped around his fingers to keep you right next to him... ah...”

Dylas was currently thinking over firefly glows and the feel of Lest petting his ears. “He's not a manipulator, you are,” he said, glaring at Typhoon with love of Lest and hatred for Typhoon trying to be like him.

“Haaa,” he wobbled and then collapsed onto the floor. A twisted but pained smile was on his face, an unfocused look in his eyes. As Dylas approached him, Typhoon was too dazed to fight back. “I've ahredy won, s-sucker, oo, beautiful sucker...”

“Shut the hell up,” he said, kicking the demon into the wall and following up with a lightning bolt. This one fanned out in multiple bolts. Even if it had tried dodging, it would have been hit. Typhoon dissolved into light in defeat. But, why say that he had already won?

As the storms and tormented whispers outside quieted down, Dylas decided it didn't matter right now. He had to find Lest still. Going into the hall, he found that the door to his bedroom was already open. The talk of a puzzle had been a lie to get... wait, Typhoon had struck his hand. Dylas looked at it and found, to his dismay, that the Returning Ring was no longer there. Was that what he meant? Even so, there was still Lest's Arjate spell so long as Lest was capable of casting it. He went into the bedroom.

Lest wasn't there. Instead, Dylas found himself walking outside into an unfamiliar street, an unfamiliar town. He was coming out of a windmill into a rustic village with scattered wooden houses. The storm was still carrying on although the rain and wind weren't quite as bad. Was this his old hometown of Grelin? He wasn't sure where to go until he spotted a large area of light and people down the main road. He went there to find some hint.

As he walked along, he began to feel uncomfortable. Dylas wasn't sure why until one of the whispers made his ears twitch. “Keep aware lest he's around,” the stern but quiet voice said. “He'll completely ruin the spellwork.”

“He's a horrible cursed child, I don't see why Joyce doesn't send him away.” There was cold hate in that voice, trying not to see something troublesome but innocent.

Lest was a rune breaker born in a village of earthmates. Dylas realized that meant he might have been seen as a bad omen or unwanted child, even hated like this. Perhaps this was the depths of Lest's hell? Because the stormy Selphia, even filled with monsters born of peoples' darker sides, was better than this. Not only was there a cold hate and distrust here, but the monsters were here too.

That didn't entirely explain what he found in the area of light where one dirt road met another. The people here seemed happy. Where the light touched, there was no storm. The sun even shone down on this crossroad. Most of the people here he didn't recognize, but he briefly caught sight of Helena and Nem before his attention was drawn to the one at the center of the light: a little girl with long green pigtails, twirling around with a colorful sparkler.

Coming into the circle of light, Dylas asked, “Is that you Frey?”

She stopped to look up at him, then smiled and skipped over. The circle of light moved to remain centered on her. The people caught on the edge moved without complaint. “Hi Dylas! Whatcha doing?”

“I'm looking for Lest,” he said. “Do you know where he is?”

“Dunno for sure,” she said, keeping her sparkler going. “But he's probably back at home up in the attic. He doesn't come out to play with me, which is a bummer.”

“Where is your home?” Dylas asked. “I have to talk to him.”

“Mmm...” then Frey smiled mischievously. “Not telling!” She laughed lightly and ran back to the center of the crossroads to twirl around some more.

That was annoying, although not entirely mean. The other people were ignoring him. But, there had to be a reason that Frey and her light were here. Dylas looked around the streets, trying to recall anything Lest had said about his old home. There had been a private library and crafting room, so it had to be a large house. With their family having been there for centuries, it was probably an old house too. Then he spotted a likely possibility, one where he could see an attic window from the crossroads. There was a faint light coming from it. While that was hardly the only window with a light coming from it, he decided to check that place out first.

On entering the place, he found it cold. There was a heavy sadness in the air, one that made Dylas keenly feel the loss of his family. This was the place. While he soon found stairs to the second floor, finding the stairs to the attic took some searching. They were in a storage closet that was missing a door, the narrow steps nearly hidden with boxes of blankets, clothes, and old things. He had to duck under some parts to make it up into the attic.

It had been split into two, half of it given to further storage. But the other half was a bedroom. Possibly due to the narrow staircase, the furnishings were small. Things were a bit vague like a dream or memory, but a few things stood out. A planter with some herbs was placed at a south-facing window and a few books seemed important. Perhaps his diaries?

Lest himself was pacing around near the western window, where he could likely see Frey and the others. And then Dylas' angelic image of Lest was sitting at the window. It smiled on seeing him. “We've been waiting for you,” the image said.

Surprised, Lest turned to him. “D-Dylas? How'd you find your way here so quickly?”

“I knew a few things and guessed others,” he said. “Like I knew that all those people had to be somewhere you could see them. It wouldn't make sense if they weren't.”

His smile was one of relief. “Right, this is a kind of nightmare. I was allowed to watch you until you defeated Typhoon. That was really clever.”

“It just made sense to me,” Dylas said, then looked over as the image got up and came over. “But what are you doing here?”

“You wanted him to be safe and keep his hopes up,” the image said. “When the way to the hell gate opened up from your nightmare, I had the thought that perhaps I could help. And then I was here. Did I do well?”

It still didn't make much sense, but perhaps it was dream logic at work. “Uh, yeah, thanks.”

“You did keep me from forgetting where we were,” Lest said. “Thank you.”

The image of Lest smiled. “It's good I could.” Then he vanished.

“Did you need me to answer the question from before?” Lest asked.

Dylas shook his head and came over to take his hand. “No. I know you're Lest from the way your runes met with mine.”

That glow of love turned brighter, enough to make the otherwise dismal scene fade before it shattered. “Oh yeah, there is that. Um, thank you... for beating Typhoon and all the rest you did. I'm glad you didn't hesitate in spite of what I've put you through lately.”

“Hey it wasn't all you and I've put you through just as much trouble,” he reminded him. “So, uh, can we stop working against each other now?”

“Of course,” he said, then hugged him warmly. “I'll have to find some way to tell you about the things in there, without disrupting the town with the weather.”

Dylas kept him close even as the island with the strange trees appeared around them. “Well why not now when there's a blizzard going on anyhow?”

“You have a point.” His chi lines were glowing bright gold, so after a moment, he let go and brought his hands together like he was praying to start singing the earthmate's pledge. While he did so, Dylas took a golden leaf out of the air and held onto it for him. Something shifted, but nothing was apparently done once Lest stopped singing.

“What was that?” Dylas asked, handing him the leaf.

Lest admired the leaf for a second before responding, “I closed in the last portion of Rune Prana, completing the road.”

“Yes, and now all things are prepared for Storgane's soul to be put to rest for good,” the harvest goddess said, appearing beside them without notice. Her presence this time brought the smell of blooming flowers and tree bark. “Seven is a number of power. Wait for the seventh wedding to come and he will not be able to resist your actions.”

“I thought so, after Forte and Arthur wed,” Lest said.

“You also have what powers and experience you need to destroy Rune Prana's pillars,” she said. Something about her seemed stern now, perhaps her look at Lest which put into Dylas' mind the edge of a sickle. “Things about it will tempt you, but you must not give in Lest. It was built as a loophole to strangle death. If it succeeds, many other principles of the world will break. For one, there cannot be birth in a world without death.”

“I think you mean that there is no need for birth in a world without death,” a ghost said. As they turned to him, a man who left Dylas with the impression of being a powerful wizard, he drifted into the circle of trees. His soul began to sparkle. “Such things can be sacrificed to put an end to everything.”

“No it can't, that's stupid,” Dylas said, already not liking this person.

“It's why he completed the road, isn't it Lest?” the ghost asked.

Lest shook his head. “No. I completed it so we can go in and destroy it.” When the ghost glowered at him, he added, “And just to make things clear, I wasn't the one who studied Etherlink and making the rune spheres. That was my sister's job, and our mother's, and our mother's mother, and all the way back from daughter to mother until your daughter Misa.”

“B-but that's impossible!” he said, just about frothing at the mouth. But his spirit was fading fast. “Women aren't capable of handling my magic! No wonder it took so damn long for them to get it done, my son and grandson would have done it with just them if they hadn't been so irresponsible.”

Then the harvest goddess proved that her stern attitude to Lest had been slight, as if the sharpest sickle were dealing with a venomous weed. “Darryl Zelphis, you are the one who was irresponsible. You were given your powers to save the world from a tyrant god and you hid your blasphemous abuse of them for far too long. While your road has been completed, you have come to your own undoing by your own will.”

“I... I...” Darryl's rage briefly turned to fear as he realized that his soul was being cleansed into pure runes. “I...” then his emotions were lost entirely. His soul turned to black and white, then just white until he vanished.

“Such is the power of this space for the dead,” the harvest goddess said. “The souls who have wandered the endless road will be drawn here to finally reach peace. Although, there are a number of souls there who have a connection to those living in Selphia now. Once they meet their loved ones, they too will come here.”

“If that's so, we should locate those ghosts and bring them back to town,” Lest said.

“You are able to do so,” she said to Lest. “It will be a grave burden on you.”

“But I wouldn't want to collapse the road with lost souls still inside,” he said.

“Can others of us do that too?” Dylas asked.

“I'm afraid not,” she said. “You'll have to find other ways to support him.” Then she gestured to the golden leaf Lest had. “The leaves will react best to you as well, Lest; that one will keep you and two others with you safe in Rune Prana. It's possible you could bring others into the road to find their loved ones, to make sure you wouldn't need to support the ghosts in the living world.”

“I'll put an end to everything, in my way rather than his way,” Lest said.

Dylas got another idea. “Hey, if the gold leaf will protect us, we might be able to get back home through Rune Prana since Typhoon destroyed the Returning Ring.”

“Is that going to be safe?” Lest asked. “Arjate's hard on me, but a lot of the ghosts on the road became crazed and monsters could have gotten in directly from the ether sea.”

The harvest goddess pointed them in the direction Darryl had come from. There was now a wooden bridge with an odd wooden gate around both ends. “Keep straight on the main path; you should be able to make it to the entrance in good time and without trouble. There are thirteen side paths leading to the pillars, each more dangerous than the main road. Because your friend Arthur was the one to give the place order, the main path is straight without error.”

“All right, thanks for all your help,” Lest said, bowing to her.

She smiled brightly at them. “You're most welcome. Take care, toodles!” She then faded away to nothing.

“Don't let go and we should be fine,” he said, smiling at him.

“Sure,” Dylas said, although he'd keep an eye out in case monsters approached them. Keeping each other's hand, they headed across the bridge and hurried down Rune Prana's main path.

It certainly didn't seem right. They appeared to be running along a gravel lined path under a summer sky; cicadas and other bugs called in the thick grass and wildflowers outside the road. While the plants waved, there was no wind. While it was bright and warm with a blue sky, there was no visible sun. Then they would come across a side path and see the corner of the wall there as if this place were a lot smaller than it appeared. It all looked real, even seeing the other paths before they reached the odd corners. They would pass by the shadows of people, but no one called out to them.

At least, not until they'd passed by nine of the side paths. “Dylas?” a woman said near him, causing him and Lest to slow to a stop.

“What?” he asked. Then four of the shadows clustered in a group brightened up, turning into familiar people: his mother, step-father, and sisters. “Oh, you're all here?”

“It is you Dylas!” the one who seemed to be Lissa said, smiling broadly.

“You're alive, thank goodness,” his mother said in relief.

“We managed to find each other finally and now here you are,” Braidy said, trying to be proper as a knight although she couldn't hide back some childish excitement. “Did you get our box?”

Dylas smiled, not feeling anything but happiness for this moment. He'd heard what the goddess had said, but it didn't really click for him until now. While they wouldn't have long, he could speak to them one last time and know for certain that their souls would be at peace now. “Yes, it was a great blessing to me, thank you. And your family did well; a woman of your bloodline has become a Dragon Knight as well and she doesn't have to hide who she really is because she found out about you.”

“That's wonderful, I hope you're nice to her,” Braidy said, proud to hear of it.

“Have you been doing well?” Lissa asked, watching him with some worry.

He nodded. “Yeah, look, I'm really sorry about what happened. But now that I've been freed of my duties as a guardian, I've found a lot of reasons to live and be happy with it: good friends, the other guardians are like another family to me, and I've got a job now as a chef and manager of a restaurant with a master in cooking that keeps encouraging me to get better.”

“Great, you didn't let darkness take you,” Lissa said, her voice a bit quieter. Both she and Braidy faded away then, leaving the road for good.

“I wish I could have realized I was being too hard on you before,” his step-father said, already fading out too.

“It's okay, I'm sorry I was hard on you, Steven,” Dylas said, offering his free hand without thinking too much on it. “I came to realize how strong and caring you had to be to accept Mom and I.”

Even if he was a ghost, Steven still gave him a handshake. “It's not easy, but I wanted to take care of you both. I wish you the best, Dylas.”

But his mother was still clear to their sight even when he was gone. “I was worried for so long that I did something wrong with you.”

“Mom, none of what I went through was your fault,” he said, hoping to reassure her. “Remember, I've always loved you no matter what, and I always will.” Seeing her sad smile made him think that while he didn't mind not telling the rest, he had to be honest with her. “Though there's something strange but really important I have to tell you.”

“What is it?” she asked, coming closer to him.

Instead of worrying too much on how to say it, he just let himself speak. “It's about all the good things that have been happening to me, there's something more about it. This man here is Lest; he's the one who helped me the most, the, um, the brightest light in my life. He rescued me from being a guardian and worked with me in turning my life around. He did it because he loves me and, well, I love him too as my boyfriend. While I know it's weird and not what we were taught was right, it is real and I'm happiest when I'm with him.”

His mother looked over both of them, unsure of it. “Is it possible?”

“Very possible, dear lady,” Lest said, giving her a bow that made her smile. “Because no matter how much he tries to convince me that he's a short-tempered sourpuss, I can see that he's really a sweet kindhearted person underneath.”

“Sheesh,” Dylas said, feeling his face get warm even though he felt happy. Lest chuckled, seemingly back to his usual self. “At least you're in a good mood now, I was really worried about you.”

When his mother chuckled along, Dylas felt less embarrassed. “It must be. You're right, that's not what was said to be normal. But seeing that you are happy and in love, and that he can see you the same way I do, I can't care about what others say. That... that's a great weight off my heart, thank you. Lest, take good care of my boy. He might be trouble, but I've always loved him and that will never change, no matter what.”

“I will, I'm glad we got to speak,” Lest said.

As she was fading, Dylas said, “Goodbye mother, I'm glad to know you're at peace.”

“Goodbye Dylas,” she said, fading away like the rest. “I hope you continue finding blessings in your life."


	129. Rune Breaker

While a child could be born with the blessings of an earthmate, signs of this often didn't come out for a few years. Frey was considered a prodigy for being able to cast magic without instruction at age three, but her twin brother Arthur was still something of a mystery at age five. There was a potential sign in that magic near consistently failed around him, except no one was sure what that meant. However, many people in Grelin knew that they did not like him for it. Arthur was exceptionally aware to know that even though everyone was polite when his parents took him around town.

He clung close to his father on that walk to the general store, gripping his hand tight. Arthur's father loved him, he was very sure of that. But he was also very sure that the man they were passing by saw him just like a cucumber beetle: an annoying ugly pest that destroyed things. Arthur bit his lip and tried not to cry about it. Maybe he shouldn't have agreed to come out on this errand.

“They don't like me,” Arthur said once the man was past. “They want to squash me like a bug.”

“It can't be that bad,” Corrin said, although he was worried and at a loss on what to do with him. Arthur knew he was trying to help, which was part of the reason he agreed to come today. Still, it was a horrible queasy feeling knowing that his parents didn't know what was different about him.

Thankfully, his father loved him and that was enough to get Arthur to the store. They entered and there was a messing of clinking; the pieces to a game some people had been playing scattered on the floor as the magic holding them in place was disrupted. “Did you have to bring him in here?” one of the women asked without thought.

“Hey, it's not his fault,” Corrin said, picking up some of the pieces near them. Arthur did as well, but he handed them to his father rather than the players. He didn't want to touch them when that action would repulse them. “And you don't need magic to play that game.”

“It's more interesting this way, at least when it holds together,” a man with the group said.

Then the store's owner insisted that Corrin keep Arthur away from the enchanted merchandise, which he got angry over but politely told him that they knew that already. And the four people playing the game kept looking at him, making Arthur feel like they were pricking him with thorns every time. Before they were even halfway through the list, he tugged at his father's shirt. “May I go outside?” he asked quietly.

Patting him on the shoulder, Corrin said, “Sure, behave yourself.”

Arthur nodded and ran outside. It helped a little, although the store was on the town's main street and several people were around. Sitting down on the porch, he drew his knees in close and looked down. What was wrong about him? He tried not to do bad things. But other people didn't like him because of something he had no control over. And he couldn't stop the magic-stopping power he had. It just happened when he got close enough.

As the minutes passed by, something changed. His bad feelings got worse instead of better. Arthur shuddered and closed his eyes, but it was like someone wrapped him too tight in a blanket and gave him bad food to make him sick. When some people walked by, he looked up to see some of his neighbors and some strangers. One of the strangers radiated a hate more powerful than he'd ever felt before, very painful as the sick feeling spread. Arthur cried quietly, wishing his father would get done soon.

Then the door opened. “All right, got that done... Arthur?” Corrin crouched by him, putting a hand lightly on his chest. “What's wrong?”

“Someone hates...” he gasped, struggling to speak. His father didn't bother waiting and picked him up to take over to the white witch's house to be checked on.

However, that brought them closer to the group with the hateful stranger. It brought them to his attention. Someone greeted Corrin and asked him something, but Arthur didn't hear it as he looked over and exchanged gazes with the hate filled person. For a moment, Arthur felt like he was going to be crushed to death with poisonous hate. It wasn't just him who would die from the hate, it was everyone.

Arthur wailed, causing his father to further panic. “He's gonna kill everyone!” the boy cried, pointing out the stranger.

That incited him. “Shut up, you stupid brat,” he growled.

“Don't talk to my son that way,” Corrin said sharply. Then everything went black for Arthur.

He heard later that the man tried to attack them, but Corrin was able to knock him back with a spell even with Arthur in his arms. While he and his group had come to arrange some kind of deal in Grelin, the incident made people distrust him and they left empty handed. Meanwhile, Corrin got him to the healer's home only to be refused entry because Arthur would disrupt the magic inside. He argued with the witch and she refused to even check on him. Corrin then brought Arthur back home to ask Joyce to look over him. Having been with their mother when they came in, Frey came along to see how he was.

Arthur came aware that his family was worried and upset about him. He was on his bed with his mother holding her hand over him to check on his health. “It's almost like his own runes are attacking him,” Joyce said, the horror in her making him feel slimy and sick again. “I don't know...”

“They shouldn't be doing that,” Frey said, scared but curious.

“I'm not bad...” Arthur mumbled, starting to cry again.

His mother stroked his head. “Of course you're not, dear. We just have to figure out what's... what's going on with you. How do you feel sick?”

“Like I ate bad things and people are pricking me with thorns cause they don't like me,” he said. “Bu-but that man, he had no love at all and hated everyone. He made me feel like someone wrapped a blanket all tight around me and stuck hot knives in me. I don't wanna go outside and see him again.”

“You don't have to,” she said. “Someone who hated everyone?”

“He was certainly a jerk,” Corrin said. “And I didn't trust that look in his eyes; I could see him being like that.”

That finally made Joyce realize something. “That sounds like a magic-based empathy, knowing the emotions of others so strongly that it causes physical reactions. Then, he must be aligned with the love element. He... he really does know the emotions of others because he feels them too.” Frey thought that was neat, but their parents realized the bad situation they were in. It was then that they knew that the village really did not like Arthur.

Feeling that horror in them, Arthur sobbed, “I'm not bad!”

* * *

 

His parents told him that things were being rearranged because they wanted to help him. But Arthur knew it was because he was different and difficult. Instead of staying with his sister, he got moved to a bedroom up in the attic. That kept him away from the magical things in the house and gave him a place to retreat if others that didn't like him came over. He still went to school to keep up with the other kids in town, but was let go early most days so he didn't get in the way of others practicing magic. While farming earthmates were usually honored here, he was passed from instructor to instructor because few of them really wanted to try with him. He was even given a tiny farming plot away from the others, one that wasn't as good as others around town.

But he wasn't bad. He was going to try his hardest to prove that. He tried to talk to people around town when they were in a good mood towards him. While that wasn't often, he tried to be a good kid.

As he came close to his fourteenth birthday, he started feeling fed up with trying without results. It didn't help that Arthur was feeling sick at the same time as a drought plagued town. Sometimes his stomach felt too queasy to eat and then he felt weak for a while. Sometimes he felt like a fire was burning inside him. Worst of all, the dislike that people had of him had become hate. He felt the sickening poisonous barbs when he happened by and would hate them too. Sometimes he wanted to destroy them instead of being nice and good.

Frey had the idea of using a rain dance to stop the drought. While Arthur hoped it helped, he couldn't participate. He wandered around town after school, wondering if there was a place far enough away that he could watch without disrupting them. In doing so, he overheard a few of his neighbors talking when he couldn't see them and they couldn't see him. “She's the treasure of the town, definitely. She deserves her title as a sage while being so young.”

“Right, and she's sure to be a little beauty in a few years.”

“Come off, don't be thinking of our Frey like that.”

“I'm just saying. Too bad about her brother, though, the boy's a real curse. He does not deserve a heroic name like Arthur, not when he's born to be a villain.”

A few of them laughed. “Right, he already is without trying.”

“Can't believe he's got an alignment with love, seems nothing like it. They should have gotten rid of him years ago.”

“You know, her mother's line has been just about all women for centuries. Maybe it's the result of him being a boy, their magic just didn't want him.”

“Whatever it is, I hope he's going to be far from town so as not to disturb Frey's work.”

Hearing that made Arthur feel like he was burning up inside. Keeping quiet, he hurried away. He found a spot along the road into the forest where he could see the town crossroads where they were holding the rain dance. While he wasn't good at magic, he could cast some spells, like enhancing his sight to see a distance like in binoculars. He watched over the rain dance as it started.

As always, people treated Frey with total adoration. She was really excited about the plan, hardly acknowledging him as he couldn't help. Arthur still burned with anger over the conversation, but it was shifting over to Frey. How did she get to be the lucky one with so many blessings, so loved by everyone else when he was hated? She wasn't even as great as they thought. Arthur saw that she worked really hard when they thought genius came naturally to her. Although, many great things did come naturally to her. She had no trouble being loved when he, as the one with the actual love element, was hated by almost everyone not in his family.

Arthur narrowed his eyes as the sunlight intensified. Frey was dancing along with the rest, working to complete the plan that he had to be excluded from even though the drought affected him far more than her. Why was she so lucky? “I hate you,” he growled, feeling that hate fill his body like a fire.

Instantly, a tree close to the rain dance burst into flames. It startled him enough that his enhanced vision broke. Had he done that? But he wasn't good at magic. Arthur got to his feet and looked up at the sky, filled with a powerful sun. Within those dangerous rays, he noticed that it was his magic. It was his frustration, anger, and hate causing this drought. He wasn't just bad, he was cursed to be evil.

The thought terrified him and he fled into the forest. With tears streaming down his face, he cursed himself for letting himself hate his sister. Frey had done nothing wrong, she had every right to be excited and proud of what she did. He was the one who ruined things, every single time. He was the rune breaker, destined to be a villain while she would certainly be a hero. Maybe he should give up on his first name, as it clearly did not fit him. Maybe he should never go back, even with his family there.

While he thought he'd run far enough away to not be found, Frey still found him the next day as he was trying to figure out how to get food on his own. She at least was convinced he wasn't evil. But she pleaded for him to return home, which he would not do. After a long while, she ran off upset. Arthur, now thinking of himself as Lest, felt really sick over that again. He couldn't hate her, he was horrible for even thinking about it.

When his father found him that evening, Lest felt like he had the flu even though he was sick with hatred, guilt, and uncertainty.

* * *

 

One day in autumn while Lest was in his solitary cabin in the woods, Frey and Nem came to visit him with a new friend. Helena was seventeen, having been sent to Grelin by her parents because no one they knew could explain her powers as an earthmate. She was still learning, but she quickly came to agree with the other girls that he wasn't evil even if his powers were troublesome. As adventuresome as Frey, she wanted to know about how he survived in the wilderness and what kinds of monsters he saw out here. Helena was also a girl with an unusual kind of prettiness, her dark hair streaked with bright pink and her skin tanned brown completely.

Over time, Lest came to hope that she had come along every time he sensed visitors coming. Talking to her and exploring around the woods was fun with her. He started feeling a warm happiness whenever she looked at him. Was Helena in love with him? It made him wonder and think about her every day.

She eventually came to see him alone one winter day when spring was only a few weeks away. “When are you gonna come back into town?”

“I was thinking this spring since I've gotten control over my powers,” Lest said. “But I want to make sure that my studies are working, so I'm not going back right away.”

“It'll be nice since I could see you every day then,” Helena said, then paused. For once, Lest wasn't entirely sure what someone else was feeling. It seemed like she'd caught what she was saying and was flustered about it. “I mean, well... I, I really admire you, not just anybody could tough it out around here and you're really sweet in spite of what people around town say about you. What I'm trying to say is, um, would you go out with me? I don't mind having to wait on you to return, but I just really felt like I had to see you today and I want to be around you more.”

He felt giddy with excitement; he was right, she did love him! “S-sure, I really like you too. I keep wondering every day if you'll come around to see me.”

Having that to look forward to made him eager to return instead of worried about it. He thought about returning before spring, but held back as that was what he had decided on. Helena did come see him more often, sometimes alone and sometimes with the other girls. When he moved back home, one of the first things he did was ask her out on a date to the tree swing by the large barn where the plowing Buffaloos were kept. While some of the farmers were grumbling with him back, Lest found he couldn't care when he was hanging out with Helena.

Over the next cycle of the moon, something occurred to Lest that completely changed things. Lena was happy to see him, but she was happiest when she saw Nem. And Nem was just as happy to run into her. When the two of them talked, rune energy sparked between them, a dazzling sight. But when he and Lena talked, it was like a normal conversation. When Lest hugged her, Lena wasn't as happy as he was. It was totally different when Lena and Nem held hands because that excited them.

He tried for a week to convince himself that he was wrong. He wanted Lena to be in love with him. When Lest went to kiss her for the first time, he found that he couldn't deny it. She didn't love him. He pushed her away and wondered for a moment about running off.

“Huh, Lest? What's wrong?” She was worried about him, but fear in her was stronger. She didn't want to be found out.

He couldn't look her in the face. “You... you don't like boys as much as you like girls.”

“That's not true!” she said, her cheeks going bright red. “Why would I be dating you if that was true?”

“I don't know, but you're in love with Nem, not me. There's a real spark between you two that's missing with us.”

She tried to convince him that he was wrong, but it was easy to see her lies getting desperate. So Lest took Lena back home with him to talk with his mother. While Joyce had a normal marriage on the surface, she too preferred other women over men. She quickly agreed to talk with them and her wholehearted acceptance finally got Lena to admit to the truth. Her parents greatly disapproved of her before and she'd asked Lest out to prove to them that she was going to be normal as they wanted. As Lena did feel guilty about doing that to him, he told her that he didn't mind being friends with her and she really should admit her real feelings to Nem.

When Lena left in a happy bright mood, Joyce hugged him. “You did a brave and noble thing there, Lest.”

“I had to,” he said, but ended up crying anyhow.

Almost a year later, Lena and Nem decided to run away together by joining an airship crew to learn how to fly. They only told the Nolan family about it, leading all four of them to help them be ready to leave without Nem's family noticing. They even came out to the airfield in the next town over to say goodbye. Lena did hug Lest then. “Thanks so much for all you've done for us,” she said. “I still feel terrible for tricking you back then.”

“It's fine, I'm glad you two are happy together,” he said, honest and smiling about it. It still hurt, but he would be happy in front of them.

Lena grinned. “But hey, any time you need anything, we'll help you out in a heartbeat. When we get our own ship, we'll even take you anywhere you want. Promise, that's for a lifetime.”

“Yes, no doubt about that,” Nem said, her happiness as brilliant as the sun. Both of them were like that.

“Thanks, I'm sure that'll help,” Lest said.

* * *

 

It happened one morning with little warning. Corrin and Frey had gone off to train in the forest, while Lest stayed at home with Joyce and Doomgale to get some studying done. From the kitchen, he heard a clatter of plates. She was washing dishes so that might be expected. But something deep down worried Lest. Setting his textbook aside, he went to the kitchen. “Mom? You okay?”

“I should stop,” she said. “I just have the worst headache right now, don't know where it came from.”

A small joke popped into Lest's mind that made him smile before he said it. But it stopped cold once he got into the kitchen and saw her. The runes from the pain were dense and sharp, painful for him just to look at. Worse than that, there were intense rune patterns running right through her head that were painfully familiar to him. He'd only seen them a few times, on someone who was dying or very recently dead. Seeing Doomgale sitting in a patch of sunlight and looking over with concern, Lest ran over and opened up the window behind the small dragon. “Gale, go get Dad and Frey! They need to come home right now!”

“ _Huh?”_ But his tone got her to wake up fully and nod. “ _Okay, I'll get them back._ ” She rushed away outside.

“Lest, what's...?” Joyce put her hand on her head and looked dizzy. “What's going on?”

What did he do? Lest wasn't sure, but he was dreadfully sure that there was little that could be done. He went over and put his arm around her to support her. “Shh, Mom... let's go in the living room, you need to lie down.”

“Something's not right,” she said, leaning on him and following his lead to the other room. Once she was sitting on the couch, she noticed he was crying and tried to touch his tears. Her movements were clumsy. “Oh... death is waiting.”

“I'm sorry, if I noticed earlier maybe something could be done,” he said.

“Don't blame yourself,” she said, trying not to show how much pain she was in. But it was clear to Lest's rune sight. “I must tell you something. Lest, I know your powers are a great burden and seem like a curse. But I've come to realize, you must be the answer to thousands of wishes that have been wished for thirteen centuries.”

“I'm what?” he asked, wondering if her mind was being affected.

It was, but there was a glimmer there telling him that she was putting all her willpower into letting him know, now that she realized the time she had left was too short. “In a part of Norad far from here, there is a Native Dragon that has been cursed from the moment she was hatched. The dragon before her ruined magic for everyone and she should have been doomed to a short life. But our distant ancestors were desperate to save her from that cruel fate. So they devised a means to do so, by sacrificing the lives of her dearest friends to extend her life.

“It was a mistake that broke her heart, so we worked to find a way to reverse that and undo her curse. We worked on it so long that it became destiny. Neither Frey nor I could choose our path in life. It's in our blood; we must complete what will absolve our ancestors of their great sin. And, you too are destined to do so. Those who were sacrificed to the goddess are not entirely dead, but are not entirely alive. Their souls lie deep in the ether sea, perhaps tormented, perhaps unaware. They must be saved and brought back to her. But the talents needed to save them are rare and little understood; they are exactly the talents you were born with.

“I didn't have a chance to save them or the goddess. I cannot return to Selphia. But, you and Frey can. Please Lest, please save those lost souls and put an end to everything, and end to this guilt we were all born with.”

Lest didn't entirely understand what she meant. But he felt it. When he closed his eyes now, he could feel the great weight of past sins, so grave that they could be inherited. There wasn't a choice. Especially not the moment he said, “I will, Mom, I promise.”

By the time his father and sister got home, she had lost control over much of her body and her speech was slurred. In a moment of clarity, she smiled peacefully at seeing that they were all there. She asked Corrin to write something down for her. Once that was done, it wasn't long until she passed away.

* * *

 

Things had not gone well for Lest for a couple of years. After his mother had died, he had to deal with his own pain as well as his father's and sister's. The town still disliked him and the two friends who liked him were gone. Lest tried to help out around town and show them that he meant well. While it was working, change was coming slowly and it was a burden to get tasks done while people watched him with suspicion. He had his farming to work on, but he still had a poor portion of land for his vegetables. He could get some results in working with trees in the forest, but trees were slow growers that didn't need a lot of tending to once they got going. And there was that nagging promise that he'd made his mother; Frey said she still had to complete the last rune sphere before they could head to Selphia.

Thankfully, he often got a break from Grelin by traveling with the town's trade wagon to the port town where the produce and products got sent throughout Norad. As long as he watched over the community trade booth for a time, he was allowed to go on his own and enjoy the bigger town where fewer people knew about him. Lest could find many things to do there, even just sitting back and letting the emotions and runes of the crowds wash over him. He was hardly noticed for it, something he liked.

But many times, he would feel a sorrowful or even despairing tone among the crowds. Those feelings ate at him, reminding him of his own struggles and losses. It wasn't his own sadness and never had anything to do with him. Still, he couldn't help but want to do something to end the sadness. Lest would pick out the troubled person and approach them, see what he could do for them. Often his sincere caring was enough and the person would talk out their troubles with him. But he would have to go home eventually. When he returned, that person was often not there. He didn't know how his advice worked many times.

And sometimes the person's emotions drew him even closer. He had to help, he wanted to help. He loved them in spite of barely knowing them. Yet, that caused lots of trouble. One girl would be afraid of a boy suddenly falling in love with her and yell at him to go away. Another would hear of his abilities and feel like her feelings had been trespassed on; that could even turn to hate. When he tried to seem normal, he was distrusted for being too insightful too soon. It wasn't always girls either.

Every now and then, one of those he loved would return his affections. Lest even stayed in that town just to be with them, using his magic on trees and public gardens to pay the price of his blessing. This was one of those times; the young man had even let him stay in the same room at the tavern. While they had remained clean so far, he could feel from the kiss that he wanted more. Maybe it was time to go further? Usually he was careful. There was a nagging thought in his mind that this guy's attention wasn't entirely on him. No, that couldn't be. He had to get lucky at some point and finally have a love that worked out. If Lest went for it, would this one want to stay with him more?

“Billy...”

“I'm not Billy,” Lest said, feeling a twist in his gut that the nagging thought had been right.

He got flustered and tried to apologize, but there wasn't any going back on that. Lest wanted to be angry, but he felt that his pain and sorrow stemmed from whoever Billy was. Because of that, he swallowed his pride and asked about it. It was a story he'd heard before, at least the basic form. He'd been head over heels in love, but neither of their parents approved. Keeping their relationship a secret had been a strain, especially when the families moved to separate them. He had written letters to his lover, but things had grown cold with distance. He was able to move out on his own to start his own career, thinking he'd have to give up on Billy. Right then, Lest had come into his life trying to cheer him up by cherishing him like Billy had. He wasn't in love with Lest; he saw Billy in Lest.

When they came back to the tavern's main dining hall to part from each other, something miraculous happened. Billy came in demanding to see him. He had decided that he had to take matters into his own hands and moved out to join his love. Feeling like he wouldn't want to reveal that he'd tried to replace his true love, Lest slipped out of the building without saying goodbye. It was good that they came back together. Maybe they'd even have a good life with each other. But for him, it hurt as always, an extra part this time knowing that he'd just been a placeholder until someone else's dream came true.

“What the hell, I'm nineteen,” he grumbled, then went to a bar nearby where he ordered a beer to try. It never seemed to work out in those he helped, but it seemed right.

He got through two glasses when he felt someone's lustful eyes on him. Briefly, he was disgusted and fearful as usual. But this recent break-up made him think, who cares? He'd nearly let himself take a lover, so maybe he'd give in this time and it wouldn't be as bad as he feared. Lest waited a moment, eventually crossing eyes with the woman who was watching him. Once that happened, an emotional rope was wrapped around him and his mind couldn't make sense of right or wrong. He got up and went over to her. Maybe he said something, maybe he just thought he did.

“Oh, you are more adorable up close,” she said, greedy and glad he'd come over. She waved red fingernails at him. “Come over here.”

As he couldn't think clearly, he couldn't deny her. She was beyond dazzling and enchanting to him now; he was beyond caring to know who she was. When she wanted to leave, he went with her without hesitation. She took him by the hand and purposely ran into a man she wanted to make jealous. It worked, enough that the man shouted a challenge to him to win the heart of this woman. However, Lest wasn't clear what was going on at the time. He agreed to the fight because she wanted him to, but there was no way he could win it even if his head had been clear.

Thankfully, someone spotted them on the street and knew Lest was in trouble. Art stepped right into their path. “What are you doing with that boy?” he asked sternly.

“This is between them, don't interrupt,” the woman said.

“I know him and I know that look on his face is not good,” Art said. “All of you shove off and leave him with me.”

The jealous man, tall and with a physique that could probably crush rock, stepped up to him. “Don't talk that way to us, gramps. He's with us willingly and we mean no harm to him.”

“Gramps?” Lest asked, barely able to pay attention.

“Hmph.” Art looked at the man, then punched him onto his back without warning. Then he brought out his battle axe, ignoring the woman's scream. “I don't know who you are but I know you're trouble. Leave the boy with me and never lay a hand on him again, understand? And that goes for you too, m'am.”

This got the attention of the town guard, who knew the old knight but didn't know the feuding couple. Once Art explained that Lest had a magical handicap that could impair his judgment severely, the guards let him go and warned the couple to heed Art's words and leave Lest alone. The old knight then took Lest to the place he was currently staying to take care of him.

In the morning over breakfast, Art simply told him, “You fucked up last night.”

“I know,” Lest said, feeling miserable. “I didn't care.” He then explained about what had gone on, not caring to hide any part of it.

Once he was done, Art surprised him. “You've got to stop hurting yourself like that.”

“I wasn't trying to,” he said.

“Your element may be love, but that doesn't make you any less stupid than any other young man trying to figure out what love is,” he said. “You put so much energy into relationships where your companion hardly contributes anything. And don't tell me that I don't know. Your father is very worried about you and has told me about it. Love does not work when one person is doing all the giving and caring. When you find someone willing to give back and care about you, then you're safe to let yourself fall in love. Otherwise you're just going to end up a miserable mess making potentially fatal mistakes like last night. And fatal might be one of the better outcomes because you could ruin your life in many ways carrying on like this.”

“But some of them feel like they have no one else who cares about them,” Lest said, trying to explain how he saw it.

It didn't make Art any less stern. “Perhaps, but just because a wall's there doesn't mean you have to beat your head on it to get through.”

He came to see Art's point, but it was difficult to follow. He felt like he was beating his head against a wall trying to get people back in Grelin to simply feel indifferent to him. When he got a chance to escape, he found himself yearning for someone needed him. Or was it a yearning for someone who really loved him?

* * *

 

Winter 66, Year 1611

Coming back to the castle from the basement teleporter had surprised those waiting for them. But given that Lest and Dylas were worn out from the gate and running down Rune Prana, plus that they needed to wait until after the wedding to seal Storgane away, they were allowed to take the rest of the day easy with just each other's company. They went up to the library in the royal wing to be alone; Lest spent much of that afternoon telling Dylas about his life and troubles, something he rarely did with anyone outside his family.

Even then, he ended up telling him about things he'd never told his family. “Art was right in that I never had anybody until you that put as much effort as I did into a relationship. I even thought for a while that I needed to care about others because that was my element and I couldn't help it when I got hooked into another's emotions. But this past Valentine's Day, you showed me how wrong I was. You've worked for our love all along and there are times like today when I really feel it.” He put his head on Dylas' shoulder. “I probably need you more than you need me.”

“Don't think of it like that,” Dylas said, brushing some of Lest's hair away from his eyes. Having his mother's approval, he seemed to have put aside all the thoughts that had made him uncomfortable with being close and in love. His kind heart shone through naturally now, like spring sunshine calling the world back to life after winter's embrace. “Your life might have sucked more than mine, but you cared about everyone even if your heart broke to pieces. Let me care for you now, since you brought me from being beyond caring about everything, even my own life.”

Hearing that reminded Lest of what Typhoon had told him when they met inside the hell gate, before it had even properly formed. The demon had jeeringly smiled at him. “Well you've broken your own heart to little pieces many times over. I'm going to see if I can't get your dense boyfriend to leave or die. But it doesn't matter if he wins or loses here, or if you win or lose. Because you see, I won the moment you cast Etherlink on yourself. If I am defeated here, all I have to do is wait deep within your soul until I can claim your body for my own. You might not hear me, but I will be there.”

Being this close to Dylas, able to hear his breath, Lest felt afraid for him. But he also felt like he deserved to know the truth. Even to get a chance to back off if he didn't want to deal with it. Lest didn't want to lose him. At the same time, he knew the backlash from lying about something even by not saying it. “Thanks, but there's something else I need to tell you. It's more recent, during this winter um...” he clutched Dylas' hand. “About that time I Etherlink on myself.”

“What about it?” he asked, worried and on the edge of already disliking this.

It made Lest briefly panic and not want to explain. But he'd already started. “I'm sorry, I know it shouldn't have been done but I was under a lot of pressure and it seemed like the only reasonable choice.”

“Slow down a moment, just explain it before apologizing,” Dylas said, now worried about handling this clumsily like before. “Uh, try not to focus too much on me, I'll work things out with you.”

“Um, well, give me a moment,” Lest said, trying to calm himself. “It wasn't really Storgane who was pressuring me as much; it was Typhoon and Darryl working on their separate agendas to pressure me into doing what they wanted. Typhoon wanted me to split up the hell gates early so he had a chance at claiming my despair when I was weak. Darryl wanted me to finish up his road and follow in his footsteps, so he taught me the method to use Etherlink like had been used on you four guardians, to separate the body and soul as a way to avoid things that could kill a person outright. And he used my worry over Frey getting drawn in and all the other things that were stressing me out to convince me to work with him. So, I used Etherlink and split up the hell gates myself.”

“But you're not asleep, and your spirit is right here,” Dylas said.

Lest put a hand on his chest. “My spirit is loose in my body, though. I could leave it at will just like you can. Probably easier since I have an active etherlink in me. But, that also means that Typhoon wasn't entirely defeated in my hell gate. He still exists in me and given enough time or stress, he could emerge again and take over my body. And, if you stay with me, he'll still want to kill you. I would just get rid of it now, except that I might need this current loose state of body and soul in order to deal with the pillars. That same state is how Darryl made them.”

“I don't like that,” he said. “There's lots of ways this could go wrong. But if I don't stay with you, there's more ways it will go wrong and that demon really will win in the end. I don't want to see that smug jerk win. But more than that, I already said that I wasn't going to leave you. And I'm not, he'll have a hard time being rid of me. I'll protect you, somehow.”

He really was the one who wouldn't leave easily. “Dylas, that's...” he felt really happy even though he felt like he could cry too. Instead he kissed Dylas for giving his word. There was no hesitation or uncertainty this time, just a melting into bliss.


	130. Passing of the Old, Coming of the New

Winter 75

It was the last part of the year, deep in winter's grasp. Even more snow had fallen last night, but people willingly trudged through the deep snow to arrive at the castle. The days were still short and the nights were still long. However, spring was in sight. They were in the last cycle of the moon and winter could not last forever. Lest himself felt a great deal brighter than he had most of this winter. When he looked to the coming year, he felt hopeful that things would be even better. The weight of his family's destiny was not as heavy as it had once been. He was starting to believe that even he might be free of it before long.

As he welcomed those coming in and kept mental track of how they were doing, he saw Porcoline and Dylas coming in from the plaza. He caught the latter's eye and there was an immediate smile from him. No secrecy, no hesitation, no worry, just a small joy at seeing him again. The light in his soul was rapidly overtaking the dark and fog that had trapped him when they first met. Lest felt like he'd give up the adoration and attention of a thousand people for the sake of this one person's smile. It had been a great risk, but one well worth taking. In that, he felt even the deeper darkness that had gotten a hold of him this season was fading away.

But there was something greater than just the two of them happening today. He greeted them and checked on the web of chi in the room. The social connections between everyone shone strong, joining everyone in multiple circles of friends and family. Porcoline was connected as an adopted father to Meg, who was married to Wendy, who was bound by deep bonds to her guardian Dylas, who was connected back to Porcoline as a student and adopted son. Added to that, each of them had additional bonds to others in the room, pulling everyone in with chains of love. Like Meg was a dear friend to Xiao Pai, who was the daughter of Lin Fa, who was the old friend of Nancy, who was a loving caregiver to Kiel, who was married to Xiao Pai but who was also an adoptive nephew to Bado, who had a new bond to Illuminata (from working on the theater garden together), who was an adoptive mother to Amber, who was a good friend to Frey, who was finding a new bond with Meg as not just friends but soon to both be young mothers (one adopting an infant and one about to give birth to her own children).

With bonds like these, they were unconsciously forming a net to capture and constrain a god who conspired alone.

Once everyone involved was inside, Lest ordered the doors shut and called people into place. Most took to the sides to pray as witnesses and support. Eight of them came to the central circle of the Native Dragon's chamber where a mosaic of Ventuswill still lay. Doomgale sat in the center of the circle, keeping her feet neatly together and her luminous tail swaying like a clock over her head. At the edge of the circle, seven of them joined hands to focus their efforts. Lest stood before Doomgale. Taking his right hand was Amber, then Arthur, Dylas, Leon, Sven, and finally Dolce at Lest's left hand. It was how Doomgale had guided them to stand; the chi between them was already flowing powerfully.

The bells overhead rang, signaling the room to go quiet. Doomgale began to speak while Lest repeated her words for those who could not understand her. “We come together this day to do what should have been done centuries ago, to put the soul of a fallen Native Dragon to rest in the Forest of Beginnings. Many have suffered for this oversight, but no more. Time takes all, even the one meant to watch over it. To our friends and family who have gathered in support of our task, please bow your heads and pray for us.” After giving them a moment, they added, “Leon, as one bound by words, lead us in the prayer song to seal Storgane's soul within the Forest of Beginnings.”

Leon nodded. “We will sing a funerary song to calm the lost soul and let them see the light of the forest.” And he began to sing not in the earthmate's holy language, but in the common Norad tongue. He saw all words as powerful, making his translation become as potent in the living language as it was in the dead. Through his power and their connections, once Leon finished one round of the song, the other six were able to join him in true harmony. The prayers of their loved ones around them caused the magic to swell, making their voices reach deep beneath their feet to the one it was meant for.

And then Doomgale's consciousness dove down, her soul shining with the protection of love. The small wind dragon brought herself to the dark cavern where Storgane's soul was a twisted mass of darkness, so consumed by hatred that he could barely be recognized as a dragon. Lest felt a shudder as Storgane became aware of them. However that pain was brief, like the prick of a needle. Everyone in the room noticed and their prayers or thoughts briefly turned to protect him. It made love shine so brightly that Storgane screeched in pain, with no one to protect him.

With her divine powers, Doomgale weaved the song and prayers to bind him. “ _Storgane, your time has long ago ended. Do not torment the world and yourself any longer. We shall send you to the Forest of Beginnings as you should have stayed there.”_

Some fragment of Storgane's self became alert to her words, although it too was little but hate. “ _The world belongs to dragons. If they do not heed us, we may as well destroy all.”_

“ _I love all the other beings in the world, but I see no point in arguing with someone who can't be convinced. If you cannot contemplate your crimes and repent until you find peace, may you fade into nothingness.”_ Once the power of their community enclosed over him entirely, Doomgale opened a portal into the Forest of Beginnings and cast Storgane directly into the circle of seven trees there. Then she bound the trees to his magic cage, ensuring that he would be captive there until the forest fully reclaimed him. Once her portal was shut, that was the end of Storgane's presence in the world.

While the town celebrated with a feast in the castle (everyone had brought something to eat, if not several things), it was not quite the end to everything that their family had been looking for.

* * *

 

Winter 79-80

The whole town had been in a festive happy mood. It started with Forte and Arthur's wedding to start a new life for them, continued with the banishment of Storgane to end a dark age, would go on with the Sechs refugees returning home tomorrow to end a war and start a new age of peace, then continue on with the winter ball, harvest festival, and the celebration of the new year. So many wonderful things were happening now. And tonight, Lest had decided to hold the traditional wassail to awaken the fields and say goodbye to the refugees.

A large portion of the town had come out to the royal farms even though only a few of them knew what the traditional half of the event was about. The castle staff and Lest had set up the bonfire in the northwestern field around 2100. While it was early for a wassail, he wanted the other part done in a time when the refugees with small children didn't mind them being awake for a special event. Porco had brought along large bags of marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers for making smores, along with long sticks for toasting. Clorica and Volkanon had made sure there were plenty of drinks and other snacks too. Among the people not there were Nancy, Jones, Frey, and Leon, as they were expecting an extra blessing to come sometime tonight.

After giving the guests plenty of time to arrive and start chatting, Lest called for their attention while he stood close to the bonfire. “Good evening, thanks for coming out! I'm glad to see everyone here tonight. First of all, I'd like to wish our guests from the Sechs nation well on their journey back home tomorrow. We hope that your futures are bright and that we can remain good neighbors and friends from now on.”

There was clapping and cheering to that, along with a few of the refugees whispering among each other. After a moment, one of them came up to him. “Thank you, may I have a moment to speak for all of us?”

Lest nodded. There wasn't much of a plan for tonight. “Sure, go ahead.”

“We really are grateful that your people not only rescued us, but have kept us safe while our friends and family members have been off fighting the tyrant who ruined us,” he said.

Unfortunately, there was no news about what happened to Emperor Ethelberd. General Teo had only told them that the flying fortress that was the empire's capitol had disappeared from Sechs skies and no new machine soldiers were fighting. The missing emperor was something to worry about, but it had been long enough that the refugees could return home.

The spokesman for the refugees went on. “I don't believe the people of Sechs will hold enmity for Norad now from your actions, which is sure to change both of our nations. That makes our futures immensely brighter already. For all that you've done for us, we wanted to make you something to show our appreciation. All of us contributed in some way to show our gratitude, so here, please accept our sign of friendship.” He handed over a large object wrapped in a soft bag.

It turned out to be a clock with four faces. One face told the hours, minutes, and seconds, one face told the current moon stage and date, one face told the air pressure and temperature, and the last face told the strength, element, and movement of the local chi. As the frame and protective cover were made from glass, the intricate arrangement of gears and tubes that made the clock work could be seen in action. It was sleek and graceful in form, from the faces of the clock to the curling legs it stood on to the twirling pendulum underneath it.

“That's beautiful, thank you,” Lest said, feeling awed at their work. The very runes of the clock were brimming with the refugees' gratitude and intelligence. “It'll definitely be treasured in the castle.”

The spokesman smiled at him. “Your efforts will be treasured in our hearts as well.” He then stepped back.

As the night went past 2300 hours, many left the party to get to bed. But there was a good number staying up late to see what would happen. Lest got a long torch that had been prepared earlier today and lit one end of it in the bonfire. With that, he called for attention again. “This is an old farming tradition that not many of you knew of when you heard about it, but it's been important for me and other farmers for many generations. We're approaching the end of winter, within sight of the start of spring. As winter is such a hard season to grow in, this is cause for celebration and excitement. We want to awaken the earth from its long winter slumber and get ready for an abundance of new life in the next year. To do that, we're going to sing loud songs for the earth and call out to reach the spirits, chasing the bad ones away and inviting the good ones to stay. Are you ready for that?”

They certainly were, giving loud cheers and whistles. Lest invited a few others to take torches. To make sure this work, he had made sure to teach the four guardians and Meg the songs for rousing the earth and making it eager for spring. They spent a little while around the bonfire making sure that everyone could sing a song or two. They didn't need to be accurate as long as there was great feeling and energy in it.

While they had to leave Vishnal and Dolce behind to watch over the bonfire, Lest led the rest of the wassail singers through his other fields to wake them up and rouse their spirits. After some talk, they headed over to Illuminata's flower field to awaken it as well. There were other rituals Lest did in the last parts of winter, but they would be done on following days and end on New Year's Eve. He thanked everyone for helping to make the night successful and bid them all goodnight.

The bonfire needed to carry on through the night, so Lest returned to his fields to keep vigil over it. Others returned their torches before heading off for a few hours of sleep. If there had been other farmers who fully believed in the wassail, they would have accompanied him on the vigil. Amber and Illuminata were the only ones who were close. The former had been been falling asleep on her feet once they sang for the flower shop's garden and the latter followed other traditions for preparing for spring.

But Dylas decided to take the vigil with him in spite of not being a farmer. He watched over the fire while Lest tended to a few prayers. For the health of his orchard, for the abundance of his vegetables, for the strength of Ellie and Amber's flowers... for the well-being of his sister and her new family. After watching the fire thoughtfully for a couple of minutes, he looked over at Dylas pacing around nearby. “They say a child born on the night of a wassail will be strong in voice,” he said.

“Just what we need, an extra boost to how noisy those kids will be,” Dylas said sarcastically.

Lest chuckled. “They'll be a riot. Although, it is a wonderful sign. Selphia has been suffering and stagnating, lately because its mortal leaders didn't care about it. Volkanon told me that at the end of last year, they feared that it would become a ghost town as the last residents decided they could no longer support themselves living here. There had been no weddings for two years and the birth of Alice was a great surprise, yet seemingly not enough. If things go well, the birth of these twins will be a sign that our fortunes have turned around, like green saplings in a forest thought to have been destroyed in fire and age. Hope burned brighter than this bonfire tonight.”

“That is your doing,” he said, coming closer.

“Not all my doing,” Lest said. “We worked together and no one wanted to give up on our town. Many of us are new, but it's our home as much as the rest, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but you've been pushing for this change and encouraging it all along. The reason we had seven weddings in one year with a permanent population less than forty is because you sparked all of them back in spring and helped them grow. You brought new life with you and became Selphia's hope.”

“I didn't intend for that, but I came to love this place quickly.”

“That's what Wendy says about you, although she didn't want me saying it to you.” Dylas then took one of his hands in both of his. “And, you've been my hope all along. I may as well have been dead when I became a guardian because my heart was dead. There was nothing I looked forward to except forgetting everything right down to myself. But that changed the moment I saw you. I've seen more of you these past few weeks, but it doesn't change who I see before me: an angel who's precious beyond words to me.”

He was speaking right from his heart, just as beautifully as Lest felt his soul singing of him. Lest's vision went blurry for a moment. “Dylas...”

“Oh, um, I didn't mean to make you cry,” he said, letting go with one hand to brush one of his tears away.

“No, that was just so beautiful,” Lest said, smiling but feeling that wasn't enough. “After... I told you I grew up with so many people believing I was a curse around me, I don't feel like I deserve this.”

“You do, you're a prince in your heart even if you're not one by blood,” Dylas said with his beautiful smile.

Lest brought his other hand up to clasp his. “Were you practicing all that?” Although his attempt to tease him was only halfhearted as he was too happy to criticize.

And he realized that. It was like a light in Dylas' mind flipped on and the glow of love around them was powerful. “No... I started thinking it when they gave you the clock and then I just said it.” Then he laughed freely, clasping his hand and putting his other arm around his waist. “I just spoke my mind without being angry or second-guessing myself.”

He laughed too. “I knew you'd be great at it. Though, you were the one to think dancing this close was dirty.”

“Who cares about that?” Dylas said, stepping into a waltz pattern with him without needing music. With all the practice both of them had been doing, it felt natural to fall in step with each other, trusting they would move together. “I was told that a man would go to hell for loving another man. But I've been to hell and it's nothing like they said. This time with you is all the heaven I need.”

It was well after 200 hours when Jones got to them to say that things had gone well there. While most of the town was still asleep, Lest called on his order tablet to send out the announcement of the twin's birth. He and Dylas then continued the vigil, both of them talking and feeling more free than they'd ever thought they could.

* * *

 

Winter 80

Leon had expected to be asked to keep out of the back area of the clinic. He remembered being told that all men had to stay away when it came time for a birth. However, Jones was assisting Nancy, both of them invited him to come back as moral support, and Frey insisted on it. It gave him some trepidation to be there, not knowing what to expect and what to do. And Frey had gripped his hand hard when she was in pain.

But then he got to be there when two new lives begun and his life was sharply redefined.

Even after so long of waiting for and anticipating this moment, his mind felt overwhelmed by everything he was feeling right now. Mostly joy for about a million things, like that they were all healthy and fine... and together, a family was born today and he had to be responsible for their care and guidance. While he was worried and anxious over that at points, it was mostly such a thrill to think that he would give these children a loving and safe home, and stimulate their minds to the knowledge and wonder of the world. He would also continue to love and care for his wife. Frey, the person who taught him what love truly was and that a life lived alone was far less than a life lived with responsibility and trust. And there was so much more he had yet to experience in life; so much promise and potential in the children with them now.

The larger ideas were spectacular, but the miracle was smaller and greater than that. Frey was worn out from the ordeal, but she kept herself awake long enough to sit up in the clinic bed and hold onto the older twin. The tiny girl was worn out as well, if not asleep already. She was wrapped in a yellow blanket and had one of her hands out near her chin. Feeling her close her hand over one of his fingers was indescribable even for Leon. Life really was one of the greatest blessings on earth, he thought. A simple matter but one that moved his heart powerfully. And poking out from the bottom of her cap, she had large pointed ears that were more like a fox. Nancy said that she even had a short tail, without any fur for now.

“You're both beautiful,” Leon said quietly to Frey.

“Really now?” she asked, smiling wearily.

“Well maybe not on the outside right now, but I know you're both the true meaning of beauty for always,” he said, making her laugh softly. “What are you naming her?”

“Luna,” she said. “I decided to name my girl that a long time ago. Luna, you're a lucky girl that I don't have to make you study the methods of magic that I had to learn.”

“I hope they are free of the past,” he said.

Then Jones and Nancy came back over; the midwife handed Leon the boy... his son, another miracle today. “All done now, here you are,” she said warmly. “He has rather stronger features than she does. I know you can't see the ears, but they were folded up. I'd guess that they'd open up in time. But I'm sure he'll be just adorable with them.”

“I had a stronger influence on them than I thought,” Leon said jokingly. He could even feel the boy's longer tail slipping out from the blanket like his own did from his pants. While that was a sign of his old nightmares, it was only a sign. The past was behind him and the future was in his arms.

“And what are you naming him?” Frey asked.

“Noel,” he said “I decided on that a few days ago when Lest mispronounced the noel grass he was giving us as a housewarming gift and thought, hey, that would be a really nice name for the kid.”

That did make her grin. “Sure it's not out of conceit because it's your name spelled backwards?”

“Hey, I've got to make sure my son starts out with some of my awesomeness,” Leon said.

“Even with the ears and tail?” Frey pointed out.

“More awesomeness, can't start off with too much of it.”

Once the birth certificates were all filled out and Jones had made one last check to make sure Frey was doing fine, they pushed the two clinic beds together so that the four of them to sleep the rest of the night together here. Jones and Nancy then went back up stairs, leaving the new family alone. Frey had been given strong medicine and looked like she'd be asleep before long. Once they set the two infants on the beds beside them, they both fell asleep in seconds. Leon had his head buzzing with thoughts in spite of the long day, so he wasn't sure how soon he'd get to sleep.

He lay still by Noel and soon looked over at Frey. “What are you thinking about?” he asked quietly.

“They're marked by the past but won't be ruled by it like we were,” she said sleepily. “At least I hope so. Mostly I'm relieved and happy. What are you thinking?”

“Miracles of magic have nothing on this.” Frey seemed like she might have laughed if she wasn't too tired. “Want to hear my deep thoughts?”

“Mmhmm,” she said.

She needs to rest and recover, he thought. May my words be a comforting lullaby to my family. “When intelligent life first looked on this world, it was inhospitable to all but dragons. Creatures like us were still here, struggling to find our place and grow. The dragons could have simply ruled over all and kept the world in a form they were all-powerful in. If they did, our children would only have a short dangerous life to look forward to. We'd be spending this moment as an island of joy in a sea of constant hardship. We might not even be together like this, with each mortal striving for their own lives alone. Instead, the dragons loved us and changed the very nature of the world so that many forms of life were welcomed at birth instead of challenged.

“The four Native Dragons in particular became pillars of the new system.” Leon glanced over at Frey's face and saw she had her eyes closed now. She might be asleep, she might not be. He kept talking. “The love of the original Native Dragons is the source of their power, but although that power is vital to keeping the world as it is, the meaning of their love faded from their minds as the power was succeeded from dragon to dragon. There came a group of Native Dragons with that love so faded that they began to think that dragons should rule over other beings again. While they were overcome, their hatred caused shockwaves through the world that have lasted to this very day.

“I once sacrificed myself for the sake of a Native Dragon who remembered the love that was the source of her power. I thought that was the greatest act of love I could ever give, repaying the guilt I had by giving all of my potential up to keep Ven alive and give her the strength to do what she needed to do. But, I was wrong. I was the only one making myself suffer for what I saw as a sin, which was only a mistake that no one could have known for certain. And I gave her no strength, only more guilt and heartache. While I did love her, I was doing entirely the wrong thing out of love.

“Even so, look what's come out of it. You gave me a new wisdom as I found what love was in being with you. I can admit now that I had a grudging respect for family before, something that had to be done for a person to be right. In the guardians who followed me, I found the true love and strength of family. I see what a true leader should be when I look at your brother and I know true friendship and community in the people around us. I was a fool when I became a guardian.

“Things have changed and that fool is no more. I look at what I have here, a weary messy wife and two tiny helpless babies who are going to be needy, noisy, and admittedly not very cute for a while, and I say honestly that all of you are beautiful to me. Perhaps my greatest act of love is not about the sacrifice I made back then, but about how I will live to protect and love my little family here like the dragon gods protect and love the whole world and all the beings who live here. I was given the blessings of the earth as payment for the sacrifice. For this new change in life I embark on, I may only be paid for with love and happiness. But that will be the most valuable treasure in my life.”

She had definitely slept through most of that, Leon thought. He might never speak of that again; it was far too serious and sentimental for what people thought of him. Even so, he felt like that should be his guidance from now on.

Leon closed his eyes. “Hmph, my father would say that I'm finally speaking like a priest. I just wanted to be close to Ven. But when my heart is open like this, I can see... it is my true calling.” He took in the quiet of the clinic and the peace in his words, soon falling asleep as well.


	131. Princess of the Winter Ball

Winter 81

Dolce had been having some bad morning sickness still, waking up feeling too queasy to eat anything. Thankfully, they'd found that eating some apple peels helped her feel better. Just the peels, oddly enough. She often ate the rest of the apple afterwards, but Vishnal found several peeled but uneaten apples in their fridge while making breakfast. “I'm going to take these apples over to the castle,” he told her while she sat at the table nibbling at some peels. “Clorica might have enough time this morning to make some apple pies with them.”

“That sounds good,” Dolce said, offering him the apple she had. “But could you head out early and take care of some deliveries for me?” She yawned then.

“Were you up late working last night?” Vishnal asked, worried about her.

“Doesn't matter, I got almost everything done for the ball tonight,” she said.

“Yes she did,” Pico said, sounding annoyed. “I tried to get her to go to sleep early after you crashed out, but she wouldn't stop.”

“I just lost track of time,” Dolce said.

“You should be more careful about staying up working too late,” he said, starting work on some poached eggs and toast.

He could hear Dolce's frown in her words, “Better than having to scramble to get it all done today. I,” she yawned again, “I'll take a nap later. After I finish work on my dress. The packages should be ready on the shelves for special orders. There's Nancy's dress, Dylas' outfit, Lest's outfit, oh, and you may as well take your suit over to the castle so you can change over there instead of coming back home.”

Vishnal looked back and saw that she was as grumpy as he thought. Smiling, he said, “Nah, I'll leave it here so I have another excuse to come check on you.”

“If you must,” she said, although a smile escaped her then.

“Just don't be forgetting about that, turnip-for-brains,” Pico said, putting her hands on her hips.

Making the deliveries didn't take too long, a good run in the cold crisp air in Vishnal's opinion. When he got to the castle, he first stopped by the servant's hall to give the apples over to Clorica. “Dolce doesn't always finish them even though she eats the peels to help in the mornings, so can you do something with these?” he asked her.

“That's funny, but good that it helps her,” she said, looking over the apples and their condition. “Sure, that won't be a problem. I'll send some over to her once it's made.”

“There you are,” Volkanon said, coming beside them with little noise.

Vishnal bowed to him. “Sorry sir, I had some deliveries to make for Dolce, including Lest's clothes for the ball here. She was a perfectionist on them.” Which was why it had taken the longest of all the ball costumes even though it was one of the first designs she'd drawn up for the event. She'd also been really picky on Dylas' outfit.

“You're not too late, but be careful to be on time,” he said. “You're assigned to work with Lest directly today. I had volunteered to do so last night, but he pointed out that I still wasn't entirely comfortable with his hobby and so declined it.”

Vishnal smiled at that. “He is thoughtful like that. Sure, I have no problem with it.”

“Aw, you get to help him be beautiful tonight,” Clorica said cheerily. “I'll be setting the stage and making sure it's beautiful for everyone. Lest's already had breakfast.”

With that in mind, Vishnal excused himself and headed over to Lest's bedroom. Dolce had left specific instructions to open the package quickly and let the clothes hang for a few hours, to lessen the chance of wrinkles. He had the outfit out and hanging in a large wardrobe by the time Lest called from the bathroom, “Is someone out there?”

“It's just me,” Vishnal called.

“Oh good.” After a minute, Lest came out in informal clothes and a towel hanging around his shoulders. His hair was damp, now hanging below his shoulders a couple of inches. “Could you help me set my hair to curl?”

Styling hair had not been part of his instructions yet. “Sure, if it's not too hard,” he said.

“It's simple, it just needs a few hours and I could use help getting the back parts,” Lest said, getting a small box with strips of cloth and a spray bottle with water. “The hair has to be damp for this to work, so if it starts drying out, spritz it down some.” He demonstrated by taking a thin portion of the front of his hair, twisting it with one of the cloth strips, then tying the bottom of the strip to the top in a loop. “It doesn't have to be perfect, but try to get them all twisted and looped in the same direction.”

“Alrighty.” He took a comb to help him separate the hairs into even loops. “Is getting ready for this going to be an all day effort?”

“Just about,” he admitted, although his eyes were sparkling with excitement. “It's going to be completely worth it. Dad helped me plan it out and I can't wait to see what everyone thinks. Especially Dylas, I really hope he has a good time cause he thinks it could end up boring.”

Vishnal chuckled. “I hope he changes his mind when he sees you. Oh, and I brought your clothes over as Dolce finally finished them.”

“Great, I owe her a lot for this!” They chatted while looping up Lest's hair to curl; his excitement was infectious and had been spreading through town for several days now. Vishnal hoped everyone would have fun tonight.

* * *

 

Turning the large open town plaza into a ballroom was something that required a lot of work. Meg found Clorica as she was pulling out support poles on the cleared stones and offered to help her. At the edges and corners of the plaza, there were posts hidden under stone latches that could be opened up to stand the poles in. Further supports to keep the temporary structure stable were hidden in lattice wall panels and arches. Once it was sturdy, the two of them lifted up large arches to form a domed ceiling. Enchanted platforms had to be used to get a canvas roof up there, but the result was a grand sheltered space that was the skeleton for the plaza ballroom.

As they came down from securing the roof, a group of visitors came into the plaza from the northeast street. Meg was thinking that they should have read the signs on the paths stating that work was going on, but then she recognized the horned elf among them. “Oh, good afternoon Tolesse!” she called, waving to him before coming over.

“Good afternoon Margaret,” he said, bowing his head. “Sorry to intrude, but these are the fellow band members I gathered for the ball tonight. We wanted to get a look around the place.”

“We're still setting up as you can see, but this is where the ball will take place,” Meg said, indicating the plaza.

“This is unique, turning your town square into a grand ballroom,” one of the band members said.

“How are things going to be arranged?” Tolesse asked, looking to them as he'd taken in the looks of the area.

“Well, I need to get with Doug now about setting up the lights and heating,” Clorica said, turning around. She pointed towards the castle entrance. “We want that to be the grand entrance, and then where you came in and the entrance across to be the side entrances. The dancing area will be,” she pointed over to the middle of the plaza to the eastern side, “over here, so you'll be set up,” she pointed to the western side, “over there. There'll be a large carpet placed there for steady ground and we can bring a grand piano out of the castle for use. It's been tuned recently. Then that area,” she pointed to the south, “will have a buffet as well as a sitting area and a place to watch over the few toddlers and babies in town so their parents can enjoy the ball too.”

“That seems workable,” Tolesse said. “The piano would be nice to have out. When can we come in to set up and see how the sound is?”

“The ball starts at 1800 and last to midnight, so you can come in any time after 1630,” Clorica said.

“Very well, looks as though we should keep plans for an early dinner,” he said. “We also wanted to look into this theater you have here.”

“I can take you over there,” Meg said. “You got things under control over here, Clori?”

Clorica smiled at her. “Yes, thanks for your help getting the roof and walls up.”

On their way to Dragon Lake and the Obsidian Mansion Theater, Meg talked with Tolesse and his group about what they were looking for. They were all friends who came together to play music and put on small acts in various places, mostly in the capitol where several of them currently lived. But they didn't have a home stage and had to practice in each other's houses. When one of them brought up that Selphia was out of the way and not particularly known for its creative scene, Meg told them that they wanted to make a creative scene to draw more culture and art here. The town only had one regular musician and one artist, so they needed a few more to get things stirred up.

The entrance to the theater was a little messy at the moment. A swinging bench had been set up on the left side, with boundaries for a garden partly in place and supplies for more features in various piles. “The girls at the flower shop are installing a little garden out here,” Meg said. “They should have most of the work done by the start of spring and be cultivating the plants then.”

“That's a romantic setting, with this grand old house behind it,” one of them said. “This used to be a haunted mansion?”

She nodded and opened up the door. “Right, but all the spirits that once wandered here were put to rest. It's safe now, especially since I've been adding modern safety structures to places like the catwalks. Those used to not even have rails, just open planks overhead.”

“Classy old place,” a woman said as they came in and looked around. “Lovely tables and chairs, a dinner theater is a nice possibility.”

“They don't make places like this anymore,” another woman said.

“Certainly not,” Tolesse said, looking over the box seats. “There's a tinge of mystery but no lingering danger. The sound seems to be traveling well.”

“Bet you like the place already,” a man said, elbowing him.

The univir smiled. “You know me well. But let's practice in here and see how this place could come to life. That and seeing the community's spirit at the ball should be enough to make a decision.”

Trusting in both to impress, Meg felt there was a strong chance they would decide to settle down here.

* * *

 

The inn was usually quiet through winter. Not so today. With the winter ball being tonight, many visitors had come to attend and see the town for themselves. The inn was packed, having been fully reserved out a full two weeks ago. Xiao Pai had taken a risky move to ask Lest for permission to clean up and open a second inn to accommodate the guests. While the other inn had been unused for her entire life, he had given the okay and now it too was full. It made for a lot of work to serve guests in two buildings, but she had advertised for some temporary workers from other towns to help out.

All in all, this was pushing her organization system and managing skills to their limits. She didn't even have time to worry about being clumsy or making mistakes. There was too much to do, plus she had to get as much as she could get done before the ball so she could attend for a few hours as well. Now that the laundry had been taken care of, she had to check on the baths and the halls, run across the street to ask the workers at the other inn how they were doing, drop off meal orders at the restaurant, and come back to tidy up the sitting area and be around in case a guest needed assistance.

Lin Fa was watching the front desk and talking to the customers. With her charm, that was the best place for her. “Xiao, have the dinner meals been taken care of?” she asked, worried.

“Yes, Momma,” Xiao said. “I just got back from delivering them. They're going to send them out early so guests have plenty of time to be ready for the ball.”

“Oh good, I was hoping for that,” Lin Fa said with a smile. “And you have to hear what this fellow was saying just a bit ago! He said he was having a wonderful time already because of our excellent service, even admired us for being able to manage two buildings at once. Then he asked who the lovely little manager was so he could pass along his compliments directly.” She giggled. “I told him that I'm the manager, but the lovely young woman was my daughter.”

“At least he likes our place,” she said, feeling herself blush. This was really working out! But she couldn't let her excitement get ahead of her. Things would stay busy until tomorrow when people left.

“Don't be so humble, you should be proud,” she said, her face full of pride. “I'm sure I couldn't have done something this ambitious, but things are going great! This could be our most successful event ever. And then the fellow asked if you were single and I had to tell him that you were married and I had the most wonderful son-in-law to go with my wonderful daughter, and he was the one who makes all our bath salts, soaps, and candles.”

“Did you have to tell him all that?” Xiao said, even more embarrassed. Yet happy at the same time. Things were going wonderfully, Kiel had truly turned her luck around.

* * *

 

Arthur had brought a formal outfit worthy of a ball with him to Selphia, although he hadn't expected to actually have a chance to wear it. Now he was glad he had it. During in recent years, he saw various young men wearing the style to give off an air of refined charm, with a bit of dashing thrown in with the short cape. His had been ordered by his father in white and gold colors, although Arthur had gotten some tailoring done on it to suit his tastes more. It came with a cloak pin of the Norad family crest, but he'd come up with one that had a pink sapphire to go with his eyes instead.

To give the event a bit of a surprise, he had gone to his old room in the Sainte-Coquille mansion to change instead of at the old Greenwind home. Forte was there with Meg so both could get ready together. When he came out, he found Porcoline ready for the ball as well. He was wearing something in a bright plum and peach, an outfit that was so gaudy that it went into the realm of art. With his attitude, though, Porco was likely one of the few who could pull off something like that.

“Going for memorable, I see,” Arthur said, with some amusement.

“And color!” Porco said, shaking a fist in the air. “Got to have color, you know. You're looking quite regal, although I don't know if gold is your color. Maybe some red or blue instead.”

“It's what I have, so it will have to do tonight,” he said, walking over to him. “Here, let me pin your hat on straighter at least.”

“Thank ya, that would help out,” he said, holding still so Arthur could adjust it for him.

As they were doing that, Dylas came out of his room. Arthur glanced over at first, then had to take a second look at him to make sure he was seeing things right. There were bits from older fashions like folded frills on the collar and cuffs alongside bits from modern fashions, like a cut that brought out his build of lean muscles rather than a modest look. It was neat and sharp looking while making him look like he could be the sensual romantic lead in a play. Admiring that choice, Arthur smiled at him. “You look incredible, Dylas.”

“Oh, uh thanks,” he said, not looking too sure of himself. “I thought Dolce was going to give me something simple or more traditional looking. Is this modern fashion?”

“That is beyond any fashion, simply dazzling,” Porco said, touching his hat. Once Arthur silently assured him it was fine now, Porco went over to Dylas. “But if you're going for a bold look like this, you've got to hold yourself with confidence! You are smoking hot and you've got to walk like you know it. Given 'em a beguiling look and everybody will be swooning over you.”

“You sure about that?” Dylas asked, seeming more uncertain of pulling that off than unwilling.

“Perhaps instead of thinking of your affect on everyone, just think of how you want Lest to see you,” Arthur suggested. Lest was certainly going into his act wholeheartedly tonight, so it only seemed fair to encourage Dylas to match him. “You're dating a true prince; hardly anybody gets to be that lucky. But you want him to know, without you saying a word, that you're there to sweep him off his feet and make the night unforgettable.”

“Oh yes, don't forget that you're beautiful to him and give him the look that says he's the most beautiful one in the whole world to you and you're going to make him feel that way,” Porco added, nudging him to standing with his shoulders in a more confident poise.

“Well I don't have to dress differently to do that,” Dylas said, shifting himself to stand with less uncertainty. It did help to work with his outfit far better, like he could be heading out to a night of romance.

Arthur nodded, then pointed over towards a mirror in the hallway. “Perhaps, but your dress and posture do suggest the start of a special night.”

“Yes, now let's see if we can't adjust that look of yours to be better reflective of you, Arthur,” Porco said, looking at him. “Forte's going to be a gentlewoman tonight and you need to sweep her off her feet that way too.”

* * *

 

There were a lot of visiting nobility tonight, intrigued to have a social event in an unusual location for high society. Although, this was hardly a high society event as many of the guests were local residents. But gossip through town showed that this added intrigue on both sides. The nobility were amused to attend a quaint rural region's ball while the locals were curious to see the visitors' fine costumes. It wouldn't be exact to noble standards as they didn't plan to announce every couple's entrance. Instead, they were going to announce the couples with a member of royalty as one of the pair.

This meant that Forte found herself waiting in the central chamber of the castle for Arthur to arrive. While they had insisted on not having a wedding worthy of royalty, Arthur had agreed to do this in part because photographers and journalists from throughout Norad were coming to report on the event in social papers. Lest and Dylas were also going to be announced, although neither of them were in yet. And for a surprise, the crown princess Briana had returned to Selphia for the event.

While Briana didn't bring a date with her, she was elegantly dressed as one would expect a princess to be. She wore a deep violet dress with many refined details, like gold lace work and intricate embroidery on the top. The long skirt, sleeves, and headband were simpler so as not to make it too overwhelming on the eyes. Seeing that, Forte worried a bit about her own dress. It had a cream yellow base with thin strips of many colors running vertical down the skirt; a diamond pattern of the five other colors used was on the front of the top.

Briana was surprisingly easy to talk to, so Forte ended up mentioning it. “It's an older dress that I found in my family's house, but I don't know much about fashion trends.”

“You're fine, I think it looks lovely on you,” Briana said, smiling in a friendly manner. “It is an older style, but more forgotten than out of style I believe. Besides, an heirloom dress is special on its own merit.”

“There is a portrait showing my grandmother wearing it when she was young,” Forte said, glad for the assurance. “Actually, I was at a loss when trying to decide on what to wear when this was first talked about. I haven't dressed in a feminine manner since I was a toddler, at least up until this year.”

The princess laughed a little, then leaned closer to her. “Really? Well that's a shame, you have such lovely long hair and a good honest face. Why not?”

She smiled, having more fun with this than feeling like she was being made fun of. “I was a real tomboy as a young girl, especially in training to follow in my father's footsteps as a dragon knight. And you know,” she touched her left bicep, “when you're wielding a long sword and patrolling town every day of the year, you get a lot of muscle mass that doesn't work so well trying to be dainty and feminine. My friend agreed with me on this dress partly because it tones down the muscular look.”

“I think managing a beautiful look with a strong frame is something to admire and respect,” Briana said. “You aren't a woman to keep inside and look pretty, but one who goes out daily to work hard for the benefit of many. If there were more ladies like you in the nobility, I think things would be a lot more interesting in the capitol.”

“I'm sure you must make things more interesting being yourself there,” Forte said. “Some of the nobility I've met before seemed so self-centered and demanding, but you're really interested in people. Like Lest is.”

She nodded. “Well, I have to admit that meeting him and exchanging letters has encouraged me to be more like that. I was pretty rigid before. Being like this is like breathing fresh air and realizing how much you missed it. I didn't realize how little like myself I acted until I was given several chances to be me.”

“I know exactly how that feels,” Forte said, feeling delighted to find such a connection with her. Maybe they could be friends too, since they were already sisters-in-law.

Then Arthur and Dylas came in from the farm entrance. Both of them looked amazing tonight, Arthur in a more traditional way and Dylas in an unexpectedly modern way. No matter what he thought, Arthur did look very much like a prince tonight. Maybe he was finding peace with that side of himself, or maybe the event simply called for the role. Forte hoped it was the former. “You look great tonight,” she said to him, offering a hand towards him.

He came over after a moment of just staring at her. “My, you look wonderful too. I'm really lucky to have you.” That made her giggle and she didn't try to hide it.

Briana giggled at the scene too. “Did you choose your outfits together? You look so darling with each other, I can't wait to see you two dancing.”

“No, we decided on things separately,” Forte said, still looking at Arthur. “That's even better that we managed to do this.”

“I wouldn't believe it, but we were of the same mind,” he said, his smile radiant.

Then Briana tapped Dylas on the arm. “And you look like you're going to be the heart stealer of the ball, who did your outfit?”

“My sister Dolce did,” he said, seeming as confident tonight as before a fishing tournament. “And I'm only interested in one person, so no heart stealing tonight.”

“You wouldn't have to try,” Briana said. Then Lest came in from the royal wing and very much changed their opinions on who looked best.

* * *

 

The ball had not yet begun, so people were gathered into groups. Sven was taking the night patrol after the event was over, so he got to spend all of it with Clorica. As they were waiting for things to start, they met up with Doug, Amber, Blossom, and Dolce. It had seemed like a good time to let them in on something.

As expected, it was taken with great cheer. “That's great, wasn't expecting to hear that,” Doug said. He and Sven had similar dark gray suits, aside from the obvious difference of size.

“Yeah!” Amber said, bouncing in place. She was wearing a bright rainbow dress, light and lacy. It suited her really well. “Seems like there's gonna be a bunch of kids next year.”

Some of the others chuckled at her. “A lot of us married this year, so it's to be expected,” Dolce said. While she had made or altered many of the costumes the townspeople wore, her own dress was an understated black dress. It looked nice, but she didn't stand out as much as Amber.

“We did talk about it over a few evenings,” Clorica said, smiling in happiness at many things. She wore a black and gold dress that was a feminized version of her usual work uniform. “It could be tough, but we've worked things out so far. We've got it.”

“And all of you young folk have the whole town behind you, don't forget about that,” Blossom said, patting Clorica's arm. She didn't plan to stay for long, but she had made a new white lace shawl and wore a nice brown dress underneath. “I'm sure everyone will pitch in to give the kids a wonderful start in life.”

“It should make life exciting,” Sven said. A better form of exciting than battles and monsters, he thought.

One of the band members then played his trumpet, in a sequence like introducing someone important. As the crowd quieted down, a spotlight was swiveled around to fall on Volkanon close to the grand entrance from the castle. “Attention please,” he called, in spite of attention already being on him. “We now welcome our royal guests of honor. Please welcome, Prince Arthur Lest Norad, Prince of Norad, and his wife Lady Forte Greenwind Norad, Dragon Knight to our fair goddess Lady Doomgale.”

They were both members of the community, but people still clapped in their honor as they walked in, hand in hand. It was quite a sight, Arthur being princely in attire rather than his usual business clothes that got him mistaken as a self-made noble. Then there was Forte in her lovely dress; they were both well matched to each other as well. Once they bowed to acknowledge the welcome, they moved to join the crowd.

“Next, please welcome, Princess Briana Chelsea Norad, Crown Princess of Norad.” Briana came in alone, but she managed a look both regal and kindly as she curtsied to her welcome. She did step to the side of the front area as Volkanon said, “Lastly, please welcome, Prince Arthur Lest Nolan, leader of Selphia, and his date Dylas Leland, former guardian to Lady Ventuswill.”

The last pair got a few more cheers, which quickly grew louder once the pair came out holding hands. Arthur and Forte had been well matched, but Lest and Dylas were perfectly matched in their costumes. Separately, they would have been attractive. Together, they were like a dream come to life. Dylas was quite handsome in his modern clothes, but the way he looked towards Lest made them both really glow. It might really be that way, if their love made Lest's element shine in a way that could be noticed even by those who couldn't really see or sense them.

And if he hadn't been introduced as a prince, Sven wouldn't be surprised if people thought Lest was really a woman tonight. He hit glamorous like a hammer on a nail, with slightly messy curls and sultry make-up. His green dress, which put into mind sparkling champagne, cut a snug but curvy figure on him. Over that, he wore a decorative black coat with feather accents on the collar and bottom hem; its sleeves were sheer and it only came in front of him to a clasp on the bustline. The outfit even showed some leg and chest, which shouldn't have been possible but looked convincing enough from a distance.

“Wow, you did an amazing job on them, Dolce,” Sven said.

“Yeah, don't know which one you should be jealous of,” Doug added.

“Maybe both,” Amber said.

Dolce smiled proudly at that. “Then that's successful to the concept.”

“You should see about getting a photo of them tonight to put in your shop,” Clorica suggested.

“Thank you, everyone,” Lest said, taking control of the room. “Although I think you mean to call me your princess for the night.” There were a few whistles to that, making Dylas smile at his side. “I hope you all have a marvelous evening. We have had many victories and joyous occasions this year, but let's be looking forward to making the next year even greater. Have fun, all!”

No one would argue with that.

* * *

 

This courtly style of dancing was nothing like Amber used to know dancing as. When fairies danced, it was alone or in a big circle, not just two in a slow steady rhythm. But this gave her a different feeling of happiness that was just as good as any other. She had to watch carefully because Doug was shorter than her and they didn't want to get their feet too close together. When it went right, it was a togetherness that made her heart sing.

But that wasn't all there was to do at the ball. “Wanna take a breather and talk to somebody?” Doug asked.

“Sure, hmmm...” Amber looked around to find someone they could chat with.

Dylas and Lest were leaving the dance area too, going to the buffet area. They both looked amazing and she wanted to make sure to tell them that sometime tonight. However, she knew what it was like to be in love and she could tell from the way they watched each other that they were totally off in their own little bubble. Amber thought that their hearts must be singing beautifully together, but it'd be rude to interrupt now. Maybe if they heard each other's songs enough without interruption, they'd want to get married too. Not wanting to interfere with that, she looked over towards where the little kids were being watched and saw a couple that weren't quite as wrapped in each other.

“Let's go talk to them and see the twins,” she said, pointing over to where Frey and Leon were sitting together while holding their children. They seemed to be watching Dylas and Lest too, laughing quietly over something.

It was a new experience for Amber to see babies as little as these. While she thought that Alice had to have been small when she first awoke in this time, Amber hadn't been as interested back then. Today, Frey let her hold Noel for a bit and Amber wondered if everybody started out so little. They probably had because people didn't come out of gates like monsters did. That made it amazing that some people got a lot bigger, like Leon or Volkanon. How big was Noel going to get when he was all grown up?

“This'll be a fun thing to tell them years later, that they came to a ball when they were just a day old,” Amber said.

Frey laughed; she wore a cute yellow dress, not as fancy as many of the others at the ball. But nobody was about to bug her about it. “Yeah, I'd imagine that's not something that happens a lot.”

“Though they might be disappointed to hear they didn't get to dance then, since they can't walk,” Doug said.

“We could always carry them if we wanted to dance with them,” Leon said. He looked very different from usual today. Part of it was the very soft and gentle look he had when he looked over at his children or Frey. But a lot of it had to do with the clothes he wore: a tan shirt and pale blue tie under a patterned brown on brown jacket, with dark brown pants and black shoes. Doug had mentioned that he 'looked like you'd think a librarian would look', although Amber thought he should always look like a librarian no matter how he looked because he was a librarian. As far as she knew, Leon hadn't complained about it yet.

“You should do that,” Amber said, handing Noel back to Frey. “We could even tell the musicians to play a song special for kids and parents.”

“You don't have to go doing that,” Leon said, although his ears showed interest.

“I think it'd be sweet,” Frey said.

When Amber looked over, the tall elf musician with the forehead horn was taking a break at the side of their area. “We'll go ask them!” she said, then tugged Doug to follow her over. “Hey mister, could you play a song special for the parents and kids to dance to here?” She pointed over to where Frey and Leon were sitting.

The elf smiled and nodded. “Certainly, that would be no trouble. If I may ask, how old are the kids?”

“Well they were born in the middle of the night yesterday,” Amber said of the two babies. “But there's also Alice who's, um, I think a moon cycle from being a full year old, and Auden who's probably a year old but nobody's really sure about.”

“Those are the kids who live here, we're not sure if anyone else has brought their kids along,” Doug said.

“I can think of something suitable for such young families,” he said. “Go let the parents know and we'll do that song next.”

They had to run around to tell the others, but not long after, the musician asked for the floor to be cleared for the young families to dance with their children. Leon and Frey kept close to each other, all of them bright like a new blossom. Meg brought Auden out and let him stand on the floor while holding her hands; they couldn't quite dance, but the toddler was squealing happily to be involved. Lastly, Jones carried Alice and acted like he was doing a waltz with her, although she was more interested in looking all around them to figure out what was going on.

Amber hoped that she had her own child to dance with someday.

* * *

 

When he'd first heard about the ball, Dylas thought it wouldn't be very interesting. It was a social event, a time to dance, mingle with others, and wear fancy clothes. There was a quiet idea that it could be a special romantic date, an idea he wouldn't admit to finding nice. But for that idea, he felt he could tolerate the boring bits to be Lest's date to the ball. Seeing him have fun would be fun by itself, as he told himself.

It wasn't like that. First it was that outfit that Dolce had made for him. Before Dylas even looked at himself in the mirror with it on, he felt like some suave charmer instead of a quiet (not shy, he didn't like thinking of himself that way) loner. It had worried him until Porco and Arthur talked him into relaxing into the role. Although it stepped out of his usual act, it started to feel empowering as other people noticed him and found him attractive. Then he saw Lest and...

Never mind about the cross-dressing, how could anybody be that attractive? He looked very different too, the curled hair falling playfully and the gorgeous clothes making a very convincing case. But he was still Lest, charming and bright as always. Those aspects of him were powerful tonight. One of the visiting nobles even said that he felt like he should be offended but something had changed his mind on seeing both of them. Somehow, it was both of them. A lady said that they were both amazing but it didn't feel right to ask one of them to dance because of how they looked together.

Although how everyone talked was just a minor buzz to how Dylas felt being one of the two stars of the evening. It should be encouraging that he managed to be admired for one night. However, the strongest influence on him was Lest. Dancing with him was a joy, but he'd already known that. But getting to see him look incredible, and dance with him, and feel incredible himself from everything around them... how did he describe this feeling? A dream but not, a daze but certain things were very clear, love... Lest was the most beautiful man and woman Dylas had ever known, both inside and out, so getting to stay close to him, an arm wrapped around him to dance, talking and not really caring as long as Lest kept watching him all joyful, adoring, adorable, and alluring... it was an incredible night and anything he thought of to describe it just fell short.

The ball came to an end at midnight and people left the plaza, tired but full of bright memories. Dylas came with Lest into the castle's parlor, feeling like he didn't want to leave him yet. “Would you come into my office for a little bit?” Lest asked.

“Sure,” he said, not really caring why as long as he could stay longer.

Lest gave him a knowing smile and brought him in there, shutting the door behind them. It didn't take long for Lest to nudge him into sitting in one of the chairs so he could come closer and kiss him. With that filling his attention, Dylas felt time lose its meaning. He had wanted to linger with Lest, making the night last a little longer. Maybe talk. Now he wanted him to stay this close, or closer. Where did it cross the line? But did he really care about that? Perhaps not.

Except, how was Lest adapting? That gave Dylas the moment of self-control to put his hand on Lest's shoulder and check before he got lost enough in the passion to not care. Though he wanted... “You look kinda drunk,” Dylas said softly.

Lest giggled, only furthering his suspicion. “I'm not,” he said, sounding it too. He shifted around so when he spoke again, it was right into Dylas' left ear. “I want you to stay, all night perhaps.”

Feeling his breath there made him tickled with delight, and really tempted to say yes. Then Lest slipped and still giggled at himself. “You're being weird.”

“Ish okay, I love you and I'm so happy right now,” Lest said.

Okay, that wasn't how to convince him. “Well, I, I'm not really used to this and I'm kind of nervous, so, well, could we, um, do small steps instead of jumping right in?”

“If you really wanna,” he said, accepting that. “I love you Dylas.”

“I love you too Lest,” he said, smiling.

Lest tried to stand back up, but slipped instead. “Whoops, sorry, I'm okay,” he said.

Dylas helped him up and brought him out of the office into the hallway. Now what? He spotted Sano and Uno watching them. “Hey, could one of you get Volkanon to help him?”

“It seems needed,” Sano said while Uno trotted off to get him.

In the time that Dylas got Lest the few feet from the office doorway into his bedroom, Volkanon had appeared behind them. “What's the matter, Sir Lest?” he asked in worry.

“Nothing's the matter, I said so,” Lest said, trying to stand straight and prove it. But he soon clung to Dylas' arm again.

“Ah, he...” Dylas felt embarrassed, but worry for Lest overruled that. Besides, the butler would keep this as confidential as he had before. Dylas took a deep breath. “We were kissing and he seems like he got drunk off my, um, my feelings. I'm just gonna head back home.”

“Going early?” Lest asked, sounding disappointed.

“I need to be working early tomorrow,” he said, mostly as an excuse since lunch tomorrow wouldn't be hard.

“And you both seem tired,” Volkanon said, taking Lest from him. “Don't worry, I'll take care of him. It's new, but if we do take him for drunk, I know a few things that should help.”

“Hope it does,” Dylas said, wondering briefly what an empathic hangover might be like. “Good night Lest.”

“Good night, Dylas,” he said.

As he walked through the flower garden, Dylas breathed in the cold air and hoped that might calm him down. There was definitely a difference between being told of these things and experiencing them. But, it wasn't bad, he was able to talk this time. Dylas hoped he'd adjust to where he wasn't affected poorly. Otherwise, it might get awkward if they got married and...

If they got married.

He got to the tree line and paused to look back at the castle. He could discount their relationship being sinful for their genders. If he had given in to that passion, though, that would still be morally wrong. But that thought was soon eclipsed as he felt a bit of loneliness for having left him for the night. He'd probably see Lest in a few hours, maybe even early morning to see how he was doing. It still felt sad to leave him after this wonderful night.

And Lest needed him. Really needed him, unlike anyone had ever wanted or needed him. Lest had terrible burdens to bear, including the demon Typhoon. Dylas didn't know if he alone had the strength to help him. However, he wasn't alone. He had family and friends that would support him even if he alone knew Lest's darkest secret. At this moment, his happiness was greater than his sorrow and he felt a solid determination to save Lest. It was a feeling very much like he'd had before, focusing all his efforts on defeating one monster.

He should propose soon. Dylas smiled, then continued his walk back home. As his conscious felt clear and his feelings felt strong, as he knew that he'd never run into anyone like Lest ever, he knew it was the right thing to do.


	132. Saying Goodbye

Winter 82

The morning sun was just warm enough to start melting snow. The ground on his farm was still firm, but that might not last long. While weeding between the last crop of the hot-hot fruits, Lest tried to focus on his work and not on the headache he'd woken up with. Volkanon had managed to be up before him to offer some tea and pain killers before he headed out. What had happened last night? He was pretty sure that he'd avoided the alcoholic drinks at the ball.

Although, things did get hazy at the end of it. He could remember a lot of wonderful things from the ball, mostly about being with Dylas. In a happy surprise, Dylas had actually enjoyed the event even as it involved things he was usually awkward about in front of others, like talking and dancing. Seeing him progress like that made Lest feel proud of him. He could kind of remember the castle bells striking midnight at the end of the ball, then something about his office. It had been a rush like no other, but what had actually happened?

As he got done with the vegetables and went to check on the central field, he saw Dylas walking in from the market street. He had a delivery basket in his arm. “Good morning,” Lest said, smiling but not quite feeling like a cheerful greeting.

“Good morning,” Dylas said, smiling and improving Lest's mood some. Then he turned concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I've got a headache and my rune senses feel on the dull side,” he admitted, rubbing his head. He was probably getting dirt on it, but that could be cleaned up. “Not sure why, since I'm pretty sure I didn't do any drinking last night.”

He walked over on the stone path to get closer. “Well, you got kind of drunk off a kiss.”

“That why I'm kind of hungover?” he asked, trying to make light of it. “Though that's not happened to me before. Sometimes it can be a buzz, but not lasting.”

“Um,” his face turned pink and he spoke quietly, “I haven't ever felt, um, that kind of passion with anybody. And you got really overwhelmed in it.”

“What did we do last night?” Lest asked, worried about it now. Although he could remember it a bit more clearly now, heady feelings that made him want to do whatever Dylas wanted.

“It wasn't improper, we were just kissing,” Dylas said in a hurry. “Although you about kissed my ear once and that was... well, never mind, I hope you feel better.” His ears twisted some, trying to hear if anyone else was around.

There was a bit of tickle in his heart when he mentioned about the ear. “That could be trouble. It's hazy, but I faintly remember feeling like I would do anything you wanted just to keep you close. I knew I had trouble losing my willpower in some situations, but I thought I'd retain some control if it was someone I actually knew and loved.”

“I won't take advantage of you, I promise,” he said. “Though I hope you could build some tolerance, if...” he hesitated on saying anything aloud.

“I hope so too, we'll just have to watch ourselves,” Lest said, smiling at him.

“Yeah,” he said. Then he offered the basket. “I did make you some breakfast, though if the butlers already have you covered, you could always save it for lunch.”

“Thanks, I'm sure it'll be good,” he said, accepting it.

“I put one of my enchantments on it,” Dylas said. “Just a wish that you'd be in good health. But, be careful and make sure the enchantment will hold for you before you try to eat it. Lemme know how it works.”

“Sure, I will.” Lest did end up having to leave it for lunch. Thankfully, the enchantments blended well with the food so there was no risk of it coming undone when he ate it. He could sense that part of it was because qualities in the food matched the qualities of the enchantment. That'd be something to let Dylas know in case he wanted to try something else on him.

After lunch, Lest prepared to make a trip into Rune Prana. Frey had put together a charm from the seven leaves that could slot into his cloak. Each leaf had its own rune effect to add, making it a powerful item in his possession. With it in his cloak, he and two others with him would have superb magical protection from all kinds of spells and curses. Even fatigue wouldn't be as much of a problem if the trek ended up long. Though he didn't mean to go far in this time. He brought Sano and Uno with him to the basement where Frey's teleport ring was still active and tuned to the tower.

There weren't as many ghosts as when he and Dylas had run through here. Perhaps the completion of the road encouraged them to head to the forest. At the first branch to a pillar, Let contemplated heading down there to see what it was like. But there were five ghosts nearby. Lest approached them and started to see forms, like shapes coming from smoke. Two men and three women. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Those among the living, we believe,” one of the men said in a voice as quiet as a whisper. “The guardian Leon Karnak.”

“We look for Forte and Kiel Greenwind,” the other man said.

“I believe I can get you to them,” Lest said. Now how to actually do this... he thought over his etherlink bond until it came to his attention. Then he manipulated it to connect to the five ghosts. Feelings of weariness and relief tugged at him strongly.

“Master, you are near your limit for doing this,” Sano warned.

“F-fine,” Lest said, not fully realizing it until he stammered. He should have been more careful, especially after how he'd woken up. But now that he had the ghosts, “Let's go... into town.” Thankfully, the two foxes made their scarves sparkle so Lest could follow them as the mental and spiritual weight of supporting the ghosts made his attention dim.

* * *

 

Forte spotted a small gray fox coming towards her. It struck her as odd. If Lest needed her, he usually called through his bracelet. The fox might be going to meet someone else. Knowing they weren't keen on social matters, she was going to simply keep out of her way. But then Uno stopped a few feet in front of her. “Lady Forte,” she said.

“Yes, what is it Uno?” she asked.

“Master Lest has located the ghosts of your parents and has brought them to the castle's parlor,” Uno said.

“What?!” Forte asked, never expecting to hear such a thing. What did she do?

Uno repeated her message, then added, “You should go speak with them as supporting them in this world is a burden on our master.” Then she hurried off, her message given.

“I can tell them that the curse was lifted,” she said to herself. The thought made her smile, so she ran to the castle to meet with them.

In the parlor, she found Clorica standing by Lest, Sano sitting by his feet; the prince was slumped into a chair, his eyes closed. Something in the air wavered like a summer haze. Ghosts... but wait, Forte told herself, there were her parents and she didn't fear them. Clorica tugged at Lest's sleeve. “Lest? Forte's here.”

“Oh good,” he said, his voice strained as he if was exhausted. Still he waved her closer. “Give me your hand.”

“What happened to you?” Forte asked, following his command without hesitation.

“He brought five ghosts back with him,” Sano said. “We were not aware until he connected to them that it was too much.”

Once she had Lest's hand, her fingers and spine tingled at some kind of power. Some of the haze took form and there were her parents, just as she remembered them. “Forte, oh good, it did work,” Este said.

“Mother, father, it's good to see you both again,” she said, smiling. But it couldn't be for long her heart whispered.

Lest confirmed that as he looked up at her. “There is very little keeping them here, so you don't have long. Put their last worries at ease and their souls will be drawn to the Forest of Beginnings. Don't delay doing so, since they don't have much energy in this world and you want to get this done before their self starts fading.”

“Thank you Lest, we'll talk later,” Forte said, wanting to ask him many questions. “We'll go find Kiel.”

“As long as you're both happy,” Kevion said. They both followed her out of the castle and towards the alchemy shop. But perhaps they couldn't do anything but follow her now. “Are you?”

Forte nodded. “Yes, very much so. We, we found out about the curse Handel Obsidian put on us, but we were able to undo it quickly thanks to finding your diaries.” It would have been faster if he'd told them. But, she didn't want that to be part of the last meeting she had with her parents.

“That was a story I wanted to share,” Este said, sounding happy at it. “Did you find your dream?”

Were they not able to see her armor? Or maybe they saw her as they remembered her, not as she was now. “Yes, I succeed father as Ventuswill's dragon knight,” she said. “Now I'm serving her successor, the new Native Dragon. She's so young that she really needs a knight's protection. Even so,” she held up her right hand where a sapphire ring was, “I've been accepted by other knights as a woman and knight. Plus, I've recently gotten married to a prince of Norad. He's wonderful, helped a lot to get the idea of female knights accepted throughout the rest of the nation.”

Este laughed. “That's wonderful, now other girls can aspire to be knights just as you did.”

“I was starting to really have faith in your ability to prove yourself,” Kevion said. “I, I'm glad that was what came true. Forte, I was proud of you; I just never knew how to say it. Now it all seems so foolish of me, it was far simpler than I was making it.”

“It's okay, father, I came to realize that,” Forte said. A short time later, she let herself and her parents into the shop. “Kiel?” She nearly said something more, but caught herself. If he was brewing potions, she didn't want to startle him.

“Hey Forte, what's up?” he called from the lab, coming out with a piece of chalk in hand. He did drop it on seeing the ghosts. “Huh?”

“Kiel, are you okay?” Este said, floating towards him.

“It's really them, but they don't have a lot of time to visit,” Forte said. On a hunch, she said, “Tell them what you're doing.”

“I was just figuring up calculations on transferring fragrances into a basic skin healing lotion formula because Xiao was complaining about her skin feeling dry,” Kiel said. “Oh yeah, Xiao's my wife, remember her? She works in the Bell Inn with her mother, just about runs the place too. I've been finding ways to use my alchemy and magic to help her do things better there so she can relax and smile more instead of worrying a lot. See, I could only improve my life a great deal because she helped me, and I've done the same for her, so we keep working towards being the best we can be together.”

“You sound so happy, you both do,” Este said, smiling brightly while her form faded.

“You both found your own ways to shine in spite of how we became obstacles more than we should have,” Kevion said, bowing his head.

“No, we couldn't think of you that way,” Kiel said. “We still love you both; we forgive you. Nobody's perfect, after all.”

“Right, you tried your best in hard times,” Forte said, giving him a knight's salute. “Perhaps no one can live fully to the ideal of chivalry, but we should keep striving to follow it. As he said, we keep working to be the best we can be.”

“You found wisdom I didn't until too late,” Kevion said as he faded off. But there was a change in him even then, a great burden lost so he could smile as freely as his wife had. That said everything, his love and pride in them for finding ways to shine by their own light.

* * *

 

Leon was walking back home from the general store, a basket of groceries and such under his arm. On his way across the plaza, he tried to stifle a yawn and didn't make it. One didn't realize the expected schedule of days until said schedule was disrupted, like from two babies who had no concept of such a thing. But things still had to get done, chores had to be worked on around their new house. Life moved on.

The fall of stony paws on the plaza got his ears pricked. Uno was walking up to him. “Leon, Master Lest went into Rune Prana and returned with your parents and an old friend. Please go see them in the castle parlor.”

“The heck?” Leon asked under his breath, feeling a chill of shock. Then he remembered. When he'd been helping with Forte and Kiel's curse, he'd gotten a vision of their father meeting his father in Rune Prana. A smile slipped onto his face. “So he did it.” Without telling them, but at the moment, that was barely a blip in his mind as he hurried the short distance into the castle.

But supporting spirits that hadn't been in the world for centuries was difficult. Lest had managed, though he looked exhausted in doing so. After taking the three spirits from him, Leon could feel his rune points draining away. It shouldn't be too bad if they kept things short. Was there enough time to let them know everything he wanted to tell them?

It was his parents and, as he suspected, Maria. As he left the parlor to leave Lest to rest, he said, “Nice to see you all again; I wasn't expecting this.”

“It's good to know that your duties as a guardian did come to an end safely,” his mother said.

It had been a rough end instead of a safe end, but that didn't seem important. A lot of things didn't seem important, although other ideas shone out as he had to try telling them. “It worked out. Sorry about hurrying along, but I've got to get back home to my wife and kids.”

“You got married?” his father asked, a mix of being surprised and happy for him. He didn't seem quite the same; the years in Rune Prana probably changed him like the years in the ether sea had changed Leon.

“Yeah, to a woman who's smarter than me and possibly weirder too,” Leon said, smiling as he said it. “Our kids were born a couple nights ago and in this time, they expect fathers to be a lot more involved. So I was just running errands and then I've got some work to do in cleaning and fixing up our home.”

“You've matured a lot,” his mother said, her and his father's images fading. “And you're safe and happy, that's all we wished for.”

“We love you son, keep growing,” his father said.

He stopped, not expecting that their time together would be that brief. “Goodbye, both of you.” Once they were gone, it was just Maria with him. “Huh, I thought it would take more, but...” he was still glad to let them know he was doing well.

“It was easy to lose yourself on that endless road,” Maria said, her image fading much slower. “Those few that remain now know they have someone they loved here in Selphia and only want the reassurance that you're well. Most of us, at least.”

“What about you?” Leon asked. “I did find your letters and book. Even translated the latter into Norad so it could be more widely read; hope you don't mind.”

“That's...” she paused for a moment. Her expression was oddly calm for her. Was that her older self? But then she seemed younger and smiled broadly. “That's great, thank you! I'm glad you could move on, I was worried about that.” Then she calmed down again, growing older.

“Maria?” His ears shifted down in worry.

“I'm not quite Maria,” she said. “Maria is with us; we are Misa's bloodline, following the quest to solve the troubles in Selphia. She came out near your parents and thus was drawn out with them. As Rune Prana lingers as the last facet, we linger within the road. We will find peace when the road is ended.”

Hearing this, Leon was filled with a sense of solemnity and drive. That was the force that drove Frey and Lest. “In that case, you want to go back to talk with Lest, the one who brought you out? He's part of the bloodline. Or we could talk to Frey, since I'm headed home already.”

She shook her head. “Maria must return to us soon. Do they know a rune breaker?”

“Yeah, Lest is one.”

“Good, that will be required to destroy the pillars as long as he can solve how to reach them. Darryl left many safeguards near the pillars, including some powerful monsters that will need to be defeated and removed from the road. Whoever goes near the pillars will be attacked in many ways, including spiritually. Take care in doing so, and do not spend too much time at once near them. They, especially the rune breaker, will need a lot of comfort and support when they return home, preferably from a loving spouse.”

“I see.” That was a serious reason to get Lest and Dylas thinking about marriage. Leon rubbed his chin; this would take some work with both of them.

Maria bowed to him, reminding him that the bloodline could overwhelm the individual. “We can see... it's almost time to rest. We hope we will not have to speak to your children to see to the end of this all.”

“I hope not either,” Leon said as she faded away.

* * *

 

Winter 83

Those remaining on the road of Rune Prana were those who had loved ones in Selphia that they wanted to make sure were well. With that in mind, Lest had asked Sven and Doug to come with him this evening. They had lost a lot of family. If those ghosts were on the road, it would be better to bring them there instead of bringing the ghosts back.

“Hopefully just bringing them in will be enough to draw ghosts connected to them close,” Lest said to Frey and Leon. Since he had to wait to evening, he was spending the afternoon talking to people as usual. Leon had figured out a way to put a careful sound shield over the librarian's desk so that they could keep their kids back there without disturbing anyone in the library. That allowed them to do some work there and stay close to Noel and Luna. Even with it blocking sounds within it, it allowed sounds to enter so that people could ask for help.

“Assuming they're peaceful, there's some ways you can call them to you,” Leon said. “Having those two along will help, but I can teach you a couple chants that should also work.”

“I could use every help I can get, thanks,” Lest said.

“I wish you'd waited long enough so that I could come help too,” Frey said. “I always thought I'd be handling these kinds of things, but you've been doing so much.”

“Sorry, but you did finish the rune sphere which I couldn't do,” he said. “And I won't investigate the pillars until you can come with me, I promise.”

“You'd better not, I'm really curious about them,” she said. She was satisfied with that, thankfully.

“It's going to be rough, hope you're both ready for it,” Leon said, worrying over them. From his other emotions, he seemed to be working out a plan in his mind.

Before Leon could start doing anything with that, the front door opened and Dylas came in. “Hi there!” Frey called.

“Hey Dylas, what're you doing?” Lest asked.

“N-nothing,” he insisted, a bit sharply. “What are you all doing here?”

“Watching the library and the kids at once,” Leon explained. “We've got it. And it sure sounds like you've got something going on.”

“I'm just looking for something, you don't have to breathe down my neck,” Dylas said, hurrying off into the library and past the shield.

“Geez, you gonna let him get away with that?” Frey asked, looking to Lest.

He nodded. “Sure, it'll be fine.”

“Come on, you don't have to let him get away with talking to you like that,” Leon said, teasing him.

“You mean his words or his intent?” Lest asked, smiling. “Because his first answer was that 'nothing' he gives when he plans to do something and hates being put on the spot for a response when he'd have to lie to keep the element of surprise. He did the same kind of thing when he was initially taking dance lessons from Meg. Like I said, I'm sure it'll be fine.”

Frey chuckled at him. “Well that's a lengthy meaning to pack into one word. So what's he plotting?”

“I'm trying not to think about it,” he said. “I saw him at the market earlier and he was being evasive then, but I figured I'd let him do whatever he plans without prodding too much.” Especially given the booth he'd found Dylas at; he'd made a hypothetical guess and decided then to try not thinking about it too much to give him a chance. Although, “I can bet he'll be back to ask Leon how to find what he's looking for.”

“Then it'd have to be something not about cooking,” Leon guessed. And Lest was right as Dylas did come back later to ask for help right as he was heading out. Lest waved to him too, but left and focused his mind on remembering the chants to draw friendly ghosts near.

* * *

 

Winter 85

Taking Doug and Sven into Rune Prana had cleared out a lot of ghosts, so Lest was having to look deeper in to find others. Today, he had found Dolce's parents a short ways down the sixth path. He didn't want to push himself, so he linked himself to the two of them and headed out. The main path had changed to a cobblestone road going through a rocky grassland. While it looked like the horizon was far away, there was a wall like a taunt cloth at the edge of the road. And the wind blowing past his face wasn't going in the same direction as the wind moving the grass. Lest was getting used to it, though.

As they passed by the second path, he heard a weak voice call out, “Wait, mister.”

He stopped and looked down. For a moment, it seemed like there was a sickly thin little girl there, her yellow hair slick and dirty. But she had thin orange-yellow antenna and yellow-brown butterfly wings. The fairy's natural clothes had browned and dried, while her colors were not as bright as they should be. She seemed different. On a hunch, Lest asked, “Is your name Saffron?”

She nodded. “Yes. You've been helping the ghosts, I've been watching. You came with one of the guardians. Do you know another one, Amber?”

“Yes, I can take you to her,” Lest said.

“I need to see her, thank you,” Saffron said, struggling to push herself onto her feet.

“Uno, could you carry her on your back?” he asked.

“Yes, I'll be cautious,” Uno said, going over and laying down to let the fairy climb on. Then she wrapped her scarf in a ring around Saffron so the fairy could cling to it. Lest still tried to find a balance between getting out in good time and not making things hard on Saffron.

Once they left Rune Prana, a sparkle appeared around Saffron. She didn't have much time either, Lest thought. It must have been a great struggle for her to remain this long. Did he look for Dolce or Amber first? He could support the ghosts on his own energy, but couldn't do much for the fairy. That led him to decide on the flower shop. However, he came across Dolce and Pico in the public parlor, talking with Vishnal who was cleaning up in there.

Before the other two could even greet them, Pico called out, “Mom, Dad? You found both of them?”

“Right,” Lest said, going to Dolce and offering his hand. Having heard of what was going on, she took it so he could transfer the ghosts to her.

“I'm so relieved to see that both of you girls made it through,” her mother said.

“I'm sorry, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving both of you there on your own,” her father added.

“It's okay Dad, we forgive you!” Pico said. “And we got rid of the Handel and just about all of his mansion. What's left is just a harmless building now.”

“Right, that we did,” Dolce said, slipping back into some of her old formality and posture around her parents. She seemed to be bracing her nerves for something. “We'll be fine now. I did get married, but you see, this time has different ideas about women and I'm also running my own tailoring business now. It took a lot of getting used to, but I have so much more than I would have had in our time.”

“I feel like I should be concerned, but also that it doesn't really matter,” her mother said, clasping her hands together. “As long as you're both safe and happy, that's wonderful. That's....”

“That's what really matters,” her father finished for her as they both faded.

“There is a point where all the bits, bobs, and rules of the world don't matter so much anymore,” Pico said. “But I'm still staying with my Dolly!”

“Of course,” Lest said, heading for the door outside. “Sorry for leaving so quickly, but we have to find Amber too.”

Dolce looked over at Saffron riding Uno, then followed him. “Later Vishnal,” she said. “I have a feeling I should go with them.”

“Sure thing, see you all later,” Vishnal said.

Thankfully, Amber was over at the flower shop instead of being anywhere else in town (or worse, on one of the rooftops where they couldn't see her). Lest was worried, but hoped she would take this meeting well. So far the reunions had gone well, triggering some sadness but there was a sense of closure to it that alleviated what Lest felt. “Welcome, whatcha need?” Amber called from the work table. She was working on making a flower arrangement in a vase.

“We brought a visitor for you, Saffron,” Lest said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the black and white paw cat watching them cautiously between some display baskets.

“Huh?” She turned around, then both of them smiled at each other. “Saffron! What's the matter? It's been so long, do you need some sun or water?”

“No, I just needed to see you,” Saffron said, holding an arm out to hug her. Amber wasn't strong, but she was able to pick up and hold Saffron easily. “I thought I'd sleep in the forest too until you woke up, but it tried to renew me and I wasn't ready. I was losing memories, except those of you and a bit of who I was. Then I just had to find you and got out of the forest, but ended up on an endless road.”

“Well good thing Lest could get you and lots of others out,” Amber said.

Saffron nodded; her willpower was like a mountain, unmovable until she decided so. “Yes. How's life been for you? Finding happiness?"

“Oh yeah, I'm finding lots of different kind of happiness now,” she said. “I got a job and earthmate powers to make flowers better, and I've got lots of friends and a great family with the other guardians, and I've got a husband who's really sweet and hard-working. I mean, it's not very fairy-like happiness, but I'm making lots of people besides myself happy and I get happy when good things happen to them. It's the best happiness!”

“That's good, I hope I get reborn so I can have that kind of happiness,” Saffron said, letting go of her will to keep surviving now that she'd found Amber and knew she was happy.

That shocked Amber about as much as her sudden appearance. “Huh, Saffron? But can't you stay and learn it with me?”

“No, I fought back too long, because I love my daughter Amber,” Saffron said as she faded away, leaving just a flower bulb in Amber's hand.

While Dolce went over to comfort and reassure her, Lest felt a potential from the divine power he'd been granted. He could change the world like the gods could, one change but one that could fundamentally remake everything. He could put an end to this kind of pain and loss. After all, he was the master of Rune Prana.

But while he had the power to change the world, it didn't make things right. The world could not be changed in just one way. The changes would cascade with each other. Taking out a curse of life might mean taking out a blessing of life as well.


	133. The Diamond Ordeal

Winter 83

Dylas had a plan. He was going to give Lest a memory to treasure in proposing to him romantically. After all, Lest had much less to work with back during the Firefly Festival and still made it a memory Dylas treasured. And there were so many other reasons to work out every detail to make this right. He could do this; he was no longer life's fool.

However, there was already a problem. Dylas wanted to make a diamond engagement ring for him. He'd found a seller with loose jewels and gemstones to craft with. On looking through the glass at the diamonds, he found that there were only a few and the tab with the suggested price range was high. He'd already invested over half the money from the siren's jewelry box towards making the restaurant better. There were still things to consider buying there too, like an ice shelf for displaying cold treats and dishes. With that around, he would have another reason to look more into making sashimi and even sushi more regular options. Dylas really wanted to give sushi making a try.

But this was for Lest's ring. He'd thought it'd be worth the cost, but putting together small pieces of gold and diamond forced him to think it over. And that was considering if he just bought enough for one. If he messed up the craft, that'd be an even bigger expense. It was supposed to be easy as long as your feelings were true. Dylas felt sure of his love, but crafting a ring was still something he worried about.

Dylas looked over the other jewels on display, seeing if he could convince himself to go with something else. For a couple minutes, he considered going with an emerald. But no, it didn't feel appropriate. He knew other couples around town had gone with various other jewels, which worked for them. Dylas just could not see himself being satisfied with anything but the diamond. In thinking over their conversations, he couldn't recall Lest ever saying he liked a particular stone or jewel over others (they weren't plants, so he didn't think about them much). A diamond had a reputation as being potent in magic, able to support and enhance any kind of spell. Perhaps it could even help Lest focus on casting without his rune breaker power interfering

“Hey, what're you up to?” Lest asked from behind him.

He was glad he wasn't holding onto something at that moment because the way he jerked around would have meant he'd drop it. “Don't sneak up on me like that!” he snapped.

“Sorry,” he said. “Were you that absorbed in thinking about something to buy?”

“N-never mind that,” he said, not about to consider this further with Lest there. “What are you here for?”

Thankfully, he didn't pursue questioning him. “Arthur let me know that one of the merchants has a really good deal on spring seeds today,” he said, excitement over that overcoming his curiosity. “Want to come with me and let me know what you'd like for the restaurant? I've got some seeds ordered and saved, but there's plenty of ground left to decide on.”

“I wouldn't want you growing something you didn't want to work with, so pick whatever you like,” Dylas said.

That made him laugh. “Aw come on, I'd be happy with growing anything and it's more fun knowing it's for someone else. I also saw someone with lots of salt-water taffy if you want to not pretend you don't want any sweets today.”

“That's not all pretend,” he said, although he went with Lest over to the seed seller to help him decide. There was several kinds of horseradish seeds there. Dylas had to ask Lest and the merchant which ones were actually for making wasabi for sushi. As he suspected, asking about that led Lest to buying some of those for him even though the wasabi horseradish itself wasn't native and would be harder to grow here. Lest certainly looked forward to the challenge. And the taffy was pretty good too, lots of different flavors. Dylas found that he really liked the licorice flavored ones.

After that, Dylas went back to the mansion to find Arthur. One reason was to ask him about when he wanted to come to the kitchen for his lessons in cooking, but another was to ask about the diamond. As he was reaching for the door, it flew open and Wendy crashed into him. “Oh, sorry!” she said, stepping back and nearly tripping over herself.

He caught her hand before she did. “Watch it, you could've hurt both of us.”

“Well I didn't so it's just fine,” she said, then waved and hurried on her way. Someone laughed inside.

Dylas went in, making sure his coat wasn't torn. “Sheesh.”

“I'm sorry about that, we got her a little excited about something,” Arthur said, sitting at his desk with Doug in a chair nearby.

“Eh,” he said, feeling quietly glad that she had something to be excited for. “You were coming in at lunch to help out, right?” His lesson today was more of a practical exercise, to see how he did cooking quickly under pressure. It was for grilled sandwiches so he didn't have to think much about it, although having to respond to orders in good time made mistakes more likely.

“That was today?” Arthur glanced at his appointment book and nodded. “Oh yes, I'll be in at quarter after eleven if things go as planned.”

“Good,” he said, then considered Doug being there. Could he trust them both to keep quiet? He was thinking yes.

“Working at the restaurant too now?” Doug asked Arthur.

He nodded. “A little. I'm still finding how I do things and I need to practice some everyday as it is.”

“He's better at things that need numbers,” Dylas said. In contrast, he used runes to cook, more art as Porco put it. “I need to ask you about something else Arthur, but, you have to keep quiet about it, both of you.”

“Depends on what it is,” Doug said, acting reluctant.

“I'm sure you will keep it a secret too,” Arthur said, winking at him. “What is it?”

Taking the other chair (that was probably Wendy's, but she wasn't here now), Dylas said, “Well, I decided that I'm going to propose to Lest. On New Year's Eve, that seemed like a good choice.”

Doug grinned. “That's awesome, hope it works out.”

He smiled back. “Yeah. Thing is, I'm stuck on making the ring. I wanted to use a diamond; it just feels right and I can't talk myself into using something else. But my first look into the cost of that is worrying.”

“That would be expensive no matter what,” Arthur said, putting a hand on his scrying glass and quickly mumbling something. “Right... seems high right now, but even the low points are costly for a ring piece.”

“Why don't you go grab it for yourself?” Doug suggested, then shrugged. “That's the dwarven way, at least. For something that important, you have to mine the materials yourself, no question about it. I got lucky myself in that I'd already found a suitable piece of amber before it was even on my mind.”

“Guess I could, but where would I find it?” He wasn't too worried about monsters in caves or wherever. But he needed the right location first.

Unfortunately, Doug shook his head. “Sorry, couldn't tell you where diamonds would be. I do know where some gold deposits are if you're looking to use that too.”

“That helps, but I'd still need to find the jewel.” Hopefully in time for the end of the year.

“Bado might know, though you'd have to convince him to tell you where,” Arthur said. “You could also check the regional mineral reports; they're kept on file at the town library. I can't vouch for how accurate they are, since a lot of miners and jewel hunters keep where they find their most precious stones like diamonds secret.”

But that was looking like his best option, mining for them himself. After lunch service was over, Dylas went over to the library to look for the reports. Unfortunately, Lest was right there with Leon and Frey. Dylas had to search the library on his own. That quickly proved fruitless. While there were signs around, all they had was numbers, no subject information. He had no idea where to start looking. Dylas had to return to the front desk, fortunately when Lest was leaving.

There was a magic screen over the desk, keeping noise from where they had the twins out of the rest of the library. But Leon pulled aside a portion of it to speak to him. “Well you gave it longer than I thought. What're you looking for?”

“What are you talking about?”

Behind the screen, Frey grinned. Leon said, “Well you didn't head for where the cookbooks were, so you had to be looking for something else.”

That wasn't a bad guess since if he didn't come here to visit, it was usually to look through the cookbooks here. “I'm looking for recent mineral deposit reports,” he said.

He had to think about it a moment. “That... would be in the reference section. Right?” He glanced over at Frey.

She nodded. Her response was muffled by the screen. “Right, sorted by the usual categories. Though depending on what you're looking for, you might have to go a few years back. Last year's should be back there too, it's not one often kept at the desk.”

“I'd better come with you,” Leon said, restoring the screen and heading around the desk. “It sounds quicker to screen the reports for key words than to look through them all. Come on, it's upstairs.”

“Thanks,” Dylas said, following him up the stairs to a section in the corner.

Leon was able to glance over the numbers on the sign and pick out the right aisle easily. The particular reports they wanted were on the top shelf, making even a tall pair of guys like them fetch a ladder to reach. “What minerals are you looking for?” Leon asked from the ladder.

“Diamonds,” he said.

Whistling, he held his hands out beside the boxes the reports were in. It was rather like how Jones observed a patient. “Classy choice for an engagement ring.”

“How do you know about that?” Dylas asked, feeling his face get warm.

“Educated guess,” Leon said, smirking where he was. “You guys couldn't keep away from each other at the ball, so me and Frey figured it was inevitable now.”

“Maybe,” Dylas said. Then he wondered, the glow when they were close was strong now. “Is Lest thinking about it? Or does he think I'm doing this?”

Leon was pulling one of the boxes out, so he didn't respond until he'd handed it down. “He didn't say anything about it today,” he said. “He's preoccupied with getting the lost souls out of Rune Prana before we go trying to take it down. But you know, he's good at guessing too. He gets more cues than I do. Don't try too hard to hide what you're doing or he will guess it.”

“I would like to surprise him,” Dylas said. “Though I'm not that good at keeping secrets.”

“If you get in a pinch, just tell him you're planning a date for you both on your own,” Leon said. “You know when you're gonna ask?”

“New Year's Eve,” he said. “Guess I could do that, since that's what I mean to do anyhow.”

“He's considerate enough that he'll keep out of it if you just say that,” he said, taking a couple of the reports out. “Here, these are the most recent ones that mention diamonds, so skim through and see what you find.”

Dylas nodded and looked through the report. It was a simple thing, with a thin cardboard cover and language like a government paper. From a note on the box they were in, these weren't things that the library could lend out. The first few mentions of diamonds he found were that searching parties hadn't found them around the Delirium Lava Caves. When he finally got to a positive mention, it was in a worrisome location. “This says they can be found on Maya Road, near or in territory not claimed by Norad or Sechs.”

“I've got a mention of that too,” Leon said, already checking through a third. His affinity for words did help. “And... yeah, another mention. That's the place that has all those freak cryptid creatures.”

“They're weak to magic, right?” He flexed his fingers, getting a flicker from his gauntlet's shields. “I can handle that.”

“You probably shouldn't go alone still,” he said, looking entirely serious about it. “Do you know what you're even looking for in a diamond deposit? I wouldn't.”

“Well, no,” Dylas admitted.

“Take one of the dwarves with you, they should be able to sense them,” Leon said. He put a hand to his chin. “Probably Bado more than Doug. Good luck with finding that diamond you want.”

“Yeah.” They made some notes on where on Maya Road the diamond deposits were supposed to be so the whole road didn't have to be searched.

* * *

 

 

Winter 86-7

After some discussion, Dylas got Bado to agree to come out to Maya Road to help him search for the diamond deposits. He could get a couple for his project while the blacksmith could get a few for his own stock. Bado also wanted to bring Doug out for part of the latter's training. In order to do that, they had to wait a few days since Doug still worked at the general store early in the week. Since the cryptids were a threat alongside regular monsters in the mountains, they got Sven to accompany them too. That allowed them to plan to camp out there. It was going to be a long trek to get to where the mineral reports and Bado's notes said the diamonds were.

And that was with Frey able to teleport them out to the site of the imperial prison. That building was gone now, leveled at the end of summer. After arriving at the snow buried foundation, they didn't have far to walk to find the Selphia end of Maya Road. It wound through the mountains with a lower route and higher route. They opted for the higher route, crossing various bridges that spanned the canyons. An hour into their hike, the peaks rose ever higher, the road headed up to stay at about the middle of them all.

They stopped a half an hour before dark to have time to bring together a fire. A stream was nearby, allowing Bado to catch a couple of fish to go with dinner. While he would have liked to fish too, Dylas had to work out cooking two meals at a campfire. He had gotten various advice on it, deciding on oatmeal for breakfast since it could be left to gently heat with Sven agreeing to keep the fire at an even level. Grilled vegetables and potatoes made up dinner, so it was good to have some fresh fish. Otherwise, it would have been jerky for their meat.

“Those cryptids aren't too bad once you know the trick to them,” Doug said as they were finishing their meal.

“I don't know,” Sven said. “I wouldn't want to give them an opening in a fight. Just looking at them, I can tell they must have some really nasty attacks.”

Bado nodded. “Yeah, better to not give them the chance to demonstrate. Kiel says the slime ones have been recorded as swallowing people whole. He didn't say anything about those fairy or beetle ones.”

“The regular beetles can catch you on their horns, maybe toss you off the mountainside here,” Sven pointed out. “The cryptid beetles are probably as strong.”

“That's why I told you boys to make sure you be mindful and ready to fight around here,” Bado said. “Trolls can do that too, but more by accident than meaning. The beetles can survive rolling down the slopes with their armor and they aren't stupid when it comes to potential food. Tomorrow, we'll start running into birds that aren't stupid too.”

“This is ending up costly in effort rather than money, huh?” Doug asked.

Dylas shrugged. “Fine by me.” He just hoped they could find diamonds tomorrow. “Are the caves we going into on the upper or lower path?”

“First ones are midway, there's paths to both sections there,” Bado said. “There's a few others on the lower path, but the midway cave should still have some. They weren't in the mineral reports you two checked, at least.”

Once all but Sven retired for the night, Dylas fell asleep quickly. The thought surprised him as he realized that he was dreaming. The latter wasn't as much of a surprise since he found himself floating in the air off the mountain. In the darkness, he could see the fire of their camp. But something else drew his attention, something...

It had powerful water runes. He couldn't remember how he reached it when he woke up. Instead, he remembered its feelings. Trapped with freedom just out of reach, its body felt incredible power and dying weakness. It was caught with ideas it couldn't know, like Dylas couldn't know how it was to fly. While he could understand that he was dreaming and not really flying, it could not even do that. It kept hurting itself in its struggle. The corruption lie deep within and what little mind it had left feared that the corruption would lead to real insanity.

He wondered at points what that dream had meant while they continued walking along Maya Road the next day. As Bado had said, he couldn't do so for long. There were steep drop-offs along the path, cliffs where rocks could fall right by them, and monsters used to this terrain everywhere. Those who made this road appeared to have kept pedestrians in mind, but little had been done in recent years to make sure it kept in great shape. At one point, they had to clear out a rock slide to proceed. At least Bado could let them know how to get that done quickly.

After one long rope bridge, they found a staircase carved out of the rock off the main road. It was a narrow path, but at least it had stone pillars and tough wood making a fence to keep them from the drops. This brought them to a cave entrance with some dwarven markings on the side. “Sign says the place is mostly quarry rock,” Doug said.

“That's mine,” Bado said. “I put it there on one of my more ambitious days in case other dwarves came poking around for materials. Quarry rock would put them off since there's far more easier spots for that.”

“So this place is your secret mine?” Sven asked, surprised. Dylas was surprised too, both that Bado had one and that he'd let them come in.

“Sort of,” he said. “Don't really live close enough to keep a solid claim on it, even though nobody lives out here. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep quiet on where it is.”

Inside, Bado talked about minerals and finding veins of precious stones. It seemed mostly for Doug's benefit, correcting him on things he had wrong and showing him things he didn't know. One thing Bado did say was that if they found diamonds in the wall, they didn't need to worry about breaking them too much because there was hardly anything but another diamond and some strong magic that could even chip a diamond. However, the diamonds would likely be in with other gemstones since they were extremely rare to find on their own.

Dylas listen partly to the dwarves talking, but as they went deeper into the mine tunnels, he started feeling something wasn't right. There were runes of madness here and there, all tied to the water element. Wondering, he glanced over pools that appeared but found nothing to match. If anything, there would be a spot of those runes as if something had passed through. They came to a decently sized cavern room with a stream running through it. When Dylas checked on it, there were varied elements settled in sentiment at the bottom. There was only one spot of the madness runes, near another tunnel. However, there were a great deal of water runes that way.

“Huh, this place changed some,” Bado said, looking at a pile of rocks on the floor. “Like a few of the monsters had a ruckus in here. The stream wasn't here before, I'm pretty sure.”

“There's a powerful water monster around,” Dylas said.

The others looked at him. “What kind of monster?” Sven said. “There haven't been many in here, and it'd have to be pretty big to knock down those stalactites even thrashing about.”

He shrugged. “Not sure, I just see a lot of water runes around and patterns like monsters. Also, I think the thing's gone mad. There's traces of that too. Old ones in here, I don't think it's in this area.”

“Can't think of many water monsters in this area that can leave the water,” Bado said. “Sky Fish, but they don't come in caves often. If it's not here, we might as well stop. The stream bed looks promising for some panning. Could you tell if it was coming near?”

“I think, if it increases the amount of water runes ahead of it,” Dylas said.

“I've got a spell that'll let me sense monsters, but then I wouldn't be able to help out with the panning,” Sven said.

“You make sure they don't sneak up on us and that'll be fine,” Bado said, taking out some of his gear.

Since it was his task, Dylas helped with panning the stream for what materials might be there. The water didn't let him know what minerals were there. However, he recognized some of it as simply clay silt from Lest talking about soil qualities. It seemed odd and Bado agreed. Sometimes when he had his hands in the water, Dylas felt visions from something else. It was like his dream, some creature suffering from corrupted runes and trying to save itself. However, the corruption was strong. It was thinking it might be better just to return to the forest, if it could figure out how.

“Whatever the monster is, it's at the source of this stream now,” Dylas told them while sifting the silt he had in his pan. “It's suffering badly and wants to be returned.”

“You sure it's not wanting to be helped with healing?” Doug asked. Dylas nodded.

“Yeah, sometimes that's the best thing to do,” Bado said. “And the monsters know it. I remember one time as a kid, I came across a really sick silver wolf; it was wheezing and had a lot of wounds, like someone had neglected to dispatch it. While my dad said we should just return it, I wanted to try saving it. He didn't like it, but agreed and let me give it a healing potion. Once it had that, it returned to the forest of beginnings on its own with the energy I had given it from the potion. It would've been quicker and kinder to put it to sleep and then return it.”

“The monsters really belong to the forest,” Sven said. “What's the matter with the one here? If you can tell.”

“I think it's fighting off becoming a cryptid,” he answered. “Or at least trying to not go crazy from something similar.” His pan was now clear of anything that could fall through the mesh, leaving a cluster of sparkling stones.

“Nobody lives out here, but it would be nice if we could grant its wish,” Sven said, his eyes looking at the source of the stream in the room. “It's... there's a narrow tunnel up there connecting to a larger chamber on a higher level, which we can get to through there. Or is it outside? I can't quite tell.”

“I wouldn't be surprised if this has a source outside given the silt here,” Bado said, noticing what Dylas had. “Hey, what've you got there?”

“I don't know, something shiny,” he said, offering the pan over the stream for him to take a better look.

“Some of it's quartz or common pebbles,” he said, shifting the pieces around. “But I think you got some...” he picked up one and examined it. For a moment, his runes were sharply focused on it. “Yup, got a diamond here, good quality for jewelry if shaped right. Though the particular crafting magic will handle that for you. Here, you can combine it with the gold nugget here and see what happens.” Bado picked up a small chunk of gold he'd fished out of the river earlier, just enough for a ring. “Remember the formula?”

“Yeah,” Dylas said, taking the raw diamond and gold chunk. One had to imagine it in its final shape, then focus on one's beloved and the qualities that made them special.

Lest had taught how to speak freely, to worry less, to let himself care more. Lest had saved him from his own death wish and gave him so many reasons to smile. For that, he wanted to save Lest from the cursed parts of his blessing, keep him safe from Typhoon, and be his emotional refuge for the rest of their lives together. Dylas might not need him, but he couldn't bear to be apart from him. He wanted to be the one who stayed and honestly loved him.

As he didn't doubt his feelings, the ring came together perfectly. Dylas took it between his fingers and as he moved it, flickers of red and orange came from the diamond. Turning it towards the light spell they were using for illumination, greens and violets flashed in its facets too. It was like clear ice, and yet other colors existed in it like ephemeral sparks.

“Whoa, is that for real?” Doug asked, coming closer to them.

“What, didn't think I could make it?” Dylas responded.

“No, I was pretty sure you could,” he said. “But the way it's refracting light there...” Dylas shifted it again and it briefly turned blue. Doug whistled. “Man, that's something jewelers would sell their souls for.”

Bado laughed. “Maybe not that much, but they would pay dearly for a rainbow cut diamond. That's the power of love for you; the other fragments around might just have the same potential, but outside of this particular recipe, it would take a master's skill to bring that out. Got that bag ready?”

“Oh, yeah,” Dylas said, taking a soft velvet bag out of his pocket. It was just a small one with a drawstring that he'd gotten from Dolce, in which he placed the ring to make sure it didn't get lost.

“Here, you might as well take these so Lest can return the gesture,” Bado said, handing over another small diamond rock and gold chunk. “And don't try to deny it, you know he will and we may as well save ourselves another trek out here.”

“I guess,” Dylas said, taking those as well. What ring he would get in return had not been on his mind as he'd focused on what would look and work best with Lest. But Bado was right in that he would want to keep things equal.

“You guys willing to see what kind of monster we've got up there?” Sven asked.

Dylas was certain he wanted to deal with it. Perhaps his dream last night had been the monster crying out for help. With Bado and Doug agreeing that they should do what they could for it, they put up the panning gear and headed up the tunnel. It was a long walk in a narrow ascending tunnel, with points where three of them had to duck under low ceilings. The density of water runes continued to increase as the temperature quickly decreased.

After a sharp turn to the right, they spotted sunlight up ahead. The ledge was high enough that they all had to pull themselves up on it, showing them into a cavern ahead. Part of the ceiling had broken open somehow, leaving a mound of rock not far from where they were. Overhead, the stream poured down from the outside of the mountain, pouring into a watery sprawl that was funneled towards the small tunnel Sven had sensed. The sunlight was just enough for the ice to have melted in here. Past the pile of rubble, a huge water dragon lay sprawled on the floor. Iron chains were wrapped around it, binding its fins. There was damage on other walls so it had once been able to move freely. Perhaps its wild thrashing had wrapped the chains around it too much and thus it could not leave through the hole in the ceiling that it had probably made.

“Damn, is that Aquaticus?” Doug asked in a hushed voice, keeping back before the dragon saw them.

“Can't be,” Dylas said quietly. “Doesn't have the right runic signature for a native dragon. It does have a fractured rune sphere if I'm reading the runes right.”

“It must be a clone like the two we fought this past summer,” Sven said. “That's not something I'd want to see turn into a cryptid even if it's not the real dragon.”

Dylas lowered his head, feeling bad for the dragon clone. “It's weak from pain and hunger, and I can sense corrupt runes trying to overtake it. While it probably has some power left to it, we can't just leave it to suffer like this.”

“Now if it's one of the Sechs clones, how come there's no guards to it?” Bado said. “We haven't run into signs of anyone else being here. And I'm pretty sure the scientists would have told us if they knew of a third dragon clone.”

“Maybe it wrecked them?” Doug asked. “Whatever, Dylas is right, we should dispatch this fellow and give it some peace.”

“Didn't sign up for slaying a dragon today, but whatever,” Bado said, giving a nod.

Sven stood up carefully, his mind sharpening to examine their battle grounds. “There's rubble everywhere on the floor, so footing's going to be bad,” he said. “It won't take a lot of damage, but Dylas is right in that it still has some power. It could still cast, or thrash about. Since it doesn't appear aggressive yet, we should see if we can disable it without angering it. Dylas, think you can get it to sleep?”

“I usually do that with prepared drinks, but I think I can do something with the water around here,” he said.

“It's been calling you through elemental affinity, I can feel that now,” Sven said. “Go up to it and see if you can't get it to sleep. Try not to appear like you'll attack it. Since we're trying this, the rest of us will need to keep out of its range of sight for now. If it does go mad and start to attack, get away since I don't think staying close range will be good.”

“Got it,” Dylas said, getting up and entering the room.

“Good luck, man,” Bado said, patting him as he walked by.

“Yeah, good luck,” Doug added.

Behind him, the other three quietly discussed what to do if they had to fight the dragon. Dylas was hoping this would go peacefully. The pile of rubble didn't seem safe to walk over, so he walked around and kept some distance until the dragon's eyes started following him. As it seemed wary more than angry, he started singing the song that calmed plants down as he approached. It did have a soothing melody, although he was working on a hunch now that if it worked with insects, it might work with a dying monster.

The song worked enough that he got right next to the dragon. It huffed and barely said something. While Dylas couldn't understand the language, he thought he saw pleading in its eyes. Then its mind reached out, giving him those dream-like thoughts. It had great power, thrilling power, but it didn't care about the power anymore. It just wanted to go home to be renewed, so it could swim through the waters freely again. After patting it, Dylas knelt down to scoop up some water in an empty cup and try his sleep-inducing enchantment on it. The dragon accepted the water without much fuss.

As it did, Dylas saw the problem. This small amount of water would not introduce enough sleep runes to help the dragon. But something had to work. “Be patient,” he said softly, then bowed his head and sang again, this time to connect to the ether sea. Once he felt he could, he sang out, “Dolce, Leon? I need some advice.”

After a moment, he heard Dolce reply first, 'Of course, what is it?'

“I'm with one of the native dragon clones, this one of Aquaticus,” he said. “The enchantments are failing and could turn it into a cryptid, plus it's suffering badly. We'd like to return it to the Forest of Beginnings peacefully.”

'There is a way to give final rites to a monster that will send them on without the need for violence,' Dolce said. 'Although for a monster like that, it's hard to say.'

“Even if we can just get it asleep and without pain to dispatch it, we need to do something,” Dylas said. “I've got Bado, Sven, and Doug with me, though they're keeping in hiding at the moment just in case.”

'Give it the final rites,' Leon said. 'I don't think any monster is too powerful for it not to work, but the monster does need to be in a near death state and unable to return on its own. If it doesn't work, it should at least be sedated enough to be dispatched without pain.'

“All right, just let me know how,” Dylas said.

Fortunately, the presence of water was enough for the ritual. Dolce led him through it while Leon got Amber to join him in a prayer melody in the background, wishing for their success. Since it was a dragon and could understand him, Dylas was easily able to coax it into relaxing as much as it could and closing its eyes. He gathered up another scoop of water, this time reciting an incantation to bless the water before pouring it gently over the dragon's head. Then he prayed to the real Native Dragons for the sake of this dragon, to see its soul to rest. Finally, Dolce sang the funerary song with him, the same one that they had used to force Storgane to rest. It wasn't used with force this time, instead with reassurance that it would be freed of its pain and corruption.

The dragon began to glow and he felt its gratitude for the help. Dylas continued singing even as he could no longer touch it as the song needed to be completed. The moment he reached the end of the song, a powerful wave of water struck him from behind and he couldn't even find the strength to swim out of it.


	134. New Year's Eve

Winter 89

“I spoke to a representative of my bloodline this morning at Rune Prana's entrance and she says that of non-monster spirits, only they remain,” Lest said, several documents pertaining to today's meeting with Arthur and Volkanon on his desk. They were holding a year-end review so that tomorrow could be taken easy. “They can't leave until only one pillar remains and the road is near ready to demolish. Because of that, I’m holding off on further exploration until late spring when Frey can join me to investigate the first pillar. But we're doing really well on that front since only one aspect of our quest remains.”

Arthur was sipping at his tea, but he smiled at Lest's last statement. “That's excellent. Even outside your family's responsibility, that reduces a lot of danger that had been accepted as unavoidable in this region. It's sure to go down further as we're starting to attract adventurers in higher numbers. I've heard several of them state that their intent was to visit the new rune springs.”

“I think that's a solid point in our favor,” Volkanon said. “It would be a trek of several days, challenging but not lethally so as when forays into Obsidian Mansion were of interest. And even when you're out in the wilds, the town is never far away.”

“We should definitely continue to assist adventurers since they're good for the economy,” Arthur said.

Lest nodded. “Yes, though we need to keep Darryl's Tower as limited access. Along with the adventurers, there's been an increase in tourism from town events and both the restaurant and inn improving. There's also potential now that we've got Tolesse and his troupe moved into town to put the theater to use. Meg tells me they need some more time to organize, but they should be able to get together an event schedule of concerts and plays by summer, though she hopes to put on a few during spring.”

“That would push up the value of the arts here,” Arthur said, checking his notes for something. “Also, Leon has single-handedly given us some interest among writers and readers now that the publishing house has announced that it will begin printing copies of the Book of Guidance starting on the first of Spring. There's not as much interest from artists yet, but I have two suggestions for that. Getting a gallery opened would make it more interesting to them. However, our one artist Wendy is about to take over running the general store.”

“How is that working out?” Lest asked. He'd heard it was going to happen like how management of the restaurant shifted from Meg to Dylas. But he and Wendy had both been too busy to run into each other recently.

Arthur shifted his glasses. “Want the whole story?” When Lest nodded, he said, “Ownership among the stores is going to shuffle around very soon all because Amber and Doug have been working out how to balance their lives. Doug wants to focus more on his training with Bado, then become a craftsman later on while Amber's been learning more about being a florist because Illuminata would like to retire to become a writer of mystery novels. Meanwhile, Blossom has been running the general store for most of her life, but she's getting too old to help out well.

“Thus what's about to happen is that Blossom will retire and turn ownership of the store over to Wendy. Wendy and Meg will be moving in to the apartment above the general store while Blossom, Doug, and Amber move in with Illuminata. While I'm not sure how long Wendy will run the general store, she is planning to advertise positions to work in the store with the hopes that one or two people would be willing to move in.”

“I've got a stack of letters asking about moving in here or requesting the immigration form,” Lest said, pulling out the folder where he was storing them. “I'm sure she'll get the help.”

“Yes, I told them not to worry about that,” Arthur said.

“Then back to the gallery,” Lest said, “would that be a private business or could I open one publicly on behalf of the town?”

Arthur tapped his notebook. “The gallery is a private business which could sell the works it displays; opening a place to display artwork would be a museum. An art museum could help if there's enough pieces in the castle storage, but the gallery would help in giving artists a location here to sell their works and also drawing in art buyers. Although, getting a gallery would mean convincing an art dealer to move here.”

“An art museum could help do that,” Volkanon said. “And I'm sure there's enough pieces to start one, say if we converted one of the old houses. Meg has mentioned that a number of paintings that were in the mansion turned up in the theater's storage, plus we could always use a week or more to sort through what's in the castle storage to find hidden treasures for display.”

“That would be something you'd have to start up through the order tablet,” Arthur said, looking at Lest.

“An art museum,” Lest said, taking the tablet and shifting through the tabs to locate it. “I have a lot of points built up, but I still have to put in the order for rebuilding the school house, setting up the underground tunnels, and getting funding for both. Those would take priority.”

“Of course,” Arthur said.

“What about your other idea to get artists interested?” Lest said, finally spotting the art museum. The point cost was high, but it had only been discussed among them. Once he got the other tasks done, he could talk up the museum idea to see about pulling the cost down.

“It's another business, but if we could get a cafe to compliment the restaurant, that would give them another place to meet and discuss ideas,” Arthur said. “Something that focused on snacks and drinks while the restaurant focuses mostly on meals. Not only artists would find that good, but other socialites or intellectuals would enjoy it. For both businesses, I could send word through my network to find interested parties who wouldn't mind moving out here for it.”

“Those sound interesting,” Lest said. “Could you get a doctor interested in starting a new clinic that way too? Because we could use one, preferably before we build too large for just the Tiny Bandage Clinic to handle.”

“I don't have direct contacts on that, but I know some people who could help,” Arthur said. “How's our population looking?”

“Quite healthy,” Lest said, although saying it made him worry about Dylas. He'd been given a severe cold by a cryptid that had emerged from a dying native dragon clone and was stuck in the clinic for two days now. But he'd have to wait on checking on him until after the meeting. “We ended last year with a population of fifteen, plus Lady Ventuswill. We're ending this year with a population of thirty-nine, plus Lady Doomgale and four children under the age of two. Based on the requested immigration forms, we can expect that to hit fifty at least during spring. Then with both Dolce and Clorica expecting, and I heard Xiao might be too, there's certainly going to be more births coming up.”

Arthur chuckled. “You're doing your job well to expect the population to triple from where you started just a year later. I'll definitely get word out about wanting another clinic then.”

“Plus your sister got me the form to request that we be recognized as an earthmate community,” Lest said, smiling back at him. “With you awakening recently, Frey as a sage, and the Book of Guidance being translated here, she sent me a note that it's certain as long as we send in the formal request. So we could get more earthmates coming here, especially the younger ones like us who don't want in a traditional community like Grelin.”

“That's a development I'm looking forward to, seeing a gathering of earthmates and others who are focused on what can be rather than what is,” Arthur said.

“Yes, even us older folks are interested to see what comes,” he said, his mood strongly positive but so sentimental that Lest figured he was about to start sobbing like he did when really happy or proud. “This talk about the population numbers reminds me of wen I was looking over my journal entries from the end of last year. Really worried ones, including about how few people we've had. But all those worries have been solved now; you really are a blessing to the whole town, Sir Lest...” and he had to grab a handkerchief to cry into.

But it was an expression of happiness. Lest replied, “Everyone helped change things, not just me.”

Although the feeling of excitement over what was to come was prevalent through the whole town. Lest could feel it as he walked through after the meeting. When he talked to people, they talked about their plans for the future. Instead of trying to cover several different needs in town, they were trying to focus on the one or two they had the most passion or aptitude for. That was leaving some things slow to be done. Or rather, it was leaving openings for the people looking to move here, people who would also be looking to change or improve their own lives. He was glad to have helped that happen.

Was his work for them, or for himself? That question and a few others still lingered with him.

This time, the question couldn't bother him long as he felt a warm glow near him. Smiling, Lest turned around and found Dylas walking towards him. He wore a blue face mask, indicating that Jones didn't think he could pass on the illness he had but still wanted him to take care not to get his lungs irritated. Dylas was in a good mood too, making Lest feel happier. And with that feeling, he didn't feel too guilty either. “Great to see you outside,” Lest said, stopping to wait for him. “How're you doing?”

“I feel disoriented in how I got from being in a cave with a dying dragon to in the clinic waking up from a completely nonsensical dream,” Dylas said.

“Did you get to hear about it?” Lest asked. “The corrupt runes building up in the dragon you helped managed to emerge from its body before it was returned. It was able to use one of Aquaticus' own attacks to knock you out immediately, but the cryptid didn't have a lot more it could do to stop the other three from dispatching it too. This time, the rune sphere only cracked in two instead of exploding, although it has lots of fractures in it. I had to help Frey undo the etherlink bonds it had so it couldn't be used like that again.”

“Try to do a good thing and stuff like that can happen,” Dylas said, shaking his head.

Lest smiled and hugged him. “But it was a wonderful thing you did. Still, I hope you're back to normal soon.”

He put an arm around him too. “It was worth it, I think, since I got a feeling of peace and gratitude from the dragon before it left. I'm still recovering, but I'm just going to rest at home most of today. Oh, but, did you have any plans for tomorrow?”

“No, not beyond my usual tasks,” he said, shifting from a hug to holding his hand to walk back to the restaurant with him. “I've talked with a few others, but they all seem to expect that we're going to spend the evening together.”

“You...” he stopped himself from saying one thing, thinking it back over to say, “Well I guess that's to be expected. Um, do you want to? I could come over to the castle.”

“I’d love that, you want to plan for something to do up to midnight?” It'd have to be something keeping in mind that Dylas might still feel run down tomorrow

“Actually, I had been planning to make that a date. Could you leave the plans up to me?”

Lest felt surprised, but Dylas seemed confident in it. “You sure you can manage with recovering from being that sick?” he asked.

“I already, I mean, I got the bulk of preparations done before the incident with the dragon,” he said. “Just need to cook up a few things, for a late supper and some snacks. And I’m pretty sure Volkanon will agree to help me set a few things up last minute, nothing major. If I ever suggest we go out, it's usually just fishing while you set up most of our actual dates and even the events we go to. So let me handle this holiday.”

“Okay, I trust you,” Lest said, squeezing his hand. “Just don't wear yourself out.”

“It'll work out fine,” Dylas said. “Oh, and I had a thought about something you've been worrying about, about being selfish in making others happy when you are an empath. Isn't that just another one of those cycles?”

“Which cycles?”

He gestured towards the fields. “You know, what we're meant to do as earthmates. You work hard for the plants, so they're happy and work hard for you, which gets you to continue working hard for them in the future. And I keep working on my cooking that makes people happy and full, then find the drive to keep improving and working from their gratitude. Isn't that the same thing? You work hard to make others happy but when that works, you have to turn their gratitude and thanks into keeping them happy and making others happy. The reflection of happiness you get from them is just that, a reflection. It's not your own happiness, but it's still a blessing you must return.”

That reminded Lest of several things, including something in his jacket pocket. “You know, that's how I thought of it before the demon started making me doubt it.” And Typhoon had done something similar with Arthur, in messing with his thoughts until he gave away his eyeglasses collection. With something vital to their sense of self gone, they had both fallen apart. “Except for that happiness is only a reflection and not my own.”

“Well it's not,” Dylas said. “It's just your empathy telling you someone else is happy. Maybe you get the sources of the emotions mixed up more than you think and that's what messed you up a lot of that time.”

That made him think. “Then I have to find a way to hear it without actually feeling it? That could take a lot more spiritual training, which could also be useful for the pillars.”

“I'm sure you can, though I'm not sure how it'd work,” Dylas said, tugging him closer. “I just believe in you.”

Lest smiled and for a moment, they seemed lost in the glow of runes. “And I know I'm happy with you, that's certain. Oh, but I did have something to give back to you.” He took out the purple bag in his pocket and gave it to him.

While it broke the moment from Dylas' surprise and worry, he took it back quickly. “Wait, you had....? Did you look in it?”

He shook his head. “No. I could tell something important is in there, but I had a feeling you didn't mean to give it to me yesterday.”

Dylas was still bewildered, but relieved to hear that. “Um, but how did I end up giving it to you?”

“I'm pretty sure it's because you were delirious at the time,” Lest said, feeling bubbly with happiness at recalling it. And he couldn't even quite say why, except, “And it was so adorable, oh my gosh. You were holding it when I came in to visit you and eventually held it over to me and said, 'here'. At first, I didn't want to take it, but when I tried to tell you to wait on it, you got so upset and even started crying. I couldn't leave you like that, so I apologized and accepted it. You fell asleep not long after that, so I just held onto it until now when your mind's cleared up so it didn't get lost.”

He was blushing, but the warm glow had returned. “Thanks, that was... well, really silly of me. Though I'm surprised you didn't open it.”

“I can't quite say why that is,” he said, those feelings still lingering in him. “I know it's important, and when I was hanging onto it, I kept thinking about you. Even if you weren't around, I felt like you were near me somehow. That made me even more curious, but any time I had it in hand, I had this... well, idea that I shouldn't look because it wasn't right when you wouldn't remember when you gave it to me. It seemed cruel. And I do like to tease you at times, but I couldn't bear thinking that I was being cruel to you.”

“I hadn't even realized it was gone and I would have been in a panic if I’d noticed,” Dylas said, putting it away in his pocket. “I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow. Just, be patient a bit more.”

As if seeing how Dylas would arrange a date that didn't involve fishing would turn out wasn't intriguing enough, this made Lest feel like he really wanted tomorrow evening to come now. “All right, I'm sure it'll be good.”

“It will be,” Dylas said. Lest knew he was smiling even though the face mask covered it up.

* * *

 

Winter 90

People said that cooking with love would turn out better than not. Maybe it was due to keeping oneself positive and thinking of making others happy, or maybe it was due to a desire to do better for those one loved helped to focus attention on cooking. In the case of Porcoline, love for food was enough. Dylas was trying to get there. Today while he prepared for his date with Lest, cooking for his love was putting him in an extremely good mood.

He had been nervous while he was setting things up. Once he started, Dylas let the flow of runes lead him and became certain this would be something to impress Lest. He didn't even need to think, he just had to feel. He felt that he was surrounded by love, life, and light. At one time, he couldn't imagine feeling like this. That time of his life was over. He didn't even fear being rejected tonight, as it didn't seem like a possibility. Feeling like he could make this light last the rest of his life, he wanted to make sure that Lest felt the same way.

As it was New Year's Eve, Porcoline wanted them all to make special good luck miniature cakes for everyone who lived in town. “If you can manage to start eating them in this year and finish them in the next, then good luck will come your way!” he said. “Although I end up having to cut mine in half because there's no way I can manage to do that without forcing at least two bites.”

“I suppose it gets off on a technicality,” Arthur said, amused along with Dylas on it.

“And I really want you two to work on it because you've found bright wonderful futures ahead of you in this year and that should make them extra lucky,” Porco said. “You really should have seen Dylas just now working on his dinner date with Lest, he was glowing with energy that I could feel and his food had such lovingness in every bit that I could taste it just walking by and smelling it!”

“And that's why I hid it all until I can go over to the castle,” Dylas said, making Arthur laugh.

Though he called them miniature cakes, the recipe called for them to roll the dough into balls and bake on a sheet pan. Doing that gave Dylas an idea that didn't quite work as he had planned the date so far. However, he liked it and there wasn't time to question it. He rolled a few of the cakes, then paused while he had another in hand. Closing his hands over it, he immersed himself back in the feeling of love, happiness, and confidence that he'd had earlier. He used his wishing method on the cake with those feelings, adding in, 'Lest, will you marry me?' with his thoughts.

“What are you doing with that one?” Arthur asked, setting a cake ball down on a sheet that was nearly ready for the oven.

“Just an impulse, but could I set it slightly apart and make sure it gets to Lest?” Dylas set it in the corner, out of line with the very neat rows and columns of the pan so far. “Though I can already see a difference in it.”

Shifting his glasses and absentmindedly getting dough on them, he said, “In that case, you'd better put it in the oven before it being out of line bothers me too much.”

“Oo, but make sure you do that twice more!” Porco said oddly, putting the last cake ball on and picking up the pan to get it out of Arthur's reach. “Because three is a number of power and stability!”

“Most of my stuff has worked in one, but I guess that wouldn't hurt,” Dylas said.

Once they came out of the oven, the cake balls were then dipped in a white frosting and set on waxed paper to dry. Dylas gave it thoughts of what he remembered fondly of being with him: that time he made dirt interesting, the Firefly Festival, the Quiz Festival, the Winter Ball, that evening that had been their first date after someone had tried to come between them. He gave it the proposal again, then helped with the rest. Once the white frosting was dry, they used black frosting in tubes to write out runes for good luck on them. There, he thought of what he hoped for the future, to always be with him and help him become free of his family obligations and his own darkness. 'Let me promise before the gods that I will never leave you, please marry me.'

Dylas could easily pick this one out even if they would all look the same to others. To his eyes, they all held runes of good fortune meant to boost a person's positivity. They would help the others look forward to the good year they hoped for. Some were tinged more blue, some tinged more white; it depended on if Dylas or Arthur had handled one or another more. Save for this one, it had a golden look that would seem like Lest had made it. But that was because he had reserved this one for his love; it took on runes of love along with good fortune.

It was getting close to time when Dylas had to leave to meet up with Lest. Arthur said that he would handle the delivery of the good luck cakes, so Dylas was able to set two of them in with the rest of his work to head on over. As he walked over, he silently prayed that he wouldn't overwhelm Lest tonight.

* * *

 

Being New Year's Eve, there had to be fireworks tonight. Frey had been eager to make them and Lest was out on the castle roof with her to set them up. Bado and Volkanon were up there too. Since Frey wanted to be with Leon and their children tonight, these two had volunteered to set the fireworks off at midnight. “You certainly made enough for a good long show,” Bado said. “A few times I tried to stretch out half this amount, but then people complained that they weren't sure when the display was done with.”

“Well I got kind of eager since it's been since last New Year that I got to make some,” she said. “But Lest kept reminding me that I didn't want to be keeping people up all night.”

“If you stretched these out, you probably could,” Lest said. “But that wouldn't be kind to those who might want to catch a few hours of sleep tonight.”

Frey chuckled. “Believe me, I do not want to keep anyone from sleeping right now, not when I have to get sleep in whenever I can rather than when I want. Are you going to be watching?”

“That depends on where we'll be,” he said.

“Don't worry, Sir Lest, you'll have a great view of them,” Volkanon said, smiling at the thought.

“Now how come he knows and you don't?” Frey said, seeming like she'd poke him if she wasn't finishing off the opening fireworks in their launch tubes.

“Well he's my butler, of course he knows,” Lest said as if annoyed he had to state the obvious. It made the others laugh, making him happy. Though where was that line between his happiness and theirs? It wasn't easy to tell right now, but he could tell that some of it was his. “That and I let Dylas make our plans for tonight, so I'm letting him surprise me.”

“I hope it's a memorable one,” Frey said.

The access door then opened up, although Clorica stayed inside. “Excuse me, Lest, but Dylas is here,” she said.

“Guess I'll be leaving you guys to the last of it,” Lest said, taking part of the railing. The area had been cleared off before they even came out here to set up, but it was still a place to be careful. “You got it?”

“Of course, any tricky stuff I've got covered,” Frey said, pausing to wave at him. “See ya next year!”

“Yup, see ya next year,” he said, waving back before he headed to the door to get back inside. As he did, he felt that Clorica found something funny about it. “What's on your mind?” he asked.

She smiled as she closed the door. “Just something about what you two said reminded me of something I'd been thinking earlier.” They headed off to the ladder that got down into the third floor hall. “See, if you told me at last New Year's Eve that I'd be a certified butler this day, I would have been happy about it. But if you told me that I would be married and going to have a baby as well, I would have thought that was so ridiculous you had to be joking.”

Lest laughed at that. “Yeah, but it's all good, right?”

“More than just good,” she said happily, getting off the ladder. “And then I thought, there's lots of us in town tonight that would not have expected to be married and having such good things last New Year's Eve. I got to see lots of it happen to my friends too, and make new friends and celebrate good things with them. With that, I'd think that everyone would be grateful with this year.”

“Yeah, the whole town's been filled with joy and hope today,” Lest said, getting off the ladder. “But we've got a lot of potential to get even better, to make sure Selphia is somewhere the kids who grow up here will love just as much as we do.”

“Yes, that's what we should wish for,” Clorica said, leading him down the hall. Oddly enough, Dylas was waiting at the other end of the hall for them, a woven basket under his arm. “I’m going to be off duty up to twenty-three hundred and get back around one hundred, but Volkanon will be available to call at any time tonight. Otherwise, we'll be leaving you two alone. The room's all prepared as you asked Dylas, so go on ahead and have fun.”

“Thanks Clorica,” Dylas said with a nod. “Come on, Lest, we've got a little ways further to go.”

Smiling, he nodded in thanks to Clorica as well, then followed Dylas into the stairwell. “Why'd you come all the way up here then?”

“Because we're going all the way up there,” Dylas said, starting up the rest of the stairs.

“Up to the spire room?” he asked, taking the banister in hand. From the look of things, the staircase would get narrower from here. “I heard there was one, but I never went up to see. I hardly come up to the third floor as it is.”

“You haven't been this way?” Dylas asked, his ears flicking.

“Well there's just way too much space even in this part of the castle for me,” Lest said. “If the formal dining room and the library were on the first floor, I wouldn't need anything over that.”

“Then you've been missing out on something interesting,” he said. “Though to be fair, Volkanon told me about the place as I had no idea it was even here.”

After climbing up the stairs, they came to what looked like an open air platform that was nearly on the same level as the windmill observatory. The walls seemed like they only came up a couple feet from the floor. But, it was an illusion. A full round of windows and a system of enchantments made the upper part of the room transparent. From the looks of things, Lest didn't think he could break the system unconsciously. Someone had put a lot of thought into its structure, similar to the castle vaults. It gave them an unobstructed view of the stars, or the night's fireworks later. Behind the stairs, one of the small heaters kept the room warm. A small dining table with two chairs and a flower vase with roses and lilies was set up off-center, while a soft rug on the floor seemed nice enough to sit on.

Lest loved it immediately, going to the northern part of the room. “Wow, this is nice! It's like a private observatory. And look, you can see the fields easier here than from the windmill.”

“It's a good view, but I only need to see you to be happy,” Dylas said with an honest warmth, coming up close to him now that they weren't on the stairs.

Leaning into his arm, he felt things were wonderful between them now. “But it's a far better sight when you're here to share it with me.” Kissing him was still tricky as Dylas was over a head taller than him, but this time it worked. “Now what's for dinner?”

“Give me a couple minutes to set up, you just keep looking this way,” he said. Lest nodded and looked down over his fields. Even from far overhead, he could lay out his plans for the spring planting that was going to happen over the next week. Since he'd won the giant pumpkin contest in all of Norad last autumn, he wanted to give some other farming contests a try. Then there was what he was growing for the restaurant, making the central flower garden lush and bright, and trying out more berries. The fields were ready, he was just waiting on the prime planting period. “Okay, it's ready.”

Dylas had made a lot, enough for four people Lest joked at one point. If he hadn't gotten sick this week, he might have made more. But more impressive than the quantity was the quality. The soup of vegetables and cheese in fish stock was comforting, wholesome, and an unexpected delight, while any of the small sides matched well with it and each other. It was like a well planned flower garden where something was always in bloom and every plant happily belonged. Not only that, but it was cooked with love.

“Do you want something more?” Dylas asked him once he'd finished his soup.

Lest smiled, feeling a happy buzz. “I really shouldn't. It's really good, but I’m getting full and silly from it, I mean,” he giggled.

Dylas chuckled at him. “I was afraid of that. You really think it's good?”

Leaning forward, he said, “Oh yeah, I’d get spoiled on your cooking if I had it more often and feel like nobody else could be quite as good. Though it might be a good test to see if I can get tolerant.”

“I would love to spoil you and try that,” Dylas said, relieved of what little nervousness he'd had tonight. He then went to get a couple of champagne flutes out of his basket. “Well if the meal is over, we can change the drink.”

“I thought you couldn't drink that stuff,” Lest said.

“No, I can handle this, I’ve already tried,” he said, taking out a red wine bottle. “It's Prelude to Love mixed with some ginger ale so it matches a sparkling champagne. I remember hearing that the high society of my time would have it as a New Year's tradition, so in honor of you being high society, I brought it.”

“Aw come on, you're so worth high society too,” he said, though glad to have the extra touch on the special occasion. It made Dylas blush.

Thankfully, the substitute champagne was safer on him. If anything, it made him a bit extra bubbly and confident like Lest felt. They spent the last few hours of the year in playing games of Chinese Checkers and talking. It was often of silly things; anyone else would be surprised to see Dylas as animated as he was tonight. Maybe they'd see that in him more often. Or, maybe it was something he'd only share with Lest.

Dylas told him at one point that he'd used the hymn to calm plants to calm the dying dragon, which led Lest to teach him some other earthmate hymns so they ended up singing together. “For a moment, it felt like it was our hearts singing together, not our voices,” Dylas said.

“Maybe they were,” Lest said, though thinking of why was a darker spot on the evening. “What time is it?”

He got out a pocketwatch to check. “Oh, we're close to midnight. Shit, would have missed it until the fireworks went off.”

Laughing to make things lighter, he said, “Yeah, that's a close one. Well, my Mom used to say that if the you of last year would be proud of you on this day, then you've done well. But I think the me of last year would be really jealous of me right now. I'd have to tell him to be patient and things will turn out well.” Then he remembered something. “Although, this time last year I was unconscious in the clinic here, so I'd have to write it to him.”

“This time last year, I was in the ether sea,” Dylas said, thinking that over. “I’m pretty sure he'd be appalled and embarrassed at me. But it's worth it, even if I had to change my views on everything. I still consider that doing well.”

“Very much so,” Lest agreed with a nod.

“Oh wait, there was something from Porco,” he said, going back to the basket and bringing out some small dessert. “It'd be the right time for them; they're good luck cakes. He says if you can start eating one this year and finish it in the next on this night, then good fortune will come your way.”

“That sounds tough for him,” he said, barely keeping himself from laughing this time.

“He did say that,” Dylas said fondly. He gave Lest one of them.

“Thanks, though I don't see how I could have any better fortune than what I have right now right here,” he said, making Dylas smile right before he took a bite of his. There wasn't a lot of time left to the year, so Lest bit off part of his cake. It was a bit spicy and sweet, airy and soft. While he said it was from Porco, Lest could tell from the love runes that Dylas had helped out. Maybe even making this one in particular for him. It made him want to give a teasing question about it. But then...

After taking a second bite and eating half the cake, something rang through his mind like a bell. He'd pulled Dylas out of a dark, cold, and empty part of his life into one where he blossomed with light, hope, and fulfillment. It was like with trees Lest had brought back from sickness or grown from frail saplings. With all that he had done, now Dylas wanted to protect and shelter him, even keep spoiling him like this when other people could be unwittingly harsh on him with their feelings. He was the one person who would stay and put as much effort into their relationship. He had blessed this cake with the desire to marry him.

“Dylas...” he wasn't sure what to say. The emotions were so powerful. Yet, he knew that Dylas prayed to not overwhelm him. And while his emotions were strong and pure, they weren't overwhelming him. His prayer was affecting Lest's magic, causing his chi lines to glow golden on his hands. Dylas' emotional plea had just struck exactly the right chords with Lest's heart to make him overwhelm himself.

The bells clustered over the central part of the castle began to toll midnight. Dylas brought out a ring from his pocket and offered it to him. With a diamond clearer than ice yet sparkling with many colors, it told of hard work and effort, that he really would continue giving his all. It had gotten him sick to get it made, but getting just the right expression had made the illness seem like a trivial obstacle. “If you heard it...”

“Th-that was better than words,” Lest said, trembling and crying out of joy as he accepted the ring and fireworks lit up the starry sky above.


	135. The Royal Wedding

Spring 12, 1612

Their neighbors had been willing to let Arthur and Forte get away without a full blown royal wedding, but they weren't going to do the same for Lest and Dylas. This was going to be the real deal, not a detail overlooked. Because of that, it took longer to prepare for. The ceremony itself was longer, with more pomp and flair. Plus they had to perform a coronation for Dylas afterward, something that was looked forward to with great enthusiasm from the community. Not even Lest's own coronation had caused this much excitement, since he'd been a stranger to the town then.

The announcement had gone through all of Norad, shocking and worrying a good many people. Arthur and Leon had followed up with an editorial in a couple of the main newspapers that if those worriers were in Selphia to see the couple for themselves, they'd understand better that this was a wonderful event. Plus, one of the Native Dragons lived in Selphia and was happy to bless them like any other couple. Never mind that Doomgale considered Lest her brother and was thrilled to see him so happy. Those who would only know the town through newspaper articles wouldn't know about it.

As 1100 hours came, everyone was getting into place. Dylas was in the servant's hall, trying to focus his thoughts when they were buzzing all over the place. Having seen seven weddings, he was sure that ceremony was no trouble. But he needed to remember things about the coronation later when he'd only heard about it before. Although if his mind went blank, a fair portion of it would be him repeating someone else. Maybe he just shouldn't worry about it. He'd wrecked a lot of things just worrying about them too much.

Glancing over into the central chamber, he recalled how the last king of Selphia did not want him in the castle. He had thought that the bastard son of a servant didn't deserve to be in a place like this. As it turned out, the king was thrown down because he'd neglected a major part of his duties in respecting and serving Venti. Now Dylas was going to be a prince that lived in this castle, alongside the person he loved without a doubt. Dylas wasn’t about to forget that his duty here was to help Doomgale and Lest, and he'd welcome people here no matter what their background. Everyone deserved a chance.

In the royal hall, Lest was trying to keep calm when he felt really giddy and excited. He'd been like this a lot since Dylas had proposed to him. He had a good hunch that it was going to happen. After all, the glow of their feelings didn't lie and there'd been a bunch of little signs, like him and Volkanon talking a long while, then the butler being reluctant to say what about. But he hadn't expected the proposal to be as powerful as it was: using magic and emotions rather than words, giving such a dazzling ring, even being prepared to save him the trip out to Maya Road by offering another diamond that turned the rings into perfect matches.

To top it all off, just knowing that they would swear to keep this love for life was enough to alter Lest's empathy. Now it was a lot easier to distinguish other people's emotions from his own. Even in a crowd, the emotional signs were clearer so that it wasn't one chaotic mess. Perhaps it was even enough to prevent him from fainting to a strong storm of emotions? There hadn't been a time to really test that. But today, it was enough to see his own powerful happiness amid the community's strong happiness for them.

Volkanon visited both of them to make sure they were ready. Other than him and Doomgale in her chamber, there was no one else with them at this time. They had prepared for the morning with their families, but the others had gone out into town to be in place. When the castle bells rang briefly, it was time to start. Lest and Dylas walked out into the town plaza to meet with each other in the center. It was quiet out here, only some birds calling around them. While it was all clean with flowers starting to bloom in the flowerbeds, there wasn't much done to decorate just yet.

Dylas was dressed in the traditional groom's suit, a pale blue rose pinned to his vest. While there had been some joking about putting Lest in a wedding dress, he wore a suit as well. However, his included a long white cape that seemed fitting for a king. “Y-you look, um, incredible,” Dylas said.

“You do too,” Lest said, taking his hands. “Like where are your gauntlets?”

“They stood out too much with all this white,” he said. “Besides, I, ah, I don't need them all the time now. I need to get used to not wearing them.”

Lest chuckled. “Yeah, and take good care of your hands because they're really lovely.”

Dylas blushed at that. “Thanks, I guess. Not what I would have thought was attractive.”

“You're attractive all around,” Lest said, having fun. “Are you ready to begin? It's a long procession.”

For a moment, he was quietly calming down so he wasn't blushing any more. But his cheeks turned pink again when he looked back at Lest's smile and smiled himself. “S-sure. We'd better get started.”

Holding hands, they walked down to the southeast entrance to the plaza. Volkanon had managed to get right by the stairs without their notice. Of course, on a day like this it must have been a lot easier. “Congratulations, both of you,” he said, beaming with enthusiasm. “You managed to show me that even an old fellow can change his views. I, I’m so happy that this is all happening,” he then bawled and pulled out a handkerchief.

Dylas was a bit uneasy, but Lest just hugged him and got a powerful arm grip in response. “Aw, thanks Mr. Volkanon. And thanks for being there for us.”

“Yeah,” Dylas said with a nod. 'Thanks. Even when you weren't sure about it, you still helped out a lot.”

Volkanon then hugged Dylas, surprising him with the bear grip. “I'm glad I put my faith in both of you. And I'll always be there to serve you both, just ask.” He let go to salute, then thought of something that made his eyes widen. “Oh right, before I forget... here, take this.” He handed Lest a tall vase with a single fern in it.

“What's it for?” he asked, finding that it had a floating enchantment inactive on it. This wasn't part of the ceremony that he'd heard of. Once he activated the spell, it formed a link to his bracelet so that he didn't have to hold onto it the whole way.

“You'll see,” Volkanon said with a wink. “Head on to meet the others.”

They took each other's hand again and walked down the steps to reach the flower shop. Illuminata and Blossom were waiting there, both holding onto a single fern. “Congratulations, both of you,” Blossom said with a warm smile, placing her fern in the floating vase. “I hope you're blessed with a long and happy life together.”

“Thanks Granny,” Lest said, hugging her.

“Bet you're both happy that wait is over,” Illuminata said, putting her fern in the vase. “Be good to each other and don't let that romantic spark between you fade.”

“I’m sure it won't,” Lest said, then hugged her too.

“Are you going to hug everybody?” Dylas asked, smiling at him.

“Probably,” he said, his eyes bright with joy. “You should too! At least these two nice ladies.”

“Maybe not everybody,” he said, but he hugged the two here anyhow.

“Aw, don't be ashamed of such kindness,” Blossom said, patting his back while he hugged her. “You're a sweet young man; you really deserve this happiness.”

“Th-thanks Granny,” Dylas said. When they walked on down the street, he got teary-eyed. “Man...”

“You do deserve it,” Lest said, bumping him with his shoulder. “I'll have to see to it that you have a reason to smile every day.”

“I have that just being with you,” he said, taking a handkerchief to dry his eyes. “Didn't think I'd get so emotional this soon.”

“It's okay, there's lots more to come,” he said.

Like when they arrived in front of the clothing store to meet with Vishnal, Dolce, and Pico. “Aw, whatcha crying for already?” Pico asked.

“I'm happy,” he insisted (and he was). “Granny just said something that made me think, you know, about all the awful stuff we all went through when we didn't fit into our old societies, but now we're all here way more blessed than we'd thought we'd be.”

“Oh, Dylas,” Dolce said, coming over and giving him a tight hug that he readily returned. “We are blessed.”

“I hope these blessings stay with us,” Vishnal said, smiling warmly at both of them. Then he got a little embarrassed. “Um, I don't know how else to add onto that, but we're really happy to see this day.” He placed a pink rose in the vase, after which Lest hugged him. Dolce then added a red rose, teary-eyed herself as she waved them on to continue their walk through town.

They went out ot the eastern walkway to head up towards Meg's house. Up there, they met with Sven and Clorica. “Congratulations!” Clorica said, offering to shake a hand with Lest but accepting a hug instead. “Aw, it's going to be good to serve you both.”

“Thanks, I'm glad to have you both around,” Lest said, then hugged Sven too. “Sorry about keeping you up.”

“It's not that late,” Sven said, smiling down at him. Then he offered a red rose for the vase while Clorica added a pink rose. “You can depend on us.”

Coming back towards the main eastern street, they next met up with Frey and Leon; their twins were mostly asleep in two carriages nearby. “Well you two got our family in a right knot,” Frey said, immediately hugging Lest.

“Something like that,” Lest said, patting her.

“Really like that,” Leon said with a smirk. He was wearing a priest's uniform today, although he didn't have a shirt underneath the coat. “Today I get to see my brother-in-law become my brother-in-law twice over.”

“You're just complaining for show,” Dylas said, then surprised Leon by hugging him. “Thanks for all you've done for us, big brother.”

“Now don't go making me serious already,” Leon complained, though he returned the hug. “I am glad to have a little brother like you. Really glad for everyone around us, people we might have never met.”

“Our vigil is over, we can enjoy our days now,” Dylas said.

Leon smiled, glancing aside at the carriages. It didn't hide that he was overcome now. “Yeah... I really ought to see about teaching you poetry sometime, you show a knack for it sometimes. Well, anytime you want to borrow the kids, you're welcome to them.”

Frey laughed. “Sure, we're all one big crazy family.”

“Real crazy, thanks,” Lest said, then hugged Leon too. Leon had a red rose for them and Frey had a white one (and Dylas even had a hug for Frey). If everyone had some flower or greenery, Lest thought, they'd end up with quite a bouquet at the end of this.

While they were walking north, Dylas asked, “Why'd you decide to go and hug everyone?”

“Why not?” Lest said, trying to keep to the formal walk to match the occasion. He might have been skipping or doing a part dance if he let himself. “I’m happy with everyone around us, and I’m really happy with you...” he laughed. “I’m just so happy and excited today that I can hardly read anyone else's feelings! While I can share a bit with everyone with hugs, I get to share my life and happiness with you. That makes me even happier.”

“I’ll work to keep you happy,” Dylas said, feeling like the whole world shone brighter when Lest has truly happy.

At the corner in front of the restaurant, they met up with Porco and Lin Fa. “Isn't this a wonderful day?” Lin Fa said with a friendly smile. “You both look so happy together.”

“We were just saying that,” Lest said as he went to hug her. She laughed at that.

“I think it's a bittersweet day,” Porco said, putting a hand to his chest dramatically. “Two of my favorite people getting married makes it really sweet and happy, but I thought I’d be the one married to Lest.”

“I’m sorry, but you have done many wonderful things for us, thank you,” Lest said, hugging him too.

“Aw,” Porco said, patting his head. “Hah, and I’m kidding, of course. But I’ll only say that today. You're welcome in my kitchen any day you want to cook over here!”

“I wanted to thank you too, Porco,” Dylas said. “You gave me a purpose in life when I felt like I had none and got me through a rough patch adjusting to this time. I don't know if I could have gotten through that on my own.”

“I’m glad to help,” Porco said, hugging him. “And that you came into my life; you're like a son I never had.”

“I feel the same,” Dylas said.

“Well I wanted to give you guys a rose, but others had other ideas,” Porco said, offering a green fern. “Oh, and don't forget yours Lin Fa.”

“Oh yes, I do have that,” she said, getting her fern off a flowerbed wall to put in the vase.

“What's it all for?” Dylas asked.

“You'll find out,” Porco said, winking at them. “Carry on!”

Going down the northern street, they came across Amber and Doug at one end of the marketplace. “We're all so happy for you two!” Amber said, hugging Dylas as soon as he got close. “Everybody fell in love just like Lest said as an oracle!”

“I didn't even really get to do that with Doug,” Lest said, amused at it as he hugged Doug.

“Hey, what's with the hug?” he asked, making Amber giggle.

“I'm showing my gratitude to everybody with hugs today,” Lest said, letting him go to hug Amber.

“And because he's ridiculously happy,” Dylas added. “Me too, but I’ll just take a handshake.”

“Guess I can accept that out of both of you,” Doug said, smiling and shaking his hand. “Man, I at least was not expecting you two to get together. But once it came out during that contest, you two seem just right for each other.”

“I wasn't sure about you being with her at first, but I wouldn't want it any other way now,” Dylas said.

“Lest is the best love oracle!” Amber said, then brought out a red rose. “And here! It means a lot, all them mean a lot.”

“They're certainly happy enough for that,” Lest said. Amber put her rose in while Doug added a pink one.

At the other end of the marketplace, they met with Wendy, Margaret, and Auden. Wendy squealed and hugged Dylas without a word. “She's been like this all morning,” Meg said, barely keeping herself from laughing. She put a pink rose in the vase.

“What, and you haven't?” Lest asked, hugging her with one arm as she was keeping Auden's hand.

“Well not so much squealing,” Meg said with a wide smile, patting his back. “I know you two will have a wonderful life together, I can hear it in the way your hearts sing together.”

“I feel really blessed to see you all find happy resolutions,” Wendy said, letting Dylas out of her hug but still holding his hand. “You especially. While I can't see runes anymore, I can still tell looking at you now that you've found a light to conquer your darkness. Things couldn't have worked out better.”

“Maybe differently, but they really couldn't,” Dylas said.

“And it's all because of you, Lest,” Wendy said, then going over to hug him. “I had a feeling you'd be different soon after we met, and now I can't thank you enough for all you've done for me and those I love. Nobody else could have done the same.”

“Well that's mostly because of the talents I was given, but thank you,” Lest said, happy to hug her back.

“No, you went above and beyond what you were asked to do,” Wendy said, stepping back with a tear in her eye. “You were the only one who could have given me the life I have now, even it if is because you were to one to do what others thought impossible. So here, this is for you guys too.” She gave them a red rose.

It continued that way as they completed their circuit around town, congratulations and thanks from the people who lived in Selphia. At the inn, Kiel and Xiao had pink roses for the vase, as well as thanks for both of them for helping get them together. Down the western street, Nem and Helena were there with pink roses and some good-natured teasing to Dylas to take care of Lest. Arthur and Forte both had pink roses, as well as some hints that the bouquet was very important; Arthur was even wearing a simple gold crown today, for his part in the ceremony. Bado, Jones, and Nancy all had greenery, with wishes for happiness and a good life together. Lastly, they met with Corrin and Art on the southern-most street, shortly before they got in sight of the town plaza. Art put a white rose in the vase, then excused himself to stand up on the stairs to the plaza, in order to signal then when the time was right.

Corrin put a white rose in the vase. “But I have something else, which wasn't really discussed but I felt it was important,” she said, taking a small gold ribbon and tying it onto the vase. There were a few small angel charms made from white and gold thread on it. “Do you know what it's about?”

“Not sure, but that's a huge bouquet,” Dylas said.

Turning the vase, Lest noticed there were five angels on the ribbon. Then things made sense. “Oh... well, the white roses are from family, since they came from you, Gramps, and Frey. The pink roses are from the couples I've gotten together and the greenery from other friends around town. Not sure about the red ones since they came from the other guardians and Wendy, but then also Sven. But these angels, I know that they're from our family who couldn't be here.”

“Oh right,” Dylas said, turning somber for a moment.

“I don't mean to make things sad,” Corrin said. “But I knew Joyce would want to offer something too and I couldn't leave her out, nor your family Dylas. Their love will always be with you as well.”

“It's good, thanks for that,” Dylas said, hugging her.

“Aw, no problem,” she said, smiling like he was one of her children already. “Don't forget why you fell in love, either of you. I had a good feeling about you two early on; I'm glad it turned out as I hoped.”

“I couldn't forget how I feel today,” Lest said, smiling and waiting to hug her too.

While they were hugging, Dylas looked over the bouquet. “Lest, I think, those red roses, they're from those whose lives you saved.”

“Saved?” he asked, though as he said it, he saw how it worked.

“We were all held in despair by Storgane,” Dylas said, touching one of the red roses. “Even Venti who was here alone, and Sven who was trapped in that armor. You not only brought us out of that terrible time in our lives, but you led all of us into the light and happiness we live in now. And Wendy was right, only you could have done so. Don't forget about that, even if the talents you needed are a great burden.”

“It was what needed to be done, though I'm glad,” then Lest had to stop talking as his throat tightened up and he was crying. “Sorry, this... it's just overwhelming right now.”

Dylas hugged him then and softly said, “You'll be okay. It's because people love you.”

After a moment, Corrin nudged him and offered a handkerchief. “It certainly is, but Art's signaled that they're ready over there.”

“Did they have to time that so well?” Lest asked, taking the handkerchief and trying to dry off his face before going there.

Once Dylas said he was okay, they took hands again and walked up the stairs into the plaza. Corrin walked alongside them. And when they got to Art, the old knight smiled and then pointed up to the western sky. There was a bright rainbow over there, holding steady in spite of how high the sun was and not a cloud being in the sky. It had to be reflecting Lest's heart right then. While it made them smile, it did make it tough to enter the plaza with formal grace as they wanted to laugh and cheer.

The plaza erupted into cheers and flower petals as they came up to the castle through the center of the plaza. While it had been empty when they started, now it was full of people celebrating with them. White and silver balloons rose above the crowd and large floral garlands adorned the castle's facade. In front of the entrance to Doomgale's chamber, a beautiful trellis archway was set up on a white carpet. White silk flowers of many kinds were woven into the structure. There, Arthur and Leon were waiting for them.

Arthur was there to act in Lest's usual role; he gave them a formal bow before starting. “On behalf of the town, we're all glad to be here with you on this wonderful day. Many of us have watched you come together and we hope that you share many happy years with each other. Now, do you both have the rings you have made?”

“Yes,” Dylas said. Lest smiled and nodded, still having trouble speaking. He even felt a bit light-headed. Don't collapse, he told himself. At least finish the ceremonies, he could sit down after.

Arthur was briefly worried over him, but smiled and kept things going along smoothly. “And you both are ready to make this commitment, as leaders of the community?”

“Yes,” they said, though Lest's was quiet. He tried to join in, at least. Dylas squeezed his hand in support.

He then stepped aside, sweeping his hand towards the entrance, “Good, then please proceed inside with Leon to make your commitment before our beloved goddess, Lady Doomgale.”

As they got under the door, Leon quietly said, “Having trouble talking now?”

Lest nodded. “He got a bit overcome by the emotions expressed in the roses, and his own heart,” Dylas said.

“Seems like more than a bit, you'd better get over that,” Leon said, patting Lest's shoulder.

Ahead of them, Doomgale shifted her paws on the floor. From that and the look in her eyes, she was excited enough to have trouble keeping still for the ceremony. She did her best and crooned a welcome to them. “ _I saw the rainbow, it's swell!”_

“You ready?” Leon asked, waiting to make sure Lest could keep up.

“Yeah, I, I got it,” he said, getting into position and turning to face Dylas. Once their eyes met, it was hard to see anything else for the energetic glow around them.

At their side, Leon asked, “Lady Doomgale, may I speak on your behalf for this holy ceremony?”

“ _Yes Leon, you may,”_ Doomgale replied, though she whispered the words alongside him.

“For you who have decided to commit yourselves to one other and one alone, we honor your decision. You will be joined as royalty, to be a shining example to all those who live around you. Remember this all your days, keeping honor and responsibility in your actions. For the personal oaths of this day, take the rings you have prepared and speak in full sincerity. Lest, do you pledge to honor and love only Dylas for the rest of your life together?”

“I do,” Lest said, finding it easier to speak when he was focused entirely on Dylas. As one who had struggled against the whispers and glares of hate for many years, he wasn't about to betray the beautiful loving smile before him.

“Then place the ring you have on him.” It was a sparkling rainbow diamond ring to match the one that had been given to him, to be equal on both sides. Once the ring was on Dylas' hand, Leon asked, “Dylas, do you pledge to honor and love only Lest for the rest of your life together?”

“I do,” he said. He'd once felt so insignificant and useless that he'd gone to end his life early. Now that he'd been freed of all that, he would treasure his life and the one who had given it back to him.

“Then place the ring you have on him.” once he had, they both clasped their hands and Leon placed his on top of theirs. “I now pronounce you Sir Arthur Lest Nolan and Sir Dylas Leland Nolan. Let the bells ring out in honor of you both; may the native dragons bless this newlywed couple.” Leon then stepped back to let them embrace each other.

After the bells stopped ringing, Doomgale flew up and put a white rose in the vase. “ _That's for me!”_ she said.

“Then it's complete?” Lest asked, still with an arm around Dylas.

“Not quite,” Leon said, passing a pale blue rose over to Dylas. “That's your addition.”

“Oh, of course, the wedding roses,” he said, letting him go to figure out how to get the rose in with the others. “Then it is your bouquet, Lest.”

“As gratitude for all you've done for everyone,” Leon said with a smile, pulling out a Rose of Ventuswill now. It was a beautiful yet otherworldly rose, with luminous green petals in a large blossom. This one he attached to the clasp of Lest's cape. “And a bit more, but that must wait until all can hear it. First we have to get a cape on Dylas too.”

“At your service,” Volkanon said, appearing nearby with a long white cape matching Lest's in hand.

“Where were you hiding?” Dylas asked, his ears flicking. The master butler just chuckled and helped him get the cape on straight. “Still seems surreal that I'll be treated like royalty.”

“Nonsense, you could cut a very regal figure when you're confident,” Volkanon said, shifting Dylas' hair to sit straight.

“And it's just like royalty, not actual royalty,” Lest said. “You look wonderful that way.” It made him blush briefly, but it did help him to look confident.

“Perhaps, but everyone in town sees you both as royalty now,” Leon said, the glimmer in his eyes suggesting he knew something more. “Whenever you're ready.”

Once they were set for the coronation, all of them headed back out into the plaza. Doomgale flew ahead, causing the crowd to cheer as she settled herself on a pillar perch out there. Volkanon had taken the vase, placing it on another pillar on the opposite side of the dragon's perch. Coming through the arch, Lest and Dylas bowed to the crowd. Arthur was still there, bowing back to them. He waited a moment, then held a hand up to quiet the crowd. “We will now hold the coronation to name Dylas a prince of Selphia,” he said, adding a formal tone to the joy around them. But it wasn't a cold formality, rather being one that joyfully respected the ceremony. “But there has been a request from the town that Lest reconfirm his oath of leadership today as well. Will you agree to this, my prince?”

“Certainly,” Lest said, not sure why but it couldn't hurt to do it.

“Then as a member of the Central Norad royal family, I come on behalf of the community to officiate this double coronation,” Arthur said. “As a dragon priest, Leon will be acting on behalf of the gods. As a respected elder in town, Mr. Volkanon will be acting as primary witness. True royalty is with a leader's soul, not within his or her blood. Lest, as one who has guided the region of Selphia into rising out of near-death and one who has been a beacon of hope to all who live here, we acknowledge the dedication and quality of your leadership today. Dylas, as one who has sworn an oath of marriage to our prince, to support and assist him every day, we acknowledge by your love for you to be of equal status as he.”

That did not sound like the coronation speech given last spring, Lest thought. The last statement was as they had planned for Dylas, though. Arthur had written the ceremony in his own words, so perhaps that was what made the difference.

“We of Selphia promise to follow your lead as long as you continue to act with true royalty in your hearts,” Arthur said, waving Volkanon over to hold a sacred icon depicting the four Native Dragons. “Both of you, recite after me the crown oath with your hands and hearts on the dragon gods.” It started with their names and then...

... _swear my allegiance, honor, and integrity to the land of Selphia and all who dwell within it. I will work for its victories, accept its responsibilities, and mend up its losses. I will cherish all parts of this land, encouraging its growth and well-being. My wish is for its prosperity and triumph. I swear this in the name of the Divine Wind, Lady Doomgale. I swear this in the name of all the Native Dragons in the land._

“Selphia is grateful for those who take this oath to heart,” Arthur said. While the ceremony was still going on, the plaza was quiet. Lest still felt a silent approval of Arthur's statement ripple through the crowd.

“The gods who watch this land approve of your calling,” Leon said, with agreement from Doomgale. Leon then gestured to the vase with his fan. “And the people greatly appreciate your leadership thus far, Prince Lest. They have gathered their feelings of gratitude for your actions towards them and allegiance to your continued reign within this bouquet. With such abundance, the will of the world dictates that today, we shall not anoint you as our princes, but as our kings.”

Kings? It was a shock enough to Lest. Feeling it from Dylas made him glance up and silently acknowledge that he hadn't seen this coming either. That kind of title couldn't have been decided on lightly.

Before they could say anything, Arthur nodded and said, “The royal court of the high king has agreed to this, following a strong petition of nearly two hundred signatures to acknowledge you in this way. Thus, you will now be recognized as authentic royalty in Norad rather than serving in the name of a long-faded lineage. You both will be recognized as the new start of a royal heritage. We have even, after a lucky break, located the original and ancient crown of Selphia to bestow upon you, Lest. So Lest, please kneel.”

He had not been given any time to prepare for this, but the words came easily from Lest's heart. “As it is the will of Selphia, I humbly accept this great honor,” he said, working to keep his voice even as he knelt for the ceremony.

Clorica and Vishnal had appeared with little notice, holding the two crowns on two white pillows. Arthur took an old crown of gold from the one Vishnal held; it had a wing motif on front with a rich green emerald in the center. Meanwhile, Leon came over with a bottle of fragrant oil to trace a line like the crown's wing across Lest's forehead. “May the blessings you give be returned,” he said. “May the blessings you are given be returned as well. With this as your chosen path, you will be an illumination for all around you. We pray that your reign is majestic.”

After that, Arthur placed the ancient crown on Lest's head. “Now rise, to be presented to the gods as royalty,” he said. Then he asked for Dylas to kneel, with both of them repeated the anointing and crowning for him. Dylas' crown had the same wing motif, smaller and without the central emerald. In the runes, it had been crafted recently for this purpose. Once Dylas stood up, Arthur moved over to where Doomgale sat and bowed to her. “Lady Doomgale, I present to thee, the new kings of Selphia, Arthur Lest Nolan and Dylas Leland Nolan.”

Doomgale smiled a bit, keeping her glowing tail sweeping in a steady rhythm like a clock. “ _May this day mark a wonderful new beginning for us all! Let the bells ring out to announce this joyous moment!”_ Leon translated her just before she set the castle bells tolling again; the crowd finally let loose the cheers and clapping they had been waiting with.

On that day, it felt like a promising new dawn after the long nightmare that had plagued the land of Selphia.

* * *

 

Spring 48

Lest got a start as he glanced over his hands, with trails of darkness running down them. No, that was mud. It had been raining last night which made his farm work extra dirty. Still, he washed his hands off and made sure his fingernails weren't changed. In all this season, he'd hardly given a thought to Typhoon. The demon was still there, waiting.

He took a quick shower and dried his hair out to style, thinking himself out of that potentially gloomy mood. He hadn't separated his soul and body at all this season either, so the demon shouldn't have as much of a chance to take over. On top of that, the others had taken a few years to transform. Etherlink might still be active in him, but if he wasn't using it, he should keep control for a while yet. And there were plans for him and Frey to go into Rune Prana to study the pillars soon. She knew Darryl's mind well from studying his writings and codes, thus it shouldn't take her long to figure out the riddles or puzzles he'd left there.

When he got done with his hair, Lest looked in the mirror for a moment to think over the good things in his life. There was so much more of that, more than this demon. Still, he should get working on plans just in case things went awry. Today, though, he needed to be cheerful. He got the darker subjects out of mind, then knocked on the inside of the bathroom door. “Dylas, you in there? Can you help out with the corset?”

“Sure,” he said, coming in to help him lace up right. “What kind of look you going for today?”

“It's going to be adorable, hair bows and lots of frills,” Lest said, smiling readily at the thought. “Just the kind of thing for mid-spring with all the flowers out in bloom.”

Dylas smiled at that, then leaned in closer and said, “I thought you were adorable the other day when you were farming in just some pants and a straw hat.”

He laughed at that. “You sure adorable's the right word there?”

“One of many words that'd fit,” he said. “Are you doing the love oracle thing again?”

“No, not this year,” Lest said. “I did it last year because I needed to shift the environment over to one strong in love runes and we were really short on children and young couples in town. But we've got plenty of both this year, even in the new residents. If I end up kissing anyone today, it'll be you. Several times, probably.”

“Suits me. That secure enough?” His tone didn't indicate anything, but there was a slight sadness to him now, like a bruise.

“Yeah, not enough to constrict nor to come loose.” He turned to face him, gripping his arm. “Is something bothering you? I felt a bit.”

“Well, it's,” he hesitated, trying not to get caught up in it but now he couldn't ignore it.

Still, it was better brought out. “Go ahead and tell me, I'd rather know before it bothers you too much.”

“It's something I thought of a long while ago, but then didn't think of again until just yesterday,” Dylas said, putting his head near his. “I don't regret what's been done. Still... we're not going to have any children. Of our own, I mean. We could adopt some, if you want, that is. But it's... I don't know how to say it, it wouldn't be the same.”

“We're also going to be uncles to a good portion of kids in town, especially if Dolce and Vishnal follow through with their plans,” Lest said, trying to cheer him up. That did make Dylas smile, although it didn't make up for the problem. “It is sad now that you bring it up. Still, adopting and giving some kids a good home they wouldn't have otherwise would be great, caring for them as our own. Just think about the looks some kids would have when they learn they get to live in a castle as part of a royal family.”

That worked, making him laugh a little. “I'm still shocked to realize that. It would be a good thing that way. Do you want to?”

“Well,” there was a major problem with that, especially with Typhoon lurking. “Maybe not right away. We don't know how breaking the pillars is going to affect me, other than my ancestors think it's going to be rough. When I'm going to need your support at times through this, I'm not sure we could give even just one child the support they'll need. It'd be another reason for us to get this done with as soon as we can.”

“Don't go rushing yourself,” Dylas said, worried about him overdoing things. “You do have a point, though. We'll need to be reliable for them.”

“Once we can be reliable, I'd love to do that too,” Lest said, which was enough to reassure him. “For today, let's go have fun with this cooking contest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what next? We're gonna skip a few years so we can see the kids more active, then we've got to deal with Typhoon and a certain other story boss. But there's not much longer until we complete that final arc and the whole story. Thanks for sticking with it!


	136. Intermission - Random Snapshots

Frey compared the columns of information. One was from a book Wendy had given her, one was from a second resource she'd found among the library's rare books, one was from her family's notes (not their usual research), one was some basic facts, and one was from what she'd extracted and combined from the rest. At this point, things were looking possible. But when one was side-stepping a natural process to get to a result that was usually prevented, a lot of care had to be taken.

“Careful Frey, incoming,” Leon called from the other room.

Hearing the footsteps running, Frey stopped what she was doing and got up in time to grab Noel from running off into another part of the house. “You're supposed to be playing with Daddy,” she said affectionately, picking him up.

“Got Mommy,” he said in glee, soon nuzzling his head on her neck. His hair had turned out bright green, on his head, large perked ears, and long tail, the tip of which would end up gray even if he hadn't been playing in dirt. When he got into mud, he was quite a project to give a bath to.

“And isn't it about your nap time?” Frey said, patting his back while taking him into the nursery. “Luna giving you a handful in there?”

“Not exactly, she's got me pinned down,” Leon said.

When Frey got in there, she found Leon sitting cross-legged on the floor. He had managed to get Luna asleep, except not in her new bed. Instead, she was on the floor hugging his tail. Luna's blue-green hair could almost hide her pointed ears and make her look like an elf child, except elves didn't have a short tail like she did. Even if her tail wasn't long enough for her to trip on (like Noel sometimes did), she got dirty as easily as he did.

“Are you gonna stay like that for a couple hours?” Frey teased him.

“Well I didn't want to disturb her,” Leon said. The tip of his tail twitched but he seemed to be trying to keep it still. “Now we just have to get him napping.”

“No nap,” Noel said defiantly, but then yawned.

It took a few minutes, but once they got him asleep, Frey went to get Leon a book so he had something to do while pinned to the spot.

* * *

 

As soon as Sven opened the door, Jordan ran for him. The sun was barely up, but he was wide awake. “Daddy!”

Sven caught him and picked him up, making him laugh. “Good morning, Jordan.”

“G'morning,” he repeated, hugging him and getting his purple hair in Sven's face. He was tall for his age, enough so that Clorica couldn't hold him long. Although, his energy could be enough to make him hard to hang onto.

“Are you causing your mother trouble?” he asked, heading for the kitchen.

“No.”

“Good morning, Sven,” Clorica said, still in her pajamas as well. But she had breakfast ready.

“Morning,” he said, going over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“He's been full of energy already,” she said, gesturing to the scattered blocks through the kitchen and dining room. “Good luck with him.”

Sven chuckled. “Ah, maybe I'll take him out for a run after breakfast.”

“Can I go play with Shilan?” he asked. Kiel's son was Jordan's best friend already, so maybe they could hang out at the inn today. It was too dangerous for the kids to hang out around the alchemy shop.

Although they had wanted to make their schedules match more, it made more sense for Clorica to be working during the day to be up with Jordan then. Sven still did better working at nights, so he got to spend time with them in the mornings and evenings. During the afternoon, Amber and Doug would usually watch over Jordan so Sven could sleep at home. Clorica had been able to work at the castle with Jordan when he'd been an infant since she could carry him in a sling. But he was really active now, yet not old enough to be in school or be trusted to go around town on his own.

This was still a wonderful life.

* * *

 

Dolce let her girls Aliya and Glynna be in the clothing store during the mornings. As long as there weren't many customers, it wasn't troublesome to do some knitting, stay at the counter, and watch over them. Pico helped out often, usually by entertaining the girls when she needed to do more focused work. And since a lot of her friends had small children of the same ages, they would take turns watching over all the kids in the town plaza every afternoon. That let her work on the machines in back to get bigger projects done.

There were some customers in this morning, a family that looked to be visiting nobles. The mother thought the children's clothing she had on display was cute and quaint, but she wanted something more 'fitting' to her kids. Since she was interested in ordering more expensive styles in high quality fabrics, Dolce didn't argue with her. Still, she thought it a bit of a waste for these children to be wearing such fancier clothes on an everyday basis. Her own daughters were in cotton play dresses that were simple to patch up.

While Dolce was working out the custom order invoice with the mother, their children started talking. “Our father is an ambassador in a for'n country,” the noble's boy said. “That means he's really important.”

“Well our father is awesome,” Aliya said. She reminded Dolce a bit of herself at a young age, back when she'd had darker pink hair and freckles. But while Dolce's mother had tried to tone down the freckles, she was letting her daughter be cute as she was. “He's the king's butler.”

“That means he's a servant,” the noble's girl said.

“Maybe, but that's still more awesome than being a bass door,” Aliya insisted.

“Yah,” Glynna said, still figuring out how to talk but nodding along. Her hair was thin for now, but it was noticeably blue. Plus, she was also freckled.

Dolce smiled a bit at the conversation, but went back to a formal neutrality to deal with the noblewoman.

* * *

 

Arthur had once suggested that a cafe be opened to attract those who would prefer that kind of atmosphere over the restaurant. He certainly hadn't been thinking of running it himself. But, here he was, having gotten out of the trading business to be the owner of the Dragon's Tale Cafe close by the library and a newly opened art museum. The house that had been on this lot had been deemed unsafe after damage from earthquakes and storms around 1610 to 1612, so he'd been free to get rid of the old structure and make a cute half-indoor half-outdoor cafe out of it.

Having found what he preferred in cooking, he made simple snacks, baked a few others, and crafted the tea, coffee, and cocoa blends. Kiel often bake cakes for him to offer. And at least once a week, he and Dylas would swap kitchens to keep things interesting. It was a good life.

Today, he was sharing lunch with his daughter Carol. She couldn't yet figure out how to use utensils but wanted to eat on her own. Arthur cut up bits of his own lunch that were easy for her to handle, then placed them on her tray for her to pick up and eat. Thankfully, she was a good eater and wasn't picky. And she was such a cutie, looking a lot like Forte already. Although who knew how long she'd let them keep dressing her up cute; they would let her find her own image in time.

“Arthur, it's been a while,” a man said, stopping by his table and smiling.

He smiled and returned greetings with the merchant. “It certainly has been. Do you want to join us for a bit? This is my daughter, Carol.”

“Well that's a surprise, hadn't heard there was a new princess born,” he said.

Said princess put all of her fingers on one hand in her mouth, then looked at Arthur unsure of what to do about their visitor.

“We didn't want to make too much of a fuss about her outside of town,” Arthur said. “Besides, most every little girl is a princess to her father, don't you think?”

* * *

 

Auden was starting to talk, even sing if one could count mimicking song without having any melody or rhythm as singing. He couldn't quite grasp music, but he could grasp the idea of banging on pots with a couple of wooden spoons. While it was more of a din, Meg knew he was having fun and didn't want to stop him. She just made sure that he could only reach an older pot rather than others that she preferred cooking with.

Right as she was going to put an enchantment on a pot to keep their dinner hot, loud footsteps came up the stairs. Wendy was still petite and slight, but ever since she ceased being a doll, she could get quite noisy. “Alrighty, I'm back upstairs!”

Meg laughed. “I'd say welcome home but you haven't left the building. Good timing, I'll just finish up the last bit of supper now.”

“Good!” She went off to wash her hands, but then came back to stand by Auden. “At least we know we can make a good drummer out of you.”

“Mommy,” he said, handing her one of the spoons. He also used Mama, but only for Meg. Mommy was for Wendy. And he'd come up with that on his own, once he'd figured out that using one name for both would get both instead of just the one he was calling for.

They talked through dinner as usual, with Auden putting in a word here and there. “It's so fun having family chats,” Meg said. “Though sometimes I feel a bit jealous of the others in town who get to experience being a mother from the start. We skipped through his whole first year.”

“Well that's the messy part, isn't it?” Wendy asked.

Meg laughed at that. “One of several different messy stages, I think. Kids can always get messy somehow.”

“Guess you are right there.”

“There,” Auden said, pointing to his plate.

“That's a carrot,” Meg said, although they'd given him carrots before. “I remember reading stories about a couple that were both women having a child between them, but it's hard to tell if they were just stories or if something else was going on.”

“There actually is a spell like that,” Wendy said, seeming serious about it.

“What, really?”

She nodded. “it's not widespread knowledge, obviously. But it's been recorded several times and I know I've seen it happen a few others. Sometimes it was asking the gods to intervene, although I could never manage it. Wind and time aren't elements used strongly in the process, more of earth and love. But I do know it can be caused by mortals in the right form and circumstances.”

“Do you know where the spell is written?” It was great having Auden, but Meg had quietly hoped that she could hold her own baby some day.

“I'd have to look around, but I remember a particular journal,” she said. “Do you want to use it? It'd be our child this time, that'd be sweet.”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Meg said, smiling. “Though we'd have to figure out which of us would carry the child to birth.”

Wendy shrugged. “It'd have to be you, this body couldn't handle it. Though, it does bring up a problem...” she frowned.

“What?” Auden asked, looking at her.

“Oh, I hope you don't get this conversation,” Wendy said, reaching over to poke his hand and make him laugh.

“Well what is the problem?” Meg asked.

“There's a couple of 'em,” she said. “One, I'm pretty sure we could only get a girl. And two, well, it wouldn't work for Lest and Dylas. They're out of luck, and, well,” she sighed.

“That's not good,” Meg said, feeling bad for them.

* * *

 

When word got out that Meg was pregnant, one question that was on nearly everyone's mind was “How?”

“Magic,” Wendy would tell them. For the most part, she left it at that.

She felt really bad when she had to tell Dylas and Lest that it wouldn't work for them. While neither of them had said anything before about the matter, disappointment couldn't describe their reaction. Dylas had looked really crushed and Lest didn't have his usual cheerful energy for a few days after. But it was stated in the journal Wendy had found and she'd not heard of something happening like that in Selphia.

A week after the news had gone out, Frey came into the general store at a quiet time to talk to her about it. She had some ideas. “The obvious issue would be that neither of them could give birth as men. However, there are methods out there to transfer an unborn child from one woman to another if the child's real mother has reasons she can't continue the pregnancy. I checked with Nancy and she knows how that's done. If we could get a surrogate mother for them, then it's just figuring out how to modify the conception spell.”

“I've really not heard of it being done that way,” Wendy said. “But then I was never omniscient.”

“Well let me look at that spell and I'll see if I can't reverse the way it works,” Frey said.

Wendy thought that there might be more issues making this work for two fathers. However, Frey was seriously determined and one of the few who might be able to pull off such a spell modification. And she couldn't forget that heartbreak of telling them it was impossible. Wendy nodded and summoned the journal to hand over. “All right, I trust that you can do the impossible here.” She winked. “Go for it.”

* * *

 

Elves developed more slowly than other humanoids. Half-elves could develop at the same rate as their other parent or somewhere in between. In Dorothy's case, she seemed to be developing near as slow as a full elf. She was almost two years old and was just now getting the hang of walking on her own. It was another sign that she was more like a full elf than half. But, her face did seem very much like Wendy's.

In a few hours, Meg would be at the theater helping with an evening show. But on these days when Wendy was working downstairs in the store, she worked upstairs in their home to watch over Dorothy. She worked on her own composition today. Meg had many songs she'd written, but she rarely played any of them except to herself before. With some encouragement from Wendy and her friends, she was trying to get a song set to make a record out of. She didn't think it would sell a lot, although there was that little hope that it would. But she had to decide which songs and make sure they were in good form for others to hear. That wasn't easy.

Dorothy suddenly called out happily, pointing towards the door to the stairs. Meg paused in playing and heard the door opening in the general store. However, it wasn't the usual footsteps coming in; it was a soft glide that any non-elf probably couldn't hear. And it was raining outside.

Downstairs, she heard Wendy say, “Audy, did you make sure you were clean coming in?”

“Yes Mom,” he said. Meg smiled. He always reverted to a siren form when he got wet, even from rain. Because of that, he could bring quite a puddle of muddy water if he came directly inside. Thankfully, his affinity to water spells gave him an easy way to rinse it off and dry out mostly. But he'd still be down there for a couple minutes until he could regain his legs to climb upstairs. He said a few stairs like the ones outside weren't bad on his tail, but a full flight was too much.

Meg got up from her chair and went over to Dorothy's play seat. “Did you want to go downstairs to greet your brother?” she asked, taking her out.

Dorothy nodded, hanging onto her as Meg carried her down the stairs. At least her physical and mental developments were at the same pace; she was still a tiny girl. Once they got into the store, Meg put her down so she could go over on her own. “Auueee!” Dorothy cried out, holding her arms out.

Auden still had his fin, sitting in a chair near the door to wait it out. He smiled and waved her over. “Hi Mama! Hi Dort! Come over here.”

Taking it slowly just in case Dorothy tripped, Meg waved back. “Hi Audy! Did you have a good day at school?”

He nodded. “Uh-huh, I got a gold star on the math test. But, um, Alice said our family was weird cause it's not like a family in a book, but I said I don't care cause I like it. But are we weird?”

“It doesn't matter how weird you are as long as you're happy,” Wendy said.

“Right, we're together because we love each other, all of us,” Meg said.

“That's good.” Once Dorothy got over to him, Auden had dried off enough to revert back to having legs and his school uniform. He picked his little sister up to put in his lap and got a hug from her for it.

* * *

 

“I am the god who rules the world.”

It was a desolate place. A stretch of harsh mountains cut off a low desert that sat at the edge of the ocean. Except in a few small spots, hardly anything grew here. Much of it was due to the dry salty land, rather gray with dull patches of brown. There was an area where plants once grew. However, that place was no longer touched by the sun. What plants had been there withered and died years ago.

The thing that blocked the sun was an enormous fortress that had been built far away. It had once been a threatening presence in the sky, a symbol of tyranny and madness. Dense with machines and completely artificial, it could have been the largest city on the continent that held Norad and Sechs, filled with industry and people. Instead, the fortress sat on the ground, inhabited by only one man: Emperor Ethelberd.

If one could call him a man. At first look, he could be. He was tall and thin, with nearly floor length hair and beard, both grayed with age. He had cold blue eyes that seemed like disdain was the highest he could think of anyone else. As one kept watching him, he didn't eat or drink anything. He talked a lot, believing in his statements even as he invented them. He stayed in his throne room, giving commands and making plans to a city where only machinery lived with him. And to those who could see runes, he was filled with corrupt power. An evil magic sustained him, having rotted out his humanity entirely, leaving a shell of hatred and vanity.

Ethelberd was tended to by a group of mechanical servants. Most of them, like the ones who kept him clean with straight hair, did not speak. One servant did, being the main thing that held conversations with him. However, it had been malfunctioning for years. It kept giving him the same reports. It agreed with him and assured him that things were going well. While it was entirely wrong, the act held and the city never left its arid hiding place.

And then, in one of the storms that was building to rain on the other side of the mountains, a lightning bolt struck down and destroyed the malfunctioning servant.

The emperor didn't notice, but the system that coordinated the machines did. It had to dismantle another machine for materials so it could replace the servant that spoke to him. As this servant was not malfunctioning, it gathered up a new report on how things stood. It included some news from years ago, but the servant only noticed that it had not been delivered to the emperor yet. It finally gave him a new report.

This made him furious. The Sechs Empire had become a republic, at first led by one of his generals but now led by some nobody that had been elected by the people. “How dare they?!” he shouted, aura energy buzzing and snapping around him. “I am the one who united them, I am the one who made them great, I am their GOD! Get me Terraclone, Feirganger, and Aquameleon! Those fools will learn what the wrath of a god is like.”

“That is further in the report, great one,” the mechanical servant said. “All three have been destroyed.”

“That's not possible,” Ethelberd said. “They're gods that I created. I can do no wrong.”

“They were destroyed by various people from Selphia, great one.”

“No, I crushed that pitiful country! I rule the world.” But he read on.

“We are the only ones who acknowledge you so, great one,” the servant said.

“What the hell happened?!” The report seemed to suggest that. No one recognized Ethelberd as important. Worse than that, there was a recent notice about earthmates. They still lived.

Wanting to know more about this inconsistent report, Ethelberd focused inward on the source of his power. But it was a fragmented faulty power. It could only show him bits and pieces of the world thriving around him (and without him). Sechs and Norad were peaceful allies, some comedian had built a successful act around mocking him, the earthmates were changing with an infusion of youthful ideas, an earthmate who had once completely ruined his early plans for domination was living a peaceful happy life...

And there was another little earthmate he couldn't forget, one of several that just the thought of ripped painfully at his soul. At a time when he'd been trying to become an earthmate to gain the power that had defeated him, he had managed to infiltrate a traditional old village full of them. He'd nearly fooled them into giving him their trust, flattering them when he hated them and would have liked nothing more than to squash them underfoot like worms trying to escape soggy ground. He had people who thought themselves wise believing him, but then some small child managed to see the truth in him and cried out that he was going to kill them.

That child was now the king of Selphia, widely loved and renown as an offbeat hero. And one of his exploits including destroying at least one of Ethelberd's created native dragons. He had been key to the nonsensical alliance and was part of the family that had created the powerful rune spheres.

Once again, Ethelberd's fortress took to the skies.


	137. I Want to be...

One family...

This whole town was underground, made for dwarves like Doug. It meant that sometimes Amber had to duck through doors, while Sven was almost always hunched over in the rooms. Thankfully, the main 'outdoors' space was large enough that they weren't troubled to get around. They didn't have to be here long either; Doug had been called in as a tribe leader to a meeting to discuss important issues for all dwarves.

Such as what to make of those like Amber and Sven who related but not exactly dwarves themselves. “They're not dwarves, we shouldn't need to count them,” one of the others said.

“They're family to dwarves, so they should be included to honor that,” Doug said, thinking that family honor would appeal to a number of them. Sometimes he thought of growing a beard to be more traditional, but then meeting with the stubborn traditionalists would put him off that idea. One didn't need a beard to be a dwarf and their ideals were not as unique as they thought.

While Doug was at the meeting, Amber and Sven walked around the town to talk to residents. They were both curious in their own ways to how life was here. Sven had enough of a beard and dwarvish look that he was readily believed as one of dwarven descent. On the other hand, Amber was instantly labeled an outsider with her wings. Sven kept close to her just in case. The dwarves here were unlikely to attack her, but were reluctant to talk to or even look at her unless he or Doug were there.

She was allowed to look over the farm they had. This group had their farmland on the side of the mountain they lived in, rather than kept in the caves with a few openings to get sunlight in. However, it was still planned by dwarves and as such, there were few flowers there. The woman who was walking with them through the fields said, “We don't want plants for the look of 'em. We want plants for food and useful purposes.”

“Flowers can be tasty,” Amber said. “Like on their own or used as herbs. And they help attract bees and butterflies, which are useful to all plants.”

“Perhaps,” the dwarven farmer said, although she sounded reluctant to say that. “We find the best plants for us don't get flashy flowers and there's no reason to go trying to make them have such blooms.”

“I guess if it works for you, you wouldn't,” Amber said, not liking it but remembering that it wasn't a good idea to start an argument with a traditionalist.

At the edge of the field, there was a statue of a large feline that carried a seed basket with her tail. “This here is a fertility goddess,” the farmer said. “She protects the fields from pests as well as blesses the crops with abundance. Also works for families looking to grow if the goddess likes their offering. What do you think of that?” She glanced up and winked at Sven.

“I have a son and another child on the way,” he said, worrying briefly about Clorica and their son Jordan. They were staying with Blossom and Ellie for the couple days the three of them were on this trip. “Our family's doing just fine.”

“I've wanted to have a child, but it hasn't happened yet,” Amber said. She wondered if praying to this goddess could help.

Without thinking much about it, the farmer said, “Course not, you got too many bad signs on you, being practically a fairy and having too much of the sky and wind in you. That won't help.”

“But that's not bad!” Amber said, feeling angry but more embarrassed at it.

“It is for bearing children,” she said.

“I'm still strong enough for it,” Amber said, but then flew off upset.

“M'am, that was rude and uncalled for,” Sven said with a sharp edge. He was trying to keep anger out of his voice, but felt strongly that her words were too callous. Careless too, in being spoken in front of the statue of a goddess.

“It's the truth, nothing bad in saying the truth,” the farmer said, although she didn't dare look up at him now.

Leaving her behind with nothing further said, Sven hurried in the direction that Amber had flown off in. He had learned a few different kinds of tracking spells for this kind of situation. As she flew, Amber wouldn't leave much physical evidence of her path behind. She had kept to a straight path and his tracking led him to the one point she'd deviated from that, to go sit on top of a boulder. Sven glanced over it, but saw no easy way for him to get up there.

“Amber?” he called. “Want to come down here and talk?”

“Um, okay,” she called back, though it took her a moment to come off and land on the ground. It had hurt her enough that she wasn't even trying to smile. “I know Nancy says I could have a hard time cause of my weight and bones, and she says I have to watch what I eat, but I thought we were just unlucky. I didn't think my element had anything to do with it.”

“You don't have to listen to her,” Sven said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “She was mean to you, and what she said is only old superstition.”

“It'd better be,” Amber said, sniffing and then hugging him.

Sven held onto her until she calmed down, then offered her his handkerchief. Since Doug was like his brother, it was only right to treat Amber like his sister. “Do you want to offer a prayer to that goddess?” Sven said. “I noticed some writing on the base, so I could tell you her name.”

“If that woman isn't there, sure, it might help,” Amber said. “But an offering... I could leave her one of my emery flowers.”

“Sure about that?” Sven asked. They were golden flowers and while dwarves didn't value flowers, they did value gold. It would be tempting to steal.

Amber nodded. “A child is precious, so if I'm praying to a goddess for help having one, I should leave something also precious.”

“That's true,” he said. “Let's head back; I'll go ahead when we get close to see if she's still around.”

Thankfully, there was no one else in the fields when they got back. Amber knelt there for several minutes in silent prayer before setting an emery flower at the goddess' paw. Sven let Doug know about the incident once he had a break from the meetings; thankfully he got her to cheer up. The next morning, they heard talk that the farmer had returned to the farm before evening to finish up her daily chores, only to see the golden flower and take it from the statue. She then got attacked by a vicious Maul Tiger, a monster said to do the bidding of that goddess at times. From that, she finally got the idea that she had been awful to Amber and apologized to her.

That wasn't the last of it either. A few days later, Dolce called Amber and Clorica to her store to let them know that she'd unexpectedly heard from the cat goddess. The deity was happy with Amber's offering and Sven's rebuke, thus saw fit to bless them both. It took some time, but they found that Clorica was now having twins and Amber finally would become a mother.

* * *

 

Amber had seen many of her friends go through pregnancy and knew that there would be troubles. But it seemed like every trouble fell on her. At first, she felt sick and tired a lot. When the sick feeling left, her legs and back started hurting. Flying became too hard to do, then climbing stairs or walking far. Now she couldn't even stand on her own and was staying in the clinic to be watched over. However, Amber had just one child in her. Both Frey and Clorica had managed to keep moving and working when they had been carrying twins. It wasn't fair, but Amber was most worried about if her baby would be born fine.

She got woken up from a nap by some talking in the other room. It wasn't clear at first, but then a little girl said, “Hush, you got to be quiet when somebody's in the clinic.” That had to be Alice.

“But if you're gonna cheer somebody up, doesn't lots of noise help?” another girl said. Probably Luna, Amber thought.

“Not here,” Dylas said quietly. “You need to be quiet because the noise worries people who aren't well. And they often need to sleep.”

“Oh, okay,” Luna said. But from the footsteps, it was more than just three of them. Amber pushed herself up so she could sit, just in case they were here to visit.

After talking briefly to Nancy, Dylas brought the older kids from around town in back to see her. “Hi Aunt Amber,” Luna said, in a quieter tone from her that was odd outside of the library. “We came to give you a present.”

“Yeah, we all worked on it,” Jordan said, offering her a large piece of paper with lots of crayon drawings on it. There were rainbows, flowers, and also her and a little winged child. The child had mismatched wings, one pink and red with the other blue and green.

“Me and Audy wrote names for everybody,” Alice said, pointing out the corner that said, in an uneven box, 'Alice, Auden, Noel, Luna, Aliya, Jordan, Shilan'.

Feeling like a sunray of joy fell on her, Amber smiled. “Oh, thank you so much! It's beautiful, I'll have to ask Nancy to hang it up by my bed so I can see it all the time.”

That made the kids happy. Dolce's older daughter Aliya said, “Yeah! We made it cause it's tough, but you're gonna be a great mommy cause you're a great auntie. Like Uncle Dylas and Uncle Lest would be great daddies too.”

“Someday,” Dylas said, acting like it wasn't a big deal in front of the kids. Amber felt bad for him, though. She didn't get a chance to say anything then since the kids then chatted about how they made the baby with boy wings and girl wings because they didn't know which it would be. And that a crayon that smelled like peaches didn't taste like them.

* * *

 

It should have been a happy time. Their child had been born, a healthy baby boy that seemed normal. Bennett had no wings, but he did have a pair of short antenna on his head. For the most part, he seemed stronger on his dwarven heritage. While he was doing fine, Amber was not. Her labor had been hard and long, leaving her barely awake when their son was born. She'd stayed in the clinic several hours and grew ill, meaning Doug had to bring Bennet back home without her.

Instead of being happy, Doug was constantly worried. Sad too, but he tried to hold that in and not let it take over. She could still recover, she could come back home tomorrow. But he worried, what if she couldn't? He didn't want to be without her when this was all out of his hands. At least he had his friends around him. Vishnal and Kiel kept his hopes up that this would turn out well and Sven even visited at night when Bennett and these worries were keeping him awake. On his own, he'd be completely gloomy. Not that this tension between both sides was much better.

Finally, Nancy came over with news he'd been waiting to hear. Amber had recovered enough that they would let him visit with Bennett instead of alone (and would really rather have them both over). She was going to be fine, if still weakened and frail for a while yet. Relieved and finally about to have the happiness of this time, Doug got Bennett and brought him over to the clinic. The newborn had been asleep, but woke up at the activity and wasn't entirely happy when he got there.

“He just got woke up when he wasn't ready,” Doug said as he came alongside Amber's bed. “It's okay, you get to be with Mommy again.”

Amber smiled widely and took Bennet from him. “Aw, sorry baby, but it's so nice to be with you again. Has he been okay?'

“Yeah, not a problem on our end,” Doug said. “Except I was really worried for you.”

“I don't ever want to do that again,” Amber said, in a serious way he usually didn't hear from her. “But still, I'm glad we got through it. We'll be happy together.”

“Right, we'll make a great life,” Doug said, feeling blessed to have both of them.

* * *

 

Another family...

“Leon, the kids are asleep.” Frey came over and quickly grabbed him, a smile on her face.

Leon smiled back. “Do we get to have some time to ourselves then?”

She chuckled, trying to keep quiet while the twins were asleep. “Sure. And there is something I've been meaning to talk to you about, about our future.”

Given how close she'd come for this, he wondered if she wanted another child. “Oh yeah? What about?”

“I've been looking at the way that Dorothy was born,” she said. “I really wanted to make it work for Lest and Dylas. And I think I've got it now. But one of the issues that must be dealt with is getting a woman to carry and deliver a child when its blood parents are both men.” She touched his chin. “I'm sorry, but it works best if that woman is me because Lest and I are siblings by blood.”

“That's quite a sacrifice you're asking out of me,” Leon said, but he smiled and kept an arm around her. “But for those two, I understand. I'd rather see them happy with their own child.”

Frey was happy to hear that and leaned into him. “Good. But there's something else, another issue that should be looked into before we even bring this up to them. I derived it from another spell which is certain to work, but the new spell itself will not be certain until I can try it out for real. While there is that sacrifice we must make later on,” she tapped his chest, “I do have something to ask you to do now. And if it works as we hope, then we're going to end up with a third child, just done a bit different. I think that'll be good, but what about you?”

“This is going to be weird, isn't it?” Leon asked, making her muffle a laugh against him. “But you're right, it wouldn't really be fair to give them this option when it's not entirely certain. Well I wasn't thinking about making our family huge, but three kids sounds like a good lot. What do you need me to do?”

* * *

 

New families moved in over the years, new children were born. There were getting to be enough people in Selphia that Dylas couldn't remember all of their names. Mostly, he knew his old friends and family here and regulars to the restaurant. He was happy to watch the other families grow and have fun. Although, there was also that jealousy and sadness in him that he kept to himself. When he watched the children playing around the town plaza or near the lake, he wouldn't see his own with them. A lot of them called him uncle, but none would call him Dad or Father.

“It's something I have to accept won't happen,” Dylas said, although the only one around to hear him was the twinkle tree as he was sitting in her branches. She had a name that was a vivid image more than words, but he and Lest were calling her Sundew from it. “It's just logical. And the good thing would be to adopt once Lest is ready. But that doesn't fit this hole...” he sighed. “Never would've dreamed I'd be so affected by it.”

Sundew's responses were getting clearer, or he was getting used to her 'voice'. She said, “You want what all nature wants. It's a sad hurt.” She was sad for him too.

“Sorry, I don't mean to make you sad over it too,” he said.

“I help?”

“I'm not sure what you could do, but thanks for the thought,” Dylas said. “Thanks for listening to me.”

“I like talking to you,” Sundew replied. “What would your dream child be?”

The question surprised him, making him wonder why the tree was curious. But he did like talking to her even when she just liked the attention. Perhaps in continually speaking to this magic tree, her understanding was growing. “I have sometimes dreamed about one, and thought about him. Mostly that I'd try to teach him in a way that he wouldn't be quite as angry, shy, or confused like I was a lot. Though, it'd be nice if he shared some of Lest's powers. Not all of them, since I wouldn't want our child to suffer under the same kind of hardship. But enough so that Lest could feel like he was passing on a legacy.”

“Dylas!” It was Vishnal, standing at the entrance to the southeast farm. “Lest's back, we need you!”

“Sorry Sundew, I have to go help Lest,” he said, patting a branch before dropping down. Vishnal was serious in tone, but more telling than that, he'd yelled for him. If it wasn't bad, he would have walked over to talk normally.

“Be good to him,” Sundew said.

Dylas ran over to meet with the butler. “How is he?”

Vishnal started walking back with him, trying to pace it to keep the exchange between them. “They took down the pillar, but he's pale and shaken. Forte said he screamed at it when he got out but hasn't said a word since. Actually, she was angry too, said it tried to threaten her daughter.”

Not only was this worse than usual, but it was stranger than usual. Lest didn't get angry often. And while he said destroying the pillars could be like a terrible argument, he'd managed to keep composed on most until he got back to the privacy of the castle. Was it something about this particular pillar that was so bad, or would the remaining pillars get even worse? There were only three left with this one gone.

In their bedroom, Lest was sitting on the couch by the fireplace. He looked ill although he didn't have any runes from curses or sickness. Volkanon said that he'd called Jones over just in case. Once Dylas sat by him, Lest hugged him and seemed like he might cry at any provocation. Some of the other pillars had made him like this; one had forced him to recall what it was like when others died. This one must have hit a nerve harder than before if he couldn't even keep composed until he got back home.

The doctor said that he was low on rune points and they didn't seem to be regenerating as they should be. But it took Jones going back to the clinic to look up information than coming back with other checks to find what was wrong. “His spirit's been jarred out of place, could have been thrown out of his body,” Jones said, using spells along Lest's chest to fix that. He was asleep for that, so the doctor added, “It would have been fatal. He should keep out of Rune Prana for a moon cycle at least, also from any major spell work.”

Dylas had to bite down on a curse. They had yet to inform anyone else that Lest had an Etherlink bond active in him. In this case, the pillar must have made it hard for him to focus on reattaching his self to his body. But Dylas could agree to the restrictions. Once they'd found the key to getting through the pillar's defenses, Lest and Frey had been working steadily at taking them down. “Thank goodness he survived that,” he said. “Is this going to calm him down when he wakes up?”

“It'd help, but we didn't hear what he saw from the pillar,” Jones said. “He will be easily agitated or upset for a time, as well as at high risk for possessions until his body and spirit connections readjust to normal. Stick by him as much as you can.”

“Sure,” he said, something he'd been planning on doing.

When Lest woke back up, Jones was already gone. Dylas had to tell him what to be careful of. Lest was upset and now things were getting windy outside. While he still affected the weather, it wasn't all that noticeable unless it was something serious. “That's my fault,” Lest said.

“The pillar was affecting you, whatever it was showing you,” Dylas said. “Don't blame yourself for that.”

“Yeah, but...” he shuddered and looked down at his hands.

Dylas shifted over to hug him. “You're almost done with them. What happened this time?”

“Each of the pillars tries to play off some idea or emotion to keep people from messing with it,” Lest said, something they'd figured out early but it was a certain fact to start with. “This one would make you imagine your children getting hurt.”

Just hearing of it made him angry, so he snorted. “Sounds like a terrible thing to use to keep someone from destroying it.”

He did smile a bit at that. “Yeah, Forte would've pulverized it in seconds if she could touch it. When I got in contact with it, it actually started mocking me for not being able to have children with you. And that was after the monster guardian being a corrupted tree like the one we fought to wake up Amber. That one years ago had been incoherent, but the one in Rune Prana was as coherent as Sundew which made it really hard for me to fight it. I'm sorry, Dylas, but I had been thinking that adopting would be just fine, once I could handle it, but that pillar just made me feel so horrible about not being able to have our child, I just... I don't know....”

Dylas had to be the stronger of them here, but the reminder of that was another twist of the knife. “Yeah, it doesn't quite fit what you feel you need.”

* * *

 

When Lest got out to take care of his farm, Sundew tried to cheer him up. That did help as she was a dear friend to him. But then she surprised him by asking, “What is your dream child like?”

“Why are you asking that?” Lest responded.

“I want to hear it,” she said, a strong touch of curiosity in her. With conversations like this, Lest hardly saw her like a tree anymore even if he took care of her like the others.

He had to think about it. “I'd mostly been thinking about that in terms of when we'd adopt a child, but, I was thinking of one who was active and liked being outside. You know, one that would like helping me out on the farm or going out fishing with Dylas. Though I would have gone along with whichever one got along with Dylas quickly. I hadn't really thought of what I'd want for myself, since it just never came into my mind. But after this pillar, I understand better what he's been feeling like, like we're inadequate. Or maybe wrong for thinking of ourselves when we got married. Still, I don't want to feel like I regret marrying him and any ways I could think of to give him his own child, well, they make me uncomfortable. It would have been nice if that spell Wendy and Meg used could work.”

“There should be something,” Sundew said, to his surprise. “I feel it, deep root knowing past me. Don't give up hope.”

“I guess I could ask Frey if she could help me do some research on that kind of magic,” Lest said.

That evening, that conversation came back into Lest's mind when Frey brought up the subject of if they wanted children. She, Leon, and their three children Luna, Noel, and Marie had come over to share dinner with them. Leon was keeping the kids distracted for a few minutes for them to discuss it. “We actually got Marie through using the original spell and my revised reversal of it,” Frey explained. “It'd be easier with just the revised version as long as you have a surrogate mother. And since it would work best with someone related by blood to one of you, Leon and I are willing to help you out on this. We just need to wait for my cycle to be right, but I figured I'd let you know so you two have some time to discuss it.”

Dylas was immediately excited for that. “That's amazing, thank you,” he said, giving her a hug.

“I had to do offer as soon as it might be possible,” she said, patting his back.

“We were going to wait until we were done with Rune Prana, but it is great that you made it work,” Lest said. He felt happy but at the same time, he felt really uncertain about doing this now.

“I know, I was thinking that too,” Frey said, letting go of Dylas and being very serious now. “But I've been keeping track of how the fights against these pillars go and comparing them to observations we made before. Especially with what happened this time.”

“Is it going to be worse with the other three?” Dylas asked.

“Two of them won't be as bad, as long as you do wait until things settle down from the last one. Those I'm sure can be destroyed easily then. But one could be just as bad.” Lest could sense sadness and guilt in her about this, but she was trying not to let that show outwardly. “I know it's risky, but given what I'm seeing, you're going to need to keep focused on all that you love and everything you have to come back to in order to deal with that one, Lest. It'll be your best defense.”

“Is it another hate based one?” he asked. The one he'd face that was filled with hate hadn't been too bad really. In it, his wedding ring kept glowing, reminding him that he had a greater love.

Frey shook her head. “No, it's got no love-based runes in it at all, not even corruptions. The one I'm worried about is focused on solitude. That's why I thought this could help now, that if you had to return for your child, your will to resist would be stronger.”

It made sense. But this last battle made Lest more worried about Typhoon taking over. The demon was growing stronger inside him and might be able to start manifesting signs of itself soon. If he could go right back to take care of those last three pillars, it might work out and he could take Etherlink and Typhoon out before the risk grew. Now he had to wait a month. And he might worry about what would happen with his child if Typhoon took over his body..

Then again, Dylas was bright with happiness and excitement at hearing that they could become parents too. He'd been at a slippery line for the past couple of years with his depression as that lack kept eating at him. Lest managed to keep him from getting too dark, but then he'd felt that lacking so sharply this week himself. While he didn't think the solitude pillar would be as bad as Frey was making it out to be, she did make sense in that this would give him a good reason to bear that suffering while he needed to.

He could still beat Typhoon. With those thoughts in mind, Lest agreed to take Frey up on her offer.

* * *

 

Families as of Winter 90, 1617

-Amber and Doug

Bennett (16 months old)

-Clorica and Sven

Jordan (5 years old)

Nadine and Isadora (20 months old)

-Dolce and Vishnal

Aliya (5 years old)

Glynna (3 years old)

Rajan (9 months old)

-Frey and Leon

Luna and Noel (6 years old)

Marie (2 years old)

-Meg and Wendy

Auden (7 years old)

Dorothy (4 years old)

-Nancy and Jones

Alice (6 years old)

-Xiao and Kiel

Shilan (5 years old)

Kevian (2 years old)

-Forte and Arthur

Carol (3 years old)

child due mid spring 1618

-Lest and Dylas

child due late spring 1618


	138. Good Luck Charm

Spring 15, 1618

There was school today, so Noel and Luna were getting themselves ready. They had a school uniform, a green and yellow set made up of a shirt and pants during cool weather. While they had to have that, they could add their own accessories. Luna liked to have flowery headbands, but Noel didn't like anything on his hair or near his ears. Once they were dressed and made sure their bags were ready, they went to have breakfast with their parents and little sister.

“What's on your school agenda today?” Frey asked them.

“It's a story day!” Luna said, excited for it. “Our group has a story that's about airships and we're gonna talk about maps too.”

“Ah, map reading is an important skill, so make sure you pay attention,” Leon said, smiling. He must have liked the story idea too.

“Uh-huh, we will,” Luna said.

“I want to learn to read treasure maps and look for pirates,” Noel said.

“Regular maps will help you figure that out,” Leon said. “Learn those first.”

Noel grinned. “Okay.”

“Um, can we go see Uncle Lest after school?” Luna asked. “Uncle Dylas said he was sick yesterday so we couldn't see him then.”

“That depends on if he's feeling better,” Frey said. “Make sure to ask Dylas or one of the butlers if you can, okay? And be nice to Lest if you can see him, he needs it.”

“Okay, we'll ask,” Luna said.

“What's wrong with him?” Noel asked. “Cause Dylas said he was sick but someone else said that he was really sad.”

“He's kind of sick with the sadness,” Leon said. “You know how he's been closing the road with the really scary monsters inside? He has to fight one that makes anyone that comes near it feel an empty solitude, like if you were completely alone for a long time.”

“That's scary,” Luna said, feeling bad for her uncle. She didn't want to feel like everyone had left her by herself for a long time. “We'll be good for him.”

“Yeah, we can cheer him up,” Noel said.

“It could be hard, but that would be good of you,” Leon said, ruffling his hair.

“I'm worried that it's been taking him this long, though,” Frey said. “I knew it would be hard, but I figured he could get through it by now. Still, it's the last one and that road needs to come down.”

“I've been thinking about going in with him next time,” Leon said.

“Are you gonna be okay facing scary things like that?” Luna asked, worried about him.

“Yeah, you sure about that?” Frey asked, also worried.

“I've faced a solitude monster before, so I have some experience with them,” Leon said. “I'd like to talk with him as a priest and see if that helps him, but it would help me to know how to proceed if I can see exactly what he's facing this time. There has to be something that can keep him from letting the solitude get to him. Besides, Sven's been going with him most of the time and anybody is a thousand times safer when he's around.”

“We do need to find what the problem is to help him,” Frey said. “You be careful in there.”

The schoolhouse wasn't far from their home, but Luna and Noel talked with each other about what they could do to cheer their uncle up so he could beat the solitude monster. They had only come up with seeing if he wanted to play with them by the time school started. As the school taught all of the children in town that were over five years old, there were twenty-five students in all. They worked in one of the two groups of younger students along with Auden, Alice, Aliya, Jordan, and Shilan, usually with a funny but nice woman they called Mistress Trupin.

After the usual start of school with a prayer, attendance taking, and turning in homework, the story day started with Mistress Trupin reading the story to them. It was about a girl who got to go on an adventure on an airship, eventually becoming a famous captain. It was an exciting story with lots of good pictures in the book. But there was a thing in it that bothered Luna, something she brought up when they discussed what they thought of the book afterwards. “Why'd her mom have to be so mean to her? That wasn't a good mom.”

“Yeah, it was like her mom didn't want her to have fun at all,” Aliya said. “You got to do chores, but you shouldn't have to do all chores with no fun.”

“There are some people who are just mean and there's not a lot that can be done about them,” Mistress Trupin said. “And it's a small story, so you only see a little piece of their lives. Maybe outside the story, her mom learned to be nicer. How could she do that?”

“She's got to be nice to her daughter first,” Aliya said. “And apologize.”

“Yeah, that would help,” Alice said.

“She could say she's proud of her and ask how things are,” Jordan said. “You can't just say what's bad about somebody, you should tell them what they did good. Like she should tell her she did great to become a captain at the end and talk to her more even if she's busy.”

“Yeah, my mom and dad always ask me how things went every day even if they get busy a lot,” Shilan said. The rest of the group agreed with him that that was a good thing for parents to do.

“Well you kids should do the same for your parents,” Mistress Trupin said. “One good turn deserves another. If they're good to you, be nice to them and let them know that you appreciate them.”

After lunch time passed, Trupin taught them how to read a map and compass like the airship girl could. She showed them a map of all of Norad first, then one of the Selphia region. Finally, she let them see a street map of Selphia town. “Why's there a red dot here by the market?” Noel asked, pointing it out.

“I don't know, maybe someone was using this map for something,” their teacher said. “Do you think you could find where near the market the dot is?”

“Isn't it by the fairy fountain?” Audy asked. “Cause it's right in the middle at the front.” The rest of their group nodded in agreement.

“It could be,” Mistress Trupin said, looking at the clock. “We have some time; do you want to go there and look around?”

“Yeah!” She had them put away their school supplies for the day before heading out to go look at the fairy fountain.

As it was a Tuesday, there wasn't a lot of activity at the marketplace. The fairy fountain was pretty and sparkling as it always was. Today, there was a piece of paper taped to the bottom of one of the bowls. The adults would have trouble seeing it, but most of them could see it there. It had a red dot in the corner like the one on the map, along with a rough map of the lake area. When they compared the two maps, the drawn one didn't entirely match the official street map. They headed to the lake next to check out the spot that was different.

There, they took a few minutes to find a card attached to a rock. It had a set of letters and numbers that didn't seem to make sense. But some looking at the street map showed that it was a set of coordinates that indicated the southwest part of the town plaza. Excited at this unexpected hunt, the students and teacher headed there to look around the square indicated. This took longer because it was a bigger space; it led to a bigger mystery in another rough map that wasn't clear on where it was. There was an 'N' indicated where north was, a few lines and boxes describing something, and a bunch of dots all in rows and columns. Only one of the dots was red.

“Maybe the box is a building,” Alice said. “But what's all the dots?”

Luna saw the crooked line to the west of the probable building and all the dots to the east of it. “Is it the airfield? Because there's a building down there and lots of the anchor poles to tie airships to. And that would be the cliff.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Noel said. “So is the next spot is at one of the poles in front of the building down there?”

“We'll have to be careful going down there, in case there's airships coming in,” Mistress Trupin said.

That seemed like the most likely place, so they headed down to the airfield to figure out which anchor pole had been marked. They had to work out setting the map so the top of it faced north, then counting poles over to find the red one. Once they figured that out, they discovered a metal box hidden in the grass there. There was a paper taped on it that said, 'If you've found two maps and one card from another map, then congratulations! This is yours, enjoy.' Inside, they found little bags of chocolate coins, enough so they all could have one each. There were also some little treasures and toys that they had to divide up fairly (or Mistress Trupin wouldn't let them have any of it). Noel got a little cardboard model of an airship to put together while Luna got a crafting blueprint for a good luck charm.

As they were happily celebrating their finds, they had to clear out of the airfield as the mail ship was landing there. Mistress Trupin let them stay on the airfield to watch the mail ship come down. Nem waved to them as she came down to tie the ship to the pole. “Hey kids! What's going on?”

“We got to study airships and maps today, and even found a treasure map!” Noel called over.

“That's exciting,” Nem said. “Hey, if you're studying airships, want to come look around on board? If you promise to do what we say, we can even let you see the engine room.”

That made the day even better, so they agreed and got to come look around the airship up close. Nem and Helena turned on their map to show them what they used to navigate, then took them below deck to the engine room to explain how the airship flew. While their airship didn't seem as big as the one in the book, Helena said it was probably just as fast or faster because they made the mail ship to be the fastest mail ship in the whole nation.

Once they got back to the schoolhouse, Mistress Trupin told them to write something about the airship or map adventure for their homework. Luna and Noel went back home after school was out to drop off their bags and chocolate coin bags, then headed out to see about finding Lest. It didn't take them long since they spotted him walking towards the wall at the end of their home street. He had Uno with him today. “Uncle Lest!” Noel called out as they ran up to him. “Can you play with us today?”

When he turned to them, he looked tired and took longer than usual to reply. “Oh, no, not right now. I have to make sure...” he looked around at the houses around them.

“What're you looking for?” Noel said.

“You look tired, you shouldn't be working like that,” Luna added. Their dad often said that to their mom, although she didn't always listen and would be grouchy the next day.

“Have to make sure we're ready in case of Typhoon,” Lest said, studying the houses before looking back at them. “It's okay, I have to know; don't want to miss something.”

Noel and Luna looked at each other, quietly deciding between them that they ought to stay with their uncle just in case. He didn't seem right. “Can we walk around town with you then?” Luna asked.

“I suppose, might not be interesting,” Lest said. He wanted to go along the wall there down to the lake, then spend a long time just looking at the water.

After failing to start a conversation with him, Luna went over to Noel and whispered to him, “He doesn't have his bracelet on.”

“Don't the butlers find him with that?” Noel asked, his ears shifting down in worry. “That's no good. They might be worried.”

“We should get him back to the castle,” Luna said. She was worried too, not she wasn't sure what else to do.

They got him back by asking to see his orchard. As they got into the plaza, Volkanon rushed out to meet them. “Sir Lest! What are you doing? We couldn't find you.”

“I was checking on something, don't worry,” Lest said in a tired way.

“We found him and thought he should come home for a nap,” Luna explained.

“Thank you, you're good kids,” Volkanon said, taking Lest by the arm. “I'll take care of him now.”

“I have to make sure...” Lest started to say, but trailed off as the butler brought him inside.

Since their uncle was being watched over, the twins headed back home to do their homework writing as well as some crafting practice. Marie wasn't old enough to have magic, but they were and both needed to do some kind of crafting to use it. Noel put together his model while Luna decided to practice tying knots. At dinner, Frey happily put the little airship model in the center of the table to show it off.

“I want a real airship,” Noel said after they talked about the model.

“You can't have one now,” Frey said.

“Why not?” Noel said, pouting about it.

“It's too expensive and you're not old enough to fly it,” she said.

“But I waaant it,” he whined.

Unfortunately she was firm about the refusal. “Sorry, but that can't be done.”

Leon then nudged him. “Look, if you can get your crafting skill high enough to make one, then you can make one just like you did this one.”

“Really?” Noel asked, intrigued at that idea. That seemed even better than getting a real airship, being able to make it by himself.

“Oo, that's quite a project,” Frey said, smiling at it. “You'd have to master a lot of aspects of crafting to do that: wood, electronics, metal, glass, engines, balloons, canvas, lots of different materials that need to be made excellently. You'll have to study a lot and make it well enough that NACC will approve it for flight. But if you can do it, by all means build one.”

Noel grinned. “Yeah! I'll do it!”

To get started, Leon took him over to the library after dinner to pick out a book that talked about how airships worked. There were lots of parts to an airship and it could take a long time to build. And there was a lot he had to learn. But Noel thought it would be the best thing if he had his own airship and could go anywhere with it. For that, it'd be worth all the work.

Luna came into his room while he was looking over pictures of airship balloons. “Can you really build one?” she asked.

“I have to learn lots and lots of stuff,” he said, putting the book on his bed. “But I can do it, I'm sure! Then we can fly anywhere we want!”

She laughed. “That would be fun! Oh, but I've been thinking, our family is great, isn't it? We got lots of amazing aunts and uncles, and Gran is an awesome knight with Gramps, and we've got fun cousins to play with. But our parents are the most awesome of all.”

“Yeah, they are!” Noel said, brightening up. “We got the best parents in town.”

“Yeah,” Luna said with a nod. “A lot better than that silly mom in today's story. Mistress Trupin said that you should appreciate your parents and I really do, so I got this,” she held out the blueprint she'd gotten from the treasure chest today, “so we can make them a present. Marie's not old enough to help, cause she'd probably tear it or chew it, but we should make one for each of them.”

“That's a great idea,” he said, taking the blueprint to look at it. Their Mom had already shown them how to look at blueprints and understand the simple ones. This one looked easy enough. “Um, but how are we going to get the materials without them finding out? Like the tassel part.”

“I can tie tassels,” she said. “That's what I was practicing today, it wasn't hard. But we do have to get some cloth and string, and it needs a certain pen to write on the charm. The cloth and string aren't hard, but we'd have to borrow the right pen from Mom or Dad.”

“Mom doesn't let us borrow her magic pens,” Noel said. “Dad might. And we'd have to ask Mom to use the craft room by ourselves.”

Luna nodded, bothered by it. “Yeah, so we have to ask them but we can't tell them why.”

Then Noel got an idea. “Oh, we can ask Dad about borrowing the pen to make the gift for Mom and ask Mom to use the crafting room by ourselves to make the gift for Dad. They won't tell each other about a surprise.”

“Yeah, that could work!” She clapped her hands. “Good, so let's go ask!”

Noel looked at the blueprint again to see what kind of pen it needed. “Okay, I got it.”

“Oh, but, do you think we should make another for Uncle Lest?” Luna added. “Because it's a good luck charm and he could use extra help beating this last monster. He's gonna be a dad soon too, so he can't be fighting those strong scary monsters all the time.”

The idea made him feel funny for a bit, like the charm should be made and someone had asked them to do it without saying anything. “Yeah, he didn't look good today,” Noel agreed. “He should get one too so he's safe.”

“Okay, so we'll make three tomorrow,” Luna said.

With that plan in mind, they headed downstairs to see about asking their parents about it. First they went to Marie's room where Frey was getting her ready for a bath. “Can we borrow the crafting room to make a gift for Dad?” Luna asked, holding onto her blueprint. “I got this in the treasure box and we want to make him one.”

“Sure, do you want some help on it?” Frey asked, happy with their idea.

“No, we can do it ourselves,” Noel insisted. They couldn't let her see they were making three rather than just one.

“Yeah, we got it,” Luna said.

After thinking about it, she nodded. “That charm is simple enough, so alright. Just be careful with the fabric scissors.”

“Um, do you think he'll like it?” Luna asked. Noel wondered about that too. They didn't want to make something they wouldn't like.

“If you two make it, I'm sure he'll love it just for that,” Frey said.

“I help?” Marie asked, looking at them.

“No, you can't,” Noel said. Marie pouted at that, sticking her lower lip out.

“I'll do a craft with you tomorrow while they're working on theirs,” Frey said, poking Marie's nose.

Since that would probably keep Frey and Marie out of the crafting room while they worked, they thanked her for it and went to find their Dad. Leon was in the living room listening to a record and reading a book. He was working on learning a new language that way. Because of that, they walked over to him and didn't say anything until he lifted the needle on the phonograph to pause it. “Need something?” Leon asked.

“Yeah, we want to make a gift for Mom but we need the right pen to make it work,” Noel said. Luna offered the blueprint to Leon so he could check it. “Can we borrow one of yours?”

Briefly, he frowned at the thought. “That's one of the magical pens. Not an especially strong one, but still, you need to be careful when writing with it. Do you want me to write it out for you?”

“No, we can do this one,” Noel said. “We just have to be careful and write it up in pencil first to make sure it fits and gets spelled right.”

“Good, you remember that,” Leon said. “All right, I’ll get it to you when you get back from school tomorrow.”

“Thanks Daddy,” Luna said. “But she could make it herself, so do you think she'd like it?”

“I'm sure she'll love it because you two made it for her,” Leon said, messing up Luna's hair now. She giggled.

They had what they needed now, so they waited until tomorrow to work on the charms.

* * *

Spring 17

Leon took his time preparing for the day. Later on, he'd be going out to Darryl's Tower and, from there, into Rune Prana with Lest and Sven. They would have to wait until evening to go, but he meant to spend today with Lest. As he brushed his hair and tail out, he started singing to reach Dylas. “How is Lest doing this morning?”

“He's working in his fields like usual,” Dylas replied, calm but there was a slight tone of worry. “In a decent mood, but he got really distracted in some worry yesterday afternoon with little warning. Hasn't been the first time either. This last pillar's getting to him.”

“Wish there was some way we could send something in with him as a reminder,” Leon said. “Like you all sent me with a charm into my hell gate.”

“He says his wedding ring helps, but there gets a point where the solitude gets oppressive and even that doesn't help. Even if he has trained his empathy better, he still needs to be around others.”

“Maybe if he had more reminders with him?” Amber asked, jumping into their conversation.

“Whatever would let him finish this,” Dylas said. “He's really stressed over failing to so many times now and was telling me last night that he was scared of not being able to finish by the time our child is born. Not only that, but the twinkle tree in the orchard has been quiet and strange for a long time. He can't figure out if something's wrong with her or what, so that's more trouble he's got to handle.”

“That worries me about us going out tonight,” Leon said, still working on his hair. “Sounds like he should step back and take a break until he's not as stressed.”

“He won't agree to that easily,” Dylas said. “I hope you find some way to help him break it today; that would definitely help.”

“Maybe you should take him on a date in a couple of days to cheer him up,” Amber suggested.

“That could help,” Leon said, then noticed some quick movement nearby. Noel was there, smiling wide and trying to get his attention. Once he had it, he handed back his pen. Right, they would have that done for Frey. Leon smiled and gave a slight nod. 'In a sec,' he mouthed, before singing back to the others, “Sorry, got to cut things off here. Noel's trying to get my attention for something.” His heart added a bit of a happy trill to that. His brother and sister sounded happy in response.

Following Noel into the dining room, he found Frey setting up breakfast for them all. Two year old Marie was already in her booster seat and eating while Luna wasn't yet in her seat. Marie had the lightest features from him of the three kids, with slightly pointed ears that didn't even have fur. But judging by Dolce's kids, it was mostly chance like anything else. Her elder daughter Aliya had no signs of her mother's flexibility, but the younger daughter Glynna had a really hard time walking for hers. Luna and Noel both had the ears so well that it was obvious to see they were excited this morning.

“You two have been plotting something, haven't you?” Leon teased them, knowing full well that they had.

“Certainly seems like it,” Frey said, amused.

“Yeah!” Noel said. But then he turned around and handed him a handmade charm as well as a folded paper. “Here!”

“And here,” Luna said, giving another charm to Frey.

“Oh?” Frey asked, seeming surprised as she looked over the charm.

That was sweet of them, Leon thought, but then when he put his thumb near where the writing on it was, he felt something: this item had a very high quality, especially for having been crafted by children. He knew the twins had a lot of talent like their mother, but he usually didn't notice this kind of power in other charms. And Frey had to notice that too. “Now what's the occasion for really good presents like this?” he asked.

“You got to read the letter too,” Noel insisted.

“Okay, okay,” Leon said, opening it up. It was a sweet letter, a bit misspelled when they'd gotten ambitious in their word choice. They wanted to show their appreciation for having really good parents. There had been a lot of lost sleep, messes, fixing stuff that got broke in play, and missed chances to just go off and do something that had come with this. Nearly everything in his life was dictated by what the kids needed or wanted and there were times that he was tempted to go off and leave all this heavy responsibility behind. But then, there were greater moments like this that were worth well beyond all the trouble the kids brought.

“Oh, you two did a wonderful job on these, thank you,” Frey said, touched enough that she was nearly in tears as she hugged Luna. She was surprised, but then grinned and hugged her mom back.

“Yeah, it's more like we have the best kids in the whole world,” Leon said, grabbing Noel and flipping him upside down to hug near his chest. Noel yelped, but laughed at it.

“Um, but we had one for Uncle Lest too,” Luna said. “He's doing dangerous stuff, so we wanna help too.”

“He'd love one too, I'm sure,” Frey said. “But you'd better come eat breakfast so you have time to get it to him before school.”

“Or we could sneak you two out of school around lunch and go have a picnic in his farms,” Leon said, getting shouts of delight from all three of the kids. He'd have to get together with Dylas and Lest to make something for a picnic lunch, but he was pretty sure the two of them would be happy to go along with it.

* * *

The landscape inside Rune Prana changed from time to time. When Lest entered, it could be a dirt path through the grasslands, or a rocky mountain trail, or even a road through a seemingly endless city. This time was particularly strange, being a road of glowing glass that was surrounded by a starry sky and dark landscape. He was followed in by Leon, Sven, Sano, and Uno. They had determined early on that the foxes were fine on their own in Rune Prana and Lest's charms could protect two more coming with them. And people weren't letting him sneak off into the road on his own anymore. But that was fine with Lest. Especially this time, with this final pillar.

As they came to the turn that headed to the last pillar, the whole area shook. Stars fell out of the sky and cracks appeared in the glass road. “Are we going to be all right getting out of here if it's this unsteady already?” Leon asked, not stumbling much this time. This was the fifth quake of the road.

“Who knows?” Lest said bluntly. “But we're definitely going to want to use Escape to get out as soon as I'm out.”

“It could be good if it collapses on its own because then we won't have to do anything more with it,” Sven said, pulling out his scythe. The main part of the road had been quiet as usual, but if he was prepping his weapon, there had to be monsters close by.

There were. Black goblins, dragons of all hues (Frey would be so disappointed to see them go), powerful orcs, even cryptids, and more, they'd run into these monsters in all the other paths but the road was doing its best to defend its last pillar. Although it wasn't as many as they'd run into on their last run through here. Rune Prana was losing power along with stability. When they got to the pillar's room, it only had enough to throw a Skelefang at them.

Once the Skelfang was dust, the area went quiet. “We're okay for a couple of minutes,” Sven said, pacing around and trying to figure in the unreal landscape how much room they really had. “It's trying to pull a monster gate in, but the pull is weak.”

“All right, if it goes well, that's all the time we need,” Lest said, bracing himself. He could destroy these nearly as soon as he left his body; he'd done it before. But, that had been with pillars that couldn't speak to him much. There had been one full of anger at the unfairness of how the world worked, but Lest's anger was so dangerous that he blocked it out on reflex. There had been one full of sorrow at death, but he'd recovered from his own loss and could use that strength against it. This pillar, though, it was a lonely one and that hurt.

Leon put his hand on Lest's shoulder. They'd talked a lot through today, which had helped. He wasn't dreading this quite as much as he had this morning. “We can't be leaving the monsters here to our children,” Leon said quietly. “But you've got to come back too.”

“I know,” Lest said, feeling a warm glow from the charms that Luna and Noel had given them today. Perhaps that could get him through, a reminder of the love of those he was doing this for.

Coming around to face him, Leon put his fan on Lest's forehead and recited a prayer over him. Not one of his spells, but a heartfelt plead to the gods to be watching over him. Lest thanked him for that, then headed to the pillar. It was a red obelisk that seemed to stretch far overhead, emitting a sound like a heartbeat. When they'd faced the first pillar, it had been a sound to fill their minds and drown out their words. This was barely audible and somehow more unsettling for it. Just like the door into the tower, the others found the pillars solid but Lest could walk straight through them.

It was much colder inside the pillar than out, the loneliness trying to invade his heart already. While it was a weight, he'd come in with more protection against it specifically. Lest sat down in the middle and made sure he was steady before having his soul leave his body. An important part of the pillar's structure was below him and once he let go of his restraint, his rune breaking power would cause it to come undone. But the other part was far overhead where he couldn't physically reach and both had to come apart within seconds of each other or they'd just reform themselves.

Other pillars talked to him as his perception shifted further from his body. They would try to convince him to strengthen them, to make it so death had no meaning at all. Not this one. It was full of silence. Far enough and he couldn't even hear himself think. Lest was walking alone and feeling something akin to the death of his emotions. There was no one around; even the signs of others like his wedding ring and the charm from the twins seemed to be escaping him. For a moment, he forgot what he was doing and the silence was so overbearing that he wanted to run back to where others were.

But we can't leave this to our children. Put an end to everything... no. you've got to come back too.

The silence overtook him so much that he couldn't think of his own name. But he could finally hear something, faint and far off, some children singing and laughing. We can't leave this to them.

This must end.

The pillar shattered along with the silence and Lest found himself gasping far below himself. That was finally done, the quest was finally done. Tugging at the etherlink that kept his soul with his body, he quickly returned and stood up as the physical pieces of the pillar came apart. Someone... Leon grabbed him and cast Escape as the road seemed to have a seizure. It was over.

No it wasn't. They'd barely come out of the teleport when a powerful poisonous emotion cut right through Lest. The protection he'd brought against the pillar of loneliness tried but failed utterly in face of the hate that was nearby. Crying out at the sudden pain, Lest clung tighter onto Leon, his wedding ring shining out of the effort it was giving just trying to fight it. “What?' Leon asked, startled at his condition and worried.

While Leon didn't understand, Sven immediately snapped into his defensive mind and took hold of Lest. “Seal the doorway as tight as you can,” he ordered. “We don't want him getting in there even as it's collapsing.”

Leon nodded and immediately went to work, not thinking to ask questions until the doorway into Rune Prana was sealed. “What's going on?'

“Emperor Ethelberd is out there,” Sven said, certain of it. “If he's here in Selphia, we have to deal with him quickly. But we can't have Lest near him.”

Leon nodded and went over to the teleport ring that Frey had put in years ago. Sven kept his arm around Lest, so he nodded and gripped the knight's hand to try walking over there. But Leon didn't get over there before something entered the basement of the tower and fired at him. It missed, striking the ring instead and destroying it. Reacting quickly, Leon fired his own prismatic beam at the machine soldier that had come in, destroying it in turn.

“Lest's the only one that can teleport out of here properly,” Leon said. “Where is the emperor?”

“I can't be sure, but he has to be nearby,” Sven said.

Lest wasn't in a state to add in his thoughts and just followed along when they decided they'd get to the door and get back to town immediately. Another pair of machine soldiers came in as they went up the stairs, but Sano and Uno had hurried ahead to take care of them before they could attack. As they got closer to the door, Lest knew this was a mistake. But they were trapped. There was no going back into Rune Prana, there was no getting out of the tower sooner, and they found the emperor waiting on them in the open field at the paws of the fox tower.

Even worse, he had a barrier up around the tower faster than either Sven or Leon could get Escape cast. “Well this is a lucky stroke,” Ethelberd said. “I thought I was going to do something to lure you out of town, Lest,” he spat the name out with such distaste that Lest flinched, “but I'll take you coming to me without question. We're going to my castle.”

“I'll get out as soon as you do,” Leon said hastily, getting his ankh spear ready. Then he charged out with Sano and Uno joining him. “You're not taking him!”

Ethelberd scowled and before any of them could get close, cast another spell that was so powerful that the intensity of the runes blinded Lest for a second. The ground melted and a powerful crack thundered around them. As his vision came back, Darryl's Tower was falling backwards, taking a portion of the cliff it was on with it. There was nothing left of Sano and Uno that he could see, save maybe some pebbles with glistens of jewels among them. Leon was on the ground and could not be sensed; Sven loosened his hold and collapsed beside him. The only reason Lest got out without a scratch was because the knight had taken the damage for him.

In a blur, Ethelberd had him and yanked him far enough out of the tower to dismiss his barrier and teleport them away. They emerged in a strange room where a cloudy gray sky was the ceiling and arcane patterns shone bright on the floor. There were archways casting powerful lights on them and a black throne surrounded by strange devices. When the emperor shoved him away, Lest fell on the ground. How did anybody get such powerful hatred within them?

“Get us in the air!” Ethelberd barked. A dozen of machine servants came alert to his command, causing the floor to tremble. “We have one of the two, don't need to hide anymore. Take a position a mile around Selphia Castle and draw out the heat from overhead, just to below freezing. And you,” he came back over to Lest, looked down at him, and snorted. “Pitiful. But that isn't enough, not nearly enough. Here.” He shoved something into Lest's hands.

He started at the rune sphere for a moment, not quite believing that it was there. They were still in the rune springs, right? Then he turned it and saw it couldn't be the others. Breaks in the light revealed thin cracks that filled the sphere, some barely a hairbreadth. This sphere could shatter in an instant.

“Fix it,” the emperor demanded. “Or I'll keep draining the heat from Selphia until the ice traps everyone inside and freezes them to death.” He then turned away and ordered one of the machine servants to go take him to a lab and make sure he stayed there.

Now that Ethelberd's attention wasn't on him, Lest could force himself onto his feet and follow the machine away. More to get away from the emperor as far as they would let him; he didn't think he could get anything done near him. Going under one of the arches brought them somewhere else in the floating fortress, much to Lest's relief.

But, fix this rune sphere? He knew Etherlink now, but he didn't know where to start with using it on this sphere, much less repair the cracks in it. If he failed and it shattered, it could be deadly. A couple of his ancestors had died to just such a mistake and they had known what they were doing. And they wouldn't have to fight a natural ability to break runes to form these bonds with runes. He had to do something. But, what?

Before long, he couldn't think about the repairs or let go of the sight he'd just seen. Lest had sensed Sven there, just barely managing the willpower to survive the blast. If he could stay conscious long enough, he should be able to teleport home without the tower there anymore. But, Leon? Had Leon survived even that much? That spell had come out so fast, the emperor had to have been using the rune sphere to do that. What could he do with an intact one?

In the lab, Lest looked around just long enough to find a place to very carefully set the sphere down. Then he went over and dropped onto a simple bed that had been left in here, his knees weak. Putting one hand over his wedding ring, Lest closed his eyes. “Dylas, Dylas... please tell me that Leon is alive. Please...”


	139. Harsh Uncertainty

Spring 17

The prince was in trouble.

Although he felt pain all through his body, Sven put his hands on the ground and pushed himself into standing up. He nearly stumbled trying to walk. He had to help the prince. But no, not in this condition. Get healed up, maybe get a sharper mind to figure out what to do, then go out and save the prince. That's what he had to do.

He glanced around and his eyes fell on Leon collapsed on the ground. Sven couldn't tell entirely what state he was in, but it didn't look good. Whatever had happened, he could at least get him home to where people who knew better could take care of them. He hurried over as best he could and knelt down to touch Leon to teleport them back to Selphia, right in front of the Tiny Bandage Clinic. He stayed alert long enough to knock on the door and get their attention, but his thoughts faded away at some point.

He had to survive, the prince was still in trouble.

* * *

Xiao was the first one in Selphia who saw it.

She was just about done for today with work at the inn when one of the guests asked her to help look for a missing bag. When they split up to search the restaurant and the windmill, Xiao climbed up the latter to find the turnip bag underneath one of the benches. She was making a quick check for the guest's name when a cool breeze blew by her. The unseasonal chill in this time of spring made her sigh, then she happened to look over at the southwestern sky before she headed down the stairs. And there were lights in the sky.

Not the aurora; it was the wrong direction for that, for one. They were too big for stars and too many for an airship. And they were on a huge shadow hanging in the sky, like an impossibly huge giant had ripped out a chunk of the earth and made it fly. Not believing the sight, Xiao rubbed her eyes and when it was still there, she took one of the nearby telescopes to take a better look at it.

One of the first things she spotted was a giant symbol of the Sechs Empire. Empire, not the Republic that Teo and his supporters had set up after getting rid of Ethelberd. Some flags near the top were waving madly. Xiao stepped back from the telescope and saw that the huge flying island had grown bigger.

“Waah, oh my god!” she cried as she turned and ran down the windmill stairs. She found the guest looking at her bewildered, but Xiao just tossed the purse her. “Sorry, sorry, get back to the inn! I've got to tell the castle.” Then she hurried down to the entrance to the farms and cut through the public flower garden. That was the fastest way to get to Doomgale who could alert the most people. However, Lest hadn't come back from the tower yet.

Why was this happening now?

* * *

Forte wasn't back home yet, Arthur wondered when she would get home tonight, but he was only mildly concerned. She was due in about a moon cycle, but she was very strong and stubborn about continuing to patrol the town until she absolutely could not manage it. Back when Carol had been born, she'd only stopped about two weeks before she gave birth and was back on duty within two more. Limited, but she always put in as much effort as she could.

Even so, it was time for Carol to be getting ready for bed. His parents had left these kind of things to maids and nannies, but Arthur always made sure that he was home to spend the evening with Carol and didn't try to do any work until she was asleep in bed. Even then, her bedroom was directly across from his home office and she knew she could come in if troubled by something.

“Can we read the story about the elefun in the circus tonight?” Carol asked as he was taking out her pigtails and brushing her hair.

“We read that one last night,” Arthur said.

“But I want to read it again!”

“All right, we'll read it again,” he said. There was a loud sound from the door. “Oh, looks like your Mom's home.”

“Good, she can read with us this time,” Carol said, holding still while he was brushing her hair. Once Forte appeared outside her bedroom, she smiled and waved. “Hi Mommy!”

Forte smiled briefly. “Hi sweetie.” Then she gave him a serious look. “Arthur, we have to talk.”

“Sure, hang on.” He offered the brush to Carol. “Do you think you can brush your hair this time?”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, taking it and focusing hard on getting this right.

Meanwhile, he went out into the hall and a bit past her doorway. “What's the matter?” he asked.

“You've got to get to the castle,” she said. “The emperor's fortress has been spotted and it's fast approaching us. Also, Sven and Leon got back from the tower in seriously bad shape; Lest wasn't with them, nor his foxes.”

“I see.” This was worse than they expected. But then there was, “Are you going to be here to watch Carol?”

She nodded. “For now, but if I have to, I'll bring her over to the castle for the night. Corrin and Art's students are coming on duty.”

“Good.” But he still had to disappoint Carol with this. Going back to the door, he said, “Carol? I'm sorry, but something important’s come up and I need to be at the castle.”

“Do you have to?” she whined. “We were going to all read together.”

“Sorry, I have to go. Be good for mom.”

Just before he got away, Forte got him and gave him a kiss. “Good luck.”

“I hope we have that,” he said, then hurried out on his way.

There was some part of him that was trying to panic, but Arthur clamped down on that. The plan had been there all along: if a time came when Lest was unavailable or incapacitated, Arthur would take over ruling Selphia until he came back. Dylas was good, but he wasn't great as a leader and didn't know half of what Lest was doing on a day to day basis. Of course, Lest had come in knowing even less, but if he wasn't around, things were already in a bad state. This wasn't a time for Arthur to be having doubts. He'd have to trust himself and find out what was going on to take care of it. This town and the people in it were too important to him to fail from some internal criticism or crisis.

He came into Doomgale's chamber and found people waiting on him. Vishnal was supposed to be off for the day by now, but he was with the other two butlers. Doomgale was sitting on the floor by them and Dylas was off in a corner. Apparently singing in a trance, he had to be doing something.

“I heard the basics from Forte, so how soon is that fortress going to get here?” Arthur asked, a list of other questions to figure out gathering in his mind. The situation with the group that had gone with Lest was worrisome, but the emperor's fortress seemed to be the gravest danger hanging over them.

* * *

Knowing that Lest was going to be in bad shape no matter how well things went tonight, Dylas left the restaurant early and went back home to the castle. They didn't plan anything big tonight, just a quiet evening for Lest to recover. He didn't know if Lest would be up to eating, but Dylas gathered some ingredients for pumpkin flan to keep in an icebox in their room. If needed, it would go together quickly with his magic and was something they'd both like. The butlers had the room clean as usual, even leaving a kettle with water near the fireplace and a tin to make some relax tea if they wanted. The main thing Dylas needed to prepare was himself.

Be a quiet but positive presence, to reassure Lest. Make sure there were no distractions outside, then inside. While he couldn't stop himself from worrying, especially if Lest came back in like he did last time, pale, shaking, and barely keeping on his feet, Dylas needed to be calm enough at the start to take control of his thoughts and keep his worry from troubling him. Control was key. Even in keeping check over his body; affectionate thoughts and feelings were fine, but anything that got heated was too jarring. This was just going to be a quiet evening, talking but mostly making sure that Lest would be okay.

There was a vibration from his bracelet; one of the butlers was trying to get his attention. Dylas left his meditations and went to the door, finding Clorica approaching. “There's trouble,” she said, her eyes looking in the way they did when she was fighting to keep awake under stress. “Leon and Sven are in the clinic; Jones closed it for emergency work.”

“What about Lest?” Dylas asked, although it was terrifying enough that something was enough to put the other two in the clinic's emergency care.

“We... don't know.” Then she was off asleep, heading back towards her office.

Swearing under his breath, Dylas hurried ahead of her to get to the basement. He didn't care how terrifying it was, he was going to go in and get Lest. But when he got to Frey's teleport ring, the light that was usually green by Darryl's Tower was red. Dylas shifted it around and every other location was green. It would not let him get there.

As he was heading down the halls, he heard Vishnal hurrying down the stairs. “Any luck?” he asked.

“No, the damn thing won't let me go there,” Dylas said. “Any word from Jones yet?”

“No. Doomgale can't even find Lest, she says there's a huge point of hate somewhere in Selphia that was at the tower recently.”

Even if he ran, a trip to the tower on foot would take a couple hours at least. Amber or Wendy might be able to teleport there with their wind. But Amber had her baby to take care of and Wendy had been losing strength in her magic over the years (even though she wouldn't admit to it). Getting help from them would mean bringing them out there where something dangerous might be; Dylas didn't want to do that. What had happened to them?

And there was something else too, about Clorica. “Did one of you get in contact with Doug or Amber?” Dylas asked. “Cause Clorica fell asleep and I’m sure this is one of the evenings they were leaving their three kids with them.”

“No, we hadn't thought of that yet,” Vishnal said. “I could...”

“No, keep things going here, I'll go let them know,” Dylas said. “Dammit, if I can't do anything about the rest of them, let me at least make sure that's settled.”

“All right, we'll keep searching.” They split up at the top of the stairs and Dylas headed over to the flower shop.

Since these evenings meant four kids under the age of six were going to be in the flower shop, Doug usually stayed home to help out instead of being at his workshop. Illuminata looked busy closing up shop, so Dylas headed upstairs and knocked on the door. Amber was the one who answered. “Oh, hi Dylas, what are you doing here?”

He waved her to come past the door. “I’ve got some bad news,” he said in a quiet voice, then explained the situation as they knew it.

Amber went pale when she heard about who all was in trouble. “What's going to happen to everybody?” she asked in a quiet quivering voice.

Taking her arm, Dylas said, “No idea, but we've got to be thinking about how the kids are going to take this, especially because you've got Sven's kids in there. Clorica might not be able to make it in to take them home soon and her narcolepsy is not going to be good at this time.”

“Right, right,” Amber said. “And Frey too, she's got to be with her kids alone. Oh, I know, we'll tell the kids we'll have a sleepover party, and if we have to tell them what's happening, we'll all be there for them. And Dolce's kids too since Vishnal will be working, but that's a lot of people.”

“You can bring them over to the castle,” Dylas said, hardly thinking about it. “Not quite yet, but I’ll send Vishnal over when we can handle it. And I’ll let Dolce and Frey know too.”

“Good, thank you.” She hugged him tight. “You're the bravest. I hope Lest's okay.”

He held onto his sister for a moment, trying not to let that fact grip him too hard and make this task rougher than it was. “I hope so too. Keep your chin up.” Dylas patted her back, then let her go to hurry onward.

While Dolce's home wasn't much further, Pico materialized in his way. “Hey, have you seen Vishie?” she asked. “I told turnip brains that he'd better not be late too often...”

“This is beyond his control,” Dylas said, then explained the situation to her. “Would you go let Dolce know? We'll send a message when we can bring the kids over.”

“All right, but don't you overdo it,” Pico said. Not even she could be troublesome in a situation like this.

“If I stop and think about this, I know I’m going to be a mess,” Dylas said. “So I won't for now, there's things to do.”

“If that's what help you,” she said, then flew back to the clothing store.

Dylas signaled the butlers as he headed towards the plaza. As he got to the front of the castle, Volkanon was out there to meet with him. “Are you doing okay, Sir Dylas?” he asked in worry.

“For now, but Amber had the idea to bring the kids at her place, and Frey's, and Dolce's, to a sleepover because we're going to have to let them know about Sven and Leon sooner or later and it might help to have them together with several adults around. I told them they could come over to the castle without thinking about it, I hope that's no trouble but it's the biggest place for everyone.”

“We can get that covered,” Volkanon said with a nod. “If they bring over sleeping bags and pajamas, we can set them up in the ballroom on the second floor. We'll get that ready.”

“Sure, but do you know if anyone's told Frey about Leon yet?” When Volkanon shook his head, some of the pain finally bit through his heart. Dylas grimaced. “Well, I’ll go. You get things ready. Oh, and Arthur?”

“Not quite yet, since we're not sure what's happened. We are prepared to bring the town defenses up quickly, though.”

Because the strong point of hate was most likely one person who could be a nightmare to deal with. “Right, well they could bring Carol over too if that'll be easier for them. I'll be back.” He then hurried on while Volkanon went back into the castle to prepare a quick sleepover for the children.

When he knocked on the home of Leon's family, Luna was the one who answered the door. “Hi Uncle Dylas!” she said happily, opening the door to hug him. “Is Lest back?”

Fighting back an immediate response, Dylas said, “Not quite. Look, I’ve got to talk to your mom about something serious. Could you and Noel look after Marie for a few minutes?”

She hopped back with a large smile. “Yeah, we can do that, no problem. Mom! Dylas wants to talk to you!” She ran inside.

When Frey came into the kitchen where he'd entered, she gave him a tired smile; she must not have heard yet. Seeing her made him feel really apprehensive about his and Lest's child for the first time, because she was bearing them and if things took a turn for the worse... no, leave that possibility out of mind. “Hey Dylas, what’s the matter?” she asked.

“Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” he said quietly, just in case the kids were closer than they thought, “But Leon's in the clinic. Sven too and we're not sure what kind of condition they're in other than Jones has locked up for emergency care.”

“Wh-what happened?” Frey asked, coming closer to him. She was trembling, so Dylas put his arm around her. “The monsters have been bad but they were declining in quality...”

“We don't know,” he said.

“Well what about Lest?” she asked, clutching his arm and looking up at him.

“We, we don't know,” Dylas said, his throat tightening up. No, not quite, keep control... “As far as we can tell, he didn't come back with them.”

Frey was in disbelief just as much as him. “What happened? It wasn't supposed to be this bad... oh, what are we going to do about the kids? I don't want to worry them but I know they'll notice and if, well,” she didn't want to admit to that possibility either although it was all too real.

“We're bringing Sven's kids to the castle, along with Amber's family, and Dolce's kids, since it might be easier to break it to them with all of us together. You bring yours over too.”

“Yeah,” she said sadly. Dylas squeezed her and let her cry in his arms for a few minutes. He felt like crying himself, but held back hoping not to upset her further.

Eventually, he got a message from Vishnal. They were ready and he'd come over to walk with them to the castle. Dylas left him with Frey for a minute to give her some time to get herself together while he went to find the kids. The three of them were playing in Marie's room. As Marie was a toddler, she was unconcerned so far except in building stacks of blocks to knock over. But Luna and Noel definitely suspected something now. They were quiet and just keeping an eye on her.

“What's going on?” Luna asked when he came in the room, nearly echoed by her brother.

“We'll tell you in a little while,” Dylas said. “Look, you're going to come stay over in the castle tonight, you three and your mom, so could you get together your sleeping bags and some clothes?”

“What about daddy?” Noel asked.

He very nearly lost control there, but he was their uncle and had to be strong for the moment. “We'll tell you then, let's get you ready to go over.”

“Okay,” Noel said, uneasy but getting up with Luna to go to their rooms. Dylas was over here enough that he was able to find Marie's clothes and pajamas easily as well as a bag to put them in. Noel had gotten out their family's camping bag since that was where all the sleeping bags were and then Luna had gotten her clothes and Frey's clothes already. Once they got back to the kitchen, Frey seemed calm but they were all quiet on their walk over.

Before they even walked into the plaza, red lights flickered on Vishnal's armband and he had to excuse himself to run ahead of them. Dylas bit his lip as those red lights were a sign of an emergency and they were already in an emergency situation. “So what's going on?” Noel asked, even though they weren’t in the castle yet.

Dylas has figuring if he should say something or not when he heard something from the ether sea. Feelings of pain and uncertainty, at the edge of life and death not knowing which side was which. “I’ve got to sing to your father,” he said quickly. “Pray for his well-being.”

He knew that would be confusing to them but there wasn't time to think things through and say something more. Dylas hurried into the castle, into Doomgale's chamber. This was the very center of the four rune springs and thus the best spot to be heard from in the ether sea. And when Leon's life was in the balance, it was the best place to be to reach him. As he started singing, he heard Amber sing of some trepidation.

As he connected, he sang to her, “Keep with the kids, I’ll handle this.” Amber gave a call for Leon's attention, but then acknowledged Dylas and withdrew from singing. But both her and Dolce's feelings were there, worried and trying to be reassuring. Dylas sang out from his heart, “Leon! Answer me!”

His songs continued without words in a discord of confusion and fear. Pain, blinding light, encompassing dark.

Dylas shifted over to the comforting tones he used for Lest in his troubled times. That seemed most appropriate. “Leon, calm down. You're not alone. You're alive. Come on, let that thought sink in, you're alive.”

After a minute of struggle, Leon started to calm down and make sense. Mostly. “Alive. You've got to come back. Got to. Where... what? Dylas?”

“I’m here,” he said gently. “You'll be okay, Jones is taking care of you. But you've got to keep the will to live. You've got to come back too.”

“Shit, I... I nearly died... what the hell happened? What, what am I doing? Where am I going? There's light.”

“Come to my voice,” Dylas said, reaching out into the darkness near death. Leon wasn't dead, but if his soul took a wrong step here, he might die. “We'll figure out what happened after that, but for now, come to me. Frey and the kids are here in the castle with me; they're waiting to hear on you. Don't let them hear bad news. Follow me.”

There was a cry of pain again. Burning incredible pain, blinding light. “D-Dylas, what's happening to me? I can't think, my memories are going crazy. What...?”

“Come on, you can do this,” he said. At another cry of pain, he added, “I'm sorry it's painful, but we can't lose this chance.”

Then another voice came into the ether sea, but not their sisters. “Dylas, Dylas,” a faint voice from Lest called out in sadness. He could sense his wedding ring shine, sending a light out. “Please tell me that Leon is alive, please...”

“Am I...?” Leon started to question.

“You are alive,” Dylas interrupted him, worried about what might happen if he finished that question. “Come on, follow my voice. Lest, I’m getting through to Leon.”

“Leon, don't give up,” Lest called. “You told me that I had to get back, but so do you.”

“Right Leon, I feel you're close now,” Dylas said. “Keep going, keep coming to me.”

“Is that you?” Dylas became aware of a silhouette, then it seemed like Leon was collapsing into his arms. The darkness faded into a moonlit glow and he was out of danger. “What happened? I feel terrible.”

Relieved, Dylas hung onto him for a moment. “It's better than the alternative,” he said. “You're going to get better, you'll live. But rest for now, you'll need even your spiritual strength to recover.”

“If you feel pain, you're alive.” Leon laughed briefly, then grimaced. “This sucks. But I trust you. I'll rest and get better.” He closed his eyes and...

For a moment, Dylas saw into the clinic. He barely heard Jones' words over his relief, “They should live now.”

That was one issue down, but now there was Lest to deal with. Dylas could hear him, so he went towards him. “That's good. I saw him on the ground but I couldn't feel like like I did Sven. And Sano and Uno were completely obliterated. I couldn't do anything to protect them.”

His perception changed, then Dylas found himself sitting on a small bed beside Lest. The space around them was hazy, but there was something awful in the runes here. Hatred. In this environment, Lest was as good as if he'd chained down and left in a cell for weeks. Dylas tried to hug him. “Lest...”

Feeling him, he relaxed some. “He's going to freeze Selphia.”

“Who is? Who's got you like this, and where?”

As expected, he answered, “Emperor Ethelberd. He's brought me to his flying fortress, but he gave orders to get within a mile of Selphia and circle around it. I got the last pillar, it should have been done with. But the moment we got out of Rune Prana, I got overcome with his hatred and one of his machines destroyed the teleport ring. Then there was that spell,” he grimaced. “I couldn't see, not even with my rune senses. I got out untouched thanks to Sven's sacrifice, but then I was alone and he captured me. And he wants someone else, he said they had one of the two. But I don't know who else he's after.”

“We'll be careful,” Dylas said, but he couldn't be sure who else. It probably wasn't Sven, but it could be any number of people in Selphia that the emperor would want for one reason or another: Arthur, Frey, Doomgale. Maybe even Doug, although that wasn't as likely. “And we'll get you out of there, one way or another. I swear on it.”

“He's going to keep me alive for now,” Lest said. “He wants me to fix a rune sphere that has a bunch of cracks in it. Not any from the rune springs, it's one of those that were taken from Telliarc. I know Etherlink, but I don't know how Frey was using it on the spheres. I do know that it's liable to explode if a mistake is made, especially in its condition.”

“I’ll ask her about it,” Dylas said. “I’ll visit like this as often as I can, but I want to be in on planning how to rescue you.”

“Make sure the town is taken care of. I feel better knowing Leon and Sven will be okay. But if it comes down to it, get people out of town before he freezes you all to death. He was threatening to.”

“I’ll let the others know.” He gave him a kiss, then added, “See you soon.”

When he brought himself out of his trance, Arthur had already taken charge in Doomgale's chamber. “That's the advisory for visitors to evacuate town, although we may need to take measures to move the airships under the cover of darkness and take off with those who want to leave further away. The tunnels may be sufficient for taking cover in, but until we hear more, we can't be sure of what his goals are.” Then he noticed Dylas coming over. “Ah good, did you have anything to add?”

“Leon and Sven should live,” he said, figuring that would take a load off everyone's mind. “They are in really bad shape, but I can't tell further than that. And Lest is currently held captive by the emperor in a flying fortress coming right for us.”

“We've seen that coming now,” Arthur said, his expression gravely serious. “How'd you find him?”

“I could get in contact with him, still could,” Dylas said, holding up his hand where his wedding ring was still bright. “As for what the emperor wants, I’ve only got a few vague things from Lest to add. But he wanted to capture Lest. He has him trying to repair one of those broken rune spheres from Telliarc, I have to talk with Frey about that. And the emperor wants someone else, but no idea who.”

“He'll probably try to demand that person if he makes contact with us and if the person is here,” Arthur said, putting his hand to his chin.

He nodded. “And he's threatened Lest with freezing Selphia solid. Lest wants us to get everyone out of town if that becomes a serious danger.”

“We certainly will,” Arthur said. “Please go speak with Frey about the rune sphere. We don't want to have Ethelberd get a fully complete rune sphere, but we can't make things harder on Lest. I'll handle the town.”

Upstairs in the ballroom, he found things to be sorrowful. Either Dolce or Amber had decided to tell the kids about Sven and Leon being in the hospital once they'd heard Leon's soul come back. The younger set of kids wouldn't understand, but they were upset because the older kids were upset. Off against a wall, Frey had her sleeping bag set up and was sitting on it while talking with her kids. But she smiled at him when he came over. “Oh Dylas, thank you for helping Leon.”

“Don't mention it,” he said, mostly because he didn't feel comfortable talking about Leon's near-death experience near his kids yet. Although what he had in mind could be near as bad. “I also got in contact with Lest. He's alive, but he's been captured by the emperor."

“But that's...” she stopped herself, looking glum again.

“Are you gonna go rescue him?” Noel asked.

“Whenever they've got the right information for me, yes, I’ll be going right after him,” Dylas said. That satisfied them for now. “He did break the last pillar before that, so Rune Prana shouldn't be an issue anymore. However, the emperor wants him to fix one of the broken Telliarc rune spheres.”

“That's no good,” Frey said, partly closing her eyes in thought. “Technically it could be possible, but it'd be a really dumb idea. If it's anything like the one you got from the water dragon years ago, it'd be unstable and dangerous to use any magic around. Still powerful, but it'll explode at the least little mistake.”

“What's a rune sphere?” Luna asked.

“If it wasn't for what your Uncle Lest has done, I’d be teaching you about it already,” Frey said. “It's a powerful magic source, to put it in simple terms. But a dangerous one and it must not be made again unless there is simply no other options. Besides, it takes sixty years at least to craft one from scratch. If you're dumb or crazy enough to start with a broken one, it's still going to take a really long time.”

“Well he has to pretend to do something with it since he's with someone crazy enough,” Dylas said.

Frey sighed. “Let me think on that one. We can trust Lest to use his senses, so he could navigate the runes and do something.”

Dylas then spent some times with the kids to help them accept what was going on and be patient. They did finally get a message straight from Nancy about their situation. Both had been struck by a magic spell that was unlike anything they'd seen before, much like Lest had said. As Sven had been briefly alert in bringing them to the clinic, he was in better shape. His armor had taken a severe beating and was currently useless, in need of repairs. Once he had a week of recovery time, he should be back on his feet. Getting him back to full strength would take even longer.

As for Leon, Nancy hadn't spoken of it directly around the children, but he'd suffered severe magical damage, especially from the waist down. His lungs had taken some damage and he currently needed assistance in breathing. He might have to spend a full moon cycle restricted to the clinic, although she said it was uncertain due to the spell being unknown and earthmates generally having better recovery times. After that, it was unknown what kind of state his legs would be in. He might have lost his ability to walk permanently. Although compared to the very real chance that he could have died, having him learn to get around without his legs was preferable.

By that point, the winds were picking up outside. Cold winds.


	140. Floating Fortress

Spring 21

In the morning, the air was full of little snowflakes. Amber had learned to tolerate winter. It was going to happen anyhow and there were fun things that could only be done then. However, this snow in spring was unwelcome. It was the wrong time of year and the flakes smelled like machines. More than that, there was that intimidating presence in the sky of a floating building, far greater than any airship she'd ever seen. Somewhere up there, Lest was in trouble.

Amber knew it was a dangerous trip. She was the only one who could do this as they'd gotten a message last night about who else the emperor wanted: Doomgale. While Frey's dragon friend Flareson was still around, he kept to the countryside and she was in no condition to be flying. That left Amber as the only one who could fly to check out the fortress better.

She hugged her son before she left. “I’ll be back, Benny,” she said. “You be a good boy for Daddy.”

“I won't have any trouble with him,” Doug said. “But... well, I hope you don't run into trouble either. Don't try to fight up there by yourself.”

“I know, I won't,” she said, letting Bennet go then hugging Doug. “I’m scared but Lest has got to be much worse off, so I’m going to make it easier to get him home.”

“Yeah, we'll beat that old crank,” Doug said. “I want to see you back before dark.”

“I hope it doesn't take that long,” she said. Then she parted from her family and went to pick up the box she was taking. It had enough weight to it that she had to cast her strengthening spell to take off into the sky with it.

The big fortress was sucking heat out of the air above Selphia, making the currents trickier to navigate than usual. Amber didn't see anything on the bottom of the fortress that would help. There were great big propellers down there and massive engines that looked dangerous to fly into. When she got up alongside the north-facing wall, she spotted something: an airport dock. Amber went there, wary of any cannons that might fire or machines that might fight. But it was still, just keeping to its steady motion.

When she got to the dock, she found three long grooves in the ground, one with an anchoring pole right near the doorway. There were huge spaces inside to store airships, a dozen in here. But there was only one airship in here currently, a small one that was detached from its balloons and lying on its side with a hole in it. She saw a machine solider in the large space, but it moved about in an erratic fashion, occasionally sparking like it had some bad wiring. The whole while she was there, it showed no interest in her.

Seeing some stairs and a big door further in, Amber decided this should be a good spot to set the box down and open it up. A stone golem that looked like a small earth dragon came out. After letting its horn shine for a moment to take readings of the area, it ran into the hanger and towards the door. This golem had mapped out the tunnels below Selphia and the road of Rune Prana all on its lonesome. It should be fine on its own, especially since the machine soldier did not react to it at all.

Amber then flew away from the dock and looked around the outside of the fortress. There were other airship docks but only one airship that looked remotely useable. In several spots, there were great big windows that she could look inside. The halls were mostly empty and she only spotted a few machine soldiers floating around. They didn't even heed her flying about outside. But she didn't have much luck spotting Lest. All the runes here were jagged and hateful so his love runes should have shone through like a spotlight in the darkness.

Since she hadn't been bothered, Amber went to check on the top of the fortress. There were a number of great big shiny panels up here, dark and absorbing the sun's rays like plants did. In the very center, there was a squarish building with something on top of it. Amber flew carefully among the panels to get there, watching the cannons on top closely. But none of them fired, or even moved. If this place were active, it'd be very dangerous to fly around.

She finally found Lest's signature among the runes here, in the quarter room facing away from Selphia. Amber hunted around for a window or something to see inside with, but all she could find were little vents that pulled air in or pushed it out. Due to fans moving around, she couldn't see into the room. She looked around, then took a deep breath and gathered her wind senses. “Lest?' she called through the vent, trying to project her voice past the fan.

Then she listened, to the wind around her if something came to her and to the air in the room if he spoke. “Amber? Where are you?”

Smiling, she said, “Outside past the wall. I came to scout around and let Frey's golem in to explore. You be brave, we'll find a way to you.”

“Thanks,” he replied, sounding tired. “The hate here is really oppressive, I can barely notice your runes coming in. I’m trying to resist, but it's like trying to breathe safely in poisonous air.”

“That sounds awful,” Amber said. “Have you gotten to talk to the emperor more? What's he like?”

“He's insane. The amount of hate he bears is incredible, like it's all that's holding him together. But he draws on that hate to use magic, when he can think to do it. The couple times he's seen me, he just rants about how much he should be recognized as the most powerful god on earth, and that he hates earthmates with a powerful jealousy.”

“Is he a god?” There was still nothing coming to check on her. It was eerie. A place like this should have lots of people or machines buzzing around to take care of it. Quiet and empty like this, it didn't fit.

“No, but he's using shards of rune spheres for power. When he has this broken one, he does have power to match a god. But while he kept me up last night, I did get an idea. I still haven't heard back from Frey how this broken sphere could be repaired, but I was poking around its runes and found a way to make the more visible cracks be repaired. It doesn't really repair it, just shrinks them down to more hairline cracks. If I make it look whole but it has dozens of hairline cracks in it, then I’m pretty sure that next time he tries to use it, it's going to blow up in his face. I just need some way to either get away from him before he uses it or get some protection against it myself.”

“But it's going to burst into lots of little fragments, right?” Amber asked. “I remember back during the prison battle, you and others came back with little cuts from that. Those could be dangerous.”

“Right, which is why I’ll need to shield myself from them. It's just very hard for me to do anything when he's right in front of me. When he says that he wants earthmates to suffer and die, I feel like the venom of it should kill me and only my ring and connection to Dylas is keeping me alive then.”

“We'll figure out something, just be patient,” she said. “And try to get some sleep, Frey says you shouldn’t mess with the broken sphere unless you're clear and able.”

“Yeah, but I haven't been able to sleep.”

“I’ll tell Dylas to sing you a lullaby then,” Amber said. “I need to check out some more things and get back to town before I’m noticed, so I’d better leave you for now. We'll get you out.”

“Thanks, I trust you all.”

She made a quick check of the other quarters, but there wasn't anything of interest that she could tell. Then she flew up to check the very top and saw a mass of hate in runes up there. Stopping her ascent, Amber waited until she caught a voice in the wind. “You can't simply become a god,” the hateful man said. “They don’t allow it. They won't suffer the mortal races to become greater than the arbitrary limits they set.”

Recalling some of what Leon and Dolce talked about, the gods were all dragons because only dragons could survive in the world as it had originally been. The love of the dragons who had become gods allowed the world to become more hospitable to mortal races like humans. But even the dragons could forget about love. That led to a lot of what had gone wrong in the world, people, dragons, and even gods forgetting about love. But once you remembered to cherish love and live with love, things could get better no matter how bad it got. Amber came up slowly, keeping behind what structures she could find to get a better look.

“But there are ways past those limits. The earthmates for one, foolish wretches. They are blessed with power far beyond what ordinary humans can reach through hard work and study. And what do they do with it? They farm and make basic items! They say they must serve, but they have the power to seal away the very gods themselves and change the world to their designs. But they have no ambition at all and succumb to stupid weaknesses. They say they love plants and so they come to tears and even physical pain when their plants are torn up from the ground. And that boy is said to be blessed with the element of love itself, but is brought to his knees just by being yelled at or given a dirty look. Pitiful wretches, but I have no pity for them.”

There were four giant glowing gates at the edge of a circular room with short walls and no ceiling. From the air around the gates, they were teleporters to places within the fortress. One even went right below this open-air room to where Lest was being held. That could be the fastest way to get to him. But that would mean finding a way past the emperor here. There were machine soldiers around him, not paying her any heed but looking in better shape than those elsewhere. As for Ethelberd himself...

“Yet I was ruined by one of them, absolutely ruined. That fool conquered me, yet he went right back to his farm and moved along in a simple life. But in the humiliation I suffered at that fool's hand, I found a clear wisdom. I could not become a god and it was very difficult to control a god. But if I could unlock the way ordinary humans become earthmates, then I would be elevated in power. Then I could match the gods. And I found that way, oh yes. I made myself into an earthmate, elevated myself to a power I could not attain before. And even better, I then found out about the rune spheres that would elevate me even beyond this. I have climbed the ladder from human to earthmate to god. And I will become the greatest god of them all and remake the world into my own image!”

That was a scary thought. Amber didn't want to live in a world filled with the hate that was here. However, she didn't think he was an earthmate. Earthmates were those loved by the earth and there was no sign in him that he was loved that much. Or that he could love in the slightest fraction. But his hate was immense. How did he live with himself like that? Amber saw the jagged runes and thought that they should have killed him by now. Maybe the rune sphere, broken as it was, had let him continue to live.

She'd seen enough for now and didn't want to be seen, so Amber made her way across the fortress and back to Selphia. There was a lot to tell Arthur. Hopefully he knew what to do from there.

* * *

Spring 27

Lest heard a humming nearby when no one was in the room but him. A feeling of relief from the sickening atmosphere came over him. Since this had happened before, he stopped for the day and went over to crash on the bed. His clothes smelled and he really wanted a bath to clean off in, probably a soak in the inn baths to relax as well. He wasn't given a lot to eat, some kind of manufactured meal and some bread for every meal. Given the dry off-tasting bread they had, apparently with every meal, he felt like he understood better why Doug was so reluctant to eat anything like bread. Lest would appreciate a better bread or something homemade once he got back home.

Closing his eyes, he felt a presence come near him. It was Dylas, back home in their bed reaching out for him through the ether sea. They weren't in the same room, but it was easy to believe they were for a little while. “How are you holding up?” Dylas asked.

“I'm hanging in there,” Lest replied. “But I couldn't do this without you talking to me like this.”

“I miss you being here,” he said, trying to touch his face. There was a slight tingle, but no warmth, no pressure.

Thinking that made him shudder. “I'm cold and I feel sick. And I wasn't able to sleep long last night, for the nightmares that came.”

“You won't be in there much longer,” Dylas said. “We got the maps from Frey's golem, just waiting on them to plan out a route. There's not a lot of activity around there, Amber was able to get around without being bothered and the airships taking people out of town weren't bothered at all. That guy's mind is too broken to even carry out his plans.”

“But the ice?”

He shrugged. “It's unseasonably cold and it's been lightly snowing. But no ice. The snow doesn't even last. When Amber's checked on your fields, she says that the plants aren't bothered by it yet and only a few are confused.”

That was a relief. “Good. How's everybody else holding up?”

“Pretty good for the most part.” He stopped to think over who to mention. “The kids are still going to school, although they play inside to keep out of sight of the fortress. Although Luna and Noel are still pretty glum, partly because they thought the charms were supposed to help you and Leon.”

“I still have it with me,” Lest said. “It got me through the pillar and I can tell it's part of what keeps me from feeling worse than I do right now. I shouldn't hardly be able to think, much less walk around and do things. So it is helping.”

“You might want to tell them that when you get back. Arthur's doing well keeping things running in your place; he was worried about not being able to match you as a leader, but I told him he shouldn't worry about that.”

Lest nodded. “Right, that's good. I keep telling him that I learned a lot from him so he should be more confident in being a leader. Although I’m glad as long as he and everyone else are happy.”

“Yeah. Everybody wants to get you back home, but they're keeping things normal as much as they can.”

“You've got it, I trust you all. But what about you? You seem tired.”

“I’ve been doing lots of little things, checking up on everybody,” Dylas said. “Trying not to think about things too much. But you know, I talk to you like this and I still miss you. This isn't the same.”

“No it's not,” Lest agreed. “But you're helping too.”

“I’ll be there to get you out soon,” he said, then started singing. They hadn't yet told the others that Lest had Etherlink active in him and that was why the two of them could do this. But if Dylas wanted, only Lest would hear him sing. He could only really sleep in this place after Dylas had been singing to him like this, since he could absorb himself in his soothing voice.

He dreamed…

Of a typhoon sweeping through the streets of Selphia. The rain battered down and the winds lashed around. Lest came to check on his orchard and found himself already there. No, not himself; that being had dark claws and a demon's feet. And black wings, with pointed edges and red veins in the dark stretches of skin. The wings didn't seem enough to fly with being small and slender. But it didn't need wings to hover in the air.

It was watching Sundew, her childlike dryad sitting among her branches. She was clasping a golden peach to her chest as if she saw it more important to protect it than her self against the typhoon around her and Typhoon before her. The demon raised its clawed hands to cast and Lest ran to stop it.

There wasn't a clash of lightning save for in his mind, but Lest woke up sweating. Dylas wasn't in contact with him anymore. He was probably asleep. Not sure what time it was, Lest got up. Hatred weighed heavily on him, but he had to get back to work.

On the work table, the rune sphere was looking better. It was still in terrible shape, but it was starting to take careful examination to find the hairline cracks that filled it. Lest had found the reason that his ancestors could only use Etherlink on these once a day. Not only was Etherlink a draining spell to cast, but working on the sphere would agitate it. There had been a couple of times when he had to stop suddenly for a new tiny crack appearing or an old one lengthening. The aura around it would quiver and quake. Fortunately, he had found some cloth to cushion it in to absorb such small shocks.

They might be coming to rescue him. But the emperor might get impatient and insist he prove his progress. Or even insist on having it back. While it had been hard to notice the first few times, Lest could see now that Ethelberd's runes were as unstable as his mind. Sechs may not have been as strong in magic tradition as Norad, but Ethelberd was alive only because of magic, and only because of his possession of this frail rune sphere. If the emperor had not come when he did, the cracks might have increased on their own and shattered at one point. Once this sphere was gone, Ethelberd would not last much longer in this world.

Lest turned the sphere gently to put the last easily visible crack on top. Through some exchanges with Frey via Dylas, he'd come up with a method of using the thread-like bond of Etherlink to pull the cracks closed. It did not repair them, simply made them harder to see. Like putting a filler in glass without strengthening.

If the emperor wanted the sphere back before his friends and family could reach him, Lest would have to convince him that it was whole and then get him to use it so that it exploded. A risky plan, hopefully one he wouldn't have to employ. But it was here, just in case.

* * *

Spring 29

Luna and Noel had come to visit their father at times, but he'd always been asleep when they came. It was terrible to see him like this, all covered up and a breathing mask over his face. But Frey had said one should be grateful for what they had in bad situations like this. And Leon was still alive, he'd get better. It was just hard right now.

But he was awake today when they visited after school. “Can't feel much of anything,” he said when they asked how he was. “But glad to see you two monsters. You being good for your mom?”

They both nodded. “Yeah, we're doing lots of the chores, though we can't do the cooking,” Luna said.

“I wanted to use Water Laser to clean the floors, but she said it doesn't work like that,” Noel added with a frown.

Leon smiled at that. “Afraid not. You might tear up the floors.”

“Not if I’m careful,” Noel insisted.

“Mom said not to do it,” Luna reminded him. “Um, did you hear Uncle Dylas is going off with some others to go rescue Uncle Lest today?”

“I hope they get him back safe and sound,” Leon said. “That reminds me, I had something for the two of you.” He wasn't able to move much, but he gestured with his hand to the table where some flowers and get well cards were sitting for him. “I had Nancy put it in the little dish there so it doesn't fall off.”

Luna looked and just like he said, there was a little dish that had a wooden bead in it. It wasn't a very good bead, all burnt and cracked. Why did he want to give that to them? “This bead?” she asked to make sure.

“Yeah,” Leon said. “You recognize that?”

“Um, no,” Luna said. It was a wooden bead, something common save for its scorched outside.

“Looks like one of mom's beads from the crafting drawers,” Noel said.

“That's all that's left of that charm you two made me,” Leon said. “Don't even have that much left of my priest's fan. But you know what? The charm looks like that because it took as much of the damage from that spell as it could off me. That's the last I remember of that day, sensing it doing that. The spell blasted that big fox tower to rubble and Sven only got out because your mom made his armor. And, I got out of it because of the charm you two made me.”

Their charm had been that powerful? “Really?” Luna asked, brightening up at that.

“Yeah, really,” Leon said. “I'm proud of you two, and grateful.”

“Wow, so they really worked!” Noel said, wanting to jump around but they were in the clinic and had to be careful.

“But what about the one we gave Uncle Lest?” Luna asked.

“He got through the trial that defeated him before, so I’m sure it helped him too,” Leon said, then yawned. “Ah, sorry. They'd got me on strong medicine.”

“That's okay, you're supposed to rest a lot to get better,” Luna said.

On their way out, Noel had a great idea. “Hey, we could make Daddy a new fan.”

Luna smiled. “Oh yeah! But, I haven't seen another fan like his anywhere, not even in the market.”

“Well we can research like Mommy does,” Noel said. “We can make one.”

“Yup, okay, let's go looking!” They headed off to their house first to drop off their things and check the books there in case they had design plans for a fan like their father's.

* * *

Sven had wanted to come along to rescue Lest, but his armor hadn't been repaired yet and Jones said that he wasn't fit for battle yet. Forte would have come if she wasn't taking care of a newborn; she was fine patrolling around town and fighting weaker monsters, but nobody wanted to have her go out to the flying fortress even if it was quiet up there. And even with her there, it was better to keep Corrin on the ground too so they had a fully capable knight in town in case of trouble. Arthur had improved in his battle capacity, but he still wasn't that great and he needed to be in town as the leader in crisis. Lastly, Art had some good students, but they were students and he was only good in a short battle due to his health. Definitely not up for a trek through the fortress as landing closer to Lest up top would put them right against Ethelberd. They wanted to get to Lest and get him out before even thinking of dealing with the emperor.

Even with all of those good people out, Dylas still had nearly the rest of town to choose from in who would accompany him up to the fortress. To manage the airship, he picked Helena and Nem to crew it. They were the most skilled there. For a second physical fighter, he brought along Bado. The blacksmith had brought out an intimidating black hammer for the fight. Dylas took Doug to back them up, also because he stood a good chance of figuring out any mechanical devices that might get in their way.

On the magic side, there had been a tough decision between Dolce and Vishnal. He didn't want to bring both just in case something happened; Dylas wanted to be sure their kids would have one of their parents around if the other got badly injured. Dolce was an excellent battle mage and bringing her would also bring Pico who could get through walls and affect some items. However, Vishnal was an excellent mixed fighter and he knew a lot of healing and protection spells that were certain to work on Lest without breaking. The latter reason won out and Vishnal was chosen to protect Lest once they got to him.

Since that left them without dedicated mages, Dylas also brought Kiel and Meg. Kiel had lots of knowledge, arcane and otherwise, that might help them with obstacles, plus he already had gear that let him bring a lot of supplies that he'd made. Lastly, Meg was good at healing and blessings to boost the rest of them, and able to cast an attack spell or two. They boarded the ship used to deliver the mail and headed up to meet with the fortress.

The fortress was quiet about them approaching, just as it had been to Amber all these times she'd gone to look into specific points of their route. Since all parts of the fortress were interconnected with each other, they came into the port that had one of the anchoring posts near the front, not to use it but to keep the door from closing down on them if the machinery activated. Helena and Nem were going to wait there and see if they decided to teleport out with Lest or come back down on the ship. That would depend on how things were up near the top.

“This place gives me the creeps already,” Bado said as they entered the ship dock.

“It sounds like death, machinery, and madness,” Meg said, not looking too happy about it.

“Right,” Dylas said. “But other than the machines, doesn't seem that active. Let's get going.”

There were machine soldiers that got in their way, a good portion of which actually noticed them and attacked. But they were a good group. Dylas and Kiel could knock out the machines quickly with lightning magic from a distance. If they got close, Bado and Vishnal defeated them easily. Then they ran into a large hall with a number of big golems that had been built of bricks. Kiel quickly determined that they would be highly resistant to physical attacks unless they invoked elements to their weapons. That made them tougher to dispatch than the machine soldiers, but still a battle they could overcome.

But when they got up to the room that Lest had been in all this time, he wasn't there. Neither was the rune sphere.

* * *

His rescue group was getting close. Lest could feel them, a growing light in the dark trying to suffocate him. It gave him hope that this wasn't going to last much longer. However, Ethelberd became aware of them too. A machine solider came down to get him, bringing along a message. He was to bring up the rune sphere this time, no matter how far along he was in repairing it. That was good; Lest had the visible cracks taken care of. While he hadn't gotten around to making certain that the sphere would fail, it was still more likely to fail than not.

Lest carried it gingerly while walking through the teleporter. The Etherlink strands began quivering at that magic. Praying that it held together while he held it, he approached the emperor. “Ethelberd,” he said. The others were close enough that it wasn't a struggle to speak.

“Show proper respect, boy,” Ethelberd snapped, turning to him. “Do you have the rune sphere done?”

“Here,” he said, not confirming how ready it was. The emperor snatched it greedily making Lest wince as the strands got further agitated.

Ethelberd laughed as he looked into it. “Yes, yes, this is it… I have everything in place now. Once I have the means to lose my weaknesses once and for all, nothing will be able to stop me.”

He should try provoking the emperor into using it before the others got here. It was going to be dangerous when it blew. But, Ethelberd did love to hear himself talk. Taking a step back, Lest asked, “Are you sure of that?”

“Of course, my plan is flawless, just like this,” he was, looking into the sphere. “Seeing this reminds me of how short-sighted I was long ago. I wanted to rule the world but I didn't have the power to do it. I thought I did and it was one of your kind that stopped that dream cold. I was humiliated by some lowly farmer,” he scowled and the hate flared up around him. “It puts me in agony just remembering it. And I can't forget it. For years and years, I remembered it every night, dreamed of that defeat over and over and over… but no more! I will never be humiliated again for I have all the power in the world.”

While he'd been talking, Lest cast a shield over himself. It should be enough. He took a deep breath, then said, “You have nothing.”

“What?” Ethelberd snapped, looking at him with glaring hate.

“You have an empty fortress and a rune sphere, that's all,” Lest said, closing his eyes to the emotional assault. “Your country abandoned you. You have no friends you can trust and no family you can count on. While you've said that you're an earthmate, you're just a shadow of one with none of our power. You have nothing that matters.”

He was stepping back, keeping the rune sphere close to his chest. “You have no idea what you're talking about! Who are you to talk about power? You go weak at the knees if I just look at you. You call yourself a king but you have no ambition, no will to use the power that people would give you. Not using power is just as bad as not having it at all. Why have the power to change the world and not change it at all?”

“Because it's not right.”

Ethelberd just laughed at him. “Because it's not right? Miserable worm, that kind of ethics is only for those without power. I will never be powerless again! The world bows down to my might as I can erase any piece of it off whenever I want. Why don't I show you with your precious Selphia?” He prepared a spell, drawing power from the rune sphere.

The hairline cracks splintered audibly, then the whole thing exploded through the emperor. Lest wasn't sure if he wanted to open his eyes because the sight through runes alone was gruesome enough. While the power of hate began to break up around them, within the emperor it still held strong. There were still a few strands of Etherlink remaining connected to Ethelberd's soul. His self was still trying to remain, bound by hatred for the whole world.

His laugh could even be heard. “This is no obstacle! I meant to be rid of the old thing as part of my plan. Now I can better seek out a new, more appropriate body for a god, like the young dragon down there. She'd waste her power too.”

More than anything else Ethelberd had said so far, this angered Lest. “I won't let you hurt Gale,” he said, preparing himself.

“What can you do?” Ethelberd sneered. “You won't let yourself use power, you can't do anything!”

“I will use the power the earth gave me,” he said, then let go of his restraints on his rune breaking power and left his body to grab hold of the emperor's spirit. The last Etherlink threads frayed away immediately, as did many of the bonds keeping Ethelberd alive. Lest was left with a potent bundle of hate that struggled and tried to form itself into something with power.

Not wanting this kind of hate to remain in the world, Lest took off for Rune Prana. The road was struggling to remain in some form too, although Leon's seal kept anything from coming out. But it was time to put an end to this entirely. As he got close, the seal unraveled itself to his power. Lest passed through the door and rushed through the road as fast as he could.

The gate in shattered as he passed through. The road fell in his wake, getting absorbed back into the ether sea. As he got further, the road's defenses tried to reach out to him. The monsters tried to get in his way. But he was a spirit and moving too fast for them to stop. They too unraveled and returned to the ether sea. Then the far gate and the bridge, they were destroyed as Lest threw the last remains of Ethelberd into the trees. There were white sparks as the hate was diffused, then nothing. Not even Storgane.

Lest breathed a sigh of relief, letting himself relax near the trees. The legacies of Storgane and Darryl were completely gone now and he'd stopped Ethelberd from becoming a similar problem. And the hate was gone, letting him feel like himself once again. Tired and worn out, yes, but a few days in peaceful Selphia would have him completely back to normal.

Then something tugged at his Etherlink bond. He turned around to face the ether sea and then knew something dreadful: Typhoon had emerged. What Dylas and the others were going to find up there would not be him.

He took hold of the bond and headed back, soon losing sight of the trees.

It wasn't long before a feeling of being lost overcame him.


	141. Outsider Demon Typhoon

Spring 29

It had been just the chance he was waiting for. Typhoon had tried to emerge in the pillar of loneliness, but Lest's will had been strong and he got done before Typhoon did. But this, a sudden and rapid departure from his body in an environment reeking in hate, that gave the storm demon the time he needed to take over. He tried to break the link to Lest's soul but then realized that Lest had tied it into his brain now. If it was broken improperly, it would kill them both. Clever move, but he'd find a way.

He tried to reform into something better reflective of his real self only for a burning sensation to shoot up his arm and into his chest. Shuddering, he opened his eyes and found a glowing wedding ring on his finger. It was a symbol of love. But, he was love elemental right now, wasn't he? Typhoon went to grab the ring to take it off, but it jolted more pain into that hand. Once he stopped trying to take it off, the pain dulled. That was going to be an obstacle.

As he got on his hands and knees, he heard footsteps coming from behind him. “Lest!”

Perhaps not being able to change was a fortunate misfortune. He sat up but was then racked with pain like a giant hand clasped around his chest. Warm soft pain… yet something that felt wonderful and soothing. It was the same kind of tearing contrast as when he'd faced off against that horse boy, only more so. It was a feeling of wanting him and wanting to tear him in two.

Before he could act on it, Dylas and a group of others from Selphia got up to him. “Are you okay?” Dylas asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and offering to help him up. His love was suffocating.

“I-is that the emperor?” Meg asked in disgust, looking at the scattering ahead of them.

Typhoon nodded. He couldn't talk right now; he'd have to get used to this. But, it was ridiculous. He was in a body that favored the love element and so he should be protected against the element that usually weakened and pained him. Unless the Etherlink deadman arrangement wasn't the only step Lest had taken to make things harder on him?

“I’ll see if I can't figure how to turn the cold winds off up here,” Doug said, going over to the console and walking well around the mess. Kiel followed along.

“Is the hate around here still strong enough to bother you?” Vishnal asked. But it wasn't the hate. Typhoon could take the hate, he'd be strengthened in it. It was this love, from all of them in varying degrees but sickeningly powerful from Dylas.

“He was getting worn down last night and hardly responded to me today, so probably,” Dylas said. Although it bothered him, Typhoon let him help him to his feet and get to a point where the airship could easily pick them up to return back to Selphia.

Once he got down, he was inundated for the love and concern that the people waiting for Lest had. But he was slowly getting accustomed to it. If he focused on the nice part of it, as uncharacteristic as that was for a demon, then it was easier to tolerate. They took him by the clinic where the doctor thought he was just suffering lingering effects of being a love-elemental earthmate in a powerful atmosphere of hate. Thus he was brought back to the castle and thankfully left to shower alone.

The clouds were building outside and the atmosphere was unstable in part from the fortress' attempt to freeze Selphia out. Good, he could easily whip up a storm before they realized something else was amiss. Typhoon brought up a memory of how Selphia was laid out from Lest and reviewed what he could do. Once there was a storm, he could ask for some time alone with Dylas and get him killed easily. No wait, killing him didn't seem satisfying enough even as an idea. He'd capture Dylas and shut him away somewhere to torment for a while about his missing husband. Then while the staff thought they wanted time alone, Typhoon could pick them off one by one. Maybe brainwash them. Butlers seemed like a useful tool if he controlled them. They could lure the others in town for Typhoon to take out without anyone wisening up to his schemes.

Dylas had come in partway through to leave him some fresh clean clothes to change into. Typhoon spent a moment looking at this human body that he'd have to deal with while he was here. He could do some levitation still, but Lest was much too cute looking to be intimidating. To his satisfaction. he could still call on his spear and there were markings like his wings on the young man's back now. Some more acclimation and he could take the ring off to transform fully.

When he came out, Dylas was waiting on him. Typhoon smiled at him, knowing he'd have to put up an act for a little while. And if he could get used to Dylas' attention, he'd like that very much… no he wouldn't. He'd be better able to deal with everyone else if he could deal with this man. “It seems like it's been a long time,” he said.

“Really,” Dylas said, coming over and putting an arm around him. Be good to him… no, he was an obstacle. “What do you feel up to doing?”

“I haven't really decided yet,” Typhoon said. “I feel like watching the clouds, but I don't want to be talking with everybody else just yet. Maybe just hanging out with you, that'd be nice.”

Dylas's ear flicked and he was quiet for a moment. “It would be nice,” he finally said. “Though you really should check on Stardew, Amber says she's focusing on something.”

“She'll be all right for a while,” he said. He probably meant the tree and he didn't not want to be dealing with her just yet.

However, he quickly realized that was the wrong thing to say as Dylas' emotions switched over to caution, fear, worry, anger… it was a beautiful mix like he had before. Gripping his arm in a way meant to restrain him rather than reassure him, he asked in a low voice, “Who are you?”

“Figured that out quick, didn't you?” Typhoon said, unable to keep himself from smiling in satisfaction.

“Hmph.” He got a better hold of him and forced him to face him. “Answer the question. I know you're not Lest.”

“We've met before, you beautiful fool,” he said.

His eyes narrowed. “Typhoon.”

“Of course. That silly man who thought he was an emperor tried to remain in this world when his body was shredded.” He tried to stop himself, but looking into Dylas' eyes, he wanted to keep him listening so he stayed close. “Lest left me alone in his body when he took off to send that man directly into the Forest of Beginnings through Rune Prana. The rune sphere could have let him become the god he thought was. But in order to loosen his powers to prevent that, he completely wrecked Rune Prana to nothing in his passage through. Now he's lost in the ether sea and I get to have his body all to myself. But you know, Storgane isn't here anymore. I can't revive like the others could. So anything you do to me will remain for Lest whatever comes of us.”

For a brief bit, Dylas was confused, which had led Typhoon into explaining further. Then he seemed to realize things. He loosened his grip on him which wasn't nice, so Typhoon tried to tease him by messing with his hair. Dylas brushed him off and let go. “Sit down.”

Some part of him wanted to say no, but the emotions he was getting off Dylas were too enticing. They still hurt when it came to love, but he really wanted to be used to it. So Typhoon sat down on the spot. “What are you going to do to me? I would like to kill you so very much, or even worse. But it could be nice to see how you can take having to kill a demon in your lover's body. Or I could take his place fully if you really want me to.”

Dylas stepped back, which was disappointing. “You're not him,” he said, causing a new kind of pain to Typhoon. He couldn't explain it because it had a feeling of the cold of ether sea, like where he used to haunt. It should be good and familiar, but he wanted Dylas to come back next to him.

There was a knock on the door. “Dylas?” Clorica asked.

“You can come in,” he said, keeping an eye on Typhoon.

“Aw come on, don't do this to me,” Typhoon said, trying to get up. But there was a strong feeling that Dylas had told him to sit here and had not yet reversed that request. It made his willpower hazy. “Come on.”

“Excuse me?” Clorica asked, staying in the doorway and tilting her head in confusion.

“This isn't Lest,” Dylas said. “It's Typhoon, the demon that was trying to take over his body years ago. Finally succeeded at it when Lest faced off against the emperor.”

“He never let me go fully,” Typhoon said, trying to get Dylas to despair. Or feel strong feelings about him again. But he didn't even hate him as strongly this time. What he was feeling was pity. But Typhoon wanted the warmth of his affection back. “But he's gone now, can't find himself so you're not about to find him.”

“What do we do about him?” Clorica said, coming into the room. She was willing to fight for her masters, but wasn't clear on what to do here.

“He has Lest's weaknesses, so I’ve got him bound to my words for the time being,” Dylas said. “We need to restrain him without hurting him until we can figure out a way to get rid of him and get Lest back.” He sighed. “Tell Arthur's he's still on duty as the ruling prince and get Dolce over here. And call Volkanon to help me find a way to restrain him physically.”

“All right,” she said, heading out on her tasks.

“You're not going to be able to get him back,” Typhoon said. Although, there was a very real chance that they could. It wouldn't even be hard if they could figure out how to do the soul swap safely. “Choose me.”

“Not likely,” Dylas said.

* * *

Typhoon was back in Lest's body. From what Dolce knew, the demon had come from Lest's hell gate much like Marionetta had come from her own. Typhoon had once been a creature of the deep ether sea, one of the demons that wanted to ruin the world. But Storgane had called it, or it had convinced Storgane to use it by connecting it to Lest. Destroying the hell gate should have destroyed Typhoon too. Although, she could remember Dylas once saying that the monsters had been formed from the darkness in their hearts. If someone who could form a monster based on that emerged again, they could call the monsters back, albeit not in a non-returning form. Perhaps that happened somehow with Lest?

When Dolce got to the castle, they had shut Typhoon into Vishnal's office with a magic screen over the door. Volkanon and Vishnal were outside boarding up the windows for now. There wasn't really a good cell to put him in since no one had done anything about the third basement level. “Do you have any idea where Lest's soul is?” Dolce asked Dylas.

He was standing outside the door, watching Typhoon inside. The demon was smiling like it knew something. “Somewhere lost in the ether sea,” Dylas answered. “He left his body to make sure the emperor stayed dead, taking Rune Prana with him. Don't know what kind of condition Lest will be in, though.”

“How did he leave his body?” Dolce said. That wasn't possible through normal means, or able to do at moment's notice.

Dylas rubbed at the base of one of his ears. “Well… he had an active Etherlink bond in him, keeping the separation of his body and soul loose.”

Dolce's eyes widened at that, Pico's too. “He had whaaat?!” the ghost asked. “I never noticed!”

“Why would he do such a thing?” Dolce added. And to have Typhoon come out now, he had to have had the bond since before his hell gate was broken.

“It was that winter before we got married,” Dylas said. “You remember how he wasn't himself most of that season? It was because he was being tormented by Storgane, his ancestor Darryl, and this demon. He split up his body and soul with Etherlink after the pressure got to him. But that's been how he was destroying the pillars in Rune Prana. One of the vital parts of the pillars can't be reached by someone in their physical body. He promised me that he'd take Etherlink out once the pillars were destroyed.”

“He couldn't do that in an environment of hate,” Typhoon said.

“So now we've got to find Lest's soul and swap them out,” Dylas said.

“I suppose I can let it pass until Lest can explain himself,” Dolce said. “How've you got this demon bound?”

“Mostly because there's a quirk to Lest's empathy that I don't want to talk about because it affects his willpower. Typhoon shares his powers but not the personal defenses, so I’ve got him to be obedient to my words. I wanted to give you or somebody a chance to examine him and make sure what we've got will hold him before letting him go.”

“Can Lest resist being put in a state like this?” Dolce asked. If this could happen to Lest, it'd be very troubling.

Dylas nodded. “Yeah, I haven't seen it in him in years.”

“Good, just making sure,” Dolce said. “How do I get in there?”

Dylas led her through as it was tied to his particular bracelet and the butlers' armbands. As she checked him over, Dolce found some interesting things, like the way Lest's wedding ring was behaving and how the demon fit into his body. Demons were creatures of hate that sought to corrupt people and ruin the world. Lest's own body was the perfect trap for one because of his love-alignment. Especially with the wedding ring on. Typhoon's power was cut immensely because of that and he had no way to escape or alter Lest's body. From the looks of certain patterns and passive spells, Lest had been preparing himself further in case Typhoon got control.

After she was done, she left the room. “What you've got should hold him, but I can add an enchantment to block demons over the room,” Dolce said. “Anything else I’d rather be away from it to talk about.”

“Is there anybody else we should involve in this?” Dylas asked.

“Frey since she has the best understanding of Etherlink,” Dolce said. “I need to go ask Doomgale and Wendy some questions, so they'll probably ask to be involved. Leon would be nice to talk to, but we can't count on that. And Amber should be informed because we'll need you to do something dangerous that the two of us can provide a safety net for you.”

* * *

Before going to the castle, Frey went to check on Leon in the clinic. She found him awake when she got in, trying to do some reading with a book holder attached to his bed. But he looked over and smiled when she came in. “Hey there, we've got a few moments alone,” she said, smiling back and going to kiss his forehead. “But just a few, I’ve got to be somewhere.”

“You leaving the kids up to trouble somewhere?” he asked.

“Depends, Meg and Forte are watching over a group of them tonight. Did you hear that we got Lest back?” She leaned on the side bars of the bed and shook her head. “We didn't exactly get him back, turns out. Found his body but Typhoon was in control of it.”

'Typhoon?” Leon asked in concern.

She nodded and gave him the quick explanation she'd gotten from Dolce about it. “I think I know what Dolce's going to be suggesting. I don't think it'll be a big deal if we can get Lest's soul back in the world. Once we establish a way to communicate with him, possibly through Pico if he's not entirely audible, he can do some of the work to throw Typhoon out and put himself in. But getting his soul, that could be a headache.”

“So the demon says Lest got himself caught on the other side of Rune Prana's collapse,” Leon said, thinking it through. “But how much can we trust its words?”

“If we agree that Lest was trying to get rid of Ethelberd's soul trying to remain after death, then most of what it says makes sense,” she said. “Even the faulty rune sphere had enough powerful bonds to turn the emperor into a crazy strong caster. If the demon's lying, it's hard to say where Lest is. Dolce didn't sense him in his body and couldn't trace him through the Etherlink bond.”

“You'd have to confirm where he is, either in the world, in the forest, or in the sea. Couldn't you pull him back through the link?”

“If he's in the world, sure, we could even trace it to find him. But if he's in the Forest of Beginnings or the ether sea, our best bet is to have Dylas cast Gate Reject. It's normally used to call back a person from a sudden death, to pull them directly from the forest. Lest isn't exactly dead, but Dylas can leave his body too; that and Gate Reject should let him reach wherever Lest is and get him back.” Frey shrugged. “And we have to get Lest back fast if he is in the ether sea, you know that. Dylas probably has a good tolerance for returning like this, plus I'd have Dolce and Amber anchoring him. But you're not in good shape to do that.”

“That's a pity,” Leon said with regret. “I didn't get a chance to tell you since I didn't want to talk about it much in front of the kids yet. But, Dylas and Lest talked me back to life. That makes it a bummer that I can't help them now.”

“That was really close,” Frey said, griping his hand gently.

He closed his eyes for a moment. “I remember it pretty clearly too. Wasn't able to think of much but seeing the light of the forest and being drawn to it, not able to think very long on any of you. And any time I tried to move towards Dylas' voice and eventually Lest's too, I felt more and more of my pain. But they didn't give up on convincing me that my time wasn't at an end.” He looked up at her. “You make sure to get him back then.”

“Of course,” she said, wanting to reassure him (and hoping that he wouldn’t try anything in the state he was in). “And don't forget, we're giving them what should otherwise be impossible.”

“That's more on you than me,” he said with a smile.

“You have to sacrifice something yourself for it,” Frey said with a grin. “I wanted you to know, but I’ve got to get over to the castle to confirm things there.”

“May the gods' blessings be with you all in this,” Leon said, hanging onto her hand for a moment before letting her go.

As she walked over in the cloudy evening, she thought that they had one goddess among them that would want to see this go well. And given that Lest's twinkle tree friend named Typhoon an outsider demon, she was pretty sure other gods would want it gone as well. Demons who lived outside the world were no good. Although after they got him back, Lest had a lot to answer to, about casting Etherlink on himself and making it so the demon could emerge.

In the castle, she found people gathering in Doomgale's chamber. After some greetings, Frey got right into questioning Dylas. “So how'd you figure it wasn't Lest?”

“I was suspicious because he didn't try to go see to his farms immediately on getting cleared by Jones,” Dylas said. “I was going to let it slide because of what he'd been through, but he still wasn't interested even when I told him Amber was worried about Stardew. Then he didn't even blink at the nonsensical change to what we call Sundew, at least nonsensical for a tree's name. Or act concerned about her, so it clearly couldn't be Lest.”

She nodded. “That makes sense.” She asked him a few more questions, mostly to see if he was ready for facing the ether sea to find Lest. Then she turned to Doomgale. “Gale, can you sense where Lest is in any way?”

“He's alive,” she said. “Somewhere in the ether sea, I can only give a general direction that won't make sense within this world.”

“Somewhere in the ether sea, huh?”

“Can't you follow his Etherlink thread back to him?” Amber asked. “Or pull him back?”

Frey shook her head. “If he got lost trying to get back to his body, we'll get lost trying to find him that way.”

“Right, souls can usually find their bodies on their own,” Dolce said. “If Lest can't, we can't find his soul by ordinary means. I was thinking of having Dylas cast Gate Reject.”

“That's what I thought we'd end up doing,” Frey said, looking at Dylas. “It'll be different from when you were at the rune spring since the powerful flow kept you pretty much in one spot. And when you leave for the ether sea now, you're basically just moving to the other side of the glass, to put it simply. Gate Reject will let you temporarily pass to where he is to bring him back since it won't be directed into the Forest of Beginnings. But we're sending you we don't know where.”

“We're sending him to follow the connection with their wedding rings,” Dolce said. “Typhoon is being contained by Lest's, but I could sense another bond that matched what Dylas' ring is doing now. Directing the spell by where those rings lead should bring him straight to Lest.”

“That should work out,” Frey said.

“I also brought Amber in with the idea that we should sing for them and make sure they're safe for the moment Dylas needs to be in the sea,” Dolce added.

“Yeah, got it,” Amber said.

“I’m ready to do this once I know the spell,” Dylas said, not afraid when it concerned getting Lest back whole.

Frey nodded. “I'll teach it to you, but if this works, it will never work again for you. That's the price for being able to bring a soul back from death, or from being as utterly lost as Lest is.” She discussed the method with him for a minute. It could also be a taxing spell on the caster, but the fact that Dylas was after his husband meant he'd have the lowest cost among them in terms of rune points. Only a parent that was after a child still dependent on them would have a lower cost.

“All right,” Dylas said at the end of her instructions. They waited for Amber and Dolce to get in contact with the ether sea for him to cast Gate Reject.

* * *

Dylas had been trying not to get angry over this whole deal. They were almost at the end of Lest's trials with Rune Prana, in good time before their child would be born. At this point, he should have finally been rid of Etherlink and any possibility of Typhoon messing things up. Nothing more out of the ordinary would be troubling them. But then the emperor finally decided to rear his ugly head and kidnap Lest, nearly killing Leon and Sven in the process. He had killed Sano and Uno, something that was sure to upset Lest once he got back safely. And when they get to rescue Lest, he'd gone ahead and tried something that ended up with him lost out to the strange space outside the world and with Typhoon in his body.

Even so, the longer he'd spoken to Typhoon this time, the less he could be angry with the demon. It was strange because it was a demon, supposedly one of those outsiders who understood nothing of their lives and thought love was a curse and restraint. But then Typhoon fell to a similar haze that used to trouble Lest about lust. It was different because Typhoon was a lot more talkative than Lest would be. It made him wonder just how different a being like Typhoon really was from other monsters.

He might have some pity for the demon, but the fact of the matter was that Typhoon had Lest's body when Lest should have his own body. And they did not want to leave Lest lost without purpose to the ether sea for long. Whatever danger would be out there, he would face it for Lest's sake. Although it sounded like this would only be a brief moment for him.

Frey set up a ward around him so that the energy from the spell didn't escape to harm anyone else in the room; Doomgale quietly added a bit of her own power to the ward to make certain of it. When Dylas was casting, images of his memories with Lest flashed through his mind. There had been a few people over the years who criticized them for their marriage, but Dylas ignored their words. They weren't trying to understand. Lest meant the world to him.

Something like a gate opened up in front of him, trying to draw him in fully. Dylas dropped down to brace his body, then left it to pass through the gate, following the chi from his ring to where Lest was. This brought him to a pale version of Lest, like a pencil sketch. Thankfully, he reacted to his approach, stopping where he'd been going and turning to him. “Dylas,” he said in a faint voice.

“Come on,” he said, taking hold of him. It felt like him, although cool to the touch instead of warm. Lest nodded and so Dylas turned back. Around them, the currents of the sea were strong. But they could hear Amber and Dolce singing, the chi from that wavering as the sea tried to warp their path back. Dylas pulled Lest back through the gate.

While he was returning to his own body, he felt Lest's soul reach out and touch his wedding ring. That created a bond with the Etherlink strand still on him, briefly tying himself to that ring. Lest would be with him until they could swap the souls around. The passage created by Gate Reject broke itself once they returned.

“He's got him,” Dolce said.

“Great,” Frey said, dismissing her ward. “I can't see him that well; can he talk with us?”

“They're quieter than you,” Lest said, his voice still faint.

“He can barely hear you,” Dylas said, feeling a little tired. But it was low enough that a good snack should fix it.. “I can hear him.”

“I can barely hear him, but it's hard to pick out what he's saying,” Pico said. “He lost a lot of energy being out there, but he seems all together here.”

Dolce shrugged. “I can tell some spirit's trying to speak, but we might have to move out of this place to hear him better. Lest, you need to detach Typhoon from your body to get back in, then get Etherlink off you once you're secure.”

“I know,” Lest said. “Do you have Typhoon restrained?”

“I set him to sleep, but he might have woken back up,” Dylas said. “Let's go see him.”

Dolce and Pico followed them to Vishnal's office, but most of them waited out in the servant's hall to see what would happen. Typhoon was awake again, sitting where they'd left him. After watching them enter, he crossed his arms over his knees and looked aside. “Hmph, so you did find him.”

“Right, and we will get you out of there,” Dylas said, coming to kneel in front of the demon. If needed, he could get up quickly to paralyze him.

Lest went over to Typhoon in his body. While the demon shrank away, he didn't try to flee. “Could you tell those two to leave?” Typhoon asked, glowering over at where Dolce was in the doorway.

“Well excuse me, we're here to be on guard,” Pico said, hovering near the wall.

“That's right,” Dolce said, waiting there, watchful.

The demon grumbled, but just looked aside. “You're being oddly cooperative,” Lest said, noticing it too.

“I don't want to be,” Typhoon whispered, not wanting to be overheard. “But I do. You're surrounded by a lot of love.”

“I treat people well, that's most of it,” Lest said.

“Why are you conflicted?” Dylas asked quietly. “You said that you wanted to kill me but also that you didn't.”

Typhoon pulled in his legs more defensively. “Love hurts me, I should hate it and endeavor to end it, replace it with lust or hate, either of which is more tolerable, even enticing. But every time I run into you, Dylas, I find love itself enticing. I want more of your attention, even if it's in anger.”

“You're being influenced by my love for him,” Lest said. “You're getting a taste for what love feels like for us but it's not love you hold yourself. At least, that's what it looks like from your aura.”

“I don't like this because it's not like me, but I like it because it feels nice,” Typhoon said, looking down. Was he blushing? It seemed like it, similar to how Lest blushed in embarrassment.

Lest himself seemed thoughtful. “You won't feel like that anymore once I separate you from my body. Do you want to know love for yourself, without it hurting you?”

“I can't be like that,” Typhoon said.

“But do you want to?” Dylas said. He wasn't sure what Lest had in mind, but was curious to see.

He glared at him briefly, then softened his look and nodded. “I shouldn't. Love is part of your world and I don't really belong here. But we still try to come here. I don't know why, it's just something we're driven to try to claim.”

“You think we should give him a chance?” Lest asked, looking to him. He was smiling like he knew something could be done, a more joyful and hopeful thing than when Typhoon tried it out of greed. “Outside my body, of course.”

“If it can be done, sure,” Dylas said. “But you don't come back to trouble Lest anymore, okay? That includes trying to steal me from him.”

“It'll be hard to forget you,” Typhoon said, looking at him. “But if it is possible for me to find my own meaning of love, I’ll try to work with the world.”

Lest turned back to him. “Well I do have something you tried to take before.” He made a calling gesture, bringing out a bright spark of energy.

“Huh?” Typhoon asked and nearly fell over backwards, he was so startled to see it.

“I never used it because there was nothing I felt it was worth using on,” Lest explained. “A divine power to change the world. But everything that was being pressed on me by others would have a devastating cascade of effects. I can't tell what will all happen if I do this for you, but I don't think it will cause as much as a ripple to turn you to an intelligent monster. You won't have as much power as you're used to as you'll be further separated from the deep ether sea. But you'll have a different power born of love and life, belonging to this world.”

“I stole your body and you'd use that on me?” Typhoon asked.

“Well if Dylas agrees to it, you deserve a chance,” Lest said, pulling the spark close to himself. “Power borrowed from the gods, please give this demon his own heart and conscious, as well as a chance to prove himself in our world.”

There was a bright flash, then Typhoon was drawn out of Lest's body and into the spark. Lest then went back to his proper place; Dylas could see him remaking his natural bonds so that he could take out Etherlink entirely. As Lest was getting his bearings, Typhoon emerged like a regular monster in the room. He shared Lest's stature and was better aligned to the love element. Typhoon looked very much like a demon, with a pointed tail, slight leathery wings, and curling horns off the sides of his head. However, his eyes were lavender and more gentle than one would expect from a demon.

“What did you do?” Dolce asked. The shields around the room broke from Lest's power, so Typhoon glanced at her, then vanished into mist.

“We gave him a chance to be normal,” Lest said, his voice sounding normal but tired.

* * *

Spring 30

Of course, Lest had a lot to explain to everyone: why he had Etherlink, was Rune Prana really gone, what happened with the emperor. But he didn't apologize for releasing Typhoon into the world as a monster. He was no longer a true demon. Even he deserved a chance at life and happiness, especially if he worked towards being good.

When he woke up in the morning, it was storming, powerful like a typhoon. Lest shivered. “Aw man, one thing after another,” he grumbled sleepily.

Dylas managed to grab his arm before he left bed. “You should be resting today, after all you've been through,” he said.

“You think I could rest easy through a typhoon?” he responded, waking up. “I suppose that's what we get for letting him free yesterday…” Something didn't seem quite right. He didn't sense his plants in danger. “Hmm?”

“What?” Dylas asked, sitting up with him.

“Something weird's going on in the fields,” Lest answered. “Can you feel it?”

He looked towards the nearest window. “You're right. It's a typhoon, but the rain's not so hard over there.”

“Well that's good, but I still want to check it out.” He got out of bed and changed into some farming clothes. Dylas followed suit, coming out with him today.

Lest's plants were happy to feel him nearby again, helping to make him cheerful. They weren't stressed at all, feeling like this was a normal spring rain even though lightning lit up the sky and thunder made sure others in town wouldn't be asleep for long. Out here, they could tell that some kind of magical barrier was screening the rain and wind so that it wasn't as dangerous to the plants. The source of the barrier magic seemed to be from the orchard.

When they entered, Lest felt a brief sense of deja vu. There was a dark-skinned demon in the field, standing in front of Sundew. But Typhoon was the one who cast the spell of protection. While the storm overhead looked like the demon's old runic signature, the barrier had his new one as a rare monster. Watching him curiously was Sundew's nymph form, holding onto a golden peach just as she had before.

“Typhoon?” Lest asked. “What are you doing?”

“Repaying your deeds in a small way,” Typhoon replied. “There is much I do not understand, but it seems I can only manifest with a storm. Not calling the storm, but being called by it. Otherwise I can't appear in a physical form. That may make things difficult, but we'll see. I have a chance to do what I want, so I’m going to do good where I can.”

Lest smiled. “Ah, thank you. Having the fields protected is a big help.”

“Which means you could have actually slept in,” Dylas teased him, clutching his arm.

“But I’m already dressed for farm work, so I might as well tend to them,” Lest said, laughing.

Typhoon smiled at them. “Take care of each other. Also, I believe she's got something precious for you. She was just telling me that she's been working at it for a long time and it's finally ripe.”

“Have you, Sundew?” Lest asked, looking up at the nymph in her own tree. “You're precious enough as you are.”

Sundew smiled, showing her peach to them. “You are both precious to me,” she said, working hard to speak herself. “Loving caretaker, water friend, I gained life and happiness from you both. I was raised by my caretaker's power, and I was blessed to be a shelter and ally for your love all along. It was tough, but I gathered all my power to give you a gift. Here.”

She took the golden peach in her hands, but instead of tossing it to them, she tossed it into a shell of branches and bark that she'd made last summer. It had been a strange action that didn't make a lot of sense of Lest, since she blocked off anyone from sensing into it and didn't talk about what she was doing. Now, with the storm being blocked from reaching her, the shell cracked and came apart, falling to the ground to reveal another golden peach. But this one was larger, enough that it'd need an arm to put around. Its runes looked nothing like a peach, more like some kind of soft shell.

As it was still well off the ground, Lest had to climb up into her branches to retrieve the golden peach. It started to slump once he picked it; it wasn't entirely full of fruit. The skin was splitting by the time he reached the ground with it, so when she nodded, Lest tugged at the tear to pull the skin off.

There was a small infant boy inside, starting to wiggle and fuss at being revealed. And he had some of Dylas' features, noticeably the ears and tail, with his eyes already lavender in color. “Your child, I made sure,” Sundew said, pleased at her efforts.

“You could do that all along?” Lest asked, surprised. He shifted part of the peach skin back over the boy, to keep him warm for the moment.

“Barely,” Sundew said. “Not do much else this year. But I wanted to and so I could.”

“Well I guess we're going to be having two kids here soon,” Dylas said, his eyes bright with joy. “Thank you Sundew, he is precious.”

“Yes, you did a wonderful thing,” Lest added.

Sundew giggled. “I am happy to make you happy.” Then she closed her eyes and made the image fade away to rest. Typhoon smiled at them, then vanished into mist to watch the storm elsewhere.


	142. Pure Sunshine on a Day of Departure, Rest My Dear

Spring 89, 1624

One would think that the household of a family with five kids, two parents, and one ghost would be chaotic, but Dolce and Vishnal had made sure to impress on the kids to keep an orderly life. Of course, it helped that the oldest child Aliya had trailed her father around his work and picked up on some tricks to make the chores go smoothly. She was a responsible eleven year old and the second oldest Gwenna already liked to help with the sewing, so things kept tidy around the house.

When the oldest boy Rajan came running up the stairs, Aliya called before Dolce did, “Did you wipe your shoes off?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, coming into their home area and going to wash off. He was one of several kids around town who had turned out to be an earthmate with a leaning towards farming, so he went out to work with Amber every morning. The king and Amber had been sharing in instructing those kids, although Rajan already started favoring herbs and so worked with her more often now.

“I got a nice flower for the harvest festival,” Janice the third daughter said, pausing in eating her breakfast. “It's a toyherb.”

“That's good,” Dolce said, smiling as she was taking care of the youngest child of their lot, Edwin. He'd probably be the last one, she thought, unless chance gave them another. This family suited them. “If it's nice enough, maybe you can go work with Rajan.”

“That's be fun,” Janice said.

“You just want an excuse to play in dirt more,” Gwenna said, causing Janice to stick a tongue out at her.

“That’s fine as long as the dirt stays out where it belongs,” Aliya said.

“That's how it should be, dirt stays to the outside,” Dolce said. Because otherwise Vishnal would get to cleaning it when he should be relaxing when he came home after work. Although it could be amusing later on; Aliya's particular powers seemed to be focusing on household chores and she'd already declared that once she was able, she was going to go train under her father (to be as awesome as he was, she was definitely daddy's girl). Dolce couldn't wait to see what the secret butler society would make of an earthmate among them whose blessing price was best served in their work.

Rajan came back into the living space once he had his hands and face cleaned. “I’ve got a really big pom-pom I’m entering.”

“Is it really big?” Janice asked.

“It's bigger than your head,” Rajan boasted.

“No way!”

“Is it big enough for me to use as a parasol?” Pico asked.

“Probably,” he said.

The ghost grinned. “Heh, maybe I’ll copy it to use as one!”

“Do you remember a good dress to go with a pom pom parasol?” Dolce asked.

“Of course!”

“That's good, then let's see about passing out everyone's festival outfits,” she said, getting a chorus of cheers from the kids.

* * *

“May I set one off?” Shilan asked.

“Sure thing,” Kiel said, getting one of the fountain sparkler bottles out of his bag. “Be careful taking the cork out and don't jar the bottle.”

The silver-haired boy grinned. “Yeah, thanks!” He set the bottle in the holder, which sat on one of the tables of his Uncle Arthur's cafe. The cork was put in the neck of the bottle tight, but with some effort, he got it out. The bottle then spouted pastel sparks and illusions of tiny petals, its round body swirling like a snowglobe with pastel flakes. And it would keep going for hours, all day long. “How do you make them?”

“A bit of chemistry, a bit of setting up a special effects spell to run constantly, and a bit of ingenuity,” Kiel said. “I had the idea way back in last year's spring harvest festival, but it took me this long to get them to work consistently.”

“I want to make them,” Shilan said, smiling.

Kiel chuckled and rubbed his head. “Keep at your studying and eventually I'll teach you the secret.”

“They're pretty,” Arthur's younger daughter Estelle said, coming over from watching another one. She was in a very girlish flower dress today, with pink frames to her glasses to go along with it. While she did like looking cute, she'd gotten a reputation around the schoolhouse as a girl that you didn't tease or tug at her pigtails because she had a mean punch when she wanted. “Mom and Dad will like them a lot.”

“I’m sure they will,” Kiel said. “Is Carol out with Forte again?”

Estelle nodded. “Yeah, some monsters were creeping on the airfield. Carol wanted to take a big sword today like Mom does, but Mom said she wasn't big enough for it.”

“It'll take a couple of years and then she'll probably be good to go,” Kiel said. He and Xiao had no daughters and Arthur and Forte had no sons, but they were visiting each other so often that it didn't seem like it.

“Okay, I’m ready to open back here,” Arthur said, coming out and immediately looking at one of the petal fountains. He smiled. “Oh wow, those are really pretty Kiel! I wasn't quite sure what you meant when you described them, but they're perfect.”

“Thanks, just something I was messing around with,” he said with a smile. “Got all the tables covered, but do you want one or two on the counter?”

“Sure, as long as they're not in the way of service,” he said, discussing with him for a moment how to set up a pair of petal fountains there. Then Kiel and Shilan excused themselves to go put some in the inn.

“Welcome!” Kevian said as they came in, then paused in watering some of the plants inside. “Oh, hi!

“Hi Kev, you helping out here?” Kiel asked.

He nodded. “Yup, Mom and Grams are busy. I can't do any of the book work yet, but I can keep an eye out up here.”

That was good, Kiel thought. Kevian wasn't a kid who could sit still for long, but he liked helping out in the inn. “Good, is there anything else to do? We may as well make sure they can enjoy as much of the festival as they can.”

“I was gonna brush Jun next, but some other people tracked in dirt and the sitting area could be straightened,” he said.

“I'll get the broom,” Shilan said, heading in back to get it.

“Good, let's see...” Kiel set up the petal fountains, then looked around for other things around the lobby that could be taken care of. And he knew enough to handle the books at the front desk in case someone came asking about rooms or a bath.

A few minutes later, Xiao and Lin Fa came downstairs. “It's not so bad, just tedious,” Xiao was saying, but then saw them there. “Oh, you're all here?”

Kiel waved at her and told her what they'd gotten done. “Anything else you need finished up this morning?”

“Not much more now, thanks,” Xiao said with a smile.

Lin Fa laughed. “It's wonderful to have such nice guys around.”

“Well we have such wonderful ladies around, so ho could we not help?” Kiel replied. There were times he still had doubts and troubles. But overall, life was good.

* * *

“Let's race up the windmill!” Sven and Clorica's twin girls took off. Clorica laughed at them.

“Hey, wait up!” the boy said, letting go of Benny's hand to chase after them.

“Mom and I can beat you!” Benny called out. He'd not been born with wings, but he had them now, orange and black like a monarch butterfly. Of course, he shared her body structure which meant he was really frail and bruised easily, while being half dwarf meant he was really small but surprisingly agile. He was still learning to fly without crashing into things.

“I'll catch up, don't worry,” Clorica said to Amber when the winged boy took off.

“Sure, see you there,” Amber said, taking off to make sure Benny didn't get into an accident.

He made it up to the top of the windmill easily, but getting into the standing platform of the windmill to land was trickier. Benny ended up landing partially on the railings, then hopping down onto the floor. “I win!” he said to the two up here, Doug and Sven.

“Good job, but what'd you win?” Doug said.

“I dunno,” Benny said as they could hear the other kids storming up the steps trying to beat each other. He didn’t seem to care what as long as he did.

“I win!” one of the girls said.

“I did!” Benny said.

“But you flew,” she said.

The other girl said, “Daddy, why're you up here? We were gonna have fun this morning!”

“I know, I was just talking with Doug,” Sven said. “Where's your mother?”

“She was following us before we came up here,” she replied.

“Well go on back down so we don't have to make her walk up here too,” he said.

“I’ll beat you!” his son said, heading back down immediately.

“No fair, you started ahead of us!” The girls rushed back down.

Doug laughed. “Trying to wear the kids out early?”

“I wish,” Sven said, chuckling as he headed after them.

“But I won cause I got up here fastest,” Benny said, irritated at it.

* * *

Marie was fluent in five languages now, almost six. But she was so much of a bookworm from the moment she could read that it took effort to get her outside, whereas Noel and Luna would run off as soon as they were allowed, to explore or see their friends. Still, it was the spring harvest festival and she came out more willingly to see the excitement. “ _Carrot, cucumber, another carrot_ ,” Marie said in the eastern language.

“ _Carrots are a popular choice this year,_ ” Leon replied to her in the same, being careful how he walked. Frey had been working out artificial legs for him. While this pair felt natural enough, he hadn't been walking on them long.

She lingered with her hand pointing to another, thinking. “ _Onion?”_

Smiling, he patted her shoulder. “ _Sounds right to me.”_ She grinned back and continued her practice.

“Dad!” a voice called out. It could be calling any number of men in town, but he knew the voice. Over at the northeast entrance to the plaza, Noel was calling him while Luna and Frey walked with him. They'd gone to check out what else was around town.

“We're over here,” he called back, waving them with his fan over to the contest display table. He was wonderfully blessed and not a day went by now that he didn't think that and felt grateful for it.

* * *

As expected, Lest found Dylas and Emily in the kitchen working on some festival snacks to sell at a stall later today. The five year old girl was bouncing around, her blue hair and tail swinging as she did. “And Rajan has a really really big pom pom, but Vern's got that flawless four leaf clover that Amber was really amazed at, so it's probably gonna be one of them who wins the junior flower contest but I can't tell which, oh hi Daddy!” She bounced over to hug him.

“You busy talking Dylas' ears off?” Lest said with a smile, hugging her back.

“For the most part,” Dylas said, brilliant with joy. From how he was right there, one might not believe he'd once tried to end his own life out of despair. Although knowing that made these peaceful happy days a real treasure to them both.

“So where is Vern?” he asked, letting his daughter go.

“I don't know,” Emily said, although not too worried about her brother.

“I think he went back out to the orchard,” Dylas said. Which was very likely.

“I'll go look for him there,” Lest said. “But we've got to be out for the awards ceremony soon.”

“Okay, we're about done here, right?” Emily asked, going back over to the counter with Dylas.

“Yeah, we're just finishing things up here,” he said.

“Good, then we'll meet you over in the hall here,” lest said.

While he would give some tours around the farms to visitors in the afternoon, no one should be there now. That is, no one save Vern. Lest had recognized a couple years ago that their son did have a love-alignment too, while Emily was water like Dylas. He also was sensitive to runes, and rather sensitive overall so Vern got really shy on crowded days like this. Due to that, it was common for him to hide out in the farm if there were lots of visitors. Mostly the orchard as he remained very close to Sundew.

He was with her today, hiding among her branches. His light silvery-blue hair stood out among her twinkling dark green leaves. “Vern, we've got to be out at the awards ceremony soon,” Lest said, holding a hand up to him.

Vern clung onto one of Sundew's branches, unsure of that. “It's noisy,” he said. “Some people were arguing.”

“I know that hurts, but we'll be with you,” he said. “Come on.”

Trusting him, he nodded and climbed down, taking his hand as soon as he could. “See you later, Sundew,” he said, turning to the twinkle tree briefly.

“Be strong, little peach,” Sundew replied.

While they were walking out of the orchard, Vern tugged at his hand before asking, “Daddy, how do you keep smiling when people are being angry?”

“There are many times where you have to keep smiling even if there's lots of emotions around you,” Lest said. There really wasn't time to talk about that now; maybe this evening, he'd try to talk more in-depth about it. They couldn't protect Vern forever, but they could help him learn to deal with the empathy as much as they could while their love as his parents still remained a strong defense for him.

Maybe someday, he could even tell him how lucky he was.

* * *

It had been suggested that she stay inside, but she wanted to be out with her family. They didn't argue. In her sight, colorful flowers swayed against the blue sky, enjoying the golden sunshine. It reminded her of long long ago.

There was squealing and splashing from closer to the lake as a number of the kids were taking a break from festival fun with lake fun. Auden in particular had gotten in the water and was splashing Dorothy and the others with his tail. While he might know what was going on, she probably didn't. This wasn't a time for regrets, though. She'd regretted far too much anyhow. Enjoy this moment, pure and natural.

“Wendy,” Meg said, taking her hand gently.

“I won't ask you not to cry, that's mean,” she said, trying to hold on. “Just don't cry forever.”

“You shine bright in my life, for all my life,” she said. Then she started singing. That was welcome. Wendy closed her eyes and briefly dozed off.

Then there were others singing, not just Meg. The sun was shining from a different angle, starting to touch the tree tops. When she opened her eyes, her former guardians were all sitting there with her by the lake. They were trying not to be too solemn, they knew. The people here loved her so much; she loved them so much. As long as they remembered that they needed love, things should be just fine.

It would be fine.

It was time to say goodbye.

Goodbye, all of you who are dear to my heart. Goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those of you who stuck through the story, hope you enjoyed it! I'm a bit sad to see it end, this story was a real joy to work on.


End file.
